What’s That Dangerous Glint in Your Eyes?

Urban Decay Dangerous Eyeshadow Palette (2012) ($36.00 for 0.18 oz.) includes six eyeshadows: Gravity (deep violet with multi-colored micro-glitter), Loaded (deep metallic emerald), Evidence (deep navy blue), Deeper (metallic dark brown with bronze pearl), Mushroom (warm pale grey), and Ace (deep grey/blue shimmer) and one Lip Junkie in Naked (pinky neutral).

Gravity is a subdued purple with a hint of smokiness and silver micro-glitter. It was soft, fairly smooth, and had decent to good color payoff–just slightly under-pigmented (relative to the rest of the shades). I experienced just a minute amount of fall out while it wore. Urban Decay Freakshow has a stronger redder undertone. MAC Highly Charged doesn’t have a strong red undertone, but it is there. MAC Drawn to Drama is cooler-toned. Urban Decay Rockstar is smokier, more subdued, less purple. Lancome Perpetual Purple is a bit more vibrant. Estee lauder Cyber Lilac is similar. theBalm lavish Latoya is grayer.

Loaded is a deep forest green with a hint of teal and brown undertones. The color payoff is excellent (almost to the point where a little goes a long way!) with a soft, smooth texture. Bare Escentuals Max Volume is a bit lighter and greener. OCC Poison is greener. theBalm Jealous Jordana is less intense, slightly greener.

Evidence is a medium-dark navy blue with a metallic sheen. It had decent to good color payoff, but it was a little dry compared to the other shades. This is part of the permanent range. It’s similar to a host of blues: Tom Ford Cobalt Rush, Bare Escentuals Climax, MAC Thru the Night, Wet ‘n’ Wild Earth Looks Small From Down Here, and Inglot #428–just to name a few.

Deeper is a dark, chocolate bronze with a lighter bronze shimmer-sheen. It had good color payoff with a soft, smooth texture. This shade felt a smidgen powdery. NARS Paramaribo is more golden. MAC Venetian Tarnish is similar but a cream formula. Urban Decay Snakebite has less of a bronze sheen. MAC Tempting is just slightly lighter. MAC Bronze has a stronger orange undertone.

Mushroom is a gray-brown–it’s a very intense taupe. It had good color payoff, and a really soft, dense texture. This is part of the permanent range. MAC Keep Your Cool is more muted. Chanel Illusoire is less brown.

Ace is a dark charcoal gray with a hint of blue shimmer. It had good color payoff and applied smoothly and evenly. Urban Decay Asphalt is similar but a smidgen grayer and lighter. Tarina Tarantino Silver Shoes is lighter. Bobbi Brown Gunmetal is extremely similar. Make Up For Ever #1 is similar. Urban Decay Gunmetal is a little frostier.

Naked is rosy light-medium brown with soft pink shimmer. It’s semi-sheer and emphasizes natural pink tones in the lips while adding subtle warmth and shimmer. Chanel Troublant is darker, plummier.  This shade wore for three hours when I tested it.

Last year’s Dangerous Palette included Haight, Mildew, Virgin, Oil Slick, Rockstar, and Gunmetal, plus it came with an eyeliner and primer potion. It had a total value of $80.83 and retailed for $34. This year’s palette six 0.03 oz. eyeshadows and a 0.11 fl. oz. Lip Junkie. The value of this year’s palette is $64.80 worth of eyeshadow and $6.15 worth of gloss, which results in a total value of $70.95. The palettes don’t really seem similar to me; there’s no highlighter shade in this one, and it’s generally darker, smokier. It is, however, similar to Urban Decay’s Smoked Palette–given that Smoked is $49 but contains 10 eyeshadows (plus a full-sized Perversion eyeliner), I’d probably opt for that one instead. It has three overlapping shades: Loaded, Evidence, and Mushroom, while Barlust will work as the bronze hue, Rockstar as a purple, and Asphalt for a gray.

Of the three palettes, I think this one is the least worth getting while the Smoked palette is around. You just get so much more (almost double the eyeshadow, plus the eyeliner) for $13 more.  The quality is absolutely there; the shades are soft, smooth, and pigmented across the board.  Gravity was the “least” pigmented with decent to good color payoff and did have minor, but noticeable, glitter fall out while worn.

Urban Decay Dangerous Eyeshadow Palette (2012)

Urban Decay Dangerous Eyeshadow Palette (2012)

Urban Decay Dangerous Eyeshadow Palette (2012)

Urban Decay Dangerous Eyeshadow Palette (2012)

Urban Decay Gravity Eyeshadow

Urban Decay Loaded Eyeshadow

Urban Decay Evidence Eyeshadow

Urban Decay Deeper Eyeshadow

Urban Decay Mushroom Eyeshadow

Urban Decay Ace Eyeshadow

Urban Decay Naked Lip Junkie

Urban Decay Naked Lip Junkie

Urban Decay Naked Lip Junkie

Urban Decay Naked Lip Junkie

Urban Decay Dangerous Palette Look: Mushroom (inner lid), Ace (outer lid),
Evidence (crease), Loaded (crease), Skimp (browbone), Mushroom Eyeliner (8 Hours of Wear)

Urban Decay Dangerous Palette Look: Mushroom (inner lid), Ace (outer lid),
Evidence (crease), Loaded (crease), Skimp (browbone), Mushroom Eyeliner (8 Hours of Wear)