Lorac Pro eyeshadow palette 1 review, swatches

Have you ever bought something that was not on your wishlist, simply because the product you wanted was unavailable? That happens to me a lot. And that is how I came to buy the Lorac Pro Palette 1.
I already have all three Urban Decay N@ked palettes, theBalm's N*de'Tude, Too Faced Chocolate Bar, Accessorize Exposed and a couple of other neutral palettes, which you will see soon. And then, I saw Lorac Unzipped and Pro 1. I compared both for a while before settling on Pro 1 because of the somewhat more versatile shades and because this was more value for money.
To be honest, it was Lorac Pro Palette 2 that was on my wishlist - and still is - and I hope I can find it soon. I love that the name of this palette is quite different from other neutral palettes and has nothing to do with the lack of clothing. That trend was becoming monotonous.

Here are the swatches and the review of the Lorac Pro eyeshadow palette.

Packaging of Lorac Pro palette 1

The external box is a little squishy from my suitcase, but I really like the black and white design with the Disney sparkles stars and the magnetic closure.

This comes with a Behind The Scenes primer, about which I will talk in another post.
Inside, the palette is very sleek, with matte-fnish black cardboard packaging. There is a decently sized mirror inside, opposite the 16 eyeshadows.

Texture and pigmentation

The eight eyeshadows on the first row are matte while the eight on the second row are shimmery. These are velvety soft and smooth and are nicely pigmented, but there is some fallout with some of the shades in the pan itself, if you press too hard. The fallout is a bit hard to clean from the palette. I did not notice much fallout from the brush while applying the colours to my lids. Pigmentation is nice enough and buildable. Some of the deeper shades are more pigmented, but there is nothing to complain about, overall.

Shades and swatches of Lorac Pro Palette 1

Swatches are on bare skin, no primer. And most importantly, these are swatched lightly with my FINGERTIPS and not a brush or applicator.

The shades, along with quick first impressions, are (from left):
White: This is a shade I might be avoiding, since it is too pale for my skintone.
Cream: A matte highlighter shade. This needed a couple of swipes to show up and had a bit of fallout within the pan.
Taupe: A medium brown matte eyeshadow which will make a great colour for everyday wear.
Light Pink: I have already used this as a highlighter and it goes in quite well.
Mauve: A really pretty dusty lavender. This is a great all-over-the-lids colour which will feature in an EOTD soon.
Sable: A dark brown eyeshadow. If Taupe goes on the lids, this should go on the crease for a deeper neutral look.
Espresso (second row, from left): Very dark taupeish-brown. This was so nicely pigmented and needed just the one swipe for that swatch.
Black: I am so glad there is a matte black eyeshadow here. This will make a great eyeliner with a damp angular brush.
N#de: A pale, shimmery eyeshadow that is a tad too light on my skintone.
Champagne: You see the way this shade blends into my skintone? Obviously, it has become my favourite highlighter shade of all time.
Gold: This is more copper than gold and is nicely pigmented.
Light Bronze: I expected bronze to be deeper than this, but this is paler than Gold, just a tad deeper than Champagne.
Pewter: This shimmey brown is one of my favourite shades in this palette and I am wearing it today - I will share the EOTD soon.
Garnet (third row; from left): Another favourite is this super-pigmented coppery brown summery eyeshadow. This, Gold and Light Bronze will make a great EOTD.
Deep Purple: This is a very blackish purple - more black with purple shimmer. Great to smoke out Mauve or even Pewter.
Slate: This is a deep shimmery grey. Usually, grey eyeshadows are too silvery for my liking, but this one is as un-silvery as I could wish for. Possibly my favourite grey eyeshadow so far.
Summary
The Lorac Pro palette 1 is more versatile than both Urban Decay N@ked 1 and 2, for me, as it has more matte shades and a better mix of shades. But my favourite neutral palette remains theBalm, followed by Too Faced Chocolate Bar. This is probably third or fourth. Above both UDs, definitely. I feel that the other companies waited for Urban Decay to come out with those two, studied those palettes, and improved on the shade range. In fact, I have not used my N@ked 1 or 2 palettes for a while. I do not regret buying this for an instant and look forward to getting my hands on Lorac Pro 2.
More from my haul will soon follow.