Lorac: PRO Palette- Shimmer & Matte Eye Shadow Palette

Lorac launched Pro Palette 2 just a few days back, so I think it's high time for me to stop procrastinating and share my thoughts on the original Lorac PRO Eyeshadow Palette. This palette is WILDLY popular among makeup lovers and if you are a makeup addict like me you know what a strong hype follows this palette. After using it for more than 6 months now, I am pretty confident in recommending it to you. This is one product that really lives up to the hype! I know by now you have heard, read and watched a lot about this palette! But here is my take.

It has a total of 16 neutral-hued shades; 8 matte and 8 shimmers. There are some deep purple, copper and grey as well but it is overall a neutral palette. It weighs a total of 0.32 oz. (8.8 g) and comes with a 0.19 oz. (5.5 g) Lorac Behind the Scenes Eye Primer. The regular price of this the palette is $42.

First of all, it looks very sleek. The outer box is of simple hard-paper, as usual. The actual palette is of hard-cardboard with black, smooth velvet-like material with a silver embossing of the words "Lorac Pro"; comes with a big mirror too. The palette is very thin in volume (just for reference, it is much thinner than NAKED palette). Hence it takes up a very little space and easier to put in your vanity or makeup bag. I have not travelled a lot with this palette but it definitely has a very well-built packaging. The fact that matte and shimmer are all in same palette makes it perfect for travelling. Minimalistic and effective design; it looks very elegant. But it is really hard to keep it clean, as stains catch on to the surface far too quick :-(

The quality of the eyeshadows is top-notch. They are pigmented, smooth in texture, very blendable; all very easy to wear! They are long wearing too! I don't see any major smudging or wearing off, even after 6-7 hrs. The matte shadows shows off as little powdery to me; I see very minor fallout with them at times but nothing too distinguishable! And I love the Behind the Scenes Primer. It looks beige in color, but on the lid it's clear. It is a great primer, more so with these shadows. I see the best results when I use the shadows with this primer as compared to MAC paint pot or Urban Decay Primer Potion. The shadows can be used wet or dry; they are certainly more vibrant and intense when applied wet. To use them wet, I just use a little bit of MAC Fix+ on the tip of my brush.

MATTE SHADES: I love how the shadow names are so crisp and accurate; the shades are just the same as the names suggest.

White: Basic white shade. It’s a little bit stark to use on my lid (for my skin tone). But it's perfect for the brow bone.

Cream: In my mind, cream is a color that comes from mixing white and beige :-) But this cream has a tiny hint of light pink mixed with beige. Can be used in brow bone or on the lid. People with paler skin tone than mine can definitely use it on the crease as well.

Taupe: Looks boring in the pan, but this is my most helpful and useful shades in the whole palette. This subdued middle-toned brown works as the best crease color for me, especially to blend colorful eye looks.

Lt. Pink: Just as the name, it’s a light pink color. A little hard for me to pull off, but I do love it and use it in the inside corner of my lid with colors like pewter and deep purple.

Mauve: This is another color that I adore a lot. PERFECT crease color for me. It’s a Rosy hued taupe color.

Sable: It’s a dark brown color. A basic color that every girl NEEDS. Very useful to put on the outer corner to get some dimension in my eye look. The next shade, Espresso is a bit harsh at times, but Sable is awesome for both daytime as well as nighttime looks.

Espresso: It’s a VERY deep brown color! Just the color you need when you want to sport a true smokey eye. I also use it ever slow slightly to create more depth on my outer V (Outer corner) and also on the lid.
Black: Basic black shade. Looks boring but it always is useful! It looks a bit more pigmented than MAC Carbon.

SHIMMER SHADES: I was hooked up on this palette because of the mattes, but ever since I got it, I have completely fallen in love with the shimmer shades. The colors are very lovely, blendable, pigmented and finely milled! I also feel the shimmer have none-to-very-less-fallout than the mattes.

Nude: Very lovely shade. Just a little bit of beige mixed with very light pink. I love using it, specially in the inner tear duct. It brightens up any look.

Champagne: Lorac describes this as a "Sparkle" whiles the others as "shimmer"; this has a very very tiny speckles but nothing too chalky. When applied it does not even show that much sparkle. Color wise, it’s not a lot different from Nude, just a little more deeper and more inclined to light pink.

Gold: I love to wear gold shadows. I think it looks flattering on my brown eye and tan skin. This is not an in-your-face gold eyeshadow. If you are not comfortable wearing brighter gold shadows like "Half Baked” from Naked palette, this light gold color is the shade you want to try.

Lt Bronze: It’s a toned down version of Gold above. Very nice color.

Pewter: This is a new name of color for me :-) It reads bronze to me. Very lovely taupe-hued bronze.

Garnet: For me, Garnet is the prettiest color in the palette, little hard to describe though. Its coppery hued reddish kind of shade. I really love the color and it looks EXTRA pretty when applied wet.

Deep Purple: This is a VERY deep purple, almost looks like a shimmering deep-brown on the lid.

Slate: It’s a shimmering grey color. I am NOT a huge fan of grey eyeshadow. But occasionally I love to wear grey smokey eye.

Now why I adore this palette so much...apart from great quality shadows, the fact that all the matte and shimmer shadows you need is in the palette makes it very versatile. You have basic browns and black and also nice shimmers like Garnet, Slate and Deep Purple. You can create subtle everyday look as well as very deep smokey eye! This was my very first real big eyeshadow palette. The shadows are easy-to-wear, great to travel with; if you are a beginner in makeup and looking for something to start with, I strongly feel this is the PERFECT palette for you. If you think it's expensive, I encourage to save up and invest on it; you will not regret it :-) Here are my customary pros and cons

Pros: 

• Matte and shimmers together; very versatile, all-in-one neutral palette.
• Travel friendly.
• Great quality eyeshadow.
• Absolutely amazing as "very first palette" for beginners.
• Awesome primer.
• Very sleek, well-built packaging.

Cons:

• The mattes are tiny bit powdery. But I have not had any crazy fall-out.
• The outer surface of the palette is kind of hard to keep clean. That is at times annoying.

COMPARISON with NAKED ORIGINAL: Any article about Lorac Pro will not be complete without comparing it to the Naked palettes from Urban Decay. Lorac Pro is always compared with the original Naked palette. So here it goes....

• Naked has only 2 matte shadows which, for me, means that I need the help of matte shadows outside the palette from time to time. But with Lorac Pro, you can create the entire look with itself only.  
• Naked now retails at $54, it weighs 0.05 oz. so you also get more products.
• It has 12 shades, all neutral! So I feel Lorac is more versatile with colors like Garnet and Deep Purple.

But, but....I did pick up Naked even after I bought Lorac and was happy with it. Naked palettes has some kind of charisma; I simply could not resist the temptation! They look familiar at first but I don’t regret buying both; I use and love both of them! I save Naked for special occasion while I use Pro on a more regular basis, as it’s easier to get the entire look using just the palette. So if you already have basic matte shadows, then Naked palette will be prefect for you. But if you are just starting out and thinking of venturing into makeup, than I highly recommend the Pro palette; it’s gonna be your best friend.

This is a permanent palette from Lorac Cosmetics; available in Ulta, Kohl’s, Nordstrom and Lorac Cosmetics. Share your thoughts if you already have the palette or I happen to inspire you to pick up this up :-)

Love

~Arrru