Urban Decay Vice 3

The Urban Decay Vice palettes are legendary if you ask me, so then why didn’t I get around to reviewing the third palette in the series yet? Well, this palette has quite the story attached to it of me first not wanting to get it. Then I decided I did want one and they were of course impossible to find. I ended up tracking it down and nearly a year after this was released, I finally got it. By that time, doing a review seemed pointless. Yet, because I love Urban Decay and because the Vice 3 is my favorite out of the bunch, I couldn’t pass up on sharing this beautiful palette with you.

Urban Decay Vice 3

So this palette was limited edition for Christmas 2014. I know. I’m a bit late. But these still float around from time to time. I have seen a few up on the Dutch Urban Decay website when that finally launched earlier this year and they seem to come back in stock by the handful ever so often. A Vice palette retailed for $60, which is also what I paid for mine.

The Packaging

I know you should never judge a book by its cover, but in this case I did and I thought it looked hella ugly at the time. So I passed up on it. Not until I saw people doing looks with this, I got the worst case of FOMO I have ever had. The mirrored packaging with the embossed letters in green is just not my cup of tea. I get that they were going for the Miami Vice retro 80s look, but it’s just not me. This palette does come with a double-ended brush and a mirror.

The Palette

But it’s the inside that counts right? Look at that stunner of a palette! This palette is one of the most comprehensible Vice palettes that came out. Other palettes were a bit of a haphazard mix of shades. But this features 5 quads that you might use or you can of course bounce around the palette. For the first time this Vice palette features a bunch of neutrals that really allowed you to pull a look together.

My favorite shades in this palette are Dragon (it is one of the best greens I own), Sonic (such a stunning and interesting shade) and Bondage. I like the other shades too, but those are my three stand out shades. The column featuring Sonic is the best quad in the palette and makes for a stunning look. This palette features only 4 mattes, everything else has some form of sheen or shimmer running through it.

The Swatches

These swatches are per quad and then 10 shades per row. You can see that these all swatch beautifully. There are no shades that do not perform well. Where some Urban Decay shimmer can seem overly chunky, none of these have that issue. Freeze is a little on the chunky side but with some Fix+ or your finger the shade still performs well.

This palette feels smooth and buttery till this day. These shadows still perform well and I love going into this palette for more fun, colorful looks. This is one colorful palette that just makes a lot of sense to me, which is why, out of all of my Vice palettes this is the one I reach for the most.

The Application

Look 1
Lid | Sonic & Alchemy
Crease | Bondage & Defy
Inner corner | Last Sin
Lower Lash line | Lucky & Revolver
Brow bone | Truth

This first look has to be one of my favorites I like doing with this palette. That row of purples and burgundies is too stunning to pass up on and I really like how deep and smokey this is. Not an everyday look by any means, but definitely a good one to whip out for special occasions.

Look 2
Lid |Dragon
Lower lash line | Heroine
Crease | Downfall
Brow bone | Undone
Inner corner | Truth

Since Dragon is one of my favorite shades in this palette, I thought I’d do a look with that as well. I love that stunning green. I think it would also be interesting to pair this with some of the purples in this palette. Green and purple can give a nice clash.

Look 3
Lid | Angle
Crease | Defy
Liner | Revolver
Lower lash line | DTF
Brow bone | Truth
Inner corner | Truth

Despite all the fun shades in this palette, it also works well for making a simple neutral look as well. That does mean that some of the fun shades in this palette are left out of this review, but with 20 shades it can be hard to use them all in three looks.

The Conclusion

I really enjoy my Urban Decay Vice 3 eyeshadow palette. It is sad that you can no longer get this, but if you look around the web, this may come back in stock at some point. This is definitely one of the better palettes Urban Decay has ever done and I really enjoy pulling this out if I want to have some fun with my makeup that day.

Do you own any of the Vice palettes?