A brand that I quite enjoy when it comes to eyeshadow palettes is Lime Crime. It all started with the larger Venus XL and Venus XL 2 for me. Because I loved those, I thought I could also try some of their smaller palettes. I already reviewed the Venus Immortalis, but today’s turn goes out to the Prelude Chroma palette. The minute I saw this color story, I knew I wanted to give it a try. Because you know the drill: if the palette features a taupe or a teal, I’m game. And this palette features some great teal shadows.
It greatly depends where you buy these smaller Lime Crime palettes what you end up paying for them. Lime Crime has become more widely available in recent years, but it really depends on your location how much the brand goes for. If you can shop from their original website, this retails for €32.95 at full price and is currently on sale for €16.95. However, where I live, in The Netherlands, this palette retails for €41.19. That’s quite a big markup! Whether the palette is worth the money can therefore be a bit of a problem, as it will greatly depend on where you live and what you would be willing to pay.
What does this palette have to offer?
The Lime Crime Prelude Chroma palette was one that I was very excited for when it released. It has plenty of shades that I love. However, I was a little apprehensive about it as it does feature a few warm tones that I feel didn’t really go. Most of the palette still skews more cool toned though and you get plenty of light and dark shades as well. In terms of shimmers vs mattes, the ratio favors shimmer shades, which of course I love. So in the end I felt it was interesting enough for an 8-pan color story and decided to buy it.
What is the color story like?
Let’s zoom in on the color story for a minute. It may look a little boring in the pan, but in the end 3 of the shades are teals, there is a purple, a matte cream to blend things out with and you get three warm toned shimmers. It may not seem like this at first glance, but the two shimmers on the right of the top row are topper shades with Sea Foam pulling teal and Triumph pulling champagne/ gold. The shades I was most apprehensive about were Nymph and Eros, but I ended up being able to make them work quite well as the purple ended up combining in a great way with those shades.
What does the palette swatch like?
Now before you go: wait a minute, where are the other three shades? Yes, they were swatched here but some reason my camera didn’t pick up on them. The reason? They are super light and therefore don’t show up very well on my skin tone. For a matte blend shade that is no problem, but the two shimmer top coats are just too sheer for it to really pop in a finger swatches. These shades are best used layered or packed onto the inner corner, but they wouldn’t work well all over the lid by themselves. So that is something to bear in mind. That said, the shades swatch fine with the matte purple and teal being a bit dry. However, they build up well enough on the lid and blend easily but these are shadows that need a bit more work and won’t give you kapow payoff.
2 Looks, 1 Palette
To create looks with this palette I stuck to the different undertones that are in the palette. For my first look I played with the warm tones, because those I never feel very great in, but it’s usually the part of the palette a brand does best. For my second look I played with the teals, which I find flatters me more, but those shades were a bit more difficult to work with.
For the first look I played with the three warm toned shimmers and the purple. I placed the purple shade in the crease and put the gold all over the lid. The coral I used on the lower lash line together with a bit of that purple again. For the inner corner I used the champagne shimmer, which didn’t have the impact I had hoped, but it did work better when I layered it onto the lid with my fingers. I like the way the purple matte combined with these warm tones, because at first glance it doesn’t seem a very obvious choice.
For the second look I used the three teals and of course that matte transition shade. For how dry the matte teal felt, I feel it blended out nicely in the crease to create some depth and definition. While the teals combine well together, I can also see the matte teal combining with the peachy/ coral shade, the purple and the gold (though not all at the same time). In short, I think that there is quite a bit of versatility here too. So while this look may seem ‘boring’ I think, other more interesting combos are certainly possible. Other than the matte teal in the crease, I used the shimmering teal on the lid, and the sheer topper is in the inner corner and I tapped a little of it on the center of the lid for some added brightness.
My final thoughts
Overall the Lime Crime Prelude Chroma palette is one that I like quite a bit. It’s not a perfect teal palette as for me I could really do without the warm tones. However, the teals it has are also not perfect as there isn’t much shade variety. Overall, I do like this palette though as there were some surprises and I can see this palette combining in many more unexpected ways than what I am showing you here right now. However, I would have liked more teals in this palette and fewer warm tones, then this would have worked much better for me.
Would I recommend the Lime Crime Prelude Chroma palette?
This palette looks stunning, but I think this isn’t the best teal palette by any means. The best teals in my collection are still my single shadows so if you truly wanted a full teal palette, you are still best off building your own. I have high hopes for Colourpop’s High Tide palette though, but as I have yet to try it, I can’t be sure at this moment in time.
2 responses to “Lime Crime Prelude Chroma eyeshadow palette review”
Beautiful color story!
It is indeed.