SEPHORA PRO EDITORIAL PALETTE

So I was able to get my hands on the Sephora Pro Palette. I actually have the Cool palette and the Editorial palette but I can only review the Editorial because at the insane price of $68 dollars. The Cool is a Christmas present from my dad and he’s very strict about not getting to play with your presents until Christmas so I was only able to get a quick look at it but I’ll give you a few thoughts on it.

So unfortunately it looks like only the Cool palette is still in stock I don’t know if there will be a restock. If you are into Cool tones the palette is worth it they have an awesome grey undertone and some beautiful taupe shades that are totally in my “professional” makeup wheelhouse. The formula on these don’t muddy up which is so important for cool tones. I had nothing in this undertone in my collection so it was a must for me.

So grab a snack and a cup of coffee because this turned out to be a ridiculously long review.

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But you are here for the review of this bright neon Editorial palette so let’s get into that. Let’s start with the facts before we get totally sucked in by the ohhhh pretty and forget that things like math and value exist.

Background

So this palette was created by 15 different makeup artists and has 28 shades with four different finishes, matte, chrome, shimmer, and satin. It also comes with a booklet of a few different eye looks and I have some strong opinions about that booklet.

Breakdown

Sephora PRO Editorial Palette

Price: $68

Shades: 28

Finishes: 11 mattes, 7 satins, 6 shimmers, 4 chromes

Total Size: 33.6 g

Eyeshadow Size: 1.2 g per shade

Value: $2.43 per shade

$2.02 per gram

So there is the break down of the actual value of the product. For comparison I’m going to add the breakdowns of some similar palettes and singles. Please excuse my nerd I know it is showing.

Morphe 35B Color Glam Eyeshadow Palette

Price: $19.99

Shades: 35

Total Size: 56.2 g

Eyeshadow Size: 1.6 g per shade

Value: $0.57 per shade

$0.36 per gram; 81% cheaper per gram

So considerably cheaper and more shades. Now I don’t have this palette it has been out of stock forever but I love the Morphe shadow formula it is one of my favorite budget formulas they have the the tendency to get muddy and not create a true gradient look with certain shades which in a bright palette the rainbow mermaid effect is usually what you look for so that is a consideration you have to work harder with this palette then the Sephora one.

Urban Decay Full Spectrum Palette

Price: $45.76

Shades: 21

Total Size:  25.2 g

Eyeshadow Size: 1.2 g per shade

Value: $2.18 per shade

$1.82 per gram; 10% cheaper per gram

So this is also out of stock in the US but I do own this one the formula on this sucks compared to the Sephora one and you get less product for your money so even though it is 10% cheaper per gram you are getting less use because these are much harder to work with they are quite powdery and not super pigmented this was a huge fail for Urban Decay.

Sephora Collection Colorful Eyeshadow

Price: $10

Size:  2.2 g

Value: $ 4.55 per gram; 125% more expensive per gram

Again not the same formula but singles always cost way more. Singles in general Are large so if there is only one or two colors in a palette that really speak to you then yes it is a much better deal to buy some singles. In general if more than 4 or 5 shades interest you then you should always buy the palette. Yes that is a gross generalization prices in singles and palettes vary immensly but if you aren’t into math like me then that is a good rule of thumb. If you like to nerd out like I do then go ham and do some price breakdowns to see if you are better off with a palette or some singles.

Tarteist Metallic Shadow

Price: $14

Size:  1.98 g

Value: $7.07 per gram; 350% more expensive per gram

As you can see with high end brands singles are legit insanely expensive.

Urban Decay Eyeshadow

Price: $19

Size:  1.5 g

Value: $12.67 per gram; 627% more expensive per gram

I just added this for shiggles because I don’t know what they are smoking over there at Urban Decay but they need to share because they can’t really think any one is that fucking stupid.  Their singles are $19 a lot of their  palettes go on sale at Ulta for like $18 -$24 you might as well set your money on fire then to buy singles from them.

Sorry got a little off track there.

So when it comes to the actual money value of this palette it is a a decent value. Can you get something similar for cheaper yes of course if $68 dollars is going to break your finances please don’t feel like you have to have this but if you do want it and can afford it the value is there you are getting 28 shades so realisticly if you look at this and see at least 5 shades you really need/want/love/are missing from you collection then the rest are gravy. You’d have to spend more then the palette to buy 5 or more singles.

In terms of value it gets a Yay from me.

Packaging

The box is a nice soft touch black matter with a cool blue holo font and edges. The back has the ingredients and a little picture of the shades. No complaints.

The palette is great it is a sturdy plastic a nice lux feeling black plastic with Sephora Pro embossed on it in blue holo. The back has a label with which palette it is and some other details. Also a super strong magnetic closure. It is classy packaging I look at it and feel like it is an expensive palette.

The inside palette is where I have some complaints because I’m picky.

Good points

• Huge Mirror
• Opens all the way to lay flat
• Will stand open on its own (My favorite)

Bad Points

• Shades are a little close together so with the kickup there is a mixing of shades risk
• The names are not on the shadows!!!
• The plastic liner is not cut straight and meant to be kept this messes with my OCD aesthetic since the names are on it and it isn’t cut perfect
• I would have liked a way to keep the instructional booklet in the palette not just in the box

Jeffrey The ugly looking yellow in column 2 3rd  row is actually a super pretty lime green that my camera just will not pick up right but you can see that it is lime green on my eyes. All the other colors the camera was able to pick up.

Shadows

Now for the “ohh shiny, so pretty” part of the review. Everyone’s favorite.

The formula on these shadows is very different from any other eyeshadow I own, and obviously different from finish to finish. Much of the value in this palette comes from the variety of finishes as the colors are definitely dupable but the ability to have all of these finishes in one easy to grab place is a lot of the value to me.

These are definitely a pro formulation you need to work with them these are not a formula that you can pack on blend out and have a perfect look done in like 5 minutes. So if that is what you want or expect this is not the palette for you so please keep that in mind. I am reviewing this for what it is a pro palette this is for when you really want to spend time playing with your makeup.

Top Left 4th Row, Top Right 3rd Row, Bottom Left 2nd Row, Bottom Right 1st Row Yes I swatched it most to least exciting in my opinion. Don’t Judge.

The mattes in this palette are have a tone of kick up in the pan I was so worried that they would preform badly but some how on my face they actually do not have fallout I was impressed. These shades are meant to be bright so based on color theory I would imagine these have white bases so that they pop. Anything with a white base is going to be a little powdery and patchy it is the nature of that base pigment so I wont hold it against the palette.

The coolest thing about these mattes is that they do not blend out into a mess when you blend them together normally when you blend to matte colors together I find a lot of formulas blend into a muddy mess or one color just disappears that doesn’t happen with these shadows they hold their own and form that gradient that you want in a palette like this.

The do skip a little so you do have to work at packing them on and building them up but once you do they are really nice.

Forgot to swatch the first orange somehow so here’s a huge close up of it.

The shimmers and the chromes are pretty standard. The shimmers are glittery but still very soft which is nice and only have a little glitter fallout they are good they are my least favorite type of eyeshadow in general so I don’t get super excited nor have a huge opinion but if you like glitters these will probably please you.

These are the chromes I love them they are even more gorgeous in person one swipe was enough to almost totally cover the lies of my wrist tattoo. Lou that second swatch reminds me of a much nicer version of Lounge by Urban Decay.

They are glitter packed for some reason it is not picking up on camera that intensely by I promise they are glitter packed.

The satins are where I was not as satisfied. They are incredibly hit or miss some are great and some aren’t for example Grass and Dina are both satins. Grass is a gorgeous green not patchy smooth builds up and blends out nicely. Dina is a deep bright blue  (I know that’s and oxymoron) I was in love when I saw it. It does not build up I kept packing it on and I could not get it to be opaque. It did blend decently though. This is bizarre to me since satins are usually one of the easier formulas to get right.

You can tell by the swatches that the satins are kind of a let down they are not opaque they are the duds of the palette you can work with them but they are by no means special.

That all being said I am not a makeup artist and could be using these totally wrong but that’s my opinion.

Quick Look

Here’s a look I created using the included instructions. I followed the instructions I did use my own brushes though. This took about 15-20 minutes, but in retrospect should have spent a little longer packing color and blending so in reality it should have take about 20-30 minutes.

I did LOOK 4: KALEIDOSCOPE

I love colorful rainbowy looks so of course I was going to do this one. Excuse my eyebrows they are extra thick and terrible today I am waiting to wax them until I right before I go to Disney. I also didn’t feel like wearing lipstick my lips are way chapped so yea.

 

With Flash

No flash

I found the instructions fairly easy to follow but this could be difficult since there are no freaking pictures just instructions. Also they tell you to use specific Sephora brushes which I find annoying because if you don’t have those brushes you have to look them up so see what kind of eye shadow brush you should be using.

And here’s a similar look I did with my Sugarpill Pro Palette which is almost double the price for only 12 shades but it is a beautiful easy to work with formula and totally customized. So you get what you pay for and you can definitely dupe this Sephora palette if you shop around.

So there are definitely similar palettes you can get if these are the colors you are looking for but it will be difficult to get all the same finishes as this palette.

The shadows lasted ok on my oily eyelids I did use primer but didn’t set them so after 5 hrs they did start to fade but you could definitely prevent that by packing on my color and using setting spray.

If these colors speak to you and you love collecting and playing with make up this is worth it. It that is not your cup of tea then I would say you can pass on this. But I love it and it was worth it to me.

Overall this palette is definitely a Yay.

I hope this incredibly long review was helpful!

<3 Nightmare Before Makeup

FTC: None of these are affiliate links and I make no money off this. Wish I did though buying this stuff is expensive. Not that it would ever change my opinion.