Hello beautiful ladies! 
Today I’d like to tell you about the fourth Venus palette that I own - Lime Crime Venus XL.
The packaging is made of thick cardboard material, the same as of the previous launches. The top lid opens up 360 degrees and it has a magnet closure and a mirror inside. Traditionally the palette is adorned with Botticelli Venus. This time she doesn’t look as bold as on all the previous palettes, but still, I can feel that fleur of romance around her.
The Lime Crime brand doesn’t test on animals.
Size - 30.06g
Made in the USA
Expires within 24 months of opening.
The main difference between the Venus XL from the others lies not only in the size of the palette but also in the color selection. All the other palettes offer only 8 shades, while here we’ve got a selection of 18!
But taking the ball before the bound I want to say that, even though there are so many shades here, still many of them look similar.
All the previously launched palettes pleasantly surprised me with their quality, while here I was disappointed a lot. In my mind, the quality of these shades is different and for the worse I’m afraid. And it mostly comes to the matte shades.
The mattes from
Lime Crime can’t boast with a silky texture, but they are beautifully packed with pigments, easy to work with and their blending is absolutely fuss-free. However, the matte shades from the
Venus XL palette are too dry and I’d even say they are chalky (aka what you usually see from the cheapest eyeshadow palettes). Many shades are easy to stain my skin with, they aren’t easy to blend out and in general, they never want to pack.
Maybe that’s my skills to blame, but I do definitely suffer working with them.
Satins and shimmers are on fleek. They aren’t the softest formula-wise but they are richly pigmented and easy to apply with my fingers or brushes. No mumbo-jumbo with them at all.
Let’s have a proper look at all the shades.
I divided them in rows for better perception.
The first row:
Eden - satin red-gold-pink;
Love - shimmering golden copper;
Passion - matte red-pink/fuchsia. It’s a deceitful shade, because it always looks different, depending on the angle I look at it. It’s dry texture-wise but still well pigmented.
Fresca - matte gray-brown shade infused with golden and pink shimmer. It’s a mystery for me - why do they add shimmer bits to the matte eyeshadows? Taking into consideration the fact that all the shimmer remains invisible on my eyes. If I swatch it with a good layer, yes, it looks alluring then, but on my eyes, the shade still remains matte;
Inspire - shimmering rose;
Idolized - matte warm brown.
The second row:
Aphrodite - matte dark maroon. This one is super dry and average pigmentation-wise. It can fall out and stain my skin;
Nu Classic - satin dark-brown with a copper casting;
Burnt Gold - matte brown shade, which is average color-wise;
Flora - matte neon-coral shade. One more dry product. Medium pigmentation but still you can pack it easily. It’ll show the maximum of its color only over a white base.
Scallop - matte gentle salmon hue. In comparison with all the other matte shades, this one is pretty well-pigmented and beautiful for blending;
Celestial - matte plum-brown with golden shimmer. Average shade dryness- and pigmentation-wise.
The third row:
Ethereal - satin rose-gold;
Triumph - matte red-vinous. Even though this one is also dry, it’s still pigmented but difficult to blend out;
Supreme - satin dark brown with a plum undertone;
Blank Canvas - matte off-white beige shade. This one is also awesome like the Scallop hue;
Botticelli - matte dark and plummy. It looks fantastic in the palette but absolutely terrible on my skin. Too dry, badly pigmented and tricky to blend out. It applies with patches and it’s impossible to layer.
Goddess - satin dark dusty-pink shade.
Here’s a swatch of all the shades.
Well, it feels like 18 shades will give you a variety, but in reality, they all look almost the same.
The brown-plum-pink shades vary only with the color intensity and the same goes for the fuschia and coral hue.
Maybe I’m too picky about it but the palette doesn’t impress me. Looking at the shades, I can see so many of them that are similar.
As for my makeup, sometimes I pick up 3-4 different shades but in action, they blend into one shade and there are no transitions.
But I want to pass over to the products in action. Let’s have a look at the makeup looks which I managed to create with this Lime Crime Venus XL eyeshadow palette.
Shades used: Idolized, Fresca, Burnt Gold, Celestial, and Botticelli.
For the makeup, where I accentuated my lower lid I used: Idolized, Blank Canvas, Supreme, Love, and Nu Classic.
Here I opted for: Idolized, Aphrodite, Love, Ethereal, Goddess, and Burnt Gold.
For the plum smokey eyes I used: Scallop, Passion, Flora, Triumph, Botticelli, and Goddess.
For the blue-eyelined makeup look I needed the shades: Scallop, Blank Canvas, Triumph, Nu Classic, and Flora.
And this makeup involves: Eden, Love, Passion, Inspire, Scallop, Celestial, and Supreme.
More pink-toned makeup requires: Passion, Aphrodite, Flora, Scallop, Blank Canvas, Botticelli, and Ethereal.
The Lime Crime Venus XL eyeshadow palette hasn’t become a source of inspiration for me. To the fans of Venus, forgive me, but in my book the palette is humdrum. Besides, the quality of the products leaves much to be desired and I’m more into the quality of the previous Venus palettes. If you’re into such shades, you collect cosmetics and eyeshadow palettes, or maybe you’re a loyal fan of the Lime Crime products, then, of course, why not to buy this palette. In all other cases, it’s better to start getting to know the smaller palettes - Venus I or Venus III.
Price - $56
Thanks for your attention and have a pleasant shopping spree! 
