Milani is an affordable, American cosmetic brand sold at drugstores, big box retailers, and Ultas across the United States. Like so many trendy brands, Milani is loved by fans because of its gorgeous packaging, high quality products, and affordable price point. But is Milani truly worth the hype?
Please keep reading for a review of the Milani Soft & Sultry Eyeshadow Palette. Is bad or rad?
Milani Brand Ethos
Founded in 2001, Milani is an affordableAmerican brand that takes its inspiration from the art and culture of Milan. Milani products are intended to embody the style and essence of Milan, from formula, to packaging, and shade offerings. Unlike high fashions sold in Milan, Milani sells cosmetics at an affordable price point. Also, Milani releases products that reflect needs of the multicultural consumer.
Milani Soft & Sultry Eyeshadow Palette Claims
According to the Milani website, the Soft & Sultry Eyeshadow Palette is a cool-toned palette with a mix of “iridescent neutrals” and “smoked out metallics.” The palette contains twelve “pure pigments,” – a mix of velvety mattes and intense metallics. This palette is meant to enable wearers to create one-of-a-kind eye looks.
Milani Soft & Sultry Eyeshadow Palette Price & Packaging
The Milani Soft & Sultry Eyeshadow Palette retails for $19.99 USD on Milani’s website and across most retailers. However, Walmart sells this palette for $14.97 USD. While the price point puts this palette above that of the brand’s competitors, the price is not unreasonable.
The Milani Soft & Sultry Eyeshadow Palette looks sleek and luxe. The overall design of the palette is quite similar to the Stila Eyes are the Windows Palettes ($49.00 USD).
While the front of the palette is simple, the back of the palette includes product details. Details include shade names, suggested pairings, as well as application directions.
A large inside mirror makes application easy. Unlike many palettes, the Milani Soft & Sultry Eyeshadow Palette does not come with a brush nor does it label the shade names on the inside.
Milani Soft & Sultry Eyeshadow Palette Ingredients & Cruelty-Free Status
These shadows contain Talc, Mica, Dimethicone (as well as other silicone-based ingredients), and Phenoxyethanol. These ingredients are common in cosmetics and skincare, but there are potential health surrounding these ingredients. Milani is Cruelty-Free.
Milani Soft & Sultry Eyeshadow Palette Swatches
The Milani Soft & Sultry Eyeshadow Palette comes with 12 cool-toned eyeshadows. The palette includes eight matte shadows, one shimmer, and three foiled shadows.
While swatches are not always perfect, they can provide clues to how an eyeshadow may perform in terms of ability to blend, pigmentation, and ease of application.
The Milani Soft & Sultry Eyeshadow Palette swatches were done with a finger and brush over a bare arm. In the below photos, the top swatches were done with a brush while the bottom swatches were done with a finger. Each finger swatch represents one swipe of color, while each brush swatch represents two layers of building.
Weekday (Column One) | Milani suggests pairing the four shades in the first column of the palette together to create a soft, weekday look. Clearly the finger swatches were much more pigmented than the brush swatches. I was impressed by the pigmentation and the ability to build the brush swatches.
From top-to-bottom: Bare It All (matte beige), Tan-Tation (matte peachy nude), Foxy Lady (foiled chocolate bronze), and After Hours (matte deep taupe)
Weekend (Column 2) | The four shades in the central column are intended to create a bolder. The two lightest shades in this quad, Diamonds & Pearls and Soft Touch, are underwhelming. However, the foiled duo-chrome, Come-Hither, is my favorite shade in the palette.
From top-to-bottom: Diamonds & Peals (shimmering icy white gold), Soft Touch (matte nude fawn), Come-Hither (foiled chestnut with silver reflect), and Untamed (matte expresso)
Funday (Column 3) | Milani describes the last column in the Soft & Sultry Eyeshadow Palette as the go-to colors for a sultry look. I was impressed by each shade’s ability to build with a brush. However, the matte black needed to be packed to achieve opacity.
From top-to-bottom: In the Buff (matte, pale cream), Smokin’ Hot (matte taupe), Sweeter than Chocolate (foiled chocolate with gold reflect), and Naughty-Night (matte jet black)
Milani Soft & Sultry Eyeshadow Palette Application & Wear-time
Each shadow glided onto the eye and blended like a dream. The shades were easy to build with a brush. Given that Talc and Mica are the top ingredients, I’m not surprised that the mattes are easy to blend or that the foiled shades are impactful.
The Milani Soft & Sultry Eyeshadow Palette is a soft palette, both in terms of pigmentation and formula. This palette isn’t going to provide intense pigmentation, but has something special about it. Unfortunately, the lightest shades look nearly identical. Formula-wise, the shadows create a lot of kickback.
One of my favorite looks I’ve created with this palette is an ultra-soft Halo Eye. I blended Bare It All and Tan-Tation into the crease, then lightly packed Untamed into the inner and outer corner of the eye, and finished by packing Come-Hither into the center.
When worn with a primer, the shades do not crease nor do they fade, even after 10-12 hours of wear-time. As someone with oily eyelids, this is an impressive feat, especially when other high-end brands struggle to create shadows with the same longevity.
Where is the Milani Soft & Sultry Eyeshadow Palette sold?
Milani Cosmetics is sold in drugstores and big box retailers across the US, including CVS Health, Target, Walgreens, Walmart. Additionally, Milani is at specialty beauty retailer, Ulta, as well as online via MilaniCosmetics.com. To purchase the full range of products, visit MilaniCosmetics.com.
Currently, Milani only ships to the United States and Canada. Internationally, Milani Cosmetics can be purchased via Beauty Bay and Amazon. To find the closest Milani distributor in the US, check out the brand’s store locator.
Final Thoughts on the Milani Soft & Sultry Eyeshadow Palette
I hate to make such grandiose claims, but the Milani Soft & Sultry Eyeshadow Palette is the best drugstore palette I’ve ever tried. In fact, it was my favorite new eyeshadow find of 2018.
From the packaging to the price to the performance of the eyeshadows, this palette has it all. If you like neutral looks or are looking to experiment with cool-toned shades then I highly suggest grabbing this palette.
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Have you tried any Milani cosmetics before? What is your favorite affordable or drugstore eyeshadow palette? Please let me know in the comments below.
Wow, did you ever do your eyes! Beautiful, LP! This sounds like a great drugstore brand palette. Amazing actually!
Thanks Jennifer! 💜 I really love Milani as a brand and this palette blew me away!
It looks like a great palette, especially for such a great price!
Thank you for your comment. It is so amazing for the price! ❤️
Will have to check this out we have only just got Milani in the uk x
Oh let me know what you think if you see anything – curious to see what they’ll have available in the UK!! 🙂
I think the soft halo eye you created is a perfect representation of ‘soft and sultry’ and it looks particularly good with that sort of eyeliner.
I haven’t indulged in Milani (yet), and I’ve been eyeing their palettes for a while (mostly the Most Loved Mattes), but they cost €25 here in Europe ($28), so it doesn’t feel all that drugstore and I think I have most of those shades already.
I keep hearing about their blushes and highlighters. What do you think of them?
Thank you so much!! 💜💜 That really made my day! ☺️
And omg the price 😱😱 … I agree that these palettes have pretty basic color schemes, so def not a necessity if you have a large collection.
I haven’t owned a Milani highlighter before, but I’ve owned quite a few of their blushes over the years. I love how they give my cheeks a radiant feel without looking glittery. I recently purchased the baked blush in Red Vino and it is so pigmented (almost a little too pigmented for my pale skin), but Luminoso is the fan favorite Milani blush for sure! ☺️
Thanks for the recommendation 🙂
Lovely review, LP! I use Milani’s eyeshadow primer, and I love it! They have so many gems.
Thanks girl! <3 I bought the primer when I was on vacation, but haven't tried it yet!! (I've been trying to finish my NYX Ultra HD Eye Primer first). Totally agree that they have tons of hidden gems! I honestly can't think of a product I've tried from them that I didn't enjoy.
This is such a good review. I love the shades on this palette. If they had it in NZ I would definitely buy it. I love finding affordable palettes that last for extended periods of time!! I really like the weekday shades.
Thank you! 💜💜💜 I love finding affordable treasures like this!
This really impressed me! I am pleasantly surprised with the wear time of these. I did have a blush from Milani a LONG time ago. I don’t remember anything about it except I really liked it! And your eye makeup was tip top!
Christine xx