Urban Decay Vice Palette - Review and Swatches - Part 2

This is the second installment of my Urban Decay Vice Palette review. I have several other Urban Decay palettes, so I thought I would take some comparison swatches to see how close the Vice Palette shades were to existing UD shades.

If you didn't see my first post about the Vice Palette covering the basics about the palette itself and the individual shades, you can find it here.

Each of these swatches was done with a Q-tip on bare skin. 

On to the swatches:

Left to right: Bust, Desperation, Pistol

As you can see, Desperation is quite a bit darker than the two comparison shades; for reference, Desperation is similar in depth to Darkhorse. In terms of tone, it is closer to these two shades, as they all three are a mix of grey and brown. Looking at my swatches, I actually think these three shades could create a pretty look together.

Left to right: Twice Baked, Muse, Lost

Muse, like Desperation, is also darker than the two colors I chose to compare it with. Actually, Muse and Desperation are about the same depth. In hindsight, I should have swatched Muse with Darkhorse because they are very similar, with Darkhorse being a cooler, green-tinged brown and Muse being much warmer.

Left to right: Cobra, Jagged, BM's Couture

I have to say it again: Jagged is a crap eye shadow. I would love to know how someone uses this shadow successfully without having dark glitter flecks all over their face in less than an hour. In terms of Urban Decay shades, I find Jagged most similar to Cobra. The BareMinerals shade I used for comparison is from The September Issue palette, and it's what Jagged SHOULD be.

Left to right: Half Baked, Blitz, BM's Pret-A-Porter

When you compare Half Baked with Blitz, the bronze tone of it really comes out. I can also see the slight green-ish tone in Blitz that I mentioned in my previous post (am I completely crazy with this?). While Blitz is a really strong yellow-gold, it looks less-so compared with Pret-A-Porter, which is another shade from The September Issue palette.

Left to right: Chopper, Penny Lane, TF's Copper Peony

Penny Lane has a much stronger golden tone than Chopper, and, thankfully, doesn't have the silver glitter. It isn't as orange as Too Faced's Copper Peony (swatched from my Sweet Dreams palette), but that could be because of the strong gold tone on Penny Lane.

Left to right: Hijack, Junkie, Deep End

I love the depth of Junkie. For someone who tends to use bright colors as liners, it's a great color. It's bright enough to still be fun, but it's dark enough to make it more wearable. It's brighter in tone than Hijack and very similar in tone to Deep End.

Chaos

I don't have anything even close to similar to Chaos, so there really wasn't any point in trying. Instead, I've included a swatch here that was done with my finger instead of with a Q-tip (sorry that it is blurry). I'll say the same thing that I did in the previous post: I don't have experience with bright matte shadows like this, so I'll defer to the experts that have said that it is really good quality for this type of shadow. A base would probably be a good idea with this shade to make it look its best.

Left to right: Gunmetal, Occupy, Ace

The blue tone and multi-colored shimmer of Occupy really stand out when compared with Gunmetal and Ace.

Left to right: Deep End, Unhinged, Haight

This is probably one of the most dupeable shades in the palette. As you can see, it is very similar to both Deep End and Haight. Deep End is a little greener, and Haight is slightly deeper and more muted, but I don't think the differences would stand out very much on the eyes.

Left to right: Perversion, Black Market, Blackout

It's nice that Urban Decay decided to try another variation of a matte black, and Black Market is a nice color. I like the subtle sheen. However, when it's blended out, the sheen pretty much disappears, and it looks the same as Perversion.

Left to right: Bordello, Provocateur, YDK

Provocateur is more grey-toned than Bordello, and YDK looks very brown in comparison. Since Provocateur is a chunky glitter-bomb, I much prefer Bordello.

Left to right: Toasted, Rapture, Bordello

Another shadow that I should have swatched with Rapture is Rockstar, which is probably the most similar in depth. Rockstar is much warmer in tone than Rapture, and it makes Rapture appear to have a slight pink cast. For a company that has quite a few purple shades, Rapture is fairly unique.

Left to right: Psychedelic Sister, Vice, Gravity

Vice is very similar in depth to both Psychedelic Sister and Gravity. In terms of tone, it is between the two with Psychedelic Sister being warmer and Gravity being cooler.

Left to right: Woodstock, Noise, Junkshow

Urban Decay really didn't need to put out another hot pink shadow. The tone and depth is almost identical. The main differences are that Woodstock has much finer shimmer, Noise has slightly chunkier gold glitter, and Junkshow has a blue sheen. If you are a lover of hot pink shadows, you might appreciate the differences, but I personally don't.

Left to right: Pistol, Armor, TF's Nice Ash

Armor and Pistol are quite similar. Armor is a bit darker, more brown, and has more shimmer, but it isn't an extreme difference. I also threw in a swatch of Too Faced's Nice Ash, which is quite different.

Left to right: Nevermind, Suspect, Echo Beach, Verve

I cheated a little bit here because I was going to compare both Nevermind and Echo Beach to Suspect and Verve, so it made sense to me to compare them all together. Nevermind is a little bit deeper and cooler than Suspect. Echo Beach is a little bit deeper and much warmer than Verve. In my mind, these are sister shades. Someone else would probably say that they are close enough that you don't need both. Since these types of shades are my favorite (when people ask, I say that Suspect is my favorite eye shadow), I love having all four.

Left to right: Skimp, Anonymous, Foxy

Anonymous is a perfect highlight shade for my fair, neutral skintone. I hate how yellow Foxy is; I can't really use it.

Left to right: X, Freebird, Snatch

Both Freebird and Snatch lean towards Chunky. I've got Freebird on my lids as I'm writing this post, and I have fine shimmer under my eyes and on my cheeks from it. Snatch swatches better initially, but the glitter particles are larger, so they'll be more obvious when they fall off your lids. X is a clear winner out of these three. The color is similar, it isn't chunky, and the gold duo-chrome is gorgeous.

Left to right: Naked, Laced, Tease

This is a nice trio of soft crease colors. I know that people have complained about the quality of Tease, but I don't mind it. Naked is a nice warm brown, Laced is a pink-toned brown, and Tease is cool toned.

Final Thoughts

Some of the colors in the Vice Palette are easily dupeable and others are relatively unique. Like I said in my previous post, the people who are going to want to pick up the Vice Palette are going to be the hard-core Urban Decay collectors or those just starting out with their makeup collection. Those who already have several Urban Decay palettes who don't feel the need to have them all should be able to pass on this one without any regrets.

Are you passing on this one or picking it up? Are there any close shades that you can think to compare the Vice Palette shades to that I missed?

Urban Decay's Vice Palette - Review and Swatches - Part 1

I tried to convince myself that I didn't need this palette because I really didn't, BUT when the Urban Decay Friends & Family sale came around, I caved. What can I say? I'm addicted to Urban Decay palettes. The only thing keeping me from wanting any of the new Feminine, Dangerous, or Fun palettes is that I already own most of the colors in them.

If you didn't notice in the title, this is the first of two posts on this palette. This one will be a basic overview of the palette. I haven't used all of the shades yet, so this is more of a first impressions post that has been informed by my previous experiences with Urban Decay shadows. The second post will have swatches comparing the shades in the Vice Palette to other Urban Decay shades that I have (and a few other random shades that I wanted to compare them to as well).

If by some miracle you haven't seen anything about the Vice Palette, it costs $59 and contains 20 brand new eye shadow shades. It is a limited-edition palette. I would guess that it will start getting hard to find as it gets close to Christmas, but as with anything limited edition, that is all a guess.

The exterior of the palette is a sleek rubberized case with the initials UD raised with fake jewels. I like that it isn't as bulky as the Book of Shadows palettes that came out in previous years. I am dying to depot my BOS IV, but I don't have any empty freestyle palette space for those shadows yet.

The lid of the palette has a mechanism that makes it slowly lift up on its own after the release button is pushed. It's a fun feature, but it also keep the lid standing up at an angle. This a nice feature because it makes the full-sized mirror on the inside of the lid convenient to use.

On to the best part: the shadows.

Each shadow is .03 oz of product, which isn't quite full size (.05 oz). They are still a generous size that would take a long time to get through.

The only extra with this palette is a dual-ended eye shadow brush. I didn't take any close-ups of the brush, but it is similar to the one included in the Naked 2 palette. One side is a fluffy blending brush (that is slightly less fluffy than the Naked 2 brush), and the other is a flat shader brush (that is fluffier than the Naked 2 brush).

In each of the swatches that follow, the shadows were applied to bare skin with a Q-tip. After doing the swatches, I realized that the Q-tip didn't do the pigmentation of some of these shade justice. I was too lazy to go back and re-swatch all of them using my finger. The color description in parentheses is taken from Sephora.com (with a few adjustments made by me because I can't stand the inconsistency in capitalization and abbreviations).

Row 1: Desperation, Muse, Jagged, Blitz, and Penny Lane

Desperation - (greyish taupe brown matte-satin) - This is a good grey for people like me who are afraid of greys. It has enough brown in it to make it easier to wear for people who can't quite pull of a straight grey or a blue-grey. I've already used this as both a crease shade and as a liner shade, and I liked it for both purposes.

Muse - (dark reddish brown with golden and multi-colored shimmer) - I don't really see the red in the base color, but I would guess they described it that way because it is a warmer brown. I see a mix of red and gold shimmer. The shimmer is really fine, so there isn't going to be a lot of fallout issues.

Jagged - (matte black base with gold metallic) - This color is crap, plan and simple. I did swatches on my hand using my finger, a sponge-tipped applicator, and a brush (both dry and wet). I got decent color payoff with my finger and with a wet brush. It's actually gorgeous looking when applied wet. However, I'd be scared to use it on my eyes because of fallout issues. It looks like it has black shimmers that go everywhere! Not pretty. I'll wait to try it for an evening when I plan on playing around and not leaving the house.

Blitz - (bright gold metallic) - This is a true gold with really good pigmentation. Sometimes when I look at it, I think there is a slight green tinge to it as well.

Penny Lane - (bronze metallic with gold glitter) - This is a really peachy bronze color. I would say that it has shimmer, not glitter. It isn't chunky at all and has good pigmentation.

Row 2: Junkie, Chaos, Occupy, Unhinged, Black Market

 Junkie - (dark green-blue with gold shimmer) - The gold shimmer on this is really fine. It just about disappears when swatched.

Chaos - ( vibrant royal blue with very subtle shimmer) - This color swatched the worst with a Q-tip. It swatches much better using your finger, but the Q-tip swatch is more accurate to what you would get using a brush or even a sponge-tipped applicator. I have seen a lot of reviews that say this shade is amazing for being a matte base shadow, and I'll defer to them on that because I don't have any shadows like this in my collection.

Occupy - (dark grey-blue metallic) - In the pan, this shadow looks like it would be a gritty mess like Jagged, but, thankfully, it isn't. I would use this shadow before applying foundation and concealer though because it looks like it will give some fallout. What the Sephora description fails to mention about this shadow is that it has a lot of multi-colored shimmer that is absolutely gorgeous.

Unhinged - (electric turquoise blue metallic) - I would say that the Sephora description is spot on here. The finish is a gorgeous metallic sheen with no discernible shimmer.

Black Market - (dark charcoal black matte-satin) - This is a black that leans slightly grey and has a soft sheen. I actually like that they pulled back on this shade slightly instead of going for the blackest-black satin they could make. This seems like a much more useable shade for me than Blackout, which is so intense that I haven't attempted using it for anything other than as a liner.

Row 3: Provocateur, Rapture, Vice, Noise, Armor

Provocateur - (light greyish pink with lots of multi-colored glitter) - This is another dud shade in the palette. I love the color, but it is a chunky, glittery shade that has a ton of fallout. It isn't quite as bad as Jagged though because the base color applies a bit better.

Rapture - (dark greyish purple with multi-colored shimmer) - The shimmer is so fine in this shade that it comes across more like a metallic shade to me. I like the grey tone to it because it makes it look a bit more neutral.

Vice - (dark eggplant with subtle red shimmer) - This is an interesting color to me because it looks like it has a blue sheen to it. At the same time, it looks like a warmer-toned purple. I'm assuming that has to do with the red shimmer, that it really so subtle that I wouldn't have notice it if I didn't see it in the description.

Noise - (dark reddish-pink metallic with big gold glitter) - The description here is a bit deceptive. Saying that it has big gold glitter makes it sound like a chunky, crap shade. It isn't. The gold glitter flecks are large enough that they stand out, but they don't make this shadow a gritty mess.

Armor - ( greyish brown metallic with silver micro-glitter) - This shade is similar to Occupy that it looks like a gritty mess in the pan, but it isn't too bad when you actually use it.
 

Row 4: Nevermind, Echo Beach, Anonymous, Freebird, Laced

This row is definitely my favorite! I can see myself using it all the time.

Nevermind - (light taupe-brown shimmer) - I don't know that I would classify this is a taupe shade. It is warmer than what I would typically classify as a taupe. This shade is going to be a favorite of mine.

Echo Beach - (light wheat-champagne shimmer) - This is a golden-champagne shade as opposed to the pink-champagne of Sin. This is another shade that I will use regularly.

Anonymous - (light whitish-pink nude matte) - This is very similar to my beloved Wet n Wild Brulee. It's a great blending and highlight shade for me.

Freebird - (light peachy-pink with silver micro-glitter) - Freebird looks gorgeous in the pan. Sadly, it is slightly chunky when swatched. It is better than Jagged and Provocateur, but it still looks like it will be fallout prone. Proceed with caution.

Laced - (pinky-taupe matte) - This is one of the shades I was most excited about with this palette. I have been wanting more matte shades similar in depth to Naked to help blend out deeper lid colors, and this one fits the bill.

Final Thoughts

This is a fun palette with a good mix of shades and finishes. At about $3 a shade, it is a good value (and an even better value if you are able to get it on sale). It isn't a must-have because most of the shades aren't unique enough that you couldn't find a dupe somewhere (you'll see this in my next post). However, for those who are as addicted to Urban Decay as I am or for someone who is just starting to build their makeup collection and wants a good mix of quality shades, this is definitely worth checking out. Sephora is having VIB and BI sales in November, so that might be a good time to try and pick it up.

What about you? Were you able to resist the call of the Vice Palette or did you pick it up too? What are your favorite shades from it?