a palette of decadence; Lime Crime's Venus Immortalis

YouTube made me buy it. I swear, a huge chunk of my makeup collection is only there because I happened to watch a video and bam, all of a sudden I'm adding things to a cart and checking out. You know how it is. I was watching Spooky Lips and Fat Hips going through her weirdest makeup and just about lost my mind when I saw Lime Crime's Venus Immortalis palette. I love the gothic aesthetic in general, and the cooler colour story of the palette really drew me in. I have my eye on one or two of the other Venus palettes anyway, but this one shot up to the top of the list. I was a bit weary of investing in Lime Crime, but controversial founder Doe Deere recently left the company, so I decided that it was a sign. Lime Crime is actually available at Boots, but for some reason the Venus Immortalis palette isn't, so I ordered it from LookFantastic for €34.75 and I was able to start playing with it within a week or so.

the packaging

The most intriguing of the Lime Crime Venus palettes, Venus Immortalis is probably the most decadent in terms of packaging. Featuring the same Renaissance-like figure in marble on the cover and elegant filigree in silver foil and white around the edges, it's a beautiful addition to any collection. The marble woman is glow in the dark, too (which should be noted before you look over to your desk at night and get a fright), which is an interesting and new design concept for makeup packaging. On the inside, the mirror is decently sized and decorated with the same pretty filigree as the cover. The eight square pans are named and sit in packaging that is also glow in the dark. The whole palette is robust and closes securely with a magnet, which I appreciate.

shade selection

The colour story in the Venus Immortalis palette is to die for. I do believe that it's the first time a colour story has ever plucked the strings of my little gothic heart so strongly. At first glance, it offers the right balance of transition shades, lighter metallic shades to make your lids pop, and interesting darker shades to add a bit of depth and dimension.

top row

Unseen: a pigmented black that I love to deepen my looks on the outer corners of my eyes.

Echo: a bronzy-silver metallic shade that I love to put all over my lids to make them pop.

Moth: a muted metallic pink, this one definitely doesn't pop or stand out like most of the other shadows in this palette. It's gorgeous all over the lids for a simple look or in the inner corners of your eye.

Marble: a sparkly matte white, this shade isn't very opaque. I like to play around with it for a more subdued look.

bottom row

Unveil: a gorgeous red-brown shade, I love to start deepening the corner of my eye with this shadow before adding Unseen.

Ash: the only grey in my collection, somehow. This is what I use for a transition shade. I love how easy it makes my eye look so much cooler in tone.

Hail: a gorgeous silver metallic shadow, perfect all over the lid.

Cameo: my least used shade, it's the colour of my eyelid. Honestly, I would have loved a different shadow instead.

pigmentation, formula & blend

After I ordered Lime Crime's Venus Immortalis, I started hearing bad things about it. How the formula was awful, and how the palette was the most disappointing of the Venus collection. I was pretty worried, until the palette arrived. I don't have the other Lime Crime Venus palettes for comparison, but I can say that this palette is a bit tricky to use. That doesn't mean that I would write it off completely- it just takes a bit of getting used to. I find that most of the shadows need an extra little bit of effort to blend. The darker shades have a lot of fallout, and since they're so pigmented you need to be careful that you don't smudge anything that falls onto your cheeks. The metallic shades are gorgeous and have a great formula. While they swatch like a dream, they do take a little more effort to apply to the lid.

All in all, I'm so glad that I only heard all of the bad reviews after my Venus Immortalis palette had been shipped. It's such a fun, interesting palette to play with, and I really do enjoy picking it out in the morning when I do my makeup. It's a great introduction to the other Lime Crime Venus palettes, and I'm definitely going to grow my collection from the brand. Thanks so much for reading my review! Have you any Lime Crime in your collection that I should consider?