Viseart Eyeshadow Palettes: Worth the Hype?

I'm starting a new series on here called Worth the Hype? where I'll be sharing my thoughts on cult products, popular products, and expensive makeup. I'll let you know if they are really worth the hype...or not. I'd love to hear your suggestions in the comments. And today I'm kicking off the series with the super expensive Viseart palettes. They're $80. WHAT? So are they worth the hype? Keep reading:

I don't talk about my freelance work or professional beauty products on here since this isn't the audience for it. But thanks to blogs/youtube, I've noticed the lines of professional and consumer are definitely blurring. Viseart (pronounced Viz-E-Art) is professional brand that I've been using for over a year now.

Example: when the last Sephora VIB sale happened, I was inundated with emails/tweets/texts/snaps asking me if the the Viseart palettes were worth it. I had no idea they were selling them at Sephora, as they are considered part of "the industry." I couldn't be more excited!

I admit I didn't pay $80 for these. I got them from FrendsBeauty, where I have a pro discount. They are my favorite beauty supply store with amazing customer service (not an ad, no affiliate links, although I'm pretty sure y'all know I don't endorse anything free or sponsored unless I love it). They have my highest recommendations--they sell more than pro makeup. You'll find plenty of brands you've heard of on there. Check them out sometime. I post their sales on my Facebook.

Let's talk about the Viseart palettes: the Parisian brand carries products and palettes for eyes, lips, face, and brows, and we'll focus on the eyes. This was one of the first brands to eradicate parabens from their products. They are imported from France and contain organic ingredients. Not tested on animals. No parabens, gluten, petrochemicals, silicone or mineral oils, so they're made of good stuff.

Viseart has matte palettes, like this Dark Matte palette pictured above. They have satin and they have shimmer finishes, pictured below.

The pigmentation is incredible and they don't have fall out.

Viseart has warm and cool tones, as well as a bright editorial palette--look at the end of this post for all 7 palettes.

And while $80 seems like a lot, think of it this way: they are $6.6 per shadow.

You get 12 shadows per palette. A single MAC shadow is $16 and it's the same size!

Pictured is the Paris Nudes, a shimmer palette.

Since this is considered a professional brand, the packaging is nothing fancy at all. This is typical of pro makeup brands. But despite the appearance, the palette is durable. I have dropped the Neutral Matte palette pictured above (as of this moment on it's sale for $61), and you can see it was fine. Don't recommend dropping it though. ;)

I've also heard the argument (and been asked about) it's a dupe for a $20 Sonia Kashuk palette. It is NOT. While I love the SK brand (I got to interview her once right here!) this doesn't compare at all. The colors look similar in the pan, but are not the same swatched and are not the same quality. Look at the example above that I swatched of the bottom right (V) and the the bottom left (SK) brown.

The shadows are very dry, meaning no fall out, but aren't chalky. I've never had to use a primer and they haven't creased. They last all day. Above is an example of me using the dark and neutral matte palettes. Sorry for all of the closed eye pics this week, but I have hooded lids, so this is the best way to show the shadows before I applied liner.

Top Row: Cool Mattes, Neutral Mattes, Dark Mattes, Editorial
Bottom Row: Paris Nudes, Sultry Muse, Bridal Satin

Worth the Hype?

• Absolutely. Again, these are $6.6 per shadow.
• If you want to do makeup professionally, you need these.
• If you want to stop wasting money on products you aren't satisfied with and get something that works, then you need this. These are colors you will actually use.
• If you want to invest in just 1 good palette, get one of these.
• I recommend going for the dark or cool mattes, since a lot of us have neutral and shimmer palettes already. If you're doing film/print work, you need the editorial. If you do makeup on a lot of brides, the Bridal Satin is a great one.

What products would you like to see featured on Worth the Hype?

Extra Elle

• So glad it's the weekend! Hopefully catching up on some Oscar-nominated movies this weekend. And lots of rest.
• Don't forget my Story Behind the Pic linkup on TUESDAY!