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!

Another neutral palette?! Smashbox Full Exposure Palette

I know I don't need any more neutral eyeshadow palettes, but they just seem to lure me in every time! My newest addition is the Full Exposure palette from Smashbox - a brand which I (surprisingly) have not ventured into until now.

I don't have too much to say about the packaging, it's nice and simple - the text on the front is holographic, and the packaging itself is cardboard, and slightly bulky. Regardless, it does feel quite sturdy; I often travel with larger palettes and have yet to break one! Touch wood...

I love how the colours are laid out in the palette, warm shades on the left, cooler tones on the right, and different finishes on each row. The top row of shadows all contain very small specks of glitter, except for the middle shade which is a frost finish. The bottom row are all matte shadows.

Top row (please excuse my blindingly fair skin!)

The shimmer shades aren't the most pigmented eyeshadows, but they all have a good texture, and have a consistent colour pay off. I've noticed that these shades apply best with fingers, as a brush seems to cause the glitter to fall out.

Bottom row

The matte shades definitely impress me, I love the shade selection, particularly the cooler shades. They aren't super creamy like some shadows (Urban Decay as an example) but they aren't chalky either.

Along with this palette, comes a double ended brush, and their Full Exposure mascara. The brush has a blending side, which is extremely similar to a MAC 217. The flat end of the brush has 2 different sides, synthetic and natural hairs, which can be useful for different shadow textures. The mascara reminds me of Benefit's Bad Gal Lash; the brush is quite large, but it doesn't seem to do too much for my lashes.

Overall, I really do like this palette, mostly because of the shade selection. I can definitely see myself using the matte shades very regularly.

If you have this palette, please tell me what you think!

Thanks for reading. x