ELF x DUNKIN' EYESHADOW PALETTE TRIO // PRODUCT REVIEW

Earlier this year ELF Cosmetics released such a cute collection with the coffee and donut chain, Dunkin'. As a lover of makeup and coffee (especially as an East Coast girl!) I just had to try out a piece of this collection! I was instantly drawn to this set of three mini eyeshadow palettes and couldn't wait to try them! For the past few months I have been using these 3 mini palettes all the time and have been loving the quality.

These 12 shades take inspiration from all of the colors in a box of a dozen donuts - each shade named after one of their three famous flavors: chocolate frosted with sprinkles, strawberry frosted with sprinkles, and Boston Kreme. The packaging even resembles Dunkin's classic white donut boxes!

I was familiar with this formula already because a couple of years ago I tried one of their other mini eyeshadow palette quads, called Hot Jalapeño. I loved how small and compact the product is, and also at just $3 it was an offer I couldn't pass up. It is a palette I use all the time and couldn't wait to see how ELF would expand their line. 

This trio of Dunkin' palettes is in the same format and outer packing as those in their permanent collection and retails for $15 on ELF's website and at Ulta. 

As always with my eyeshadow palette reviews I will be giving a shade-by-shade rundown of each in all three palettes. 


Chocolate Frosted with Sprinkles 

The first palette in the collection is the most versatile in shade range, and can be used in a variety of ways. 





The first shade is one of my favorites from this collection, it is a shimmering champagne with a sheer base and silver sparkle. It reminds me a lot of my favorite Colourpop Super Shock Shadow, but in a powder formulation. This looks beautiful on its own or paired as a topper with any of the other shades from the collection. 

The second shade is a pale metallic yellow. For the best performance, I tend to use a densely packed eyeshadow brush to get the best level of pigmentation out of this. For metallic shades, I usually tend to just use my fingertips to apply, but the ELF formula almost always works better applied with a brush instead. 

The third shade is a metallic blue with a purple shift. When I first saw this collection, I was immediately drawn to how beautiful the shade looks! It does take a lot of layering to build up this shade to what it looks like in the pan, but it is so pretty that it's worth the extra work. The formula reminds me of the metallic green shade in the Hot Jalapeño mini palette I tried from ELF, because it is so tightly pressed. Because of that, it doesn't show up as metallic as I would like it to, but enhancing it with any of the sheer topper shades in this collection helps it a lot. 

The fourth shade is a satin metallic dark brown that grounds the rest of the shades in this palette. It is a simple neutral that can be paired in a number of ways with the other shades in this collection. 


Strawberry Frosted with Sprinkles 

I love rosy shades like this, so Strawberry Frosted with Sprinkles is by far my overall favorite and most used palette from this collection! I have very fair skin, so I don't know how well some of these lighter shades will show up on deeper skin tones, but based on my personal experience and makeup taste, this is the best out of the trio. 





The first shade is a frosty white with pink glitter shift and a sheer base. I love this shade as a topper to any of the other metallics in this palette because it adds so much brightness and shine to the look. It also looks beautiful as a face highlight too! 

The second shade is a matte pale baby pink. It is very light, so I often use this as a base all over the lid or to help blend out any of the other shades I used. 

The third shade is a peachy pink shade with a gold glitter flip. This shade just feels so summery to me and has been my go-to all season! It pairs beautifully with all of the other shades in this mini palette. 

The fourth shade is a matte mauve with a slight shimmer of silver glitter mixed. It is very similar to the second shade, but a little bit deeper. It is still quite light though, so in the end it doesn't really look very different on the eyelid when blended together. However, this is perfect to just apply all over the lid easily with a swipe of any of the metallic shades and you're good to go with a simple eyeshadow look. 


Boston Kreme 

I can definitely see the Boston Kreme palette being one of the most user-friendly for everyday use, because of how simple and approachable these shades are for any makeup user. 





The first shade of this palette is a frosty white with a slight gold shift. Just like the frosty shade from the Strawberry Frosted with Sprinkles palette, it works great as an eyeshadow topper to brighten up any eyeshadow look, or to be used as a highlighter. It's a versatile shade that works well in a number of ways. 

The second shade is a matte pale yellow. This is also very light and likely wouldn't show up well on most skin tones, but it can be built up slightly to have more opacity. Just like some of the lighter matte shades in the pink palette, I use this yellow either as a base shadow or to help blend out any of the other shades. If you are looking for a more pigmented matte yellow eyeshadow, I recommend trying Colourpop's Yes Please! Palette instead. 

The third shade is a mid-tone chocolate brown with a satin matte finish. This is a classic brown shadow that is an essential for this collection. As I said about the first palette I reviewed in this collection, a brown like this really grounds the other shadows and can be used in so many different ways. You can never go wrong with a classic brown shadow like this!

The fourth shade is a matte true brown. This is very similar to the previous shade, but maybe slightly deeper - but once applied it is hard to tell the difference. Having two very similar brown shades like this back to back in such a small palette feels a little redundant, so instead I would have loved to have seen another shade in it's place. There is nothing wrong with the formulation though, so at least the quality is still there!

I have loved mixing all three ELF x Dunkin' palettes over the past few months and seeing what looks I can create with these dozen shades. These also work great on their own as quads or paired with any of your other favorite eyeshadow palettes. For how compact and affordable these are, these products can't be beat! There is so much versatility in these 12 shades and I love each color scheme's curation. The compact size also makes these an essential for travel or doing your makeup on the go. This collection was so well executed, ELF and Dunkin' may seem like an unlikely pairing, but this collection is a must have!

Thanks for reading! I would love to hear your thoughts in the comment section below! 🍩 

-Melissa ♡

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