The palette comes with 4 grams/0.144 ounces of product, compared to Lorac's bigger palettes, such as the Pro palette (16 shades, 8.8 grams/0.32 ounces, $42) or the Unzipped palette (10 shades, 11.2 grams/0.39 ounces, $42). The Pro Metal palette is a little less than half the cost of a Pro palette with half the number of colors. That doesn't sound too shabby to me. The box even comes with two tutorials for your day and night needs.
The colors are gorgeous. They're very metallic, as their namesake implies, but the shadows have more of a reflective quality that gives them their shine, instead of a ton of glitter. When you put your finger in them, it feels as though you could stick your finger right through them. The colors are so soft and pigmented, though the softness does contribute to a bit of powderiness and fallout.
The colors swatched beautifully. For most of them, I had only to gently swirl my finger in the powder, and one swipe on my arm was all it took to get the color payoff. However, the darker colors, Onyx and Cobalt, went on a little bit patchy. They aren't as intensely shimmery as their lighter counterparts. In fact, Onyx looks like the only one with any actual glitter in it. Cobalt had to be built up just a little bit before the blue really started coming through.
The real test was wearing the shadows. I tested this palette out for three days with a different combination of colors. There was quite a bit of powder on my brush when I dipped it into the shadows, and for all the pigmentation they showed in the swatches, I found that I didn't get nearly the same intensity on my lids. They seemed to leave most of their color behind on my brush. My very powdery, glittery brush. Some colors seemed to fade right away, but the look lasted throughout my entire 8+ hour work day.
On day 1, I applied Rose Gold to the inner half of my lid, Amber to the outer half, and brought in Cobalt and Onyx for some depth. The shadows were not very pigmented and creased on me by the end of the day.
On day 2, I wet my brush and applied Gilded to the inner half of my lid, Amber to the outer half, and Cobalt and Onyx in the outer corner. The shadows were pigmented but creased again by the end of the day.
On day 3, I started with my Urban Decay primer and set it with a nude shadow. With a wet brush, Gilded went on the inner half of the lid, Clover on the outer half, and Cobalt in the outer corner for depth. The shadows were pigmented and no creasing was to be had.
I can usually get away with wearing eyeshadow and no primer, but I probably had to use a primer with these ones because of how soft they are. Dry or wet, they blended perfectly. Because the shadows are reflective and not glittery, the two colors I applied to my lid blended seamlessly and it was near impossible to see where one started and one stopped.
However, for all the hype surrounding Lorac and their eyeshadows, I don't feel like I should have had to wet my brush to get the full pigmentation and color payoff on my lid. The only other downside of this palette is that there are no matte shades, so this is not a complete palette. I did have to pull matte crease colors from another palette. But then again, I'm always mixing my shadows.
Alas, the colors are gorgeous, and I certainly have a weakness for shimmery eyeshadow. I lean towards neutral looks, which this palette definitely has, but it also has just enough muted bold shades to take me out of my comfort zone.
I still love the palette, and if priming my eyes and wetting my brush are the only inconveniences I must face to use these colors, then so be it.
