Urban Decay Vice LTD Palette: In Depth Review & Swatches

I picked up the Vice LTD palette from Urban Decay awhile back but I didn't think I would keep it until I saw the fabulous reviews from other bloggers. So I decided to take the plunge and review it for you guys even though there was some insane controversy over the release of this product. 

Urban Decay says this is an extremely limited palette and I do not own any of the previous VICE palettes so this one looked like it would be my favorite curation of colors (the neon packaging helped, too).

The Urban Decay Vice LTD palette retails for $58 at ULTA only and contains 20 shades of eyeshadows, of which 9 are exclusively in this palette. 11 other shadows can be found in other palettes, so I'm listing them all below for you:

Crystal (Book of Shadows IV), Junkshow (15th Anniversary Palette), Backdoor (Smoked Palette), Deeper (15th Anniversary Palette), Nameless (Shattered Palette), Vaporize (Anarchy palette - reformulated) and Perversion (Book of Shadows II), Freakshow (Fun Palette), Blitz (VICE Palette), Last Sin (VICE 3 Palette), Anonymous (VICE Palette)

I'm lucky that I don't have that many duplicates, I only have the Book of Shadows and I didn't bother buying UD smaller palettes or the other VICE's, but if you have been collecting, you're definitely going to have repeats.

Inside some typical psychadelic cardboard packaging you will find this hard-plastic neon-green case with a push-button. This palette is great because you press the button gently and the top raises up on its own, which means you don't have to pry at it with your fingernails to get it open or worry about magnets not sticking closed during travel.

I love the bejeweled "UD" decal on the front, it adds some glitzy feeling to the otherwise Nickelodeon slime green color selection (I'm not even knocking it, I love it!).

Upon opening the palette, an over-sized mirror greets you, which is upright and ready for makeup application (perfect for on-the-go if you don't mind lugging this rather large and bulky palette around).

There's a nice variety of candy-colored shades in here, ranging from hot fuchsia, muted neutrals, to pops of glittery and metallic orange, yellow, golds, and some gem-toned shades such as sapphire and emerald.

If you're a fan of mattes, this palette is not for you. Urban Decay does a lot of things right, but mattes are rarely among those - there are only 4 matte shades: Backdoor (cool dark brown), Perversion (soft black), Anonymous (peachy cream) and Laced (soft pink-nude taupe).

The mattes, especially the darker shades, are rather patchy and more difficult to blend than the satins, metallics, shimmers and glitters. If you love glitz and pops of color in your eye looks, you will love the VICE LTD palette.

There is also an exclusive double-ended brush in this palette but it's smaller than others I have received in my Naked 2 and Naked 3 palettes. There's an all-over shadow brush (right side) and a crease brush (left side). 

The bristles are a tad stiff on the all-over shadow brush but it has a nice density. The blending brush seems to have a rather small point so I don't think it would be too useful for creating a blown-out effect, but rather applying more concentrated color to the crease.

I didn't find myself reaching for this brush because it was a little bit small for the purposes I would use it for.

As you can see from my swatches above (if you want to see the photos larger, click to enlarge), there is good news and there is bad news.

The poorest performing shades were definitely Backdoor (patchy and dry), Perversion (just not black enough, patchy - has to be layered a lot), Junkshow (powdery, needs building up for full opacity), and Laced (dry, hard to get any color payoff from this one).

The good news is great, out of the entire palette I was only disappointed by 4 shades. Roadstripe is sheer but has a beautiful duo-chrome pink to blue shift, so it makes a wonderful highlight. Crystal and Provocateur are to die for light blue and mauve shades with plenty of shimmer that will make any eye look pop. Deeper, Heat and Vaporize are buttery smooth to-die-for shades that will enhance any look. 

Goddess and Floss were okay, but that might be just because I'm not a huge fan of chunky glitter fallout - I suspect these are great over a black base and Floss is definitely superior to Goddess in consistency and shadow quality. Although Disco is also a glitter it seems to have the particles embedded in the formula better, making it easier to blend out. 

Any shade I didn't particularly mention performs as I expect from the Urban Decay brand (since reformulation of their eyeshadows) - can blend easily, has a smooth consistency and good color payoff.

For my look, I used the following colors and created a look exclusively from the Urban Decay VICE LTD palette:

• Crystal - all over the eyelid
• Anonymous - brow-bone highlight shade, underneath eyebrow
• Laced - as a transition shade in the crease
• Deeper - to define the crease
• Blitz - inner under-eye corner
• Hoodoo - outer under-eye

Verdict

This palette is worth your time if you're an avid Urban Decay collector or you don't own too many palettes from them (to avoid repeat shades). I do appreciate that all of the shadows are their new pigment-infused formulation so you're getting tons of color payoff with most shades. 

If you like fun shades and like to experiment with color, this palette is definitely for you (specifically if you didn't purchase an Electric Palette). 

For the bold, adventurous and wild at heart, I give it two thumbs up and a very respectable score of 9/10.

Urban Decay Holiday 2014 Sets (Vice 3, Vice LTD, 24/7 Eye-Liner Pencils, Revolution Lipsticks and more!)

Urban Decay - Vice 3 Palette - Holiday 2014 (Limited Edition)

Urban Decay - Vice LTD Palette - Holiday 2014 Sephora Exclusive (Very Limited Edition)

VICE 3 versus VICE LTD

Can we just start off this post with the massive controversy about the two *separate* versions of the Vice palette which were released for Holiday 2014? One was the regular Vice 3 and the other was a Sephora VIB Rouge-only special called the Vice LTD - now this latter one must have sold out in 30 minutes and bloggers/forums have been up-in-arms about it ever since.

Now you can see from the above photos that there are similar colors in these palettes, but all of them are supposedly brand new shades from Urban Decay. While I don't think you would need *both* of these palettes, if you're a collector you might want to try to get your hands on both (good luck!). Personally, the purples and pinks in the Vice LTD appeal to me, so I would rather have that one, so I hope that it gets re-released in a larger quantity closer to the holidays. Both palettes seem to have satin mattes and shimmer shades, but they are predominantly shimmer palettes. Both palettes retail for $60 at Sephora. You also receive a free matching bag with this purchase.

Urban Decay Full Frontal Lipstick Stash Set (Limited Edition)

Full Frontal Lipstick Stash Set

This is a cute mini lipstick set with 6 shades of Revolution Lipstick and it includes a full-sized 24/7 Glide-On Lip Pencil in Ozone (Clear), this set retails for $39. I love the idea of this set because you can experiment with various shades of lipstick rather than having to commit to one. The amount in each mini lipstick is 1g compared to the 2.8g of each full-sized Revolution lipstick, so you're getting about 36% or roughly one-third of a full lipstick with each sample. I'm also really impressed that they included a 24/7 lip liner which is full sized, regular retail price is $20, and in a clear shade. You may be wondering why they included a clear shade, but the reasoning is very intelligent and practical: you can use this under any color of lipstick and since you are receiving a variety of nudes, pinks and reds, you can use it underneath to prevent feathering since they are very intensely pigmented and can tend to bleed since they are very smooth.

I have to admit that this set is probably my favorite unique concept Urban Decay has come out with in a while.

Urban Decay - TEN 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil Set - Holiday 2014 (Limited Edition)

TEN 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil Set

This set boasts a variety of 10 different-colored 24-7 Glide-On Eye Pencils (for which Urban Decay is famous for since they have beautiful pigmentation and glide on smoothly without tugging at your eyes) for $52 and a Grindhouse dual-pencil sharpener. This set is a steal since each eye-liner from Urban Decay retails for $20!

You receive one full-sized Perversion Eye Pencil (this is an intense black matte which is great for the waterline) and 9 travel sized pencils in various shades ranging from pink, teal, neutrals, gold and purple. The travel sized pencils are exactly two-thirds the size of a full-sized product so they will last you a long time. This is my favorite eyeliner set Urban Decay has released in the past few years for the Holidays.

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Double-Ended Eye Pencil Set - Holiday 2014 (Limited Edition)

BLACK MAGIC 24/7 Glide-On Double-Ended Eye Pencil Set

Now you may be asking yourself "Wait, Didn't I just see an eye pencil set from Urban Decay for the holidays???" and the answer is: Yes, they decided to release 2 options. I think this is because the first set featured was a more adventurous color selection and the Black Magic Set is a lower-priced, darker and more conventional set. So naturally, I'm not so much of a fan of this one because I can easily dupe these colors in my collection.

It's worth noting that this set does NOT come with a Grindhouse Dual-Ended Pencil Sharpener, and there are no full (1.2g)or travel-sized liners (0.8g), but they are less than half of a full size (0.5g) or 42% of the size exactly. You receive 8 colors in this set and the black featured is the 24/7 Black Velvet pencil (this is a smoky black that definitely smudges off the waterline and is best used as a base for a smoky eye since it has to be "set" with a powder to stay put). The greatest range of color you will receive is a darker charcoal, a glittery teal and a metallic purple with more blacks and browns sprinkled in. I'm really not jazzed about the value of this set or the variety you're receiving.

Naked Illuminated in Aura

NAKED ILLUMINATED in Aura Shimmering Powder For Face and Body

This is a finely milled, baked powder highlighter in a soft peachy pink shade which was just released but is not listed as being Limited Edition, so this is probably part of their permanent collection. This retails for $29 but can be used for your face or body and could add a nice touch of shimmer for the holiday season.

All Nigter Makeup Setting Spray Duo

ALL NIGHTER Makeup Setting Spray Duo

Urban Decay also released a $39 duo bundle of their Makeup Setting Spray, which is a fantastic deal if you love their setting spray because a single All Nighter will set you back $30, so for another $9, you receive 2! This doesn't seem like a holiday-specific deal as I can't find "Limited Edition" on it anywhere on the Urban Decay website.