Lorac Pro 3 Palette Review

I asked for the Lorac Pro 3 this Christmas and was so excited to find it waiting for me under my Christmas tree! I feel like this palette got practically zero attention when it first came out which surprised me given the popularity of the Lorac Pro 1 and 2 and the Mega Pros.

I only have one other Lorac palette (my beloved 'Unzipped' palette, check my review out HERE!), but was seriously drawn to the Pro 3 because of its beautiful range of neutrals, particularly that gorgeous sandy color, 'Terracotta.' As a student Physical Therapist, my makeup looks at work stay nice and neutral, so I was craving another palette with pretty light neutrals while being a little less basic than my Naked palette.

The Lorac Pro palettes come in a super thin and sleek cardboard packaging lined with a matte soft touch finish. I love the feel of this thing and I like how no frills the packaging is (no wasted space of a brush holder!). The mirror on the inside is not full size, but I rarely use mirrors inside palettes anyway (except for the AMAZING Stila Eyes are the Window Palette). 

The top row of this palette is composed of all matte colors while the bottom row is all shimmers. Lorac wins for the most original shade names ever including 'Pink Nude,' 'Dk. Brown,' and 'Jet Black.' Hey, no judgement here. I appreciate simplicity.  Let me just say that I feel really inspired to do my makeup when I open this palette up. I love that there are multiple options for an all over base color with a ton of options for a crease and transition color. I could do a super warm eye look using clay and terracotta or a cooler look using cool taupe. The shimmer colors also present me with a ton of possibilities for my lid, inner corner, and options to smudge on my lash line.

I'm sorry to say that there are some misses within this palette. I don't like the consistency of the white color 'Blanc' all that much as I find it quite chalky. 'Canvas' and 'Pink Nude' also take a while to build up, but I think the payoff is worth it. The other mattes are easy to work with and leave a fantastic payoff behind. I find these colors are easy to blend and use and the color I was most excited about, 'Terracotta,' is the perfect shade of baby poop brown that I've been searching for. It might not sound that appealing to put on your face, but this color is incredibly flattering for many different eye looks.

Above are the shimmers in the bottom row of the palette and they are beautiful. The biggest miss in this palette is the color 'Medallion,' third color in the bottom row (third from the bottom in this picture). It is a chunky, glittery mess and I'm unsure if I'll be able to make it work on the lid. The deeper shades (upper 4 in the top picture) are truly standouts in texture, pigmentation, and blendability.

After using this palette for about 3 weeks, I've noticed that it can be a bit messy and powdery. You'll have to tap your brush off a bit when dipping into the colors as they are quite finely milled and powdery.  I'll also mention to be careful about layering these shadows on top of each other too much. I have an 11 hour work day and by the end, my shadows have creased a bit on the lid (even over eyeshadow primer). Otherwise, this palette has provided me with exactly what I wanted for my day to day makeup looks while working in a Physical Therapy clinic. I'm inspired in the morning to use this eyeshadow look to create as fun a look I can while still remaining in the neutral and professional zone. I would also recommend this palette for travel due to its fantastic array of colors and sleek packaging.

This palette costs $44 for 12 shadows (0.32g of product total) and includes an eyeshadow primer, and you can find it at Ulta, some Kohl's, and online at Amazon HERE!

What is your favorite Lorac palette?

xxSJ

Lorac 'Unzipped' Palette

My boyfriend surprised me this Christmas by giving me the Lorac 'Unzipped' palette. I have never mentioned this palette to him (and my long term lusting after it), but he said after much research, he decided this palette was the most 'Steph.' So sweet :) The guy has got a point though! The Lorac Unzipped palette is a no-fuss palette filled with rosey and warm pinks, browns, and burgundies.

The packaging is sturdy cardboard which closes with magnets. The palette is super thin and includes the 10 shades with no wasted space for a brush I'll never use. My one gripe is I think the mirror inside the palette could be a bit bigger! 

Undercover is a matte white with pinky tones to it. It is really pigmented and easy to place all over the lid and as a brow highlight. 

Unbelievable is a deep satin rose gold with purple smoke to it.

Undiscovered is a pure pale gold that shows up great on the lid for some sparkle.

Unreal is a gorgeous shimmery pink.

Unattainable is a satin mauve color with a taupey hue to it.
Unconditional is a mauve matte color that I've been using mostly as my transition in the crease.
Uncensored is a satin brown color which is warmer on the skin than it looks in the pan.
Unspoken is a matte brown color, nice for deepening up the crease.

Unbridled is the superstar of the palette in my opinion. It is a deep matte burgundy with crazy pigmentation. 

Untamed is a satiny brown with purple undertones and lots of sparkle.

Swatched on my arm above are the colors from left to right, top row first, then bottom row. The colors all are buttery soft with excellent color payoff. 

Here's a look I did using only shadows from this palette.  This is a more dramatic eye with thick black eyeliner, but I also used this palette to create softer eyes and pushed 'Unbridled' into my lash line for some soft smokey liner.

This palette is so gorgeous and great for anyone looking for a pink-hued neutrals palette. I think it is similar to the Naked 3 palette but I find more inspiration when looking at this palette than I do at the Naked 3. This palette is $42 for 10 very wearable eye shadows and can be purchased on Amazon, at Kohl's, Ulta, or loraccosmetics.com.

Check it out on Amazon Here!!

xxSJ

Dior 5 Couleurs Eyeshadow Palette in 'Victoire'

I received another Dior 5-couleur palette for Christmas this year and I'm so in love! Santa knows that I am on hot pursuit of pretty purple eyeshadows and that my other Dior palette in the color 'Grege' (check out that review here) is one of my go-to eye looks.  I received this luxury palette in the color 'Victoire:'

Stunning. Seriously, stunning. Dior has changed the packaging slightly since I bought my last palette. The casing is slightly thinner and lighter.  It honestly feels a bit cheaper, which is a bit of a let down, but I do like that the palette is a bit sleeker now for traveling or stashing in your purse.  The full size mirror on the inside is plenty sizable for using on the go and the brushes included are a sponge tip applicator and then small duo ended 'brush' of not so good quality. 

'Victoire' is a purple-hued palette that leans cool toned and is really wearable.  I find Dior shadows to be soft to the touch while not kicking up too much powder. I think the pigmentation is perfect for my preferences being that it is easy to layer these products as well as blend them out. 

Here are the swatches on top of UD primer potion. From left to right is top left, top right, center, bottom left, bottom right.  The way the palette is supposed to work is that the top 3 colors work as a trio and the bottom 3 colors work as a trio.  I prefer to just do whatever I want but it is helpful for there to be some method to the madness if you need some direction.  

The top left color is a gorgeous purple taupe that I find quite unique. It is a versatile shade that could be used on the lid or in the crease. The top right shade is an opalescent white shimmer. I like this shade as I think the glitters are quite striking and it works wonderfully as an inner corner highlight. The center shade is a really nice satin grayish plum color that reminds me of a deeper version of colour pop's Bill.  The bottom left is a satin pink color that I was disappointed in when I swatched it, but on the lid I found the color to lean more pink (whereas the swatch appeared very stark white).  The bottom right shade is a stunning matte eggplant shade that I found surprisingly easy to blend and work with despite its high pigmentation.

The eye look I created used all of the colors in this palette. No other shadows were used! I applied the middle shade in my crease as my transition shade and I packed the light pink color all over my lid concentrating on the inner third. The upper left shade was packed on the outer third of my lid and blended a bit into my outer crease for depth.  The bottom right color was blended into my outer v to darken the look up a bit.  I used the white color on my brow bone and inner corner.  I also used the middle color and deep eggplant color under my lower lash line.

I really love this palette as I think the purples inside are easy to work with and very wearable.

These palettes are $62 for 0.21 oz of product.

xxSJ

Tutorial Try-It: MakeupbyTiffanyD's 'Sexy Shimmer Date Night' look!

Tiffany D is one of my favorite youtubers because she does makeup looks that seem a little more achievable than your average beauty guru. She keeps it real with the highlighting and contouring and does tutorials creating looks that are actually wearable for an everyday woman! She posted this tutorial for a 'Sexy Shimmer Date Night' look yesterday that already has 33,000+ views. I chose to recreate this look because she uses shadows exclusively from the Naked2 palette which I actually own!

The products Tiffany used for this look were:

Naked2 palette (Foxy, Bootycall, Tease, Verve, Chopper, Busted, and Blackout)

NYX Jumbo Eyeshadow Pencil in Milk

Stila Stay All Day Liquid Eyeliner in Dark Brown (I used the color Black)

Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara (I used CoverGirl Clump Crusher

Ardell Whispies False Eyelashes (I didn't use fake lashes!)

The Naked2 palette! Filled with cool toned taupes and grays!

Here is the look I came up with after following Tiffany's tutorial:

 Overall I love the way this look turned out! The shimmer on the lids was definitely noticeable but it wasn't as bold as a metallic shadow pressed all over the lid. I also love her idea to mute the silver shade Verve by packing the pinky beige shade Chopper all over it. As Tiffany says in her video, it keeps you from looking like a robot!

Even with out the false eyelashes I think this look has some impact and drama. I love it for a date night and I could easily add false eyelashes to glam it up in no time. I also like that she didn't add any eyeliner to the lower lash line but instead smudged the plummy color Busted along the lower lash line for a smoked out effect.

As far as creating wearable looks that still hit the mark on drama and intensity, Tiffany nails it! Check out her video tutorial where she shows how to create this shimmery look and where my screengrabs are from! It's only 6 minutes long!!

Hope you liked this Tutorial Try-It!
Check out my other ones!
Allison Anderson's Sweater Weather look
Jaclyn Hill's Bombshell Look

xxSJ

Too-Faced Natural Eye Palette: An Unsung Hero

This Too-Face Natural Eye palette is one of the first palettes I ever owned. I find myself rotating through palettes quite frequently and every time I pick this one up after stowing it away for awhile I'm always in awe by the ease of use and quality of shadows inside! I thought I'd do a quick post highlighting why I love this thing and why it will always be an old faithful for me!

The color selection in the palette as the name suggests is very neutral. This palette includes my very favorite highlight, 'Heaven.' This matte soft white highlight is just so perfect to add some dimension to the eye. Particularly when mixed with this shimmer heavy palette, the matte highlight is the perfect touch.  I also LOVE the gray/beige crease color 'Velvet Revolver.'  It is a warm gray color that works as the perfect transition color for every one of the colors in this palette. 

The shadows are all a variety of textures with the upper row being mattes, the middle row being shimmers, and the bottom row containing chunky glitters. The negative I have to say about this palette is that the darkest browns are quite similar to one another. They only differ slightly in tone.

No matter the shadow combination you choose with this palette, it will create the prettiest, brightest fool proof neutral eye. I recommend this palette for beginners over the Naked palette simply because you can't mess these shadow combos up! Other palettes can be a bit overwhelming because of all the shadow combos you can create. With this small palette, you will create a pretty eye, every time. 

I always feel so pretty when I use this little palette and I usually get compliments on my eye makeup when I wear this stuff! This palette is $36 for 9 eyeshadows and is the perfect size for traveling. Trust me when I say this is the perfect set of shadows to add to your arsenal for a standby pretty eye. You'll feel pretty. You'll feel fabulous. Everyone will notice.

xxSJ

Stila Eyes Are the Window Shadow Palette 'Mind'

Stila is bringin' their 'A' game to the table, folks, so you best prepare yourself for what's to come.  Stila is a brand known for some of their cult favorite products such as 'kitten' eyeshadow and their all day liquid felt tip liner. Other than those few products, generally the brand has lacked a true following, particularly of the older demographic. With this in mind, Stila recently relaunched their eyeshadow palettes and have gone from cutesy and cardboard to sleek and beautiful. Presenting the packaging for their new 'Eyes Are the Window' Shadow palettes:

Gorg. I gasped when I slipped this out of it's glossy navy container.  This reflective palette is sleek and beautiful and feels so luxurious in my hands.  Though its made out of plastic, the palette definitely feels weighty and substantial when you hold it. It opens up to reveal a full size mirror on the inside:

Yaaaaaaaas. I love that this palette is all about the eyeshadows. No wasted space for a brush I'll never use or an eyeliner I'll take out leaving an empty cut out behind. 

The palette I got was the 'Mind' palette which features all matte colors.  This has mostly warm colors and I love the range of light to dark included. 

Swatched on my arm with primer underneath, I went down the vertical columns for the order of these swatches.  I at first was concerned as some of the shadows felt a bit hard and chalky and lacked pigmentation (particularly the lighter colors), but all it took was some rubbing away at the uppermost layer of shadow to get to the good stuff.  The colors were all true to what is in the pan (as I expected from matte shadows) and swatched beautifully on my skin.

If you are interested in the colors, there is a guide on the back of the palette as well as a little booklet included with the palette. The booklet also includes 3 different eye looks if this many eyeshadows is overwhelming for you to pick what colors to use at first!

The first time I used this palette, I wanted to go with a professional day time muted look so I used mostly the colors in the lower left area of the palette. I was tremendously surprised and excited by how warm the colors ended up appearing on my lids and by how easy they were to blend and use!

I think this palette is extremely versatile and unique given the range of matte colors you get in a single palette. If you like the shimmer, then this isn't for you, but for a warmer palette that will transition PERFECTLY into the Fall weather, this is THE palette to pick up!  This palette also comes in 3 other variations (Body, Spirt, and Soul) with slightly different colored packaging and different toned colors (including shimmers!).

This palette is $49 for 12, 0.51oz eyeshadows. For comparison's sake, Urban Decay's Naked palettes are $54 for 12, 0.05oz eyeshadows. You get quite a bit more product with these Stila products but the shadow formulations are quite a bit different from Urban Decay. It's all about what you prefer!

I am so pleasantly surprised and excited with my new toy! You know what else is pleasantly surprising? This:

Kitten in a pot!

xxSJ