Lorac Private Affair Palette Review

This is a very pretty palette containing shimmer neutral shades and two plum-like shades.  They are all pigmented, but of course the darker shades need some layering.  This palette comes with a double ended brush and an eye primer.  I love the packaging, it's so cute and I LOVE LOVE LOVE the little drawer that I discovered after I bought the palette.  I'm a sucker for secret compartments.

Here are the swatches without primer:

The brush is so crappy.  I think they could have gone one little extra step to make the brush denser and softer. 

The primer that came with it is great though.  I first used these shadows with TFSI and they showed up well, but then I used the shadows over the Lorac primer and OMG there was definitely a POW in the amount of pigmentation.  The eyeshadow definitely worked better with its own brand.  The following pictures however are used with TFSI.

The job I did looks weird from far away, but click on the pic and you can see closer up.

I used the first four shadows in this look for my friend's sister:

Before

After

Pros:

-Great day or night shadows
-Great pigmentation
-Cute packaging
-Brush and primer addition (primer = !)
-Medium sized shadows

Cons:
-Kinda pricey at $38 without tax
-Brush

Verdict: The pros definitely outweigh the cons and this is an adorable palette with beautiful shadows, but if you already have similar colors, maybe pass but because of the price only.  I'm just drawn to these colors and am always looking for the best taupey shimmery brown/gray shade and I've found some in this palette :)