{ Review + Swatches } Lorac Mega Pro Palette

This is the time of the year where many makeup brands come out with their limited edition holiday goodies. None have really caught my eye so far except for Lorac's Mega Pro Palette, but even so, I never really intended to purchase it just because I have too many eyeshadows to last my lifetime as it is. It was not until I was just randomly browsing on Amazon that I saw it was available. I knew it was a limited edition sought after product and being a huge fan of Lorac's eyeshadows, I caved in. Luckily I did because it's actually sold out on both Amazon and Lorac's website at the moment. I heard they still have shipments coming in so if you're interested in making the purchase, bookmark these sites and keep refreshing!

Lorac announced that this new 32 eyeshadow holiday palette was going to be sold exclusively on their website and Amazon. The Mega Pro Palette contains 16 matte and 16 shimmer shades. The quality and texture of these eyeshadows is the exact same as their two pro palettes. They are extremely pigmented and buttery to touch but also powdery. Not chalky-dry powdery but powdery because of the very delicate soft formula.

The eyeshadow palette predominantly contains warmer shades but also a hint of cooler colours as seen mainly in the second row. I prefer warmer toned eyeshadows so this was a plus for me. The Mega Pro Palette basically feels like two pro palettes in one. The layout of the eyeshadows and finishes are very reminiscent to that of the previous pro palettes. The first two rows of the Mega Pro Palette are matte eyeshadows with the shimmer eyeshadows being placed in the third and fourth rows.

Packaging is also virtually identical to Lorac's previous pro palettes. It has the same matte rubberised material and is very thin and sleek. I added a photo of the two previous pro palettes with the Mega Pro as size comparison. As you can see, two of the older pro palettes basically equates to the Mega Pro when it comes to size. All pro palettes contain a decent sized mirror and has a magnetic closing.

Lorac Pro vs. Lorac Pro 2 vs. Lorac Mega Pro

One very important question is, are there any eyeshadow repeats? Yes. The Mega Pro also contains the shades "Cream" and "Espresso" which are some of the matte eyeshadows in the Lorac Pro palette as well as "Black" which is already in both the Lorac Pro and Pro 2 palettes. Seeing that there are only 3 repeat shades, I personally think the Mega Pro is definitely worth investing in if you love Lorac's eyeshadows or want to try Lorac's eyeshadows for the first time.

I absolutely adore the shades available in the Mega Pro but I do have one disappointment. I feel that there are two too many "black" shades in the palette. There's "Black", "Indigo" and "Caviar" which I think all swatch very similarly. Yes, "Indigo" does have that flash of purple glitters on top of the matte black shadow but it doesn't show up very well when applied. I was really hoping for this eyeshadow to work but the purple glitters unfortunately didn't bind very well on the eyeshadow and therefore gets lost when applied on the skin.

Mattes:

Shimmers:

Pros:

• Great selection of eyeshadow colours
• Very lightweight and sleek packaging
• Doesn't take up a lot of storage space
• Easy to travel with
• Smooth, buttery and fantastic pigmentation
• Nice range of warm and cool tones
• Long wearing

Cons:

• Limited edition, difficult to get your hands on it
• Too many "black" shades
• Soft formulation makes some shades powdery and messy to use
• A few are repeated shades from the previous two pro palettes 

 

The Mega Pro Palette retails for $59USD but for those in Australia, I purchased mine for around $78AUD (includes shipping) from Amazon and it only took 7 working days for it to arrive! 

What do you think of this palette? I personally think it would make an amazing gift for any makeup lover or for yourself if you're the makeup junkie!

xo Laura

* Disclaimer: This is a non-sponsored post and I am in no way affiliated with Lorac Cosmetics. The product mentioned was purchased with my own money and as always my reviews are 100% my honest opinion *

{ Review + Swatches } Too Faced Chocolate Bar Eyeshadow Palette

Ok, I admit I don't need any more neutral eyeshadow palettes but how could I pass up on a chocolate bar shaped palette that actually smells like the sweet delectable goodness itself! The palette comes packaged in the cutest cardboard box which is very reminiscent of a candy wrapper. I definitely have to give it to Too Faced for this one of a kind concept. I don't own any Too Faced eyeshadows so this palette was the perfect excuse!

The palette itself is made of a tin-like material, similar to that of the Urban Decay Naked 2 palette. I don't know if it's just my palette but the hinges which open and close the palette seem quite loose which makes the palette not feel very sturdy. The palette is thicker in depth and hence bulkier compared to the Urban Decay Nakeds as well as the Lorac Pro Palette.

There are 16 eyeshadows included with shades of warm browns, flirty pinks and plums ranging from matte, satin/shimmers and glittery finishes. Too Faced claim that these eyeshadows are "pigmented with pure, antioxidant-rich cocoa powder". Immediately when I opened the palette, I get a waft of sweetness. At first I didn't get that punch of intense chocolate that I was expecting. It just smells like really really sweet chocolate. I actually don't mind the scent now. It really wakes me up when I use it in the morning!

I absolutely love the delicious names of each of the eyeshadows- Gilded Ganache, Black Forest Truffle, Salted Caramel, Champagne Truffle. Ahhhh.....I am seriously salivating!

I think Too Faced was smart in making their 2 cream highlight shades larger in comparison to the rest of the eyeshadows as they are used in basically every eye look. My honest first impression of the palette was that it just lacked pigmentation when I compared it to my other neutral eyeshadow palettes. I was a bit let down but of course I just had to use the least pigmented shade when I first played around with it. After more weeks of getting used to the palette and playing around with it more, I believe the matte shades performed the best. They are soooo smooth, buttery and so easy to apply and blend out. The satin/shimmery shades are pretty average- they are pretty but I wished they were more pigmented and vibrant. Oh, and surprise surprise the eyeshadows which contain chunks of glitter ended up being my least favourite. I really think these types of eyeshadows should be banished! Nothing annoys me more than getting glitter fall out all over my foundation ready face!

Now let's do a breakdown on all of the eyeshadows!

First Row:

• Gilded Ganache: Dark brown with a golden sheen and gold microglitters
• White Chocolate: Matte yellowish cream
• Milk Chocolate: Matte medium brown
• Black Forest Truffle: Brownish burgundy with gold microglitters
• Triple Fudge: Deep brown-black

Middle Row:

• Salted Caramel: Matte light camel brown
• Marzipan: Satin pinkish champagne
• Semi-Sweet: Matte deep brown
• Strawberry Bon Bon: Matte light pink
• Candied Violet: Sheer blue-violet with light pink microglitters (THE WORST PERFORMING SHADE! Took so many swipes to achieve the swatch below! What makes me more sad is that it could've been such a beautiful unique colour!)
• Amaretto: Satin plum-y brown

Last Row:

• Hazelnut: Satin deep bronze
• Creme Brulee: Satin light gold
• Haute Chocolate: Satin light bronze
• Cherry Cordial: Deep burgundy brown with slight microglitters
• Champagne Truffle: Satin pinkish white

Here are the swatches! I did about 2-3 swipes for each with the exception of Gilded Ganache, Black Forest Truffle and Triple Fudge which I probably swiped 4-5 times and Candied Violet which I had to swatch 5+ times!!

L-R: Gilded Ganache, White Chocolate, Milk Chocolate, Black Forest Truffle, Triple Fudge, Salted Caramel, Marzipan, Semi-Sweet

 L-R: Strawberry Bon Bon, Candied Violet, Amaretto, Hazelnut, Creme Brulee, Haute Chocolate, Cherry Cordial, Champagne Truffle

What do you think of this palette? To me, it's a nice palette overall but nothing that really blew me away. It's nice to have but not a must. Like I said previously, the matte shades are absolutely amazing and pigmented but the rest of the eyeshadows are pretty average. Just their overall finish, application and pigmentation was a little lacklustre. When comparing it to Urban Decay eyeshadows or the Lorac Pro palette, this palette is just not up to par. These Too Faced eyeshadows are just not as smooth, buttery or vibrant as I would've hoped unfortunately. I might try applying an eye primer or using it wet to enhance their pigmentation in the future.

Pros:

• Cute and super unique packaging- lovin' the chocolate bar design!
• Nice range of neutral shades with hints of pink and purple
• Chocolate scented eyeshadows- a bit gimmicky but I admit, kinda works :p
• Gorgeous pigmented and buttery matte eyeshadows
• Cutest eyeshadow names
• Larger highlight shades provided- both are amazing

Cons: 

• Satin/shimmer eyeshadows perform very average. Wished it was more vibrant and pigmented
• Glitter eyeshadows produce glittery fall out. They perform okay on the lids but Candied Violet was a complete dud
• Palette is quite thick in depth and slightly bulky hence may not be good for travelling
• Loose feeling hinges on the palette- makes it feel less sturdy

xo Laura

* Disclaimer: This is a non-sponsored post and I am in no way affiliated with Too Faced Cosmetics. The product mentioned was purchased with my own money and as always my reviews are 100% my honest opinion. *

{ Review + Swatches } LORAC Pro Palette

Wow! Long time no blog. I'm done and dusted with my final exams EVER for about a month now...so no more excuses to not blog I guess? Eeeepp. I've got a heap of beauty reviews planned but finding the time to do it all has been a bit hard! :( Sorry for not keeping my blog updated for what seems like eternity!

Anyway, onto my first review of November (YAY! BIRTHDAY MONTH!). Introducing my new favourite palette and dare I say possibly even better and currently more loved than my UD Naked Palettes! Say whaaaaattt! Yes. The Lorac Pro Palette has been on my wishlist for a long time now after seeing ItsJudyTime and Shaaanxo rave about it. The main reason for not getting it sooner was because I had no idea how to get it seeing that I live in Australia and we sadly don't have Lorac in stores :( I was definitely not willing to pay ridiculous amounts on eBay either. Ohhh they joy once I found an online store that stocked it and would ship to Australia!! I got it from Tarazz but now that I'm scrolling through the site, it seems that the palette is out of stock at the moment :( Oh well, keep it in your tabs just in case it pops up again!

The palette itself is very sleek, thin and comes with a decent sized mirror. If you're familiar with the texture of UD Naked Basics palette or UD Vice palette, then the texture of the Lorac Pro palette itself is very similar. Kind of like a matte rubbery feel prone to a ton of fingerprints. It also comes with an eye primer too. I've used it a couple of times and it seems alright. Does the job but not overly special.

As you can see from the above picture, there are 16 different shades and what I absolutely adore about this palette compared to my UD Naked 1 & 2 is that there is an even distribution of matte and shimmery shades! OMG...can this palette get any better?! <3<3 I can do a variety of eye looks using this one palette whether it just be a simple everyday look using just the matte shades on top or a more glamorous eye, incorporating more of the shimmery and deeper shades.

I've never tried Lorac products or eyeshadows before until the Pro palette and must say I'm super impressed so far on the quality of these shadows. They are incredibly buttery and easy to apply and blend, very pigmented, long lasting and produce hardly any fall out. Barely anything bad to say about this palette but I guess if I had to point out a negative it would probably be the material used for the palette because it can get very dirty very quickly :( And possibly also instead of having both the shades 'Cream' and 'I.T Pink' which are pinkish toned matte shades, swap it with a matte greyish taupe shadow. 

Here are some close up shots of the shades & the swatches (seriously, these swatches don't do the shadows any justice...wahhh T_T)

Pros:

• Very buttery and silky in texture 
• Easily blended
• Great distribution of matte and shimmery shades
• Great colour pay off
• Long lasting even without primer
• Good price for the amount and quality of eyeshadows - I purchased it for ~$55 exc. shipping
• Many eye looks for any occassion can be created by using this one palette
• Hardly any fall out and not powdery or chalky
• Would be awesome to travel with as it takes up very little room, incredibly thin and sleek

Cons: 

• Case can get easily dirty

Thankyouuuu for reading. Hopefully a new post sooner than later ;)

xo Laura

 

* Disclaimer: This is a non-sponsored post and I am in no way affiliated with Lorac Cosmetics. The product mentioned was purchased with my own money and as always my reviews are 100% my honest opinion. *