LORAC is another one of those brands that I had heard of long before I tried it out for myself. It was another brand that I casually stalked across the internet, admiring it from afar but never finding my path crossing with it directly. Two of the palettes that I had long had on my mental wishlist were the LORAC PRO Palette and the LORAC Unzipped Palette (even despite the second being very similar to the Urban Decay Naked 3, which I will discuss later in this review).

It wasn’t until I stumbled across them being sold at Kohl’s last month (with some Kohls Cash burning a hole in my pocket!) that I finally got the chance to try them out for myself. I’m glad I did, because this brand really has lived up to all the great things I have heard about it!

“Get UNZIPPED and unleash your natural beauty with LORAC’s universally flattering nude eye shadow palette. Create unlimited head-turning looks with Mini Behind The Scenes Eye Primer for long-lasting color with 10 ultra-rich shimmering and matte shadows in a super sexy, nude palette.”

The LORAC Unzipped Palette contains a gorgeous selection of ten rosy-hued shadows. As promised, there is a pretty good mixture of matte and shimmer here, with five shades being matte,  and the other five having varying degrees of shimmer. It comes with a mini eye primer, which is a nice extra when buying a new palette. (I found the primer to be decent; not my favorite but it got the job done and my shadows lasted all day without creasing.)

All ten shadows follow an “Un-” theme, with names like “Untamed,” “Unconditional,” and “Unbridled.” (Rawr!) I’m a sucker for themes and cute names, so this helped to win me over immediately. Of course, it helps that these shadows are all wonderful to work with too. (Names don’t mean diddly if the quality isn’t there.) As you can see in the swatches below, they all have great pigmentation on my pale skin, with the exception of the very lightest shade (Undercover; on the far left, top row).

All of the shadows are soft and buttery, with a creamy feel on the skin. The matte shades are a little powdery but not at all chalky. All of them are richly pigmented, gliding on with ease. I’ve found them to be easily blendable, with great staying power and no fallout. Wonderful shadows all around, that have me very interested in trying more from this brand.

Swatches

The (s) denotes shimmer/satin finish, where (m) stands for matte. On the top row, from left to right above we have: Undercover (m), Unbelievable (s), Unattainable (s), Unconditional (m), and Unbridled (m).

In the second row, we have (again from left to right): Undiscovered (s), Unreal (s), Uncensored (s), Unspoken (m), and Untamed (m).

Verdict

A very nice addition to my palette collection! I am really loving the matte shades in particular. I find that many of the shimmer shades to be just a tad more coppery than pinky on my skin, but they are still very pretty. This set is a great, slightly different interpretation of the rosy-tones that make up the Naked 3, which follows a very similar color theme.

Now, I purchased this palette after I had already purchased the Naked 3, though I know this palette came out long before it. While I originally got it with the intent of reviewing it and then adding the Unzipped to my pro kit (so I wouldn’t have to share my beloved Naked 3), I’ve actually found myself developing a pretty big crush on this palette!

Of course, mention of the Naked 3 leads to the burning question…

Who wins in LORAC Unzipped vs. Urban Decay Naked 3?

Is the Unzipped better than the Naked 3? No.

Is it worse than the Naked 3? Again, no.

Its just different; a separate, yet similar, entity. It is the general opinion that you probably don’t need both and I don’t necessarily disagree with that–there is a bit of overlap in the general feel of these shades.They all have that rosy undertone to them, and there are a few shades that are similar between the two palettes.

So, for the casual makeup user (you know, you the normal folk who don’t feel the need to own hundreds of shades of eyeshadow), I can certainly say this palette is a slightly smaller (in color quantity), slightly cheaper ($40.00 vs $52.00) option for those who do not yet have or want the Naked 3.

However, I think there also is enough difference between the two palettes that someone who adores rosy-toned shadows or the truly makeup-obsessed (me! me! me!) can just as easily justify having both of them in their collection. They would work wonderfully together, for one thing, as the Unzipped has more matte options than the Naked 3. There are some similar shades, yes; but there are also some very different shades, and they can play well with one another.

Now, I haven’t done a swatch-to-swatch comparison myself, though I have seen some done online. Perhaps I will do a head-to-head comparison for myself in the future to see if this changes my opinion, but for now I would say that each palette has its own merits and provides a lovely option for pinky-nudes!