Cargo Havana Nights Cruelty Free Eyeshadow Palette Review and Swatches
The limited edition Havana Nights eyeshadow palette by Cargo is inspired by the colorful city of Havana, Cuba (a place I want to visit some day!). The packaging is gorgeous, and there are twelve shades. It looks like a mix of neutrals with a few bold pops of color. But, is this a palette for bold Instagram-stunner looks or is it more for moderate makeup-to-wear-to-work days? Let’s take a look!
I really like that the palette is separated into 3 quads or 6 duos. That gives you a guide to figure out which shades work together. But at the end of the day, I usually end up mixing and matching between palettes anyway! There are 6 mattes and 6 shimmers.
- Miramar (Light shimmer pink)
- Nacional (Soft matte pink)
- Café con leche (Light shimmer beige)
- Ernest (Soft Matte beige)
- Dacquiri (Matte warm white)
- Floridita (Shimmer champagne gold)
- Ron (Matte rose-taupe)
- Tropicana (Shimmer bright pink)
- Malecon (Shimmer bright aqua blue)
- Vintage (Matte coffee brown)
- Casa (Shimmer gold)
- Playa Del Este (Matte deep brown)
Here you can see swatches in two different lighting conditions. I was very impressed with the light shimmers. Miramar and Café con leche are stunners and can give the bold brands like Urban Decay and Kat Von D a run for their money. Nacional is a pretty holographic-esque topper that I really like. It’s sort of like a subdued version of Urban Decay’s Fireball – it looks best as a topper – it doesn’t stand up well on its own. I also really like Tropicana (the bright pink shade). The rest of the palette is very tame, and definitely more for those who prefer a more natural look. A few of the shades were major letdowns for me. I was excited to try Malecon (a bright shimmery blue in the pan) only to be disappointed by the color payoff. The browns were a bit too yellow for me, and I felt that overall there were too many light shades in the palette.
So what’s the verdict? The Cargo Havana Nights eyeshadow shades were easy to blend, there was moderate fall-out, and the color payoff was not great (with the exception of the light shimmers). I think this would be a great palette for beginners or those who want a more neutral, office-friendly look.
