It’s that exciting time of year when the beauty brands of the world start churning out their year-long projects: holiday products. Frequently, these are limited edition, but if a product really succeeds, the holiday season products can become permanent members of the brand family. If a brand is smart, they put loads of hours into creating clever products that are suitable gifts that consumers can’t live without, and want to buy for all of their friends. Urban Decay may have nailed it when they created the Urban Decay Vice Lipstick Palettes.
You may have heard about it (or experienced it) earlier this year when Urban Decay released 120 different lipsticks under their Vice collection. If you follow any beauty influencers, you got to see the immense PR packages that had every. single. shade of their massive collection inside. There are a total of six different finishes among those 100+ shades: sheer, sheer shimmer, cream, comfort matte, mega matte, and metallized.
They created two lipstick palettes with 12 Vice colors each: the UD Blackmail Vice Lipstick Palette and UD Junkie Vice Lipstick Palette. As a thank you for covering the 21 Days of Beauty event, Ulta sent me UD Blackmail Vice Lipstick Palette which I couldn’t help but review. You can find it at Ulta for $35. (Which, I discovered, is a total steal. Keep reading, you’ll see what I’m talking about at the bottom of the post!)
This palette is gorgeous and is very striking to look at. Both the Blackmail palette and the Junkie palette look identical from the outside, and are only distinguishable by the colors in the pans.
Yes, my palette is not brand new, pristine, and untouched in these photos. There are thousands of pictures of these palettes brand new, this is what one looks like after its owner has become obsessed with it for a straight week. Actual glamour!
UD Vice Lipstick Palette Packaging Review
The packaging is brilliant. Next topic.
Just kidding. But really, you can tell that there was immense thought put into the packaging of this palette. Not only is it covered in Urban Decay’s traditional silver gunmetal and gold, but it’s weighted nicely and doesn’t feel cheap in the least. The size of the palette is pretty inoffensive and would fit comfortably in a bag or backpack. If that idea terrifies you and gives you nightmares about wallets covered in lipstick – fear not. The lid closes securely and is even small enough to fit in the zipper pocket of most purses.
The best part of the packaging, though, is the interior. First of all, the plastic shield/door that covers the actual lipstick pans should become the new industry standard for lipstick palettes. It only opens when you physically move it, so it’s strong enough to hold the brush inside. This comes in handy when you are using the inexplicably large mirror.
The lipstick wells have what they’re calling a “stair-step” effect which is really good at keeping lipstick from creeping out of its pan into other colors. There’s also ample space to wipe any excess product off of your brush.
Also, the plastic shield is emblazoned with “lipstick is my vice” which I think is very dramatic and cute. Part of me wonders if this shield could actually be used as a palette for mixing colors… Hmm, adding that to my list of things to test.
Both of the UD Vice Lipstick Palettes come with a “no-gunk” retractable lipstick brush that fits neatly into every case. This is actually a really great lipstick brush. Like most other retractable lipstick brushes, it has the tendency to retract a bit if you use too much pressure, but it’s easy to prevent this from happening. Applying lipstick as normal doesn’t affect that issue, it’s usually when I’m cleaning the brush or wiping it off.
The bristles on the brush are more stiff than a typical lipstick brush, in my opinion, which makes it better for applying. Because of the stiffness, you can really guide it along the edges of your lips to get that crisp line. Some of the lipsticks stain the brush a bit, but I haven’t given the brush a deep clean yet. I’m sure that the brush will return to white tipped once it’s properly shampooed.
UD Blackmail Vice Lipstick Palette Swatches
Alright, let’s get to the good part: the lipstick colors and swatches.
Top row, L-R:
|
Bottom row, L-R:
|
The Blackmail Vice Lipstick Palette has a crapload of neutrals and a few red and purple statement colors – plus a few metallic wildcards thrown in. The Blackmail palette is definitely the more “conventionally wearable” of the two Vice palettes, considering the Junkie version has two purples (one of which is lavender) and a bright, metallic green.
There were quite a few surprises in this lipstick palette. By that I mean lipstick can look very different on your lips than it does in the pan, or even swatched on your hand! At first sight, I thought this was all pretty safe and conventional. Part of me wished I’d gotten the Junkie palette so I could experience some edgy colors. Little did I know…
Indirect sunlight
Indoor light
As I mentioned earlier in this post, all six of the Vice lipstick finishes are present, from metallic to mega-matte. The lipsticks perform exactly like they do right out of the tube, and the differences in texture between each pan of lipstick is noticeable. The creams are extremely soft while 714, the mega-matte, is much more dense and stiff. The sheer colors are deceptively pigmented, and the comfort mattes are perfectly named. The metallics behaved a little bit differently, as Big Bang is more sheer than Conspiracy, and Amulet is somewhere in the middle.
Urban Decay encourages layering and experimenting, though I haven’t found any successful combinations yet. I’ve been playing with this palette non-stop for a whole week, but I have mostly been admiring the shades as stand-alone lip colors.
All of these photos were taken in diffused natural light and are true to color.
Shame (Vice Sheer Lipstick)
Sheer berry
These sheer formula lipsticks barely show up when you swatch them on your hand, but once they’re on your lips they definitely show their colors. This is an extremely wearable pink shade that goes on thin and almost waxy, but gives off a glossy sheen the entire time it’s on. It’s definitely pigmented and, as you can see in my cupid’s bow, it’s easy to see where you accidentally-maybe colored outside of the lines a little bit. A brush is a must, a finger is a disaster waiting to happen.
Oh, and yes, you definitely see some on my face. Story of my life.
Firebird (Vice Cream Lipstick)
Deep fuschia
Okay, in the pan, this pink looks like three different colors. As soon as you hit it with the brush, it gets almost a purple-ish gel tone to it. It’s intimidating the whole time, however, and even on my lips it’s bossing me around a bit. Do you know what I mean about it looking like different colors? Sometimes I can’t tell if it’s a pinkish-purple or a purplish-pink. This one stained my lips a little bit, but it wore off pretty quickly! (It did not, however, stain where I applied it to my teeth. ????)
Big Bang (Vice Metallized Lipstick)
Bright pink sparkle
While gorgeous, this color needed to be layered up a bit in order for it to be thoroughly sparkly. I hate feeling like I am wearing too much stuff on my lips and luckily I got it to be decently sparkly while avoiding that feeling.
Disobedient (Vice Cream Lipstick)
Medium pink
This is the color I was least excited about. In fact, I didn’t even try it on until I took this photo. It’s a basic, medium, neutral-toned pink. If you’re into pink, this is a pink that you might like. Because it’s pink.
EZ (Vice Cream Lipstick)
Bright red-orange
As far as reds go, I like mine in all tones and hues. If I’m going to go bright red, though, I like to err on the side of orange. EZ is definitely an easy red to wear, and has the perfect amount of orange to make it really pop. The cream formula is really easy to apply which is good because you want a nice, crisp line when you go this bold. This red stained very lightly.
714 (Vice Mega Matte Lipstick)
Bright red
You can tell this formula is different as soon as you see it in the palette. Then, when you touch a brush to it, you’ll notice it’s 5x more dense and a much smaller amount comes up on the brush. Applying this will take a little but more effort, but thanks to the thickness of the formula, it’s much easier to control – much more like a thick wax. This mega matte really stays on and also stains a little bit.
Vanished (Vice Sheer Lipstick)
Sheer pale neutral
This color needed to be built up a little bit in order for it to look nice. I’m sure that it could be applied with a different tool in order to get good coverage, but the stiffness of the bristles mixes with the sheer, gel-like formula made it kind of streaky for the first layer or so.
1993 (Vice Comfort Matte Lipstick)
Medium brown
I have found one of my favorite brown lipsticks of all time. 1993 is the perfect not-too-light, not-too-dark brown that doesn’t look particularly vampy or washed out on my pale skin. There’s just a touch of rosey-pink in it to make it really flattering against many different skin tones. It wasn’t as matte as I expected it to be, and it went on a tiny bit streaky at times. I would definitely use a lip liner next time I want to try this. The color is so gentle and gorgeous, I’ll probably use this up pretty quickly.
Ex-Girlfriend (Vice Sheer Shimmer Lipstick)
Nude rose with pink shimmer
In the palette, Ex-Girlfriend and 1993 look incredibly similar. 1993 looks a good bit cooler than Ex-Girlfriend, but on the lips they are worlds different! This is a dusty pink with a touch of brown in it. It’s pretty sheer, and if you have very pigmented lips, it may be hard to see if you don’t pile it on. That being said, it’s definitely a lip enhancer as opposed to a lipstick. A very flattering shade of rose-taupe looks beautiful as a sheer wash over lots of different colors and lip tones. I didn’t really get the “shimmer” experience with this shade, but that may just be my lighting! I see a tiny bit of pink reflect in the photos.
Amulet (Vice Metallized Lipstick)
Metallic brick rose
If there were a metallic version of YLBB (Your Lips But Better), this would be it. The true color needs to be coaxed out a little bit with a layer or two, but it’s a really nice, subtle metallic lipstick. It comes off as a lot more purple or berry-colored than brick, though. Again, could just be my lighting.
Conspiracy (Vice Metallized Lipstick)
Plum-bronze shimmer
At first, I totally disagreed with the use of “plum” in Urban Decay’s description of this color. In the pan, it almost looks like a greenish-bronze color, and it definitely doesn’t look like it’ll turn out like this on the lips. The reflection in the metallic is definitely gold-y or bronze, and the color itself it really a brick red meets purple. I would say it’s definitely on the warm side of neutral. I think it’s extremely beautiful and flattering.
Blackmail (Vice Comfort Matte Lipstick)
Deep berry wine
Yes, this is the shade that looked black in the pan! Both this shade and Shame look totally goth and deeply black, but, like Shame, Blackmail turns out to be a lovely, deep purple. I would definitely say it’s on the wine side of purple as opposed to the more true and blue purple. This color is vampy and glamorous, I’d love to see it on a wider range of skin tones because I’m positive it will look amazing on all of them.
Bonus matching eyeliner! That would be Innocent & Twisted Alchemy loose eyeshadow used as liner in Defy.
UD Blackmail Vice Lipstick Palette Review: Final Thoughts
As soon as it arrived as a thank you gift from Ulta, I was honestly 90% sure I was going to give it away. A lipstick palette felt so… not me. I live for tubes and bottles of lipstick, I love the action of applying it to my lips out of the bullet it came in. I was completely unfamiliar with Urban Decay Vice lipsticks, though, and there couldn’t be a better way to give all six finishes a try than by taking one of these palettes for a spin.
As a gift, this palette would rock someone’s world. Honestly, it made me feel like a 7 year old again. It’s been a long, long time since anything resembling a lipstick palette sat in my makeup kit, and using it makes me feel giddy. Knowing I instantly have 12 options for lipstick definitely makes me feel creative. Maybe it’s my competitive nature, but I love push myself to come up with ways to use the shades out of my comfort zone. In this case, finding good style pairs for Big Bang and Conspiracy is going to be a really fun challenge.
For those of you who travel often, this is the ideal way for you to bring 12 lipstick in something that’s a little bigger than a wallet. Also, no more digging around in your bags to find that one specific shade – they’re all in the same place. The enormous mirror also bodes well for travelers. I could do my entire face in that mirror. Look out, public transportation! Mostly I just want excuses to use it in public because it’s absolutely gorgeous and I want to real-time watch people get jealous.
Let’s break down the price of this palette.
Considering the price is only $35 for 12 shades, it’s also an excellent value.
Regular Urban Decay Vice lipsticks are $17 per .11oz. tube of lipstick. This palette has 12 pan with 0.02oz of lipstick in each pan for $35. 12 pans of 0.02oz. is 0.24oz of lipstick. Now, I only took the same math class five times between high school and college, but I’m pretty sure that the palette is actually 0.02oz more product for only $1 more. You get the amount that’s in two full tubes of lipstick out of 12 different colors. Basically, one pan in the palette is free! Plus, you get a dozen options and six finishes.
All in all, this is a pretty clever product and an excellent lipstick palette. We’ll have to see how long it takes me to get through one of these pans (I have a feeling it will be 1993), but I’m feeling pretty good about the fact that I’ve worn each color at least twice and, aside from the creams, they barely look used. This palette will get a lot of use out of me, and I’ve already recommended it to my closest friends as a great way to check out Urban Decay’s Vice Lipstick line.
Urban Decay Blackmail Vice Lipstick Palette
Buy this gorgeous lip palette at Ulta for $35 (+$5.95 shipping).
Thanks to Ulta for sending over this palette. This is not a sponsored post, and I had no obligation to review this palette but chose to because it’s BADASS. Anyone with questions about sponsorship or disclosure, please feel free to contact me!