Review: Lorac Pro Palette 3! (Swatches + Look!)

Third Time's a Charm!

Lorac... we meet again! I owned the Lorac 1 and 2 palettes but I sold them because I wasn't convinced with the formulation of the shadows. Call me crazy but when the Lorac Pro Palette 3 released I thought "lets give it a try, third time's a charm right?" and I was right! I thought I would never own a Lorac palette after not being impressed by the first two but these colors work so well! Before I continue to rave about it let me quickly give you the basics: it's $44 and I ordered it from Ulta.com.

It has a matte row and a shimmer/metallic row which is actually great when it comes down to creating a look. My issue with Lorac shadows is that they were so pigmented and powdery making them so hard to blend. Some of the colors would blend away and ain't nobody got time for that! I find that these shades are easier to blend and even though they're pigmented the colors are muted so it just works! I do have to build up some of the colors but I don't mind because I always end up loving the end look. These colors are perfect for looks you can put together in minutes! It's pretty much fool proof! Let's get into the swatches:

I already have favorites that I can't stop using like the mustard one and also the burgundy. These shadows last and they don't crease which is awesome! I have two looks below to share with you. I did a more everyday look for work and I wore a more smokey look for date night with my hubby. Both looks were so easy to put together and I love the subtle look of the colors.

Bottom line: I really enjoy this palette! As I type this review I'm so surprised because I haven't been a fan of past Lorac Palettes. This one is a keeper! I love the colors and although the formula is powdery I can still work with it. I don't tend to wear smokey looks but this palette inspired me with that burgundy shade and I love how it turned out! Nothing but great things to say about this one guys! :-)

Review: LORAC Alter Ego Dream Girl Eyeshadow Palette!

NEW From LORAC!

Last year I had my eye on the LORAC summer collection but never got to purchasing anything...shocker right?! haha. This year I came, I saw... I hauled! I purchased the LORAC Alter Ego Dream Girl Eyeshadow Palette on the Kohl's website for only $24. For being a higher end brand the price is pretty amazing! This palette is exclusive to Kohl's and the LORAC Website.

The colors are the definition of summer! They definitely caught my eye immediately! Packaging is extremely nice. It feels very similar to Nars packaging...fancy. ;-)

Here are the swatches! Even though the colors are all gorgeous the texture isn't consistent throughout the palette. My favorite shade is the copper/gold in the center. It's pigmented and really smooth. The purple wasn't the best, not much color payoff. Some of the shades were a bit crumbly in texture like the first shade. But for $24...you can work with it in my opinion.

Bottom line: Overall I really like the palette but it's not a favorite. I find that the limited edition LORAC palettes are not comparable to their permanent items like the Pro Palette or the Unzipped Palette. The shadows just don't feel the same and I think that's why my expectations weren't fully met. I also own the Urban Decay Electric palette so some of the brighter colors in this palette are in that one. If you want to play with color for the summer time and you want to do it on a budget this would honestly be a great choice! :-)

Review: Lorac Unzipped Gold Eye Shadow Palette!

All Gold Everything!

The original Lorac Unzipped Palette is one of my favorites! Then they announced the release of the Gold one and I was so stoked! It retails for $42 and it comes with a mini eyeshadow primer which is actually one of my faves. I managed to catch this palette on sale during an ULTA 20% off sale + I had some points to redeem so it ended being a fraction of the price. Gold is practically all I wear on a daily basis so the idea behind this palette instantly interested me. I've used it for a few weeks now and here are my thoughts!

The packaging is sleek and thin just like the original. I appreciate a compact palette because if you have as much makeup as I do finding storage space can be a struggle haha.

At first glance these colors are gorgeous! I love all the different shades of golds and the complementary browns. I did find that once I started creating looks I was dipping into other palettes for a good transition color because this palette is lacking one. The matte browns are a bit too dark to work as a transition shade. Of course you can mix in a bit of the matte cream shade but it's a bit tedious.

The matte shades are so smooth and super blendable! I'm really impressed by them. Now the metallic/shimmer shades are really pigmented but they are pretty crumbly. The two on the top row don't adhere too well unless you use a sticky base. The bottom three are way better in texture and are easier to work with. Unleashed is my favorite color in this palette, it's incredible! It's more of a pressed pigment. It looks so stunning on, instantly looks foiled (without wetting it!). Let's get into swatches:

Here's the first row! The matte cream shade is an essential color in this palette, love having it. The third shade is so unique! It's a peachy duo chrome with a golden sheen, loooove! Normally shades like these look cool in the pan but don't translate the same on the eye but this one does! 

The second row has more of my favorites! The first shade is a white gold, perfect as a inner corner highlight or all over the lid. The second one is more a true gold, not too yellow and not too orange... just right ;-) Then we have the rock star of palette right next to it. I barely touched that shadow when swatching, it's pretty darn pigmented! 

This is what Unleashed looks like on the lid! It's so intense, such a great shade!

Bottom line: This is a great palette for someone who doesn't already own a neutral palette. For me, I wasn't too impressed overall, I just thought a few of the colors were amazing and the rest were OK. My opinion might have changed if it had a good blending shade because I find the ones in the palette to be too dark. I'll still get some use out of it because I already fell in love with unleashed haha. I don't think it's the best palette but it's a great choice! It's also very different in tones from the original unzipped palette. The textures are better in the first one though in my opinion. :-) 

Review: Lorac Pro Palette 2 + Swatches!

The Cool Toned Palette!

I love when companies release palettes that are unexpected! Lorac did this when they came out with the Lorac Pro Palette 2. They slowly got us excited with sneak peaks and then BOOM! it was released at Ulta! The palette retails for $42 just like the first Lorac Pro Palette and comes with a mini Behind The Scenes Eye Primer which is pretty good! This is a more cool toned palette with more jewel tones when compared to the first palette. I was pretty excited when I started playing with it and here are my thoughts:

The top row is all mattes and the bottom is all shimmer/metallics. The left half is more on the neutral side and then you have all the darker, jewel tones on the right side. I was so intrigued by the plum and navy shades, specially now that fall is sneaking up on us!

The left side is full of a bunch of beautiful neutral colors, perfect for everyday use. The light brown shade looks amazing in the crease, so does cool gray. Rose and Mocha looks really pretty all over the lid. I found myself using that side of the palette more than the right side because sadly... the darker mattes are very difficult to blend.

I've tried using plum to add dimension but it's really difficult to work with. Plus, when you try to blend it you just end up blending it away with all the work you have to do. The same goes for the navy shade. Those colors are suppose to be the stars of the palette, in my opinion, and they aren't as good as the rest. It's a bit disappointing because without those you just have a regular neutral palette which you can find elsewhere for less. Granted, the Lorac shadows are an amazing formula as far as pigmentation! So the colors are buttery smooth and gorgeous but... some colors work better than others. Here are the swatches:

This is just one swipe over primer so the color payoff is great! But as far as performance there's an inconsistency.

 Bottom line: If compared to the first Lorac Pro Palette I would prefer it over this one. I don't have any problems with the first one and all the colors are consistently good! I was really excited about the color selection is this one but it just didn't WOW me. I won't return it because the neutral colors are stunning and different from the first one. But the palette as a whole is just lacking a tiny bit. At the end of the day I don't feel inspired to use it because of the outcome. Do you have the Lorac Pro Palette 2? If so leave your thoughts down below! :-)



Review: LORAC Alter Ego Lipsticks!

Embrace Your Alter Ego!

I was exploring Kohl's beauty section online and came across these brand new lipsticks by LORAC and... I immediately placed an order! haha. I thought the line had an amazing color range to suite every one's taste. They retail for $16 each so I decided to just get two to test them out. I loved the idea behind the line, each lipstick has a cute name, an alter ego, which with each color you can transform into! At first glance I loved the packaging! It's a sleek pewter color with the lipstick color on the bottom. Here's a close up of the packaging:

I love how simple it is, less is more! I love that these lipsticks are formulated with a lot of great things from antioxidants to vitamins. But even with all those good ingredients these don't translate well on the lips. I was a little bummed because for the price I was expecting to love them. The site mentions that these are a creamy matte formula which I agree with but the problem is that they emphasize all the nooks and fine lines on your lips. I don't have extremely dry lips but when I put these on it seems like I do. Here's what one of the colors looked like after I first swatched it:

You can tell from the picture that it's not as creamy as other lipsticks. Just like the product gathers on the top of the lipstick it also gathers on your lips and that does not look cute! haha. I feel like the magenta shade is not as bad as the pink. I wore it to work and it lasted all day. I didn't experience dry lips at all. Seems like the formula isn't consistent within the line. Here are my lip swatches:

I wore a lip balm underneath but that didn't seem to help with the lighter pink color.

*Heiress- a light pink and my least favorite. Because it's a lighter shade you can notice how dry my lips look. It gathered in the inside of my mouth and I just had to take it off immediately.

*Jet Setter- a deep fuchsia, a color I think I can make work regardless of the formula ;-)  I love the color and being that its a darker shade it doesn't look as bad on the lips. It was comfortable on the lips.

 

Bottom line: If you'd like to try any of the shades and enjoy a matte lip I would skip the nudes-pinks and go straight to the deeper colors. Jet Setter looked beautiful on the lips! I wouldn't repurchase any more shades just because out of all the lipsticks I've tried they are not favorite. I would suggest the new Wet n Wild Fergie Limited Edition lipsticks in Swerve and Cray Cray(similar shades to these) for about $4 each as an affordable alternative! Those are amazing and if you're interested in seeing them swatched check out my previous posts. Drugstore won this battle! :-)

Review: Lorac Unzipped Eye Shadow Palette!

A Palette With Beautiful Rose Hues!

As soon as I saw this palette I knew I had to have it! The colors were totally different from my other palettes like the Urban Decay Naked 2 so took a leap and purchased it! I'm so happy I did, the colors work so well with each other and there's a nice mix of shimmers and matte eye shadows. The packaging is adorable too! It's nice and thin and has a magnetic closure to keep your eye shadows safe. Once you open it you can see a nice sized mirror and the 10 supercalifragilisticexpialidocious eye shadows! ;-) I know that the Urban Decay Naked 3 palette is now in stores but when comparing the two I figured I would get more use out of the Unzipped. It has the pink tones, gold and copper tones too so I feel that this palette is universally flattering. And those matte shadows are perfect for definition and adding color to the crease!

Lorac produces great quality eye shadows. They are super smooth and buttery. Blending is also a breeze with these eyes shadows. I'm so excited to create some looks with this palette! It's perfect for work environments and even for a night out. Now with Valentines Day approaching this is the perfect palette to create that romantic date night look. Below I'll include some swatches and descriptions of each shadow.

First row from left to right:

*Undercover-  A semi matte cream (has a slight sheen)

*Unbelievable-  A rosy metallic

*Unattainable- A copper metallic

*Unconditional- A matte mauve (great crease color!)

*Unbridled- A matte brown with red tones

 

Second row from left to right:

*Undiscovered- A metallic light gold

*Unreal- A metallic pale pink (very pretty!)

*Uncensored- A metallic bronze

*Unspoken- A neutral matte brown

*Untamed- A metallic rich brown

 

Bottom line: If you want a twist to the typical neutral palette I definitely recommend this one! The rose tones makes the palette unique and perfect for everyday. You can create so many looks with this palette and that is one the things I love about it. These colors look awesome on the lid and those color names are just too cute! This palette is $40 and can be found at Ulta (or Ulta.com) and www.loraccosmetics.com. It comes with a mini Behind The Scenes Eye Primer which is great. So for the price I think this palette is a must have!