Violet Voss x Laura Lee Palette Review & Swatches
The Violet Voss x Laura Lee collaboration palette has received an enormous amount of hype, and I have to say that my curiosity got the best of me. If you've watched my Violet Voss Holy Grail & Drenched Metal palette review video, you know that I wasn't the biggest fan of the original two palettes. They weren't AWFUL, but they were very overpriced. Unfortunately for me, I didn't have much luck with this new Laura Lee palette, either.
The Violet Voss x Laura Lee Eyeshadow Palette retails for $45 on the Violet Voss website (although it is currently sold out). The palette contains 20 pans of eyeshadow with a total net weight of 36g of product. I'm not sure if it is a limited edition item or not, but I'm guessing that it is.
The outer packaging of the palette is almost exactly the same as the Holy Grail and Drenched Metal palettes. The palette comes in a white cardboard box, and the palette itself is a matte black, cardboard palette held shut by a magnet. The palette feels very cheapy and flimsy to me.
Now onto the actual eyeshadows. The color selection in this palette is very versatile. There is a nice mix of textures, from mattes to foiled metallics. There are some great highlight colors, transition colors, and darker colors that can be used as liners. I do think the overall eyeshadow layout was very well thought out.
Unfortunately, my praise for this palette ends there. The quality of the eyeshadows is disappointing, to say the least. The mattes are HORRIBLE. Patchy, chalky, stiff, not pigmented, not blendable...the list goes on and on. The super metallic, foiled eyeshadows are definitely the shining stars, but I don't feel like there are enough of them in this palette to justify the price tag.
Here are swatches of the entire palette:
Top picture taken in indirect sunlight; bottom picture taken in direct sunlight. Left to right: Basic, Sugah, Priss Pot, Mama Bird, Raga Muffin, Larlee, Tickled Pink, Hissy Fit, Bitty, 1988.
Top picture taken in indirect sunlight; bottom picture taken in direct sunlight. Left to right: Fleeky, Britches, Fried, Yoshi, Rammer Jammer, Alabama, Wiskers, Bubs, Smashlee, Lou.
Here's a list of every shade offered in the palette, and my personal opinion on the quality and performance:
1) Basic- Pretty much your basic matte, creamy white. Needs multiple layers for full pigmentation.
2) Sugah- Light, shimmery pearl. Semi-sheer color payoff and not very buildable.
3) Priss Pot- Matte, light peach. Not pigmented at all.
4) Mama Bird- Matte, medium burnt peach. Again, hardly any pigmentation.
5) Raga Muffin- Matte, burnt orange. Yet another one that lacks pigmentation.
6) Larlee- Duochrome, shimmering pearl to light pink. Semi-sheer color payoff and not very buildable.
7) Tickled Pink- Foiled, light pink. Very pigmented and opaque. Applies best with stiff brushes or fingers.
8) Hissy Fit- Foiled, medium bronze. Very pigmented and opaque. Applies best with stiff brushes or fingers.
9) Bitty- Foiled, medium bronzy copper. This is one of my favorites in the entire palette. Very pigmented and opaque. Applies best with stiff brushes or fingers.
10) 1988- Foiled, medium rosy copper. Another one of my favorite colors in this palette. Very pigmented and opaque.
11) Fleeky- Almost foiled, true yellow gold. This is a really pretty color with fairly good pigmentation.
12) Britches- Matte, medium brown. Lacks pigmentation.
13) Fried- Matte, medium brown with a green base. This is a very unique color to my collection. It's not a great matte eyeshadow, but it's not awful either.
14) Yoshi- Duochrome, sparkling taupe to green. This is another fairly unique color in this palette. Decent pigmentation.
15) Rammer Jammer- Metallic, medium burgundy. This one was fairly stiff and needed some building for full pigmentation.
16) Alabama- Matte, dark warm brown. Fairly patchy and needs building for full pigmentation.
17) Wiskers- Matte, dark brown. Needs to be built up for decent pigmentation.
18) Bubs- Matte, dark cool brown. Again, needs to be built up for decent pigmentation.
19) Smashlee- By far my FAVORITE color in this palette. This is a foiled, medium emerald green. Very pigmented, and such a unique color.
20) Lou- Satin, charcoal black. This color was fairly stiff in the pan, but the pigmentation isn't too bad.
I did want to make it very clear that these eyeshadows are not a custom formula created for Violet Voss or Laura Lee. These eyeshadows are made by a private label lab, and they do contain some less-than-stellar ingredients. That usually doesn't bother me, because generally private label palettes are fairly inexpensive (like Morphe Brushes, Coastal Scents, BH Cosmetics, etc.). I'm still having a hard time wrapping my mind around the fact that these eyeshadows are made in China by a private label laboratory, and Violet Voss is charging an arm and a leg for them. This palette DOES NOT even compete with brands like Urban Decay, Too Faced, or LORAC quality-wise, even though the palette prices amongst all of these brands are very similar.
Here are some comparison pictures of the Laura Lee palette against the previous two Violet Voss eyeshadow palettes:
Left: Violet Voss x Laura Lee Palette; Right: Violet Voss Holy Grail Palette
Left: Violet Voss x Laura Lee Palette; Right: Violet Voss Drenched Metal Palette
Also, if you want even more of an in-depth review on this palette, check out my review video:
Overall, I only like about 7 eyeshadows out of the 20 that are offered in this palette. With that being said, I really only LOVE 3 of them. Considering the price of this palette, the availability, and the quality, you're better off spending your hard-earned money elsewhere. That's just my honest opinion! ;)
xoxo Eshani a.k.a. TotalMakeupJunkie101
