ღ Hey! ღ
I’m a fan of the Lime Crime brand and the last launch of their new eyeshadow palette could never leave me indifferent to it. For a long time I was looking through bloggers’ reviews and swatches, until finally I decided to give it a shot myself. So, here it is, my fairy and I’m ready to tell you about it. Meet the third palette Lime Crime Venus III.
❃ Outer look ❃
The palette remained the same - cardboard compact as of all the other Venus palettes. It closes tightly and there’s nothing flimsy here.
The mirror is of the same size as the palette, as of the previous launches, which I’m very happy about, because it’s super handy to hold the palette in my hands as well as take it with me for travelling, for example. And of course this lavender color is so pleasant to look at.
❃ Shades ❃
When I saw this palette for the first time, I was questioning what it could be like formula-wise - like the new Venus XL palette but of a smaller size or the follow-up of the famous Venus collection. But I have to tell you that this new formula is really a hybrid of the previous Venus palettes and Venus XL. You might wonder, what’s the difference between all of them then? There’s some, and it has a significant drawback, I should say. But first things first.
As always I want to start off with the swatches which are done with my fingers (no layering) as well as with a brush:
the upper swatches are done with my finger and the lower swatches are done with a brush
This is where it seems that the palette has some pitfalls. Let’s have a look:
1) Dreamy - soft, ash rose shade on the pan, which seems to be peachy-pink at the same time. It offers nice blending. The product doesn’t dust and I use it for the crease on my eyes.
2) Beam - this is the very color that made a lot of people buy this palette. It’s lilaceous and bright. It shines with a lot of colors, I should say. But, it has some peculiarities. I can apply it only with my fingers, because it doesn’t want to show any color payoff if I apply it with a brush, no matter wet or dry. In the swatch that was applied with a brush, I tried to show you its pigment as best I could. However, the color applied with a finger looks much better. I’d say that this shade is seemingly a pressed glitter. I use it as an accent shade on my mobile lid.
3) Heavenly - light-brown copper shade. This is the pressed glitter as it is. It’s practically impossible to pick it up with a brush, though my fingers work nice with it. It shines from golden to pink, and I also like wearing it as an accent on my eyes.
4) Rapture - I was counting on this shade. I dreamed of having such a light beige color, but it has turned out to be pink-beige. Why does it scream with pink? It not only has a strange shade of pink, but it also has a lot of micro particles of blue color. You can use it to darken the Dreamy shade, or wear as the main color on your mobile lids.
5) Ecstasy - brown-vinous coffee shade. It looks like a dark ash-pink shade when I blend it out. It is stunning if paired with golden colors. As you’ve already probably guessed, I use it to darken the crease and the outer Vs.
6) Paradise - Honestly, it feels like I have to confess and say that I was screaming with delight when I saw this shade of purple here. It looked so bright on the pan. However, this babe looks different in reality. In the palette it’s such a bluish lilac, if I layer it, then it looks blue-lilac, but in reality I usually end up with crimson crap on my eyes, seriously. That’s not fair!
The upper swatch is done with my finger, the middle is with a brush and the last swatch was layered with a brush.
I use this color for blending, but if I want to get a very bright color pack on my eyes, I apply it with my finger several times then.
7) Bliss - The show of “different on pan shades” goes on. In the palette it’s such a brick-red color. One layer shows a peach shade and if I layer it, I can see a brick-fire shade. The blending is above any praise and the color doesn’t dust, even though it’s pretty dry texture-wise. I use it to blend out the crease or darkening of the colors. My finger → one layer with a brush → several layers with a brush.
Beloved - brown, with finely milled shimmer bits. This shade seems to be matte. I like how beautiful it looks over my mobile lids. It doesn’t dust or fall out. As many others, this one seems different on my skin rather than in the palette.
But even though it is a shimmer shade, I still use it for darkening of my eyelids.
With my finger → one layer with a brush → several layers with a brush.
❃ A comparison with the other Venus palettes ❃
Being a true worshiper of all the Venus eyeshadow palettes, I just couldn’t miss out on this one and walk away not comparing all of them together. The products from this palette seem to be softer and more creamy texture-wise, in comparison with the Venus I or II. At the same time they are dry as the colors from the Venus XL palette. The pigmentation is still fantastic - all the shades look bright and they are long-wearing, regardless of an eyeshadow primer.
As for the colors, I decided to compare the pink shades (which definitely prevail here) as well as the brown colors.
Pink shades
I’d call the third Venus a palette an ashy-pink palette. There aren’t any similar shades, even though the outer appearance rings the bell of the XL palette.
Brown shades
They are absolutely dissimilar. As I’ve already said, the palette is mainly ashed-colored and pink. Even the brown shades seem to be casting into pink colors here.
❃ Makeups ❃
Since there are only two bright colors, which are shimmer and glitter, I could see only two ways of doing my makeup with this palette: bright and lilac makeup, as well as neutral brown pink.
1) Bright
I darken the crease with the Dreamy shade. Then I take up a little bit of the Paradise and do the blending. After that I darken the crease with the last color, getting into the the lower lids, as well as to the outer Vs, creating a base shade for the Beam color.
As for a daily makeup look, then I think that a combination of Dreamy+Rapture shades will be more than enough there.
And over my mobile eyelid here I applied the Beam shade.
And makeup in total:
2) Brown
With the help of the Rapture shade I created the crease. Then I gradually darken it with the Beloved +Ecstasy shades. The first one should be applied more on your mobile lid.
Then there’s a choice - you can stop here or add an eyeliner. As for me, I wanted to use the shade Bliss.
I added this brick color to the crease and then Heavenly was applied with my finger to my mobile lid.
And my total look in ashed-pink shades without the Bliss shade is ready:
❃ My opinion ❃
Honestly, I was disappointed with the palette.
Shimmer and glitter shades have turned out to be pretty difficult to work with at first. You see, I’m more into a brush application, but here I had to learn how to use my finger to get the maximum color payoff.
The matte shades look different on the pan than on my eyes.
But this is the opinion of the person who is spoiled with the Lime Crime eyeshadows. If you think thoroughly, then you’ll see that it’s pretty challenging to find a good eyeshadow palette of ashy-pink shades with a good color payoff and amazing colors nowadays. But here the design is tempting and attractive even for a makeup junkie. This is why I highly recommend this palette, my dear readers!
Thanks for your attention!
Be always gorgeous and have an amazing mood! ღ
