Urban Decay Vice 4 Review & Swatches

Hello everyone and Happy Thursday!


Today I'm sharing my initial thoughts plus swatches of the new Urban Decay Vice 4 eyeshadow palette. I ordered mine from the Urban Decay website (click here) when it first launched about a week ago. It's currently sold on their website but eventually, you'll find this in stores like Ulta and Sephora.  As with all Vice palettes, you get 20 brand new eyeshadows ranging from mattes to shimmers to metallic and even a few glittery finishes; all for $60. Not bad considering that each eyeshadow comes out to $3 a piece.

I like the packaging and overall esthetic of the product. In terms of packaging, this is the best looking Vice palette. Included with this palette is a cool looking pouch (could be used as a makeup bag) and double ended (crease/shadow) brush that isn't bad. I'm not a huge fan of the double ended brushes thrown in with these types of palettes. That being said, you could get away with using it to complete a look while on travel.

Vice 4

*The swatches have been applied without primer and a slightly damp brush was used.

L to R:
Fast Ball, Framed, Grip, Bones

~Descriptions (as they appear in palette)~

Bones: shimmery silvery beige 

Framed: matte beige with subtle pink undertone

Grip: matte gray with silver glitter

Fast Ball: shimmery mid tone pink

All of the above swatched nicely with a damp brush but a few things to note; Framed doesn't show up too much on lighter skin tones when used dry and Grip-really needs to be used damp for maximum payoff. My only complaint with this group is Grip...I'd prefer this to be completely matte without the glitter and more pigmentation.

L to R:
Flame, Bitter, Grasshopper, Discreet

~Descriptions (as they appear in palette)~

Discreet: matte pale lavender 

Bitter: matte reddish brown

Grasshopper: metallic bright green

Flame: metallic/glittery orangey-gold

Love all of these colors. There was a bit of fall out when using Flame. It has a chunky glittery finish which is gorgeous when foiled but there will be fall out due to the nature of the finish.

L to R:
C-Note, Arctic, Low, Crowbar

~Descriptions (as they appear in palette)~

C-Note: metallic gray-ish green

Arctic: bright aqua with silver glitter

Low: glittery brown with subtle purple tone

Crowbar: smokey golden olive with glittery flecks

All colors look pretty when swatched using a damp brush. Using them dry is nice but the effect won't be as intense as you see above. Low and Crowbar feel a bit drier in texture than all others in this palette which isn't something I'm particularly fond of. But it's workable! As you can see above, Crowbar is messy due to the fall out.

L to R:
Deadbeat, Beat Down, 1985, Underhand

~Descriptions (as they appear in palette)~

Deadbeat: dark charcoal gray with silver flecks

Beat Down: shimmery deep blue toned violet

1985: metallic fuchsia

Underhand: shimmery berry

Love these too! 

Delete, Robbery, Harlot, Pandemonium 

~Descriptions (as they appear in palette)~

Pandemonium: sparkly deep purple

Harlot: shimmery lavender

Robbery: metallic golden taupe

Delete: matte dark brown

These are really nice and all have good color payoff. Delete looks a bit patchy because I initially swatched this one dry and blended over it using a brush that was slightly damp. I'd recommend using Delete dry.

Overall, I think this is a good palette. The payoff of each color with the exception of Grip, is pretty good. It's what you would expect from Urban Decay.

When comparing Vice 4 to Vice 1 and Vice 3 (don't own Vice 2), I noticed there seems to similar tones of color in each palette. Within the Vice palettes I own, there isn't one particular shade that is exactly the same. The colors within each Vice palette are different but overall, the color family is very similar. So unfortunately, in my opinion this isn't super unique. That being said,  I like it and would continue using it. 

Here's a few looks I've done with Vice 4:

Flame applied damp on the lid. Bitter & Delete in crease
and lower lash line. Framed used as brow highlight.

Harlot inner half of lid and 1985 outer half
Blended C-Note and Delete together and applied to crease
Framed as brow highlight

So I hope this review was helpful. If you have any questions or comments please feel free to leave them in the comment section.

For upcoming tutorials using Vice 4, please subscribe to my YouTube beauty channel

Thank you for stopping by,

xoxo

~Lexi