FIRST IMPRESSION: VIOLET VOSS HOLY GRAIL PALETTE

Heyy everyone! I promised a first impression/review of the Violet Voss Holy Grail palette that I was gifted from Lewis for my birthday. I mentioned in my Birthday Makeup Tutorial that this palette was honestly one of the best and I’ll prove that to you with my swatches later on!

So to begin lets talk packaging. Violet Voss updated their original all black packaging to a pink based holographic card box, you’ll see from my photos this holo packaging seems to want to pick up sooo many finger prints but it’s not an issue because it’s still super pretty. The palette is packaged inside with another cardboard insert which is reassuring and then we have the palette.

The palette itself is quite bulky but since it’s on the more expensive side I’m quite alright with that, it’s a great size and it feels secure enough to not get damaged.

On the inside we have a massive mirror which would be perfect for travelling and it’s great to do a full face on the go! The 20 shades are covered with a plastic insert which I always throw away, but onto the best part the actual shadows.

The whole palette is warm tones which you all know I’m all for. I love my warm tones, I love rusty colours, golds, oranges and reds as they compliment my eyes really well and I’m a lot more confident using these colours compared to others. I had read reviews on the palette all of them mainly being positive but I’ve never seen any swatches so when I first had a swatch of these shades I was honestly blown away!

The formulation of these shadows is second to none, the mattes are so pigmented but do vary a bit in smoothness for example Hashtag and Wine N Dine are quite dry shadows but some of the most pigmented in the palette, whereas Teddy Bear is very smooth and silky to the touch but equally as pigmented. When using the matte shadows with a brush you can’t tell the difference it’s only when swatching with a finger that you can feel the different textures.

 

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SWATCHES

I’m going to jump into the swatches and give my thoughts on each horizontal row. So on the first row we have Crystal, Ploof, Thanks a Latte, Transition and Hashtag.

So Crystal is a white champagne colour which is on the subtle side of the metallic shades, I’ve been using it as a natural inner corner highlight . Ploof is a pale pink metallic which I love it feels buttery to the touch, really so so smooth. Thanks a Latte is a great neutral base shade for blending no matter what the look is. Transition and Hashtag are perfect for creating a bright orange smokey eye or warming up any muted eye look.

LOOK CAN YOU SEE THAT PIGMENT! This row is so pleasing to look at, Awesome Sauce shocked me because it looks so subtle in the pan but came out so packed full of pigment and shimmer. Bestie is the fabulous warm brown matte shadow obviously so versatile for any look using this palette. Toffee….let me tell you is the softest, smoothest and most effortless metallic shade I’ve ever used!! It’s a gorgeous copper gold, so similar to MAC Amber Lights but with the most perfect formula! I usually use Fix Plus to help out metallic shades but this really didn’t need it at all! Chill is super subtle, lovely for a wash of shimmer across the lid, and How U Doin is a basic metallic copper shade which every palette has.

Another row of gorgeousness! Bat My Eyes is the brown that every palette needs but with an orange shimmer running through it which makes it unique and equally lovely. Cool Beans really impressed me, it’s a bit on the cooler side because of the taupe colouring but the warm base ties it in perfectly to the palette. R U Kitten Me is another glorious matte shade, I usually like to mix this and Bestie to build up intensity. So Jelly is the only duochrome shade in the palette so it is a little on the sheerer side but for a duochrome shade I think it’s fabulous, it’s a light pink and peach duochrome I love applying this on top of my inner corner highlight to add a new dimension! On Fleek is a true rusty red metallic which I’m a tad scared to use but one day I will I’m sure, the formulation is beautiful.

And the final row includes Brownie Points which is a deeper neutral matte brown so perfect for building up that intensity in a smokey eye, Teddy Bear is on a similar level but has a bit more red/purple in it so adds a bit of a twist than a regular deep brown (personally I love this tone). Glamping is a warm brown metallic, it’s a shade I’ve never really played around with before but I definitely will do because look how smooth and pigmented that swatch is! Cranberry Splash is a bit more red on the eye and I love using this on the lower lash line, it looks quite intimidating in the pan but I’m slowly breaking the colour in. And finally we have Wine N Dine, this is a glorious shadow! Like I mentioned earlier on the formulation is drier than the other mattes but it is ridiculously pigmented it is so so easy to go overboard with this shade, I would recommend building this colour up really slowly and spend a lot of time on blending.

 

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So that’s all for the swatches so to sum this palette up! The formulation is incredible, none of the shades disappoint, I can not find a single flaw in this palette! My current favourite shades are Thanks a Latte, Hashtag, Toffee, Cool Beans, So Jelly, Teddy Bear and Wine N Dine. Since I opened this on my birthday I’ve not put the palette down, it’s so verstaile and it’s so effortless to create gorgeous looks with it, it’s honestly a warm toned lovers dream. I’ll be taking this palette everywhere with me, I had a couple of questions off a few friends the main one being…

“Will this replace the ABH Modern Renaissance?”

 

It’s a tough question to answer because I still find myself dipping into the Modern Renaissance purely for the shade Red Ochre. Wine N Dine is super similar to Love Letter, but it’s the only matte red toned shade in the Violet Voss palette, I just wish that ABH produced Red Ochre as one of their eyeshadow singles and I would be buying that straight away and I wouldn’t need to repurchase the Modern Renaissance palette.

 

All in all I would highly recommend you try out this palette, it’s a formula unlike any other the metallics especially. It’s a cult favourite for a reason and I’m so so happy I now have this palette after it being on my wishlist for so long. In terms of value for money it’s £43 which may seem expensive but you get 20 shades that are all perfect there isn’t an off shade in this palette at all, the pan sizes are really decent sizes as well, so compared to the Modern Renaissance which is £41 you only get 14 shades it just seems a bit expensive in comparison to Violet Voss. I guess it’s each to their own with these palettes, the ABH packing is more appealing and classy and they have such a large following it’ll never be out of the spotlight but honestly I think Violet Voss have given them a good run for their money with The Holy Grail palette, I’m sure it’ll soon turn into my Holy Grail too!

 

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I hope you all enjoyed this first impression/review, let me know what you think of the swatches and the palette on a whole in the comments! xo