Worth The Hype?! | Violet Voss Holy Grail Palette | Swatches & Review

One of the most hyped about eyeshadow palettes to date this year has been the Violet Voss Cosmetics ‘Holy Grail’ palette. Even before its release, people were raving about the palette. There were a bunch of mixed reviews about its pigmentation and whether it was worth the cost. I initially wasn’t interested, but ultimately caved in and purchased the palette because I’d heard really positive reviews from friends… and because there was a cat related shade. I know, I have problems.

The palette is, at time of writing, available at Violet Voss for $42USD. It has been in and out of stock almost as much as the initial releases of Kylie’s Lip Kits, so definitely worth keeping an eye on if you’re interested. The shipping to Australia (which wasn’t available when I purchased it) is $35 USD – making it around $108 Australian after conversion. I purchased it via ShopandBox because it was out of stock when I got my hands on it, and paid around $130 from memory, so this palette isn’t for the faint hearted! It is quite an investment, so you need to be sure of it before you buy!

There is absolutely no denying that this palette is absolutely gorgeous to look at. Its warm toned beautiful-ness makes me shiver. If you are a lover of cool-toned eyeshadows, this is not the blog post or the palette for you. This is so deeply warm it does almost warm my heart. I am a warm toned lover so this spoke to me. There are some really quite funny names for the shades, my favourite names being ‘Awesome Sauce’, ‘Thanks a Latte’ and ‘R U Kitten Me’… which is said shade I mentioned earlier in the post – I couldn’t help myself!

Top Row, Swatched Bottom-Top: Crystal, Ploof, Thanks a Latte, Transition, Hashtag.
The lighter shades don’t swatch too well/show up on camera well – this is two layers of product. I don’t have that problem on my eyes though. There are a couple of gorgeous highlighting shimmers in Crystal and Ploof, and Thanks a Latte is a perfect light transition shade/to set eyeshadow primer with. Hashtag is a tiny bit patchy, but I am quite fussy considering the cost!

Second Row, Swatched Bottom-Top: Awesome Sauce, Bestie, Toffee, Chill, How U Doin.
Again, Bestie doesn’t swatch too well (being the lightest shade in the row) but I love it as a transition shade. These shimmers are gorgeous, they don’t feel chunky in the slightest, it’s almost like you’re touching a soft kitten when you dip your finger into the eyeshadow. (Again with the cat thing, oops!)

Third Row, Swatched Bottom-Top: Bat My Eyes, Cool Beans, R U Kitten Me, So Jelly, On Fleek.
R U Kitten Me = the perfect transition shade for a darker look, or an outer corner colour for a brown smokey eye. Also the last thing that drew me into purchasing the palette. These colours all swatched really nicely.

Fourth Row, Swatched Bottom-Top: Brownie Points, Teddy Bear, Glamping, Cranberry Splash, Wine N Dine.
The two bottom matte shades, Brownie Points and Teddy Bear, did swatch quite patchily (you can see my goosebumps!) Wine and Dine definitely doesn’t look as pink in the pan – I was almost shocked to see the colour on my arm!

Wear wise, the palette is good, but it isn’t ‘OMG AMAZING’ at the same time. There are a few shades (Brownie Points and Teddy Bear) that aren’t the greatest and require a lot more work, but the other shades are really quite good. They wear for a decent amount of time with an eyeshadow primer, although I did have some fading with the more glittery shades over the duration of the day. I didn’t try them without eyeshadow primer, because I never go without so didn’t see the point. It’s worth mentioning as well that the size of the mirror that comes with it is really good if you’re doing your makeup on the go.

Is it a good eyeshadow palette? Yes, definitely. Is it worth the hype? I think that my Makeup Geek eyeshadows overall are a better quality, so I don’t think it quite lives up to the hype around it. For the price in Australia, I think you’d be better off saving your money and investing in something else (just because the shipping to here is almost the same cost as the palette itself) but ultimately – it is a beautiful little thing and is a warm lovers dream, if this palette appeals to you then definitely go for it! I feel like it’s fairly unique compared to what’s in the market at the moment, and if you didn’t like it it would hold its value for reselling.