Urban Decay Vice 3 Palette; review & swatches

Urban Decay is without a doubt my favourite brand for eyeshadow palettes. I'm not shy to colour, and I love a good creamy, pigmented eyeshadow. I already own the previous Vice palettes - I like the first more than the second - and the third is actually even more beautiful.

The packaging is very cool and eye-catching, though slightly odd as it doesn't quite match the others that say "UD" on the front. The palette comes in a nice little pouch that can definitely be used as a makeup bag, or just something to store the palette in, as I can imagine it could end up quite scratched, like the shiny gold YSL packaging tends to.

The palette doesn't have the funky button to open it like the previous, but it still opens nicely with a magnetic closure and a mirror that stands up - perfect for travelling!

The first thing that stood out to me is that the shades actually seem to be in columns of colours that might work well together, and the palette contains more neutrals than most UD palettes. I think having more neutrals is great, as it means that I can just use this palette, without needing to grab for blending or highlighting shades elsewhere.

Swatched in columns, left to right.

Truth, Undone, Downfall, DTF, Dragon, Freeze, Heroine, Brokedown, Vanity, Lucky, Reign, Bobby Dazzle

Alien, Alchemy, Bondage, Sonic, Last Sin, Angel, Defy, Revolver

As you can see in the swatches, the overall quality is great, as you would expect from UD shadows. I'm glad that there aren't any super chunky, shimmery shades in this, as they tend to leave a lot of fallout. A few of the shades are slightly powdery (mainly the lighter neutrals) but they're still very pigmented, kind of like Lorac Pro eyeshadows. Some of the particularly impressive shades are Dragon, Freeze, Lucky, Reign, and Sonic.

I can honestly say that this has become my current favourite palette, I can't stop using it, and I still haven't used every shade on my eyes, as there are just so many options! I would recommend this to anyone, as there are a great selection of warm, cool, natural and bright shades.

In the UK, I believe the palette will be released on Urban Decay on October 27th, and in stores that stock Urban Decay on November 1st.

Get it while you can!

MAC Brooke Shields: Gravitas 15 Pan Eyeshadow Palette

One of MAC's latest limited edition collections is the Brooke Shields collection. Initially I wasn't interested in at all, until I set my eyes on the beautiful Gravitas palette. Eyeshadow palettes are my weakness, and though I definitely do not need any more, I just couldn't resist the perfect selection of neutral shades in this one!

The packaging is the same as MAC's regular 15 pan pro palettes, but with grey plastic and an orange logo. These palettes feel very sturdy and look professional, they'd be great in a makeup artist's kit. The texture of the shadows is relatively consistent, but I find that MAC shades aren't as soft to the touch as some shadows, for example Urban Decay, though they do still have good pigmentation.

 (L to R)Top row: Pretty, Soft Brown, Expensive Pink, Clove, Satin Taupe

Middle row: Canter, Luscious, Antiqued, Pysche, Carbon

Bottom row: Shroom, Persuade, Plummed, Lofty, Pepper

Swatched with no primer on bare skin

There are quite a few very popular MAC shades in this palette, such as Soft Brown, Expensive Pink, Satin Taupe, Shroom, etc. If you don't already have those shades, I would definitely recommend this palette for you. For me, it has everything I'd need except for a matte highlight shade. A matte white or cream shade would have perfected this palette in my opinion.

The palette is £70, which is £5 more than the warm/cool neutral palettes they stock permanently.

The palette is sold out on MAC's website, but they may still be available at counters - I purchased mine at my local debenhams MAC counter. I've read that they may be available on the debenhams website "around the 9th of October", so keep a look out tomorrow!

Did you buy the palette?

What do you think?

Thanks for reading!

Bee xx