REVIEW: MUA "Going For Gold" Eyeshadow Palette

i know there are plenty of reviews of the MUA palettes all over the web but i had to do my own since well, i wanted to and this was my very first MUA eyeshadow palette.

i placed my first MUA order when they reached 35,000 likes on Facebook and had a 35% off sale and free shipping. how i did not buy one of everything is still shocking to me (see my haul here).

the "Going for Gold" Eyeshadow Palette (9.6 g) is £4.00 but i paid £2.60 which is roughly $4.11 CAD today (current exchange rate: 1 British Pound = 1.58 Canadian Dollar). $4.11! i had some restraint and only ordered ONE palette. i chose this one in particular because i've been on the hunt for the perfect yellow gold. the name of this palette has the word Gold in it so i was positive that it would be the answer to my search.

"Going for Gold" contains 10 medal-colored shades (gold, silver and bronze) in square pans which sets it apart from the other circle-panned MUA eyeshadow palettes. this palette is also limited edition since it was released in celebration of the 2012 London Olympics (which ended back in August so perhaps they made a few too many of these? ... not that i am complaining!!).

the palette comes in a rectangle plastic case. you can see the colors through the lid and it comes with a double-ended sponge-tip eyeshadow brush. the plastic lid is really easy to open - no breaking your fingernails - and it clicks shut.

this is the eyeshadow palette i've reached for most often these days. the one downside is that i really wish that there were a few darker colors in here. i have a monolid so i need a darker shade to pretty much draw in a crease where it should be. Shades 2 and 10 would be considered the darkest colors in the lot but 2 is still too light and 10 is too shimmery.

i find that the golds are more pigmented than the silvers. the silvers are actually a tad disappointing except for #10.
some special mentions:
#1 and #6 are the softest and least pigmented shades
#3 - antique gold
#4 - white silver that is rather chunky and uneven
#5 - orange gold
#9 - bronze copper; slightly patchy
all 10 are shimmery but # 7, 8, 9 and 10 have a metallic-y finish (#1, 2 and 6 are semi-matte)

my favorites are #7 and #8!

if you haven't tried MUA before, they are praised as being a low-cost, high-quality makeup company. so far, i am really enjoying their products (i've tried this eyeshadow palette and a lipgloss). i experienced hardly any fallout with this palette. they also lasted all day (with primer). there are some colors that are not that great but on the whole, it is worth it for me since i really like the gold shades. . i've checked the MUA website to see if they sold some gold eyeshadow singles but can't seem to find any.

do you own the "Going for Gold" palette? what have you tried from MUA and what would you recommend?