Curiosity has gotten the better off me again... I ordered the Morphe x Jaclyn Hill complete collection of The Vault eyeshadow palettes on their (rescheduled) day of release to see what all the drama was about.
The Armed & Gorgeous palette seemed to be the main one in The Vault collection that people were having the most problems with and caused everything to be pulled the first time, so that was the fist palette I started using. I've now worn every shade in the reformulated palette at least twice before giving my opinion, and now my verdict is in...
If you want a hissy fit or bitch fest, then prepare for disappointment; I really enjoy my Armed & Gorgeous palette and have had no problems with the quality. I'd be happy with the product quality if I'd paid KvD or Urban Decay prices, so I'm delighted to get it at such a competitive price. All of the shades apply well, wear well and haven't faded or creased with a primer - there was some creasing on my heavily hooded eyes when going without primer, but that's pretty normal for me. In the Jaclyn Hill palette I struggle with building up the deeper brown tones, but I haven't had any trouble with either Smooth Criminal or Prowl.
The formula is great and the matte>shimmer ratio is very decent, but I have a "personal preference" niggle; the two orange mattes look much closer in shade in real-life then they do in official photos, so there's not much point in including both of them in the palette. The two gold shimmers aren't wildly dissimilar either once applied and blended, so I would have skipped one - though the fact that not a huge yellow-gold shimmer lover has more to do with this complaint.
I'm not a Morphe fan girl and I don't care either way for Jaclyn Hill, but I felt the need to review and praise Armed & Gorgeous; the formulas in it are great for a low-lower middle range brand and the price is awesome. I was very suspicious about how Morphe claimed to have destroyed the recalled palettes and have produced & shipped hundreds of thousands of new ones within several weeks, but that does appear to be the case. Or I just got lucky in the inconsistency draw - your choice to your opinion.
I will be reviewing the other three palettes in The Vault collection over the next few months; I'm not sure when, as I'm taking the time to wear every single shade at least twice, since quality inconsistency issues seem to be ongoing.
You can buy the 4-piece complete collection from Morphe UK for £49.
The Armed & Gorgeous palette costs £15 alone.
No comments:
Post a Comment