At first glance, it appears to have a satin finish, but the more it is blended out, the more matte the finish becomes. The sheen of the slight pearl included in it is very, very subtle. I was thrown by Urban Decay’s “matte-satin” description initially, but it really does make sense. The texture of this shade was slightly dry, so it tends to apply better with a fluffier brush and with light, feathery strokes. Desperation had good color payoff, and it was buildable to mostly opaque color on the lid. It’s good, just not perfect; the slightly drier texture made the payoff less intense and not as easily blended as the best of Urban Decay’s eyeshadows.
It's good, just not perfect; the slightly drier texture made the payoff less intense and not as easily blended as the best of Urban Decay's eyeshadows.
Product
9/10
Pigmentation
9/10
Texture
9/10
Longevity
10/10
Application
4.5/5
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This post takes a look at the first half of Urban Decay Vice Eyeshadow Palette ($59.00 for 0.60 oz.), which includes: Desperation (taupe brown with satin finish), Muse (deep sepia brown with multi-dimensional sparkle finish), Jagged (metallic black gold with shimmer finish), Blitz (metallic yellowg old with shimmer finish), Penny Lane (metallic peachy bronze pearl with golden shimmer finish), Junkie (dark green/blue pearl with golden shimmer), Chaos (bright blue matte), Occupy (metallic steel grey with multidimensional sparkle and shimmer finish), Unhinged (metallic electric turquoise with shimmer finish), and Black Market (jet black satin).
Muse is dark brown with multi-colored sparkle. The color payoff was decent, but it wasn’t fully opaque. It does have noticeable sparkle, which has a tendency to fall out during application. I’ve experienced less fall out with the new formulation during wear, but there is still some. Urban Decay Barlust is more metallic. Urban Decay Busted is very similar–just lacks the sparkle (which might be a good thing!). theBalm Silly is similar in color. theBalm Mahna-Mahna is richer, more red-toned, no sparkle.
Jagged is a sheer, olive-tinted, medium-dark brown with chunky gold and bronze sparkle/glitter. It had really dismal pigmentation–super sheer and very, very gritty. This had a ton of fall out during application, and it was a pain to clean up. It continued to have some fall out post-application. The color applied better with a brush, but it did need to be packed on a bit. This was the worst performing shade out of all 20 shades. It’s hard to dupe this shade, because I can’t quite tell what it’s supposed to be. Bobbi Brown Black Cocoa is darker. Urban Decay Cobra is similar, I’d say–has the olive/brown coloring. theBalm Sophisticated is similar to how it looks applied.
Penny Lane is a warm, light-medium orange with a peachy-gold metallic sheen. It was mostly opaque when swatched and went on smoothly. Milani Gold Dust is a smidgen yellower. Bare Escentuals Golden Iris is very close in color but less metallic. theBalm Mischievous Marissa is similar.
Chaos is a rich royal blue with hints of violet and blue micro-shimmer over a matte base. It had excellent color payoff, though it was a touch powdery. Bare Escentuals On the Rocks is purpler. Sugarpill Velocity is a touch bluer. NARS Rated R is bluer and lighter. MAC Cobalt is similar but inferior in quality. Inglot #388 is a bit darker.
Occupy is a dark gray with a bluish cast and silver and blue shimmer and sparkle. It had good color payoff, and it had a bit of sparkle, but it wasn’t too heavy to be particularly problematic. Make Up For Ever #147 is bluer. Revlon Neptune Star has chunkier sparkle. Illamasqua Android is darker and more teal-tinged.
Black Market is a brownish-black with a satiny finish. It had good color payoff and applied evenly. MAC Nebula is not quite as dark and has a stronger brown coloring. Bobbi Brown Black Chocolate is darker, matte.
If you have, say, three or four of Urban Decay’s major palette releases, you likely have shades that are somewhat similar to these (not all but some). Of course, if you have this many palettes, you’re also nearing 50+ eyeshadows! There is some overlap, so on that note, the most unique shades were Blitz, Chaos, and Black Market. The shades that have cousins or siblings would be Desperation, Muse,Junkie, and Unhinged.
The only disappointing shade out of this half of the palette was Jagged, which was a sheer, gritty mess of a color. It definitely was better when I used it on the lid, but it was still a pain to work with because of all the fall out during and after application. The majority of the shades had really nice pigmentation, though Chaos was exceptionally lovely, while Muse was a little below the rest (but not as bad as Jagged).
Because I received this palette late in the afternoon, I have only been able to test four shades for wear (Echo Beach, Nevermind, Jagged, and Anonymous). I will be testing more shades today, so this review might be updated should the results fall below what my typical experience with Urban Decay’s eyeshadows is. The four that I tested wore for eight hours without creasing or fading both over bare lids and primer.
It’s packaged in a dark purple, rubberized plastic case with a raised jeweled “UD” on top. The bummer about the logo is that because it’s raised, you can’t easily stack anything on top of this, so it has to be on top or set aside on its own. There’s $216 worth of eyeshadows in here, and the double-ended brush would likely be around $20 or so. It absolutely is a value-packed palette at $59, when you’re getting ~$236 worth of products. For reference, BoS IV was ~$200 value, BoS III was ~$195, 15th Anniversary was ~$255, Naked Palette was ~$230, Naked 2 Palette was ~$234.
Overall, it's a good palette for the price if you like a variety of colors/neutrals and shimmery shades. There are a few matte finishes here, but it's definitely dominated by frosts and more metallic textures.
Product
9.5/10
Pigmentation
9/10
Texture
9/10
Longevity
9/10
Application
4.5/5
Login or Register to be able to add this to your Vanity or Wishlist! Plus rate and review!
Where to Buy
This product can be purchased at the following retailers:
Sometimes products are discontinued or limited edition, which means that a product may no longer be available at one or more retailers so you may need to shop around for those hard-to-find shades! We try to update products as they become discontinued, and if you discover a product has been discontinued, please help us help others by letting us know.
Disclosure: Temptalia uses affiliate links, which give us a small commission when you make a purchase (given to us by the retailer, at no cost to you). Your purchases help to support the site!
