Marc Jacobs The Night Owl 214 Palette and Swatches

I just have some quick swatches for you today. The Night Owl is a new palette from Marc Jacobs that I haven't seen in my local store yet and that has been out of stock online for ages. It has been on my "loves" list for a long time and it was briefly in stock last week showing "a few in stock" only. So I ordered it using my 20% off code that an employee gave me (their new version of Friends & Family, for employees and their friends/family only)--and found it was out of stock the next morning again. I haven't been able to find any swatches or reviews online yet, so I thought I'd show it to you in case you've been wondering about it and want to grab it if it comes back again soon. Rumor has it that the VIB sale is just around the corner as well.

For those that don't know, these Marc Jacob palettes house seven shades are are super slim, sleek compact little things. They come in a nylon sleeve that snaps close if you want to store it away from dust. They retail for $59 currently.

Just an FYI--it was JUST delivered within the hour, so I haven't used it yet and can't speak to its performance. I plan to use a cream shadow or sticky base because I would guess the microglitter would cause fallout otherwise.

Marc Jacobs The Night Owl

The shades are described as "champagne sheen with silver glitter, intense black matte with iridescent glitter, metallic golden bronze, matte creme, mermaid sheen with subtle iridescent shimmer, cocoa matte with rose gold shimmer, rich matte espresso." I don't know if I quite agree with their description of the colors. For example, I wouldn't call the second shade black, but maybe a black brown. I would say the third shade is a burnished gold.

Marc Jacobs The Night Owl swatches

This picture was taken indoors with natural light from a window. I used my finger for swatches, no primer. I just feel like it's such a pretty, unique grouping of colors. I can't wait to play with it and plan to wear it tomorrow! I hope that helps!

Urban Decay Vice 3 Palette

Next in the big holiday palette releases comes the Urban Decay Vice 3 Palette. I have owned all of the Vice palettes at one time or another and they have all disappointed me in some way...EXCEPT this one. This one was thought out so well that it's easy to use and enjoyable to even just look at sometimes (at least for this makeup junkie). There are five columns of four shades of eyeshadow and each column is its own quad of colors that could create a look that would be fairly cohesive and pretty. Less guesswork, less randomness than with other palettes. Also, it's got some great mattes that I love for blending out the crease, some gorgeous burgundy and plum and copper for fall, and it's slimmer than previous editions. It also comes with a matching makeup bag that fits the whole palette inside.

Urban Decay Vice 3 Palette

Urban Decay Vice 3 Palette: Truth, Undone, Downfall, DTF, Dragon, Freeze, Heroine, Brokedown, Vanity, and Lucky

From left to right, these shades are: Truth, Undone, Downfall, DTF, Dragon, Freeze, Heroine, Brokedown, Vanity, and Lucky.

Urban Decay Vice 3 Palette: Reign, Bobby Dazzle, Alien, Alchemy, Bondage, Sonic, Last Sin, Angel, Defy, Revolver

From left to right, these shades are: Reign, Bobby Dazzle, Alien, Alchemy, Bondage, Sonic, Last Sin, Angel, Defy, Revolver.

With last year's Vice 2 Palette, I remember thinking I only LOVED one shade and LIKED one other, so was it worth keeping the palette for those? I tried to find dupes and I eventually put it up on a blog sale. With this one, there are many shades about which I could sing praises!

Downfall is a perfect shades for me to use to blend out the crease. Bobby Dazzle is so shimmery that I love it in the inner corner of the eyes. Lucky is my favorite 24/7 liner, perhaps, so I love having it in shadow form. Great for green eyes! Sonic is soooo unique! It's my favorite shade in the whole palette. Reign is such a pretty slightly rosy brown, gorgeous to darken a look and add something special. Alien is that golden pink that many brands do because it's so flattering to keep a pink from making you look ill. I just love the palette!

It's $60, you get 20 shadows, a double-ended synthetic brush, a matching makeup bag, and it's limited edition so grab it while you can!

LORAC Mega Pro Palette Swatches

LORAC came out with a limited edition palette for the holidays that they're calling the Mega Pro Palette. It is exactly the size of two Pro palettes and holds 2x the number of shadows as a Pro palette. I was lucky enough to sneak my order in on October 1st when they had a glitch on their website, but it was officially released on October 7th. It's exclusive to LORAC and Amazon and both sites have already sold out BUT LORAC posted on Facebook today that Amazon is receiving one more shipment. I hope these swatches help you decide if it's for you!

LORAC Mega Pro Palette

It's $59 and comes with 32 shades--16 shimmer and 16 matte shades. These are shown reversed of how they appear in the palette because I started near my wrist. On to the swatches!

The top row is all matte.

LORAC Mega Pro Palette: Espresso, Mulberry, Orchid, Dusty Plum, Sepia, Camel, Fawn, and Cream

 From left to right, they are: Espresso, Mulberry, Orchid, Dusty Plum, Sepia, Camel, Fawn, and Cream. 

The second row is all matte.

LORAC  Mega Pro Palette: Black, Gray, Wisteria, Lilac, Stone, Brown, Khaki, and White

From left to right, they are: Black, Gray, Wisteria, Lilac, Stone, Brown, Khaki, and White.

The third row is all shimmer save the last shadow which has sparkle.

LORAC Mega Pro Palette: Indigo, Merlot, Blush, Apricot, Sienna, Copper, Sand, and Opal

From left to right, they are: Indigo, Merlot, Blush, Apricot, Sienna, Copper, Sand, and Opal.

The last row is all shimmer.

LORAC Mega Pro Palette: Caviar, Deep Teal, Maroon, Granite, Dusty Rose, Smokey Topaz, Cashmere, Vanilla

 From left to right, they are: Caviar, Deep Teal, Maroon, Granite, Dusty Rose, Smokey Topaz, Cashmere, Vanilla.

White, Cream, Espresso, and Black are in the first Pro palette and Black is in the second Pro palette, but I don't mind the repeats because I find those to be staple shades that are useful in many looks.

As far as big palettes go, this one is a good value because you get so many shades for the money. However, it's mostly neutrals and half of it is matte, so it's best for people that like a more conservative look, it would be great for an office, and it would be fairly easy to come up with looks because it blends so nicely together. For those that want bright colors and are more adventurous, maybe take a look at Urban Decay's Vice 3 Palette, or Too Faced's Everything Nice Palette for more variety of colors and finishes.