Review -- LORAC Unzipped Gold Eye Shadow Palette

I'm a big fan of the LORAC Unzipped Palette.

It's such a lovely collection of rosy-toned shadows, with a mix of shimmer and matte shades that allow for a variety of looks -- I probably use it at least once a week.

Still, when I heard that LORAC was coming out with a second version that contained gold-toned shades, I wasn't particularly excited.

That's because I'm not crazy about the way gold eye shadows look on me (Actually, I don't really like gold at all. All of my jewelry is silver.) and I've actually managed to find a couple of gold-ish shadows that I do like so it didn't seem like I needed any more.

But then I saw a photo of the palette and the shadows didn't appear to be in your face gold -- and there was one shadow in particular with peachy undertones that was just screaming my name so I broke down and bought it.


Just like the original Unzipped Palette, the Gold comes in thick cardboard packaging and contains a small mirror on the inside. It also comes with a deluxe sample size of the LORAC Behind The Scenes Eye Primer (which I actually like quite a bit).

LORAC Unzipped Gold Eye Shadow Palette 

LORAC Behind The Scenes Eye Primer sample

As with the original, the palette contains 10 shadows: Undressed, a matte cream; Uninhibited, a shimmery pale yellow gold; Unpredictable, a shimmery peachy gold; Undeniable, a matte mid-tone brown; Unedited, a matte dark black brown; Unlocked, a shimmery white gold; Unlimited, a shimmery mid-tone yellow gold; Unleashed, a shimmery copper; Unwind, a matte dark brown; and Unafraid, a shimmery dark chocolate brown.

LORAC Unzipped Gold Palette

From l. to r.: Undressed, Uninhibited, Unpredictable, Undeniable, Unedited

From l. to r.: Unlocked, Unlimited, Unleashed, Unwind, Unafraid

Now, as much as I hate to say it, the Unzipped Gold Palette is pretty disappointing.

I'm not particularly feeling the colors -- with the exception of Unpredictable, which is a pretty peachy shade -- though that's just a matter of personal taste and due to my lack of interest in variations of gold.

But even if you love gold eye shadow, I don't think you're going to be particularly impressed with this palette.

Unlike the original Unzipped Palette, which featured shadows that were smooth, creamy, and easy to work with, the Gold isn't very user-friendly.

The shimmery shades have a pretty sheer, chunky texture so there's quite a bit of fall out. I found that I had to press them very carefully onto the eye, and even then I didn't always get the color intensity I wanted.

The mattes aren't terrible, but I found them to be a little chalky so they can go on  patchy.

Unleashed is the one standout shade in the palette -- it's a gorgeous, smooth metallic copper -- but I feel like it's fairly dupeable.

I love all of my other LORAC eye shadow palettes and even the single shadows that I own, so this was a pretty disappointing experience.

The Gold Palette is $42 on the LORAC website and Ulta, but I'd recommend passing on it. There are so many other palettes out there that deliver better quality (and colors, IMHO) that would be a better investment.

Have you tried the LORAC Unzipped Gold Eye Shadow Palette? Are you a fan? What's your favorite gold eyeshadow?