LORAC Private Affair Palette Review!

The LORAC Private Affair Palette is the perfect set of eyeshadows for a dramatic night-out look, a purple spin on the classic smoky eye, or a very shimmery neutral eye. You can find it at Sephora for $38, and it comes with a mini version of Lorac's eye primer and a dual-ended brush that is advertised as a blender and smudger.

Unfortunately, I never touched the primer for the first month that I had this and then when I took these photos and revisited the primer, it was
COMPLETELY dried up. I even tried cutting the tube open and mixing the now dried up paste with some water but it didn't budge. (So, the photos of the eyeshadow swatches "with primer" are shown over a layer of Mac's Paintpot in Soft Ochre.)

(From left to right) A light peachy champagne with light shimmer, a light beige champagne with a slightly chunky silver shimmer, a light to medium soft brown with silver shimmer, a medium grayed silver with shimmer, a medium plum with pinkish-plum shimmer, a deep violet with lots of pinkish purple shimmer. 

The box has a pretty purple "snakeskin"-style cover and a plate with the LORAC brand name imprinted on it. The cover stays shut with a pretty strong magnet, and there isn't much binding between the cover and the palette itself because the box never stays open on its own. (A bit of a pain.) I wish there was more support on the cover to allow it to stay open when open, yet still close shut securely with the magnet. But that's okay.

The box comes with a cute little pull-out drawer with a handle that matches the metal on the nameplate, and has two separated sections (one wider than the other). I use this drawer to hold lashes that don't have any other home and lash glue, and sometimes brushes when I'm traveling with it.

In order from palette from left to right, top to bottom. W/O primer.

The shadows are all shimmery, although, the fifth color (the plum) shows up a lot less shimmery than the rest. Also, the first two colors are much more shimmery than the rest of the colors. The last shade (the dark purple) is full of beautiful pinkish-purple sparkles that transfer fairly well, but subtly, onto the skin. These shadows have quite a bit of fallout when they are picked up with a brush from the palette and when they apply onto the skin, even over a primer, but the texture is extremely soft and silky. The pigmentation is great and all of the darker colors apply opaque instantly without the need for many layers or applications. With a primer, the colors last for hours without creasing or fading.

WITH primer. (MAC Paintpot)

The brush isn't very good. The bristles are stiff and the brush isn't very full with bristles. While the "blending" side (wide) can be used to pack on a very thin, light layer of color, it isn't ideal for using with shadows at all. The "smudger" side (a bit tapered and thinner) isn't really good for much, either, but can be used in a pinch for placement of color prior to blending, or smudging out a line of shadow or liner.