Pati Dubroff’s Dream Palette -- $9.99 on Costco.com

After picking up Pati Dubroff’s Perfect Palette a year ago at Costco, and falling head-over-heels in love, I stumbled across her new Perfect Palette and just had to buy it. It arrived a little before New Years, but I’ve been on vacation for a month, so this is the first time I’ve been able to play around with it!

In the album above you’ll find 3 photos of swatches with indoor lighting, 3 photos of swatches with natural lighting, 1 of the eyeliner with indoor lighting, 1 of the eyeliner with outdoor lighting, and 3 photos of the entire palette with indoor lighting.

The packaging is cardboard, which I’m not in love with, but the price is pretty cheap so I forgive it. This new palette comes with a mirror, which is cool. I’ll most likely be applying this using my bathroom/vanity, so the mirror really just adds weight. Then again, if I took this with me on vacation or on an overnighter, I’ll probably be thankful for it.

What is says on the package:

Quite a lot, actually. The first chunk of text is all about Pati Dubroff herself, so here’s a bit of the relevant portion, “[This palette] is a collection of ten velvety smooth matte eyeshadows… Layering these luxurious matte eyeshadows [creates] depth and dimension for a refined and alluring radiant eye look. For a pop of shimmer [there are] two pearlescent shades to complete your look”.

The Colors:

Aire
    Matte white. Somewhat sheer.
Flawless
    Slightly shimmery pinky-white. Very sheer.
Desert Rose
    Matte light-mauvey tone.
Raw
    Warm buckskin brown. Matte.
Dusk
    Slightly shimmery (very slightly) brown that leans toward red/purple.
Mischief
    Matte warm grey.
Rose Quartz
    Matte pink that dreams of being glittery when it grows up.
Lilac
    Lightly blue-toned, fake grape candy, purple.
Siren
    Desert Rose’s shimmery, purpley cousin.
Ochre
    Rich, matte, hot chocolate brown. Leans warm & red.
Timber
    Warm dark brown that leans red/purple.
Smoke
    Mischief’s more edgy sibling. Darker, cooler grey.

Also pictured: Caviar eyeliner.

Apply this shadow over a primer! I used Urban Decay’s Sin. I usually use UD’s Original, but I just finished my tube and had a sample pod of Sin already open. While the color payoff is okay over non-primed skin, it’s just worth the extra few seconds to make the colors richer.

Speaking of, build up that color! One swipe with a brush just won’t give you the desired color payoff. You need to work for it, but it’s worth it. The colors also blend quite well for a lower-end product (price wise). Both with color payoff and bendability, it’s not quite as good as the Perfect Palette.

The worst part: holy freaking fallout. The only real big ‘miss’ with this palette is the god-awful fallout. Think UD Naked 3’s Dust, but more matte. Okay, maybe the whole palette isn’t as bad as Dust, but Rose Quartz makes a valiant effort. As you can see, I added a potato-quality cellphone pic as an example with Timber and Smoke. The Perfect Palette was also guilty of this, but not as bad, which is surprising because Dream is matte, while Perfect was 90% totes shimmer, bro. The thing about Perfect was, you could apply most all the shadows with a wet/damp brush, which amped the color payoff like crazycakes and had the added benefit of cutting down fallout. Don’t try this with the Perfect Palette! If you try and pick up/apply the shadow with a wet/damp brush, it balls up and just won’t work.

Once again, the sleeper hit was the gel-pencil eyeliner. Sooooo buttery-- omfg. Just like Bittersweet in the Perfect Palette, Dream’s Caviar is rich in color, smooth to apply, smudgable if you want, but stays in place if you let it set. It’s a much more true-black than my Rimmel Soft Kohl Kajal pencil, and also glides on more smoothly than my Urban Decay 24/7 Velvet. It doesn’t smudge as much as Bittersweet; I’d say it holds up to the finger test as well as UD 24/7.

I totally didn’t even notice this until way later, but Caviar has this barely-there shimmer. It looks like super-micro rainbow prismatic glitter. You can’t see it in the photographs, and it’s really hard to tell, but it gives the liner a wet, dewy finish, which is surprisingly pleasing. The shimmer is well integrated within the color and doesn’t rub out.

My least favorite shade? Totally has to be Rose Quartz. While it looks pretty in the pan, the glitter is too chunky and ends up falling out when you pick up and apply. The color ends up a normal rosey-pink, which is a letdown.

Favorite shade? That’s so hard! I really like the richness of Ochre and Timber, but Lilac is so unique, and Desert Rose is a really good neutral… If someone twisted my arm I would have to say Timber. I don’t have a single shade like it in my collection, except for shimmery Woodrose in the Perfect Palette, so I think the two will blend well.

Rating: B-

I wasn’t as impressed with this palette as I was with Pati Dubroff’s Perfect Palette (which is my HG jewel/shimmery). The color payoff was good, but could have been better. The fallout really turned me off. I hate(d) Rose Quartz-- passionately. I definitely won’t be repurchasing, but for $9.99 I’m still glad I bought it.

Final Thoughts:

At the time of this post, you can still find this product on Costco.com. The $9.99 sticker price is well worth dealing with the fallout, if only for the sucker-punch eyeliner.

Did I miss anything in my review? Please let me know—I’m new at this. I’ve been thinking of doing a formal review of Pati’s Perfect Palette, what do you guys think? CCW welcome!