Huda Beauty vs Vieve: Which eyeshadow palette is best for a warm brown eye look?

We compared Jamie Genevive’s newly launched compact with a cult buy from Huda Kattan’s brand

Vieve launched in November 2020 with an eyeshadow palette, lipsticks and highlighters, while Huda Beauty has been around since 2013 (iStockphoto/The Independent)

For most make-up lovers, a gorgeous warm-toned, nude eyeshadow palette is a bit of a staple in the collection for everyday wear.

Those rich bronze, gold and russet hues are so popular with many beauty fans that many eyeshadow palettes feature these holy grail shades in varying formats.

And while it can seem that there’s a new nude eye palette launching every day in the beauty world, the demand for such a versatile product is very much there, as a go-to for almost every occasion. 

Some make-up brands play it safe with their first launches in order to create staples before building on more experimental products. This is why Vieve – a new brand headed up by make-up artist and YouTuber, Jamie Genevive, launched the essentials eye palette in November.

Genevieve hails from Scotland and used to work on the make-up counters of department stores in Glasgow as a teenager. She started a YouTube channel and Instagram offering make-up tips and tutorials which grew and grew in popularity until brands and even Hollywood stars such as Drew Barrymore invited her to work with them. She now has nearly 100,000 subscribers on YouTube and 1.4 million followers on Instagram.

Her new collection features this bronzy eye palette as well as four matte lipsticks and a highlighter in three shades.

In order to test the latest launch, we’ve put the new Vieve palette head with Huda Beauty’s topaz obssessions which launched in 2018, partly as they’re both mid-range eyeshadow palettes price-wise (Huda Beauty’s works out a little pricier, at £25 for 9.9g, while Vieve’s is £43 for 31g) and because of their similar colour stories.

Huda Kattan is an Iraqi-American make-up artist, who studied make-up in LA and then began working with celebrities. She founded her own cosmetics range, Huda Beauty, in 2013, which was originally available in Sephora stores in the US before becoming available in the UK.

We tested the Huda Beautys’s established eyeshadow formula against Vieve’s recent release, considering the packaging, value for money, formulas, colour story and ease of use to find out which palette is worth buying.

You can trust our independent reviews. We may earn commission from some of the retailers, but we never allow this to influence selections, which are formed from real-world testing and expert advice. This revenue helps us to fund journalism across The Independent.  

Vieve the essential eye palette: £43, Vieve

Vieve’s first offering reveals pretty colours in a stylish palette (Vieve)

While Vieve’s palette seems pricey, at 31g you get a decent amount of product for your money. There are 10 colours, the pans are a great size and the packaging is sturdy: a faux leather case with a gold Vieve tag. There’s a decent-quality, well-sized mirror too.  

In terms of finish, there are three shimmers and seven mattes. The shimmers feature a light gold (glimmer), medium gold (karat) and a really lovely antique gold (thea) – a bit like one of the glittery golds in Pat McGrath’s bronze seduction palette. While these shimmer shades are nice to pop over a matte (we like to use our finger to apply them) we really liked using thea on its own, all over the lid, with a black eyeliner.

The mattes include a pale cream, three browns in varying shades (two warm and one cooler), two more vivid colours – a mustard and a russet – and a black. While the two brighter shades look highly-coloured in the pan, they become more diffused on the eye when applied with a brush.  

If you prefer to start your eye with a base colour, you’ll be pleased by the inclusion of the “so shy” cream colour (best for light to medium skin tones). 

We also like the fact there’s a true black shade here called goodnight, which perfectly suits the brand. Go easy with it though: it’s nicely pigmented but can get smudgy quickly.

In terms of quality, these powders are blendable and easy to work with, lasting well across a 10-hour day with no creasing. The colours also mean you can do a simple day look using the mattes, or the lightest shimmer, and later go full-on party eyes using the black to smoke the corners. If you like Genevieve’s look, she’s picked the perfect colour story to replicate it.  

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Huda Beauty topaz obssessions: £25, Harvey Nichols

Good things come in small packages with this highly pigmented palette (Huda Beauty)

This 9.9g palette features nine shades that scream warm russet and bronze vibes as soon as you open it. We were surprised by how small the compact is, but there’s not really any excess space inside – it’s all packed with eyeshadows.

The packaging is simple: sturdy plastic with a gorgeous faceted diamond featuring the shades on it and a decent – if mini – mirror.

There are four foil shades in this palette in various warm-brown hues, and five mattes including a vibrant warm yellow, a pale pink shade (which could be used as a base), two medium-warm browns and a dark but warm chocolate brown.

Don’t let the pocket-sized nature of this palette fool you though: the colours pack a serious punch. More than pretty much any brand we know, the Huda Beauty palettes have some serious welly. What you see in the pan is what you get on the eyes.

The foil shades are super creamy and can be applied with the fingers for extra coverage. We did find them to be quite similar, however, especially when applied to the eye. A lighter hue for the inner corner would be a welcome addition.

The darkest shade is dark enough to smoke corners and under the eyes, and while it is intense, we found it easy to work with, with no smudging.

The powders lasted for a full 10-hour day and we were amazed at how bright they still looked after hours of wear. Using a primer made application ultra smooth and ensured the colours really popped, but using one is by no means necessary with this palette.  

And there are so many variants of these obsessions palettes that you should be able to find a Huda Beauty option to suit you, whatever your colour preference.

If you fancy something with a similar colour story but would prefer more matte shades, the warm brown obsessions is well worth considering: it has eight mattes and one foil in the centre. It also features a fairly bright warm red for an autumnal look.

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The verdict: Huda Beauty vs Vieve

We love this first offering from Vieve. The colours work well together and the packaging has a wow factor, plus we really like that the names of the colours are under each pan. If you like having a pure black on hand to take your eyes from day to night, then this could be the palette for you. 

We also highly recommend trying one of the collection’s modern matte lipsticks (£19, Cult Beauty) to go with it: we’ve used the paler two, vieve and treasure, to create a Sixies look when paired with a dramatic eye. We’re seriously excited to see what this brand brings out next.

That said, if we had to choose, Huda Beauty’s topaz obsessions wins out. While the look of the palette isn’t quite as dazzling as Vieve’s, we appreciate the fact it’s small enough to pop in your bag for daytime touch-ups, for travel, or even to go from a day to evening look.  

While there’s no black, the darkest brown works well in terms of shading and drama, and is probably a little more flattering around the eyes.

But it really boils down to Huda Beauty’s formulas: the pigmentation and true-to-pan finish is the ultimate clincher.

Want to know what make-up we’ll be wearing next year? Find out in our guide to beauty trends for 2021