Urban Decay Vice 2 Palette - review and swatches

My lovely boyfriend gifted this palette to me a few weeks ago, and I am head over heels in love with it. I own the original Vice Palette from last year, and I will include some comparison photos, but I have seriously loved using this palette over the last couple of weeks and am ready to give a review.

The palette is absolutely beautiful to look at. Compared to the original Vice, this palette is not a matte case and isn't hard to clean, unlike the original which is matte and once fingerprints are on it, it is very hard to get off (as you can see in the photo below). The Vice 2 has the same jewelled logo as the original Vice Palette, and this jewelled logo was also on the Fifteenth Anniversary Palette.

The palettes are the same size, and both come with the same double ended eye brush. 

It's an okay brush,  but I prefer the brush that came with the Naked 2 Palette much more. However, if you were to take this palette while travelling, this brush is perfectly fine to use and can be used to create an entire eye look with.

The palette comes with twenty eyeshadows - only two are matte shades (although the Urban Decay website disagrees) and the rest are shimmer or glitter.

Onto swatches and review of all twenty shades!

Smokeout is a dark, shimmery shade. It almost has a reddish/purple look in the pan, but when swatched looks like a dark brown-black, with a slightly reddish tinge. Urban Decay describes this shade as a "dark taupey-black satin". 

Lovesick (as you can see in the photo of the eyeshadows in the palette above) has silver glitter in it, although in the photograph this didn't pick up. This shade does not swatch particularly well, though. Urban Decay describes this shadow as a "black matte with iridescent micro-glitter". It definitely does look pretty matte when swatched, and this may account for the way the shadow swatched. I have found that a lot of Urban Decay's matte shadows are not super pigmented, and sometimes chalky.  

Shellshock is a spectacular shade. I've never ventured much into silvers, I tend to like gold shadow more, but this is so highly pigmented and shimmery I'll definitely have to wear this out next time I go out at night. This shade is extremely creamy in texture. Urban Decay describes this shade as a "bright metallic silver".

Coax is a darker, more shimmery pink than the next shade X-Rated. They both look lovely swatched, but I'm not a big pink wearer. This shade was extremely pigmented and creamy. Urban Decay describes this shade as a "medium metallic pink with golden iridescent micro-sparkle. 

 X-Rated in the pan looks matte, but when swatched has a nice sheen to it. Pink is my least favourite colour, so I probably won't get much use out of these on myself, but X-Rated is a lovely colour. It has less shimmer than Coax, but swatched very nicely. It is very pigmented. This shadow is described as a "baby pink satin".

Prank was a disappointing colour when swatched. It looks absolutely gorgeous in the pan, so maybe on top of a blue base this colour will pop. It has some noticeable glitter, but just wasn't a well performing shadow on its own. Urban Decay describes this shade as a "deep navy matte with turquoise floating pearl". Basically, this shade has shimmer in it. I wouldn't really call this a matte shade, as in the pan and when swatched, you can see it has shimmer.

 Madness is a lovely dark teal shade. It swatched much better than Prank. It is quite pigmented, and I think I'll get a lot of use out of this colour in the summer - possibly on the bottom lash line. I think on top of a blue base, this colour would really pop! This is described as a "bright metallic blue shimmer with blue-glitter".

Strike is a nice gold shade, although not as pigmented as I'd prefer, but this could be a good thing for some. Some may not be a big fan of in your face gold shadows - Half-Baked from the Naked and Naked 2 Palettes, for example. This shade is a nice, subtle gold. This does have some glitter in the pan, but when I've used it on my lids (and in the photo above) it doesn't really transfer. It is described as a "antique gold shimmer with silver micro-glitter".

Stash is a shimmery olive green. There is noticeable gold in this colour, and it really is an interesting colour. The shimmer makes it more of a wearable colour, but it is definitely more of an autumn or winter shade. It is nicely pigmented and creamy, and is described as a "deep olive green shimmer with iridescent micro-sparkle". 

Poison isn't an overly spectacular shade in my opinion. It is a charcoal black, not a dark black (does that even work?) by any means. Urban Decay describes it as a "charcoal satin with iridescent micro-sparkle". It swatched okay, but isn't a shade I'm particularly drawn to. 

When I first opened the palette, Radar was the shade that caught my eye. It looks quite chunky in the pan, and it does have some glitter in it. But is absolutely gorgeous! I love pairing this on top of the Maybelline Colour Tattoo in Bad to the Bronze. I absolutely adore this bronze shade! This is described as a "metallic brown shimmer with iridescent micro-glitter".

Damaged is just wow. It is a forest green colour, metallic, and just beautiful. I think I'll be getting a lot of use out of this around Christmas, and in autumn next year (sadly it's spring in Australia right no, so some of these colours are a little too dark). Urban Decay describes this as a "bright metallic emerald shimmer".

Voodoo is a lovely shade. It is a dark purple, with small bits of glitter. Another shade that would be awesome for autumn. This shadow is described as a "metallic purple shimmer with iridescent purple micro-glitter".

When I looked at Betrayal, I felt as though I already had a shade similar to this from Urban Decay. I grabbed my Fifteen Anniversary Palette and swatched Betrayal and Omen from the Fifteenth Anniversary Palette together, and they look almost identical. I believe Omen is now available as a single shadow, so if that's why you were interested in this palette (Omen is one of my favourite purple shades ever), you always have that option. This shadow is described as a "bright purple satin with blue shift" - meaning it is a duochrome shadow. 

(Betrayal on the left, Omen on the right)

Derailed is a taupe brown metallic shade, is quite pigmented, and swatches beautifully. I love that both neutral and and colourful shades are included in this palette, and you can create many eye looks with just this palette. Urban Decay describes this shadow as a "medium metallic taupey-brown shimmer". This row of shades were the ones that swatched the best.

The last row of the palette contains the only two true matte shades.

Dope is a nice allover lid colour. It has a nice shimmer to it, and although it is pink toned, it isn't over the top pink, so I will get some use out of this shadow. Urban Decay describes this shadow as a "warm champagne satin".
Toxic looks like a nice rose gold shade in the pan. I'm not a big pink fan as I have already stated, but this shade appears more peachy than straight up pink. It is a lovely colour to look at, and I think it will work well for spring! This is described as a "metallic copper-pink shimmer with tonal micro-glitter".
As you can see, Habit is a matte shade, and swatching it was horrible! It would work well as a day time transition colour, but from my experience matte shades from Urban Decay are not as pigmented and the payoff is not as good as their shimmery or glittery shadows.  This is described by Urban Decay as a "light nude matte".

Ambush is another lovely colour to look at in the pan. It's a nice bronzey shade, a little similar to Radar  but not as glittery.  Urban Decay describes this shadow as a "metallic brown satin". It swatched quite beautifully, and is extremely pigmented and creamy.

Rewind is another matte shade. It is a darker brown, a good crease colour, and isn't as chalky as Habit is. This shadow is described as a "medium brown matte".

These shadows perform wonderfully. I have quite oily eyelids (but a face that is so dry) and hooded eyelids, so I need a primer. Over the last couple of months, I have loved the MAC Paint Pot in Painterly as a base, but I also use a primer for extra prime (Urban Decay Primer Potion)! With the brown, bronzier shades that I have worn on my lids (Radar, Derailed and Ambush) I put them on top of the Maybelline 24 Hour Colour Tattoo in Bad to the Bronze and that really helps pick up the bronze in the shadows - and makes my lighter brown eyes look awesome!

I also wanted to do a quick comparison post for those who may already have the original Vice Palette, or want to know the difference between the two, if you need both etc. I feel this post has gotten too long as it is, so let me know if that's something you want to see.

Overall, I love this palette, and I am so lucky to have received it as a gift from my boyfriend. If you are someone who loves venturing out into colour eyeshadows, I'd recommend this - but if you want neutral shadows, you're probably better off skipping this.

Thanks for reading my review, and don't forget to follow me on Bloglovin'!