New From Lorac Cosmetics!

When a new line of products hits the stores, I'm usually not the first one to jump on it. Typically, I will wait until I have watched or read a few reviews from beauty experts I trust, so I know the product is truly worth my attention. And if I do wish to purchase the item, I rarely order online. I will just wait until the next time I am near an Ulta or Sephora. Except when it comes to Lorac. When Lorac announced they were releasing a Pro Contour Kit I immediately knew I had to have it. I am in love with everything I own by Lorac. Their eye shadows make my mouth water and their color choices are always on point. Since I have become a contour addict, of course I wanted to try their contour kit. It even comes with a brush! Then they announced two new mini pro palettes, Pro Matte and Pro Metal. If these hadn't been pro palettes I might have been able to resist them for awhile, but the pro formula is just off the charts so I had to scoop them up. Not to mention I was haunted by the chance that they might sell out like the Mega Pro. I don't even know if they are limited edition but why risk it? Then, since I was buying Lorac products... I snagged a couple of their 10 pan limited edition palettes, Alter Ego Heartbreaker and the Party Eyeshadow Palette.

The Contour Kit comes with a very nice brush. It includes three highlight shades; Beige Highlight, Yellow Highlight, and Shimmer Highlight. It also includes three contour shades; Light Contour, Deep Contour, and Medium Contour. And of course a large mirror as is standard with Lorac palettes. It also comes with a little booklet of tips and tricks for highlighting and contour, especially ways to use the brush, which I always find interesting.

My first impression of this palette is that the powders are very very soft. Similar to the eyeshadows, the contour powders are so smooth they almost seem creamy. The pigment is beautiful and the shades are well chosen. You will get a lot of kick up with these powders. Because of this fact, I found my first attempt at blending the powders together with the brush a failure. For my second attempt I used my current favorite contour/highlighting brushes, and it worked much better. I suggest you start with a very small amount (blow or tap your brush after you pick up product) and gradually build it up. Also make sure you skin is not greasy or oily in any way, or the product will not blend and will look muddy. I use a setting powder.

I love the size of the pans and the color selection better than any other contour kit I own so far! The colors are comparable to my Anastasia kit, but the pan sizes are much better for a contour brush in the Lorac palette.

Moving on...

These eyeshadows are comparable quality to the shadows in the Pro and Pro 2. In both palettes the colors are all original. They even added a "Jet Black" in the Pro Matte which is slightly darker than the usual "black" in their other Pro Palettes. The matte shades are all beautiful and neutral, with a few fun addition of "pink mauve" and "burgundy" to make a number of unique looks! 

I don't think I could pick a favorite if I had to... the Pro Metal palette is so beautiful and fun. Lorac always picks the most beautiful, original, and yet wearable colors in their palettes. Of all the colors in this palette, "onyx" and "cobalt" are not as metallic as the others, more of just a shimmer I would say. The other shades are definitely metallic. More so than many of the shimmer colors in the previous Lorac palettes.

I feel obligated to point out that although these shadows are beautiful and I love them, and I obviously bought them with my own money, there is a bit of a price discrepancy here. The original Lorac Pro and Pro 2 Palettes cost $42 for 16 shadows, and each of these palettes is $28 with 8 shadows each. So it makes it seem like maybe they didn't combine the palettes into one Pro Palette simply to make some more money? Who knows. Like I said, I bought them anyways!

The two new limited edition palettes are very comparable in quality to their other limited edition palettes. The quality is not the same as in the Pro Palettes. The shadows are not as creamy and smooth, but they are still beautiful and very pigmented.