Almost no other palette was as anticipated as Jaclyn Hill’s Morphe Palette. This collaboration has been the talk of the town for ages. I just couldn’t not purchase one for myself, to see if there was the reason behind the hype.
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What Does It Offer?
This palette was allegedly prepared for over two years to create a stunning color combination and outstanding performance. It is very large, and it consists of 35 eyeshadows. The shades are carefully chosen so you can make both natural and more extreme makeup looks.
Jaclyn Hill herself tested and perfected the shades to ensure great application and color payoff. It contains mattes, satins, shimmers, glitters, and foils to suit everyone’s needs. This palette is supposed to be your new go-to palette that can be the only product you want to use for any makeup look.
What Is the Product Like?
The packing itself is very pretty. It isn’t too luxurious or fancy, but the white color gives it an elegant vibe. The 35 shades have a layout of 5 rows, each consisting of 7 shades. Luckily, unlike many other Morphe palettes, all shades are of equal size. For some reason, it really bugs me when some shades have much larger pans than the other ones. While the shade names are written on the box, they are nowhere to be found on the palette itself. This isn’t unusual for Morphe palettes, but I’d still prefer to know the names of the shades I’m using. This can be very helpful if you love watching or reading makeup tutorials. Surprisingly, the palette doesn’t have a mirror. Instead, it has a cute little message from Jaclyn – but I would still prefer a mirror.
Another thing that I immediately disliked was the price. While $38 isn’t much for such a large palette, it is way more expensive than most standard Morphe palettes of the same size. Though, as many other collaboration palettes, including the famous James Charles one, are even more costly, this isn’t surprising.
When it comes to color payoff, it depends on the shades. Once again, this is nothing new, as different finishes require different formulations. For example, metallic shades look great during swatches, but you need to apply them to your eyes using a wet brush, and even then, some shades can be a bit pale. Satins look very lovely, and glitters are also pretty – once again, if applied with a wet brush. Mattes, however, were very inconsistent. While most were soft and easy to blend, others were terribly dry and streaky. This is especially true for the two lighter teal shades, as well as purples. The first three rows were great, and I managed to make many great looks with them. Also, the shade Pool Party stained my eyelids. This isn’t worrisome, and it is a common occurrence with most brighter shades, especially blues and pinks.
Some of the colors that I really loved were Sissy, Firework, Queen, Chip, and Enchanted. These look very bright and aren’t standard shades that most palettes have. The nudes are great, as well, and they look beautiful on the eyes.
I have noticed that many shades, especially shimmers and metallics, look better when applied with fingers than if you were to use a brush. Again, this is pretty common, and I am used to applying eyeshadows this way. While it isn’t the most precise method, it gives you the brightest colors.
When it comes to durability, they won’t last for an entire day, but they can last for a fairly long time. I wore them for eight hours before starting to notice any sort of fading. They aren’t the brightest looking on the eyes, but the color payoff you manage to get will last long enough.
Ingredients
There was some confusion with the ingredient list for this palette. When Morphe first published the list, it was in no way different than any other of their palettes, despite the brand previously claiming that they used a whole new formulation, and hence a higher price. After the drama, they published a new, updated ingredient list; however, this was quite similar to some other palettes from the brand. While this doesn’t concern me, it is essential to note.
When it comes to the ingredients itself, this palette is free of most preservatives, fragrance-free, lanolin-free, paraben-free, and gluten-free. It is free of any oils, as well as soy. However, it does contain coconut and artificial dyes, so it isn’t entirely irritant-free. It includes some Iron Oxides, as well as Phenoxyethanol. Still, all of these are pretty standard, and so far, I didn’t notice anything harmful in this palette.
Before and After
One of the looks created with the Jaclyn Hill eyeshadow palette.
The nudes and the reds on this palette are pretty decent looking. In fact, the yellowish shades are quite good.
The palette is great for creating darker looks, as well.
Is It Vegan And Cruelty-Free?
Morphe is a cruelty-free brand. This means that neither of its products or ingredients are tested on animals, or sold in countries where animal testing of imported products is mandatory. Also, Morphe is a 100% vegan brand, and this palette is no different. If you are a vegan, you are free to use Jaclyn Hill’s palette. Go Morphe!
Conclusion
I have read several reviews online, and it seems like this palette is a hit or miss. In fact, many people speculate that Morphe changed its formula somewhere between many restocks and that the palette doesn’t have the same quality now as it did before.
With all that in mind, my thoughts about the palette lie somewhere in the middle. While I am not a fan of many shades, others look really pretty on the eyes. Also, the palette is reasonably priced, even though you can buy similar Morphe palettes for ten to fifteen bucks less. Still, $38 for a palette with 35 shades is pretty affordable, so there are no real complaints. All in all, this is a decent palette, nothing more or less.
