First Look| LORAC Pro Palette 2

I had enough self control to buy the Lorac Pro Palette 2 ($42) at Ulta on the store release date (6/29) rather than ordering online in the middle of June. At first I told myself that it would be too cool. It would be another Vice 2 (beautiful colors that don't go well together). It wouldn't change my life like the first one did. It would be too powdery. Blah blah blah, excuses.

But you know what? I was half way right.

Top Row: (Mattes) Buff, Lt. Brown, Cool Gray, Nectar, Plum, Navy, Charcoal, Black

Bottom Row: (Shimmer) Snow, Beige, Rose, Mocha, Chrome, Silver, Jade, Cocoa

In any case, I got my hands on it because I couldn't stop drooling over the beautiful shades on the bottom left of the palette. F*ck the Navy shade, right?

These pictures capture the shades true to life but don't really do justice to the row of shimmer. They are very fine and don't contain chunks of glitter, nor do they overwhelm your lids.

I was skeptical about the Cool Gray and Nectar (as they are more friendly toward cool toned gals) but they don't seem to make my eyes look tired or irritated. Light Brown is also amazing for blending in the crease and more neutral than "Taupe" in the original Pro Palette.

 Now for the shameless selfies. I'm wearing MAC Studio Fix Powder on top of Laneige BB Cushion in 23 Sand Beige, in case you're wondering. For this simple every day look I used Chrome on the lids and blended out with Light Brown with a bit of Beige in the inner corner. 

With these shades it's very easy to create every day looks that are neutral and subdued. For me, cool toned shades work well to mute my lids meaning that this palette pairs well with intensely bright lip colors.

 

Here are swatches (two passes, no primer) in natural daylight.  I was afraid that many of these shades wouldn't show up on my skin, but they are so pigmented that every shade shows up on my NC35 (with the exception of Buff.)

Take a closer look at the shimmers. Absolutely stunning, right?? I didn't find major fallout with any of the shimmer shades, even if they kick up in pan. I like Beige or even Snow in the inner corners of my eyes.

 The mattes are great transition colors or day time appropriate shades for cool toned girls, but that Navy? Super buttery. The mattes are very soft meaning you might experience fall out (I did with the Black shade) if you aren't careful. Still, it's not offensive to the point where you have to redo your base makeup afterwards.

Now for the ever seedy looking swatches taken with flash.You can really see the shimmer being brought out at night. A word to the wise: these shimmers work best if you use only one or two on the lids. I found that things can get muddy very quickly if you try to stack multiple ones together in the same space.

  As for the mattes, I found them to be leaning cool to accomodate those who found the first Pro Palette much too warm for their liking. That's not to say these shades were unflattering on me, but they don't have that warmth I enjoy in my crease.

 Let's go over the strong and weak points of this palette for my personal taste. I don't want to say pros and cons, as the overall palette is very similar in terms of quality to the first. 

Strong points: 

1. Very soft and buttery shadows that never drag or skip on the lids. None of them are chalky or dry.

2. A variety of colors that are neutral enough for me to use on a daily basis and intense enough to finish off night looks.

3. A great investment in shadows ($42 gets you 16 shades) 

4. The shadows are intensely pigmented without the shimmers being garish and OTT.

Weak points:

1. The matte shades are cooler toned than I prefer.

2. Since the shadows are very soft, some fall out happened with the darker matte shades. They also kick up in pan.

3. I found that these shadows last only around 9 hours with the included primer (boo fuckin hoo, right?) The original palette's shadows adhere much longer to my lids which are neither oily nor crepey. What's going on?

4. Some of the colors when blended together can look muddy. It's best to use only one shimmer on the lids and one matte in the crease.

In general, I find that Lorac Pro 2 is the side bae and Lorac Pro original is my main chick. When I want to play up my lips, I'll leave it to the taupe-y neutrals in this palette to tone down my eyes. For every day, the bottom left of this palette makes wonderful "slap and dash" washes of color.

xo Be