Revolution Re-Loaded “Velvet Rose” palette Review + 3 looks Demo

Makeup Revolution is an English drugstore brand that’s quickly rising to popularity thanks to its amazing quality products.

One of their latest addition is the ‘Velvet Rose’ palette, from the ‘Re-Loaded’ series. Everybody can see a striking similarity to ABH’s ‘Soft Glam’ – but does this palette perform just as good?

We are going to break every shade down and test 3 different looks to find out!

GENERAL SPECIFICS

7$ | 4£ | 4.99€
15 shades
15 x 0.04 oz. (1.1 g)
12 months shelf life
Cruelty-free
Beige, warm browns and golds

You can find the complete list of ingredients on revolutionbeauty.com.

PACKAGING

The ‘Re-Loaded’ series is Revolution’s cheapest, so it makes sense for the packaging to be a bit more basic than others.

The palette itself its the perfect travel-size I would say, with a fairly easily (but not too easily) opening. We have the usual brand’s name in golden on the front, and the sticker on the back doesn’t offer the ingredients’ list this time.

The clear front allows us to see the shades inside. However, it’s also quite prone to scratches and accidents and confirms the lack of a mirror (unusual when it comes to Revolution’s palettes). Also, I find the writing on the front to rub off quite easily.

The shades don’t have a name, but you can find their numbers on the sticker on the back. Palettes from the Re-Loaded series don’t usually have the clear plastic sheet with the colors’ names.

The Velvet Rose palette has a nice weight that you necessarily wouldn’t expect from a drugstore palette, especially if the overall look may come across as overly cheap. Despite that, I find the aesthetic of the palette to be generally cohesive and not-distracting.

COLOR SCHEME – SHADES BREAKDOWN

You will most likely agree that this palette has a good amount of transition/crease shades for lighter to medium skintones. If your complexion leans towards the darker side, however, you may want to mix and match with another palette.

I had issues with a few shimmers, but I have to admit that the quality of the mattes is absolutely incredible! One thing that’s common in all 15 shades is how long-lasting they are, which is a detail I did not want to repeat; the general performance is really good!

ROW #1

#1. The website labeled this as a ‘matte peachy beige’, but I find this formulation to be more of a satin. Also, in comparison with the other mattes in the palette, this one is little less pigmented; other than that, it’s a great base color for lighter skintones.

#2. More than a ‘shimmery warm gold leaf’, I would define this shadow as a pressed glitter. It was one of the shades that had me the most excited, but unfortunately it came out to be somewhat of a disaster. It is an extraordinarily pigmented shade, but also crumbly and has to be handled with caution. A glitter glue may also help deminish the fallout damage. I decided to ditch the brush for maximum payoff and damage control.

#3. This matte brandy brown is the first actual matte shade of the Velvet Rose, and as all of the other mattes it’s perfection. I am in love with Revolution’s new eyeshadow formula, and the mattes of this palette (as they were for Soph’s ‘Extra Spice‘ and many others after that) are a dream come true; they blend like a dream and are so pigmented, it’s crazy!

#4. I was skeptical about this matte warm taupe at first, but as soon as I tried it all my doubts vanished. The perfect transition for lighter skintones, this shade has a very good pigment that blends out very easily. Very impressed!

#5. Shimmers/metallics were supposed to be the stars of this palette, but something went wrong with the golds. Labeled as a ‘metallic cream gold’, this shade is more of a poorly pigmented shimmer than anything else; also, one of my least favorites out of the palette. The main issue with it it’s the poor pigmentation and how hard you have to work to have something show up on the eye. The pressing is generally good, but a dripping wet brush may not be enough to solve the problem.

ROW #2

#6. As I stated before, the mattes of this palette are incredible, and this deep warm bronze is no exception. It’s perfect for deepening my outer corner, but could also be a good crease shade for medium to darker skintones. Great pigment, excellent blendability.

#7. This matte peachy beige pulls more orange than what you’d think, but it’s actually a pretty cute crease shade for lighter skintones, especially for soft or colorful summer looks. Love everything about it, from pigmentation to blendability.

#8. A good metallic is always everybody’s best friend, especially in the case of this tan rose. I appreciate its pigmentation and softness, and also the fact that I don’t have to work too hard for it to work perfectly.

#9. Another metallic, another perfectly executed shade. I find this chocolate bronze to have great pigmentation and excellent staying power, as well as a good formulation in general; however, it tends to get a tiny bit powdery if handled with too much roughness, so be careful!

#10. This matte muted apricot is a great choice for softer looks on lighter complexions. As before, a good pigment for an even better formulation.

ROW #3

#11. This shade is described as a ‘metallic peachy gold’, but like color #5 it’s more of a shimmer than anything else. Just like before, I have to point out how poorly pigmented this shade is, especially compared to the other shimmers. The formulation doesn’t look bad at all, but the work you have to put in to make it show up on the eye is quite frustrating.

#12. This matte burnt cinnamon is easily one of my favorite shades out of the entire palette; I am so happy it has such a good formulation to play with! I think it would be a nice transition for medium to darker skintones as well, has an outstanding pigment and an even better blendability.

#13. I have always preferred warm browns instead of cooler ones, and this matte deep one is a perfect example. If you don’t really feel like using a black, this shade would be perfect for darkening your outer corners or help you achieve the perfect smokey eye.

#14. This matte caramel shade would be perfect as a crease color for lighter skintones, but also a great base for medium complexions. The pigment is definitely there, but the blendability had me shook!

#15. I am a huge advocate of the need of putting matte blacks in almost every palette out there, but I have to admit this one intrigued me quite a bit; a matte black, with a copper-y twist? Let’s see! The matte black element is the star, with a good pigment and excellent blendability, but copper is a lot less present than I thought. Once you blend the shade out, the copper element flies out the window, leaving you with a proper black matte. Even if the copper particles are not overwhealmingly present to begin with, it would be an interesting twist for a smokey eye.

A QUICK COMPARISON – Metallics and Pressed Glitters

Playing around with this Velvet Rose palette actually gave me an idea. Since there’s a couple of formulation already present in other Revolution palettes, I wanted to do a comparison between metallics and pressed glitters.

Starting off with the two shades marketed as metallics in this palette (#5 and #11), I compared them to the same metallic formulation of ‘Infinity‘ from the Soph x Revolution ‘Extra Spice‘ (check the review here!).

While the two metallics of the Velvet Rose feel quite soft, ‘Infinity‘ feels like butter and almost wet, resulting in incredible pigmentation and performance. On the other hand, these two metallics are poorly pigmented and need a heavy hand to properly work. Formulations aren’t bad on either side, although I definitely prefer ‘Infinity‘.

Stepping onto the pressed glitter side, I compared the second shade of this palette to ‘Luxe‘ from the I Heart Revolution – I Heart Chocolate ‘Rose Gold‘ palette (read the full comparison with Huda Beauty ‘Rose Gold‘ palette here).

In this case, I found the warm gold to be way more crumbly in texture than the red shade, and to have way more fallout on the face; consequently, a lot of cakeback in the pan.

Velvet Rose’s pressed glitter is way more pigmented than ‘Luxe‘, even if the latter has quite the impressive pigmentation. Also, ‘Luxe‘ doesn’t need a glitter glue to perform at its best. Neither does the pressed glitter from the Velvet Rose palette, but it does perform a lot better with it.

I have to say I prefer to work with ‘Luxe‘ rather than the warm gold, mainly because there’s a lot less fuss to make it work.

DEMO #1

Starting off with a set base, I buffed shades #4 and #10 into the crease. I then went in with shade #3 to darken my outer corner, and #13 to intensify that even more. For the lid, I packed shade #9 on the center and #8 on the inner part. Lastly, I used #5 on my inner corner and swiped the crease shades on the lower lash line.

DEMO #2

I started the look off by placing shade #14 into the crease, buffing it out using shade #7. Then, I packed and blended out the black on the outer corner, continuing until I reached the intensity I wanted. Using my finger, I placed the pressed glitter (#2) on the lid. I used shade #11 as my inner corner highlight and colors #15 and #14 on my lower lash line.

DEMO #3

I started off this final look by packing a mixture of shades #6 and #12 into the crease, blending them out using color #7. I then darkened my outer corner using shade #13. For the lid, I went in with #5 for the center, and #11 for the innermost part. I swiped the crease colors on the lower lash line and added mascara.

FINAL THOUGHTS

This has been quite the journey! In conclusion, do I recommend the Re-Loaded Velvet Rose palette? All things considered, I must say that I actually do.

I have had a couple of issues with 3 shades, but the price point makes the product well worth it. A cautious hand and a small, packed wet brush definitely helped me resolve a few issues, but they did bother me nonetheless.

I am used to amazing quality with Revolution palettes, which is why I was quite disappointed when I started playing with this item.

The element that makes all the efforts worth it are the mattes, without a doubt. Pigmentation’s there, blendability’s there: if you’re more into total-matte looks, you are going to love this item! I found the black to be the one that tends to loose its original strength more, once blended out, but it’s not something that bothers me.

If you can’t live without shimmers, though, you are going to need patience and a few tricks up your sleeve. The pink shimmers are beautiful, but the golds need love; a lot of love.

Have you purchased this palette? Are you going to? Let me know!