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LORAC Unzipped (Original) vs. LORAC Unzipped Gold Comparisons

LORAC Unzipped Gold Eyeshadow Palette
LORAC Unzipped vs. Unzipped Gold Eyeshadow Palette (click to enlarge)

Hopefully these comparison images (make sure to click to see them in full-size resolution!) help anyone who was trying to figure out which palette was more up their alley or if having both makes sense. You can read the review for Unzipped Gold if you missed it! 🙂 Official release date for LORAC’s spring collection is January 15th!

When you have the two palettes side-by-side, the original is distinctly pink-toned, while Gold is just that, gold–warmer, more coppery/brown. Here are the shades I thought were most similar to each other, but they weren’t really dupes:

  • Unreal (Original) | Unpredictable (Gold) — the latter is more metallic and has a stronger peachiness to it, and it looks more like a duochrome (that peachy-pink that we often see) whereas Unreal has less nuance to it and is more beige. (See side-by-side comparison.)
  • Unreal (Original) | Uninhibited (Gold) — the two appear more similar when you look at the pans, with Uninhibited clearly lighter and warmer (less rosy beige), but Uninhibited swatches significantly lighter than it appears, which makes it even more dissimilar to Unreal in practice. (See side-by-side comparison.)
  • Undiscovered (Original) | Unleashed (Gold) — the latter is brighter, richer, deeper and more metallic, while Undiscovered is softer, more faded/muted. (See side-by-side comparison.)

LORAC Unzipped Gold Eyeshadow Palette
LORAC Unzipped vs. Unzipped Gold Eyeshadow Palette (click to enlarge)

57 Comments

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auroragyps Avatar

I know it’s probably a pain to do, but I’d love to see more collages of palette swatches. You do such an amazing job at swatching and it’s so nice to see a whole palette done in one pic.

Rebecca Avatar

Thank you so much for all that you do for us Christine! The swatches are amazing! What I love the most, is when you add a look or two you did with the palette as well. We appreciate your time and effort <3 you're our HG for makeup insight! xxx Happy new year!!!

toya Avatar

Thanks for the side by side comparison of both palettes. From looking at your photos, I find the gold palette swatches to be very dupable with single shadows I already have. I saw your comparison to MAC nylon, amber lights and all that glitters, so many of us have those shades. I thought the original unzipped was more unique with its rosy golds at the time of release. Unzipped Gold is more a collector’s palette to me.

Nicole Avatar

I still like both! The gold is definitely more bold. But I like the first too. Christine,in your opinion are they redundant? Is the quality good enough to own both do you think?

Nicole Avatar

yeah..I am going to get both (if I can get the gold). I picked up the original today. The floor sample was gross at Ulta. At least 4 shadows were completely missing! I so wish Sephora would carry Lorac. They would have opened a new one.So, it’s not even out of the box.I do like Ulta because there is low/no pressure to buy. But, there is typically only 1-2 sales associates around and getting a sample is nearly impossible. I am going to plan the Gold into my budget because I just love the swatches you did, the price is fair and with the very good rating..justifiable in my head. It’s one of those things that would drive me batty to not get .

Neetz Avatar

Christine, do you think the Gold Unzipped still has a enough nuance in color to differentiate itself from the 3 Naked pallets? This one looks very summery and Naked’s version of some of the colors (bronze, gold, coppers) tended to not apply as well as I’d like (think Trick, Halfbaked, ect, the glittery ones) so maybe it’s worth getting similar colors in a different formula?

Robin Avatar

You rock!!!

This helps me since I have the original Unzipped and I prefer the pink tone over the gold tone. Both are pretty, but I think I may have Pro 2 instead of Unzipped Gold. 🙂

Thank you for the side by side views!!!! Happy 2015!!

Alice Avatar

Ohhh! Ever since I saw your review on the Gold Lorac yesterday, I was wondering which one I should get… I already have similar shades/dupes that are found in the Lorac Gold palette, so I think I’m just going to go for the Lorac Unzipped Original. 🙂 Yay!

Jill Avatar

Unzipped has been on my wishlist for a long time (anytime I try to buy it it’s sold out), and at first Unzipped Gold did not interest me until I saw the swatches. I’ll be picking up both eventually.

Nicole Avatar

I have both Naked 3 and now unzipped,original… Just my observance..more dark matte shades in unzipped which I like. I don’t like shimmer in my crease. I have had my Naked 3 since they were released and just got unzipped today. In hindsight, if I could get only 1, it would be the Lorac unzipped for me. The Nakeds just get overwhelming to me sometime and I generally have to pull another shade for depth in the crease if I don’t want to go with “darkside”.

Holly Pasko Avatar

The Lorac pallets are so gorgeous, I have only one. It is the Skinny Navy eye pallet. I have used 3 times and each time I had fallout all day long. I would like to try another pallet, to see if it happens again. But they are a little expensive if I have the same problem and can’t use it….
Any suggestions?
I love your blog!!

Christine Avatar

I would say that the Skinny palettes don’t necessarily reflect the quality of LORAC’s formula :/ I liked the Nude, but I believe Navy/Plum were less impressive. Their Pro, Pro 2, Unzipped, and Unzipped Gold palettes are pretty different, IMO!

Kirsten Avatar

I kinda wish they would sell these as individual shadows. There’s a color or two in the gold palette that I’d love to have, but I can’t really justify buying the whole thing when I already have the other one.

Rebecca Avatar

Hey Christine,

If someone already has the Naked3, would they benefit from getting this palette as well? And what would you say would the main differences be? And which palette would suit light olive skin (kind of like Kim Kardashian (which is coincidentally similar to mine)) best? And which would suit a darker olive complexion i.e. Kourtney Kardashians?

Thank you so much!

Laura Vazquez Avatar

Thank you for doing this Christine!
I love both!
As a teacher, these are the types of shades I like to wear on a daily basis. I can see the difference in both palettes and the fact that there are no repeated shades really has helped me in deciding which one to buy, I’m buying both…lol 🙂

amber Avatar

I want them both. But I think I would prefer the original. I like that it’s an everyday wear, yet at the same time just a touch different from what is normally out there

Tamara Neilson Avatar

These are really pretty…I got the first unzipped because I feel like it’s a more “warm” version of the naked 3 if that makes sense? I love the rose golds! I was really waffling on the gold palette because I have a TON of golds in about every palette but….I’m a sucker for Loracs pro shadows. So buttery and they apply/blend so well..I wish there were more mattes though. **Just a FYI…dermstore is an authorized reseller of Lorac as well as other brands, Tarte, etc…right now there is 20% off for spring (most items they sell, it includes Lorac)..I think the code is “spring”. Dermstore has the 20% off a few times a year and it’s quite the bargain. They also have free shipping and they are on ebates…only a fellow makeup junkie would know this!! lol. Maybe this will help some out, it did for me! 🙂

Tamara Neilson Avatar

I already did b/c of the discount!!! LOL sigh! My head would not stop whispering about how that 20% would not be seen again for a loooong time and it’s a rare day to get Lorac on sale – I’ll definitely use it though, they are colors I love + high quality (their pro stuff) soooo I can condone scooping it up

jessica Avatar

OK so I just wanted to let everyone in on a little secret! As you all probably know high end makeup rarely goes on sale or let’s us use a coupon but this weekend lorac has a 35% off sale on their website for memorial day!!! You have tho have a$75 minimum but once you do it takes each palette down to $27.30!! SSA sale items went pretty fast but palettes are still in stock so hurry up and get yours!! Oh BTW no tax and free ship!! Woooo!

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