FIRST IMPRESSIONS + EOTD┊Holiday 2014: ♕ LORAC the Royal Eyeshadow Collection ♕

 

⇥ AT A GLANCE ⇤

A set of 4 quads to create various looks fit for a Queen, Countess, Princess, or Duchess! Each color-coordinated quad has a mix of mattes and shimmers. Lorac's the Royal Eyeshadow Collection promises to be long-lasting, highly pigmented, and velvety smooth.

From top to bottom: the Queen, the Countess, the Princess, and the Duchess

⇥ THE BREAKDOWN ⇤

As previously mentioned, there are 4 quads for a total of 16 exclusive shades. Now they aren't named so I cannot confirm if they are all new--but by the looks of it, several are certainly dupeable even within the current offerings of Lorac eyeshadow palettes. They are numbered so refer to my swatches down below for more information on the shades. The Queen Palette contains 1-4, The Countess Palette contains 5-8, the Princess Palette contains 9-12, and the Duchess Palette contains 13-16.

Each palette contains 0.28oz/8g, for a total of 1.12oz/32g of product. The retail value of this palette is apparently $305usd but it can be yours for $38usd! Price-per-ounce-wise, you're paying $33.93usd per oz. Each quad has a value of $9.50usd.

⇥ INGREDIENTS ⇤

⇥ PACKAGING ⇤

I have mixed feelings on the packaging. While the velvet exterior reminds me of the Naked 1 Palette and feels very soft, I fear it will wear terribly over time. I'm not particularly rough with my makeup but I dislike how the velvet catches dust and eyeshadow fingerprints. Nevertheless, Lorac does not waste space with bulky packaging; each cardboard palette is sleek and compact with a magnetized closure. The mirror is useable for eye makeup--I can't see my whole face in it to do the rest of my makeup. It can't be propped up but I usually hold the palette in my hand as I do my makeup anyway--my nearsightedness requires I do so so that's not a minus for me. At least these are travel friendly!

Since these are individually packaged, you can break them up and make little gift baskets or stocking stuffers with a few other trinkets or as a whole, which seems to be the trend in holiday makeup this year.

⇥ FORMULA & FEEL ⇤

In a vacuum, these eyeshadows are pretty good for the price. For the most part, each shade is very blendable and pigmented. However, Lorac is famous for their eyeshadows and these are a letdown for a Lorac fan  like me. I own several palettes and none have disappointed me before until these. The Princess Palette (gold packaging with neutral colors) and the Duchess Palette (navy blue packaging with silver colors) are the most disappointing out of this set. They swatch okay for the most part but they take some work to build up intensity. The eyeshadows are hard and chalky--even the shimmers. I needed to really dig my brush in there to pick up color.

⇥ SCENT ⇤

This is probably a weird category to note for eyeshadow...I mean who smells their eyeshadows? #NoJudgement

⇥ APPLICATION & PIGMENTATION ⇤

As I hinted in the previous sections, two out of the four palettes were duds for me. Shade 10 in the Princess Palette, the shimmery gold, was really stiff and hard. I really had to scrape my brush across it to pick up any pigment. It requires many layers to build intensity. I ended up using my fingers to apply it on my eyes. Shade 9, the pale white, was also chalky and didn't really have much pigment. The shimmery white and matte gray in the Duchess Palette were also hard and lacked pigment. Even though the navy blue swatched a bit poorly, it had pretty strong pigmentation. It did blend easily--a bit too easily--to a whisper. The Queen and Countess Palettes were pretty good. The shimmery white in the Queen Palette was so-so but everything else was quite good. The black isn't an intense blacker than night kind of black but I definitely don't want something that pigmented when working with such a dark color. The Countess Palette has to be my favorite out of the four. I love pink eyeshadows and all the shades were the familiar creamy and pigmented formula I've come to love from Lorac. The dark green was a touch dry but was still quite pigmented.

As with all Lorac eyeshadows, they blend and adhere well. I don't get fallout with these as I don't use a swiping motion when I apply--I lightly dab and stipple the color on before I take a blending brush to windshield wiper motion across my lids. 

⇥ WEAR TIME⇤

I wear eye primer with all eye makeup looks, so I can't speak on longevity without eye primer. With eye primer, I got a good 6-8 hours before I took off all my makeup. I never feel the need to touch my eyeshadow throughout the day and while I did notice a slight loss in intensity and color, it wasn't completely gone or noticeably lighter.

⇥SWATCHES⇤

From Left to Right: 1, 2, 3, and 4

Shade 1 is a pearly white. It's quite sheer but can be built up to medium opacity.

Shade 2 is a shimmer pale pink. This is really soft and creamy. One layer was all I needed for the eye look down below.

Shade 3 is a shimmery burgundy. I love pairing this with pinks for a girly but fall-appropriate look. Again, this has excellent pigmentation.

Shade 4 is a matte black. It isn't the deepest black ever but I mixed it with shade 3 to deepen my outer corners in the look below. It's similar to the one in the Lorac Pro Palette.

PRODUCTS USED
Eye Primer|| Tarte emphasEYES Amazonian Clay Cream Shadow in Seashell Pink
Eyeshadow|| the Queen Palette
Concealer|| Skinfood the Salmon Dark Circle Cream Concealer
Mascara|| Revlon Grow Luscious WP Mascara in Blackest Black

From left to right: Shades 5, 6, 7, and 8

Shade 5 is a shimmery white. It has excellent pigmentation.

Shade 6 is a shimmery pale beige pink. This reminds me a lot of my MUFE Aquamatic in ME-54 but more pigmented and metallic.

Shade 7 is a shimmery cocoa brown. I love this brown in my crease as it isn't too dark to overwhelm the pale beige pink.

Shade 8 is a matte forest green. I don't have many eyeshadow like this so it's a welcome addition to my collection. It does require several layers to build up full opacity but I rarely need that kind of intensity. I used it wet as a liner in my look below.

PRODUCTS USED
Eye Primer|| bareMinerals 5-in-1 BB Cream Eyeshadow in Soft Linen
 (I forgot the shade name but I'm pretty sure it's this one)
Eyeshadow|| the Countess Palette
Eyeliner|| Rimmel London WP Kajal in Nude
Concealer|| Skinfood Salmon Dark Circle Cream Concealer in shade 2
Mascara|| Revlon Grow Luscious WP in Blackest Black

From left to right: Shades 9,10, 11, and 12

Shade 9 is a matte white. It was very hard and chalky. It requires a bit of layering to get the intensity seen below. The one in the Lorac Pro Palette is much, much better. I've never had much use for white eyeshadow before but I'm liking the stark highlight it provides for my darker looks.

Shade 10 is a shimmery gold. It was quite disappointing as it was the hardest eyeshadow in this entire collection. I had to scrape the top layer off to get some kind of color. This one would do better under a gold-colored base or something. It looks kind of muted after all the crazy blending I was doing below but I was too tired to touch up afterwards.

Shade 11 is a shimmery brown.This one (and the next one) redeems this palette entirely! It's soft and pigmented and just--love!

Shade 12 is a shatin dark brown. It isn't as shimmery as the others but there's specks of glitter in it.

PRODUCTS USED
Eye Primer|| Lorac Behind the Scenes
Eyeshadow|| The Princess Palette
Eyeliner|| Rimmel London WP Kajal in Nude
Concealer|| Skinfood Salmon Dark Circle Cream Concealer in Shade 2
Mascara|| Tarte Lights, Camera, Lashes 4 in 1

From left to right: Shades 13, 14, 15, and 16

Shade 13 is a pearly white. It is chalky and has poor pigmentation.

Shade 14 is a shimmery silver. This one has excellent pigmentation.

Shade 15 is a matte gray. It had bad pigmentation and felt really dry and chalky. Meh.

Shade 16 is a matte navy blue. It has decent pigmentation but blends out well.

PRODUCTS USED
Eye Primer|| Lorac Behind the Scenes
Eyeshadow|| The Duchess Palette
Eyeliner|| Rimmel London WP Kajal in Nude
Concealer|| Skinfood Salmon Dark Circle Cream Concealer in Shade 2
Mascara|| Tarte Lights, Camera, Lashes 4 in 1

⇥ BOTTOM LINE ⇤

For the price, I don't think this is necessarily bad. These shadows are quite generous and large--I think they're similar in size to the Unzipped Palette. If you're a fan like me, it might be worth getting this. However, there are so many other palettes out there that are amazing--the regular Pro Palettes do not contain a single dud in terms of pigmentation, blendability, and longevity. Colors are personal opinion but seriously, those are amazing and I highly recommend you to try those over the Royal Collection if you've never tried any Lorac shadows. These colors are highly dupeable and I will get to work on finding some for y'all when  get back :D

⇥ WHERE TO BUY ⇤

This palette is exclusive to Ulta. I'm not sure if it's online only or also in store.

Have you tried any Lorac shadows?

 Let me know some of your favorite palettes down below!

XOXO,

MWAH ♥

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Disclosure Statement: All products mentioned were purchased with my own money. I am not sponsored by any of the companies mentioned above and was not compensated for this post. All opinions are my own. Links are not affiliate links and are provided for the readers' convenience. I cannot guarantee that the product(s) will work for you. I do not approve or endorse the products or information available on these sites. Proceed at your own risk.