bailey bee

beauty, home and lifestyle blog

LORAC POCKET PRO PALETTE

After a sudden surge of feeling dramatic and creative, I’ve been playing around with a lot of eyeshadow looks that involve taking the shadow out further out and attempting the “soft wing” trend. My Urban Decay shadows just haven’t been cutting it and I realized that I really missed the blendability and depth of my deeper LORAC shadows.

I decided to pick up this lil’ baby LORAC Pocket Pro Palette from Ulta. It’s the only three shades I would ever need to create a simple, go-to, every day look. In the same shipment I also got a Z Palette. Let’s just say… depotting LORAC shadows is a big no-no. They’re too soft. I lost a lot of shadow in the depotting process but hey, what can ya do. I definitely didn’t want to have to keep track of this tiny mini palette. That being said, I took some pictures before I ruined them for good:

And just because I know that those pictures don’t mean anything unless you can see what they look like swatched and applied, here are some photos of these beautiful shadows in action:

It’s unbelievable how buttery “Nude” and “Espresso” are. I don’t know how LORAC does soft, pigmented shimmery nudes so well but man, they definitely are the best.

This trio has been needing to join my army for awhile and now that they have, they will be stars on days where I don’t want to think about my shadow combos. They blend in an instant, complement each other so nicely and pair well with any cheek/lip combo.

LORAC PRO PALETTE

Hi lovelies! Today I’m here to give my view on the popular LORAC Pro Palette. I bought this a few weeks ago but wanted to give it many, many trials before reporting back my thoughts. I’ve used each color enough by now to really be able to explain how they wear and apply! When I first bought this I was under the impression that it was going to be better than my Naked 1 and 2 palettes because of the color variety and the creamy(even though they are powders) shadows. It’s a little different than I thought but I’ve concluded that I do like it better than my Naked. I shall explain why below!

The packaging is wonderful as the palette is very sleek and simple which is my favorite thing when we’re talking beauty product packaging. The palette is covered in the NARS-like material that does get dirty very easily but it doesn’t bother me at all. I know it does bother many people though so that’s why I wanted to mention it! Each shadow is a little square and they are separated by row by finish. The mattes on the top, shimmery on the bottom. Each name is clearly labeled directly below the shadow and I like that they are simple names like ‘White’ and ‘Mauve’ and not fancy, clever names. Let’s leave that to OPI.
(From L to R: White, Cream, Taupe, Light Pink, Mauve, Sable, Espresso, Black)

The first group that I will talk about will be the matte shadows. Now, for both of these swatching photos I swatched a very simple finger swirl. I didn’t try to do it too heavily so you could see how they naturally are. One of the big redeemers of the Pro Palette is that it has a stark white and black. Simple. Necessary. Every look can benefit from having those two colors in it and it’s nice to have it in the same palette so you don’t have to keep switching like I usually do (to my Naked 2 for black, NYX single shadow for white).

Most of the matte shadows are good for all-over-the-lid application but of course since they are matte, they work well in the crease as well. The best colors that I have found for the crease are Taupe and Mauve. Taupe being a slightly darker version of Urban Decay’s ‘Naked’ and Mauve being a slightly warmer/red version of UD’s ‘Taupe’. Confusing. Same name, very different colors.

Espresso is absolutely beautiful in the outer corner and as you can see in the photo it is incredibly pigmented. Black does not work as well as I had hoped as it’s not really as intense of a black when applied on it’s own to the corner or lash line. To solve that, I have been layering it overtop of my NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Black Bean to deepen the color.

(From L to R: Nude, Champagne, Gold, Light Bronze, Pewter, Garnet, Deep Purple, Slate)
The true stars of this palette are the shimmers! Man, are they pretty. The first color that I ever swatched from this palette was Nude while I was in Ulta months ago and I almost had to back away when I did so because it is the most intense shimmer that is just so soft and blendable it’s hard to believe. Unfortunately, I’ve been having trouble having the same intensity translate to my lids. I have had to layer the shadows overtop of all of my NYX Jumbo Eye Pencils but if you use an eye primer that is slightly tacky then that will work just as well.
My favorite still has to be nude because of it softness but I’ve also really been drawn to Pewter and Deep Purple. Pewter because it works great on the outer half of the lid and Deep Purple because it deepens up any look that you have going without leaning purple. Once applied it really just looks like a dark brown but it’s unique since it’s not!
Aside from the fact that to hold these shimmers to their truest potentials you have to layer them overtop of a cream product, they are still incredible. I’ve never used such pigmented shimmer shades that translate so truly to the eyes. Gold has taken over as my favorite gold shadow from UD’s Half Baked!
Overall, I would grab this palette before either of my Nakeds while going on a trip. I do still love them because they tend to apply better to my bare lid (with just my UD Primer Potion) than these do but you can’t get over the pigmentation that you DO get from these LORAC shadows. Does that make sense? I’m terrible at this. I’m sorry.
If you have any questions about anything that I covered, leave it below! I’d love to clarify and/or answer it 🙂 Until next time…