Review: LORAC Summer 2015 Alter Ego Dream Girl Eyeshadow Palette

Press Sample

LORAC is probably best known at this point for their incredibly popular (and beautiful) PRO Palettes. But LORAC also releases fun little affordable palettes from time to time, and for Summer 2015 they've released the Alter Ego Dream Girl Palette, which is now available on the LORAC site (free shipping on all orders), as well as at Kohl's and Nordstrom (you can click those links to see if they're available at a store near you). I'm guessing this will also be available at Ulta, but as of the time of this post it's not listed on the Ulta site.

This palette retails for $24, which is a bit higher than the products I normally review for you here on Nouveau Cheap, but given the price of drugstore eyeshadow palettes these days (the new L'Oreal palettes are $19.99 at many retailers), $24 doesn't feel like a huge a leap. I also wanted to review this for you in case this palette eventually ends up at HauteLook or Nordstrom Rack so that, if you don't have room in your budget now, you'll be ready to go if it's ever available at those retailers. Whether you want to splurge now, or put this on your wishlist for later, I'm hoping this review gives you a better idea of what this palette has to offer. I received it for review recently and I've been having a lot of fun with it, so let's take a closer look...

LORAC Summer 2015 Alter Ego Dream Girl Eyeshadow Palette

(retail: $24, 0.70 oz.)

Keep reading for my full review (including swatches)...

I know that many of you like it when I break down the cost/value of the palettes I review, so here you go! For perspective, the new Nyx Avant Pop palettes are 0.50 oz. for $17. The LORAC Alter Ego Dream Girl Palette is 0.70 oz. for $24. The Nyx palette works out to $34 per ounce, while the LORAC palette works out to $34.29 per ounce.

This palette has a rubberized matte finish, and the color is more coral than cantaloupe (it looks more orange in my photos but there's actually a tad more pink to the color in real life). 

Back of box:

Made in China

As you can see, you get a mirror with this compact (with the signature LORAC logo printed at the top) and the palette itself is divided into two parts. The left side contains the less shimmery shades and a cream-white highlight shade, while the right side contains the shimmery/metallic shades and a pink highlight shade. 

Swatches on bare skin (no primer)

• The yellow shade is one of those "glowy" shadows that is a bit sheer, like a highlighter, and much prettier in person. In fact, it can double as a highlighter, as you'll see in a moment. This shade contains both shimmer and fine microglitter.

• The matte brown shade is more pigmented than my photo indicates (the light is reflecting off the swatch and making it look sheer, even though it's not). This shadow has that signature LORAC matte texture (silky, smooth and easy to work with).

• The dark peach shade is lighter on my skin than in the pan. This color has a beautiful golden shift to it that you can see when the light hits it just right. This shadow has a satin finish.

• The matte teal shade contains very sparse, teeny-tiny microglitter that you can't really see after blending. This shade is very nicely pigmented, although the texture is not as smooth and silky as the brown matte (it's a bit dry and powdery).

• The highlight shade looks like more of a cream-white or beige in the pan, but on my skin it reads more pinkish-white. Nice pigmentation on this one considering that it's a highlight shade. This one (as well as the pink highlight shade below) works nicely on my cheekbones as well as on my eyes. The texture is very smooth and silky.

Swatches on bare skin (no primer)

• The bronze shade is an intense metallic shimmer with excellent pigmentation. There is very fine microglitter in this shade. Very nice texture--smooth and silky.

• The violet shade is shimmery and it's also packed the fine, iridescent microglitter (reminds me of Urban Decay's glitter shadows but the glitter particles aren't as big). This shadow has a lot of depth and is much prettier in person (prettier swatched than in the pan as well). The texture is a bit chunky and not quite as smooth as the bronze shade.

• The golden olive shade is a shimmer with a beautiful sheen to it. Very nice pigmentation and texture (silky and smooth).

• The dark brown shade is shimmery and it also has a beautiful red color-shift. Excellent pigmentation and texture (silky and smooth).

• The pink highlight shade is not as pigmented as the cream-white highlight shade; it gives the skin a subtle sheen. This could be used as both eyeshadow and highlighter for the face (more on that in a second).

Overall, I'm impressed with this palette. Out of the ten shades, three are what I would consider a little challenging to work with (the yellow and violet shades contains a lot of glitter, so there is fallout during application, and the matte teal shade is a bit dry and powdery, so again, some fallout). Other than that, the majority of these shadows are beautifully pigmented, with that smooth, silky texture that LORAC is known for. The swatches above were all done on bare skin, and I think the pigmentation is great, even without primer, for most of these shades. However, primer always pumps things up a few notches, and it also improves the staying power on these shadows. I've worn these both with and without primer and I definitely recommend primer because I do start to see fading after a few hours when I skip primer.

One more thing:

Swatches on bare skin (no primer)

Since I mentioned that you can use some of these shades as highlighter (in addition to eyeshadow), I wanted to show them to you sheered out a bit, to give you an idea of what they might look like if you choose to wear them as highlighters. The yellow shadow has that beautiful, golden, glowy look to it (it can be sheered out even more than what you see above). Funny enough, the cream-white shade looks more pink on my skin when I blend it out, whereas the pink shade looks more cream on my skin after blending. Also, you can see that the cream-white shadow has a lot of shimmer to it, while the pink shade gives off more of a subtle sheen when blended out.

FINAL VERDICT: If you are drawn to the shades in this palette, I think this is one to consider. The value is great, especially since three of the ten shades can double as highlighter (tip: if your highlighter brush is too big for these pans, use an eyeshadow brush to dab color onto the skin and then blend from there with a larger brush). I do think that you really have to love shimmers and metallics if you purchase this palette though, considering that there are only two true mattes here (and one contains sparse microglitter). I love that the size of this palette makes it very travel-friendly but, due to the size of the actual pans, it doesn't feel like you're using a travel palette. Another reason I like this for travel (especially summertime travel) is that you have lots of fun shades for summertime looks, but you also have that matte brown shade, plus a subtle highlight shade, if you wanted to go easy during the day. Overall, I'm enjoying this one even more than I thought I would when I first opened it--it's the kind of palette that slowly reveals its beauty the more you play around with it. 

Do you already own the LORAC Alter Ego Dream Girl Palette? If so, you know I'd love to hear from you! And if not, are you drawn to the colors here? Think you'll give it a shot?

A sample of this product was given to Nouveau Cheap for editorial purposes, either directly from the manufacturer or from the agency that works on behalf of the manufacturer. All reviews on NouveauCheap.Blogspot.com are the honest opinion of its author and editorial samples do not, in any way, affect the outcome of product reviews. For more information, click here.