On February 21, Jeffree Star launched the Blood Lust collection on his website and to some distributors. Fans of the brand returned to the battlefront (which is what queues become every time there’s a release) to get the products before they ran out of stock. I was lucky to be one of those who got the palette through Beauty Bay, although it is already available in Maquillalia. Today I will show you swatches and looks, in addition to the review. If you want to know more, keep reading!
Spanish review here / Reseña en español aquÃ.
I already talked about this collection as soon as it was announced. The original Blood Sugar palette is one of my topmost wishlist products, if not the highest one, but when I saw this one I knew it had to be mine. I’m a hopeless lover of lilacs, purples and all the violet-type of tones.
The outer packaging is utterly gorgeous. The crushed faux velvet gives a very captivating, luxurious and eccentric touch. It is a very large palette, as you can see; this detail gives it a lot of character, but it is also one of its weak points. The brooch that opens the palette has almost no real functionality, but it contributes a lot to the design.
Blood Lust Palette
63€ – £54 – $54 | Cruelty-free | Vegan
This palette is violet-themed and comes in different intensities and finishes. There are 18 shades in total, including a new formula and a matte with glitter. Lavenders, warmer and colder purples… all of them are offset by other shades that break this pattern, such as gold, red or blue. Although at first, that is a bit displeasing if you expect a monochrome palette, it’s also something that will stop us from getting bored easily by repetitive looks.
Jeffree won our awe with the new extreme wet formula, which provides the wet effect found in Wet Jewel or Pink Magic. These dazzling shadows will leave you speechless whether they’re used as toppers or by themselves – they are intense and can be built to make them completely opaque.
Texture
As for the textures, the quality of the shadows is highly reflected in that aspect. I’m definitely not surprised by it because the brand has always kept the bar really high. Their shades are exceptional. The only shade that seemed a little dry to me and that, as I will explain later on, I didn’t like, is Vile Serpent. Otherwise, the texture is great and pleasant to the touch. But… is it the same with brushes?
Application
Let’s dive into the most important part (in my opinion). This is what defines whether the palette is worth investing in or not: how its shadows apply. The reason is that if the palette is beautiful, has cool colours and the concept hits the spot, but the shadows are difficult to work with or simply have poor quality, it becomes useless.
Spoiler: most of them aren’t like that. Shades generally apply very well, especially considering how hard to make purple shades are. They met the expectations that are usually placed on the brand’s quality.
On the one hand, matte shades blend perfectly with each other. Same with the shimmers in terms of how they adhere to the eye and how they are applied using flat brushes, although there are two shades that I did not like: Executioner and Vile Serpent. The first one I didn’t like because when I try to blend it, it loses all the glitter particles, which is what is supposed to make it special. Moreover, time isn’t its friend: as time passes, so does the glitter locations. By the end of the day, it was all over my face. The teal blue is a bit patchy. It’s the hardest matte shade to work with.
Almost all the shadows are pretty powdery and have some fallout, but that’s something that’s not going to bother you if you start doing your eyes before your face. For me, it doesn’t bother me at all, but I can understand that for some of you it can be a problem.
Pigmentation and Swatches
Me habrÃa gustado que la cámara hubiese capturado mejor las sombras, sobre todo los shimmers. Ganan muchÃsimo en persona. El efecto mojado es muy bonito y aporta aún más a las sombras duocromáticas.
I wish the camera had captured the shadows better, especially the shimmers. They look much better in person. The wet effect is incredibly beautiful and makes the duochromatic shades even more intense.
What I’ve also noticed is that almost all the shades apply wonderfully, they are very buttery and the pigment truly is there. The swatches above have no more than two finger swatches, and most of them only have one.
Looks
I haven’t been able to test the palette as much as I’d like, but here are some ideas for looks and how the shades work. They are all made 100% with the palette:
As you can see here, this palette has a lot to offer. In the top left look, I tried to use Executioner, the black matte with purple highlights, but it didn’t work as I would have liked. In both, I wanted to do two opposite looks to try everything I could … and optimize time!
Blood Lust Palette: Is it worth it?
As always, there are several things to keep in mind when answering this question. I can’t stress this enough: no product is necessary, especially when it is priced so high. That being said… yes, I think this palette is worth it.
Pros
- The shades are vegan and cruelty-free, just like the faux velvet of the packaging. In addition, it is stunning and comes in a box that was created to withstand shipping without problems.
- If you’re a fan of this type of tones and you know that you are going to use it, you will certainly come up with plenty of creative looks, as it happened to me. Some of the shadows are similar but still different, and are capable of making many of our makeup fantasies come true…
- …with high quality. You can definitely see it in the pigmentation, the textures, and how easy they are to work with.
- The shadows pans are huge, and they will last a while. Jeffree’s palettes are known for that.
- Endless possibilities. One of my biggest concerns with the Mini Controversy palette was that the shadows didn’t necessarily go a long way in terms of creativity. The variety of looks was limited. I didn’t get the same thing with this palette, even though there was a colour scheme going on. There are no repeated shades, the kind that makes you reconsider whether you’re actually getting new colours.
- It’s not a purple tones only kind of palette. This is something that some people have found to be positive, while some other people have found them to be negative. I think it is positive as it will help us to not get bored easy.
Cons
- The price is quite high. It is the most expensive palette I’ve ever bought or owned, and although I am very happy with it and would pay for it again, I think that if you have doubts about the use you will give it or you know that they are not the type of shades you would use, it is better not to get it.
- The palette is very large, so it is not practical to take on a trip at all.
- The tendency to get dirty. Ugh. It is no secret that the outer packaging, although it is very beautiful, will get dirty quickly when it comes into contact with shadows or whatever. After a month, that hasn’t been the case for me, but eventually, it will, and it is not as easy to clean as a carton box.
- On the other hand, and although it is something inevitable for any palette, the patterns that characterize it so much will disappear with their use. It is normal, but it makes you want to not use the palette.
- Also, as I said, the shadows have some fallout. If you are not used to it or it bothers you, the truth is that it is an important aspect of the palette. It is not excessive, though.
As you can see, there are both reasons for and against this palette. Personally, I love it. Although it is not a palette for day to day looks or the type of palette that I would take with me for a trip (a short one, if I were to leave my vanity behind for months I would definitely rethink that), it is also a unique and different palette. The hexagonal shape, the purple velvet, the lilac shades that contrast with the pink, gold, blue… if you’re a Jeffree Star fan and like these shades, this is your palette.
And that’s all for today! I hope you liked the review. Tell me in the comments if you are thinking about getting the palette! Stay safe 🙂 Before you leave, don’t forget to follow me on social media. I’m more active there, and it’s an easier way to see my follow-ups and updates! ♡
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