Review: Morphe Jaclyn Hill Dark Magic Palette

Hi friends!

I’m very excited to bring you a review today on the Morphe Jaclyn Hill Dark Magic Palette, which is available at Ulta now. This is one part of the larger Vault palette release (which I believe was either 4 or 6 palettes) that debuted last year. The release got completely shrouded in controversy pretty quickly both online and on social media, with reports of chalky, poor-performing shadows and tons of customer returns.

Needless to say, I was very intrigued to try one of them out for myself when I passed the Morphe counter at my local Ulta recently. And the Dark Magic Palette, with its smokey greens, blues & pewters, really spoke to me.

Now, I don’t care a fig for Jaclyn Hill personally. I don’t watch her videos nor do I follow her on social media, so her celebrity in no way factored into my decision to buy this palette. I just wanted to see what all the hype and controversy was about. So now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s get to the review!

Shop the Dark Magic Palette at Ulta here.

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

Show your dark side with the 10 creamiest, sultriest eyeshadows to burst onto the midnight scene. Jaclyn Hill is giving you the code to a killer vault where she’s stashed some of her top-secret shades with this badass Morphe x Jaclyn Hill Dark Magic Eyeshadow Palette. JACpot!

Ulta.com

SHADES / SWATCHES

Poof (matte cream)
Power Cut (metallic silver)
Shhh (matte dusty taupe)
Trickery (sparkling emerald)
Diversion (shimmering gunmetal)
Potion (matte avocado green)
Busted (matte ocean blue)
Inside Job (matte dark jade)
Mojo (matte smoked hickory)
Temptress (glinting pitch black)

Ulta.com

My THOUGHTS ON PACKAGING

Nothing special here, to be honest, but nothing too offensively cheap either. But I will say it’s quite small, sleek & lightweight, so perfect for travel if that means anything to you.

RATING: 4 / 5 ⭐️

MY THOUGHTS ON APPLICATION

While testing this palette for review, I dipped into every single shadow to use on my eyes in some capacity. And I have to say, nearly all of them applied & blended very well. The only shade I had a little bit of trouble with was the matte army green called Potion. It got a little patchy on my lid when using a fluffy brush, so I had to go back in and pack some color on with my finger. Other than that, I virtually had no issues.

RATING: 4.5 / 5 ⭐️

Read this: Review: Juvia’s Place Eyeshadow Palettes

MY THOUGHTS ON COLOR RANGE

(Quick disclaimer: It was really hard to get all the color tones to show up in this photo. I realize it all just looks dark, but I can assure you the bottom row is not just a row of black shadows!)

There’s no way around it, this is a smokey, sultry color story. Most of your looks are probably going to end up dark. But you kinda should know that going into it considering the name is Dark Magic. I love how this palette favors more matte textures over shimmer & metallics. But that being said, I would have loved one more mid-tone transition shade in the first row. Shhh applies darker than you would think, and Poof is too light to be a transition.

If you’re interested to know, my favorite colors in the palette are Diversion (the shimmering pewtery color), Potion (the matte army green), and Busted (the matte blue).

RATING: 4 / 5 ⭐️

MY THOUGHTS ON PIGMENTATION

Pigmentation is awesome in this palette! All the shades, even Poof, show up pretty true to color without very little effort. The only thing I will say is that Trickery, the shimmery dark green, loses it’s punchiness as you sheer it out. So after blending, it kinda just looks like a grey or charcoal color, not a green.

RATING: 4.5 / 5 ⭐️

MY THOUGHTS ON LONGEVITY

I didn’t notice any fading on any of the colors throughout the day. One exception is, again, Potion. The color didn’t fade, but it did slightly crease on me within just a few hours of wearing it. (For reference, I always wear a eye primer before laying down powder shadows.) But truthfully I love that color so much that I’m willing to forgive it!

RATING: 4 / 5 ⭐️

MY THOUGHTS ON PRICE

This palette is just $15.00 for 10 shadows. I think that’s a very fair price for the quality you’re getting here. Just think of it as a slightly more expensive drugstore palette.

RATING: 5 / 5 ⭐️

Read this: Review: Urban Decay Born to Run Eyeshadow Palette

FINAL THOUGHTS

Pushing last year’s controversies aside, I really had a great time experimenting with this palette. I found it quite easy to put different looks together, and overall the shadows were very user-friendly. I guess whatever issues Morphe had on the production side have been solved at this point. Not sure. I did notice that Morphe is no longer selling the Vault palettes on their site. So if you’re in the U.S. and are interested in this palette, you’ll have to go to Ulta.

THE LOOKS*

*These are not the only looks I’ve created with this palette.

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I used Power Cut all over the top lid, into and above the crease. Then I blended Trickery on the outer corner and slightly into my crease; I also took that shade along my lower lash line and really smudged it out. Lastly, I smudged just a bit of Mojo along my top lash line, but just at the outer corner.

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I used Poof all over my top lid, and then blended a mixture of Shhh & Potion very lightly into my crease. I then smudged Mojo along both my top & bottom lash lines, at the outer corners.

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I applied Diversion all over my top lid, into & above my crease. I also blended it all along my lower lash line too. I then smudged Temptress along my top & bottom lash lines (in the outer corners).

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I applied Potion all over my top lid, into & above my crease. I then smudged Shhh along my lower lash line.

Have you tried any of the Morphe Jaclyn Hill Vault palettes? If so, what did you think? I’d love to know!

Xo, Erica

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