Urban Decay Vice Palette Review & Swatches!

The Vice Palette from Urban Decay is the first thing I've bought from the brand since that whole China animal testing debacle.  Not only was I still a little testy about the whole thing even though they apologized and changed their minds, I wasn't really interested in the new products they were pushing out.  But I just couldn't resist the 2 selling points of Vice:  1) 20 shadows and 2) all completely new shades!

The packaging is great:  simple, sleek, and functional.  It's housed in matte purple case with "UD" bejeweled in the center.  

In the front where you open it is a kind of button that automatically flips the lid open when it's pushed.  I like this a lot better than the typical opening on palettes where you have to dig your nails into the latch.

Another cool feature is the mega mirror included.  It's the entire size of the lid on the inside of the palette and easily become your main vanity mirror.

As you can tell here, there is just enough space in the palette for the shadows and brush so despite getting 20  different colors this actually one my sleekest palettes in my collection.  

The range of colors and textures here is very good.  Urban Decay is notorious for including too many chunky, glittery shades and not enough mattes in their palettes but that's not a major issue here.  While there are a few glittery ones, most of the shades are satin, slightly shimmery, or matte.

In terms of colors, many tastes will be satiated with Vice.  I'd say it's a close to even split between neutrals, brights, and bolds to create a wide array of looks.  And if you're an avide UD collector like myself, you won't have to worry about any repeat shades from other palettes since these are ALL newly-released.

Now onto the swatches...

In the 1st column from the left, starting at the top is Desperation, Junkie, Provocateur, and Nevermind.

R-L:  Desperation, Junkie, Provocateur, Nevermind

Desperation is a dark taupe with a satin finish.  Junkie is crazy beautiful.  It's a teal that leans more to the green side and has gold and green shimmer.  Provocateur is light, almost taupe-ish, pink with silver glitter.  Nevermind is a light taupe bronze shimmer.

In the 2nd column, from top to bottom is Muse, Chaos, Rapture, and Echo Beach.

L-R:  Muse, Chaos, Rapture, Echo Beach

Muse is a very dark warm brown with gold shimmer.  Chaos is the first color my eyes were drawn to in Vice.  It's a matte bright medium blue.  Rapture is my favorite type of color for my brown eyes. It's like a light purple with taupe undertones and shimmer.  Reminds me of Romp from the Bare Minerals 4.0 Quad in The Dream Sequence.   Echo Beach is a pale gold champagne shimmer.

In the 3rd column, from top to bottom is Jagged, Occupy, Vice, and Anonymous.  

L-R:  Jagged, Occupy, Vice, Anonymous

Jagged is a black base with tons of gold shimmer, making it appear to be a brown.  Occupy is a gunmetal with blue undertones.  The shade named for the palette, Vice, is a dark purple shimmer.  Anonymous is a matte light cream shade that leans a bit pink.

In the 4th column, from top to bottom is Blitz, Unhinged, Noise, and Freebird.

L-R:  Blitz, Unhinged, Noise, and Freebird

Blitz is a true gold metallic.  Unhinged is a metallic turquoise.  Noise is a magenta with red glitter.  Freebird is a pale peachy pink with silver glitter (not chunky glitter though).

In the 5th and last column, from top to bottom is Penny Lane, Black Marker, Armor, and Laced.

L-R:  Penny Lane, Black Market, Armor, Laced 

Penny Lane is peachy copper metallic.  Black Market is black with a satin finish.  Armor is a dirty grey metallic.  Laced is a taupe with pink undertones and a matte finish.

Phew!  That was a lot of swatches!

Ok so I love this palette and almost every single shadow that's in it.  Overall, they have amazing pigmentation, smooth texture, and great variety.  My favorites have to be Junkie, Laced, Penny Lane, and Echo Beach.

The only shade I'm not crazy about is Noise, which sucks because it was similar to Chaos in that my eyes were immediately drawn to it.  It lacks the level of pigmentation possessed by the others and the glitter, while not obnoxious, doesn't transfer at all, rendering it useless.

Bottom Line:  Amber LOVES!!!!!

I know a bunch of you have some hang ups about the price and I completely understand why.  Fifty-nine bucks is nothing to shake a stick at.  But honestly, for me at least, I don't think it's too bad a deal.  It breaks down to about $2.95 a shadow and shadows are top quality.  I wouldn't say you need this, but I also won't say that you'll regret having it.

You can find more information about this product on Urban Decay's website.  It retails for $59.

Oh!  I almost forgot:  I'm working on a post comparison between some of the shadows in Vice and other Urban Decay shadows I have so you can see if any of the colors are too similar.  Stay tuned!