Morphe Live in Color (25L) Artist Palette Swatches & Initial Impressions

Morphe Live in Color (25L) Artist Palette ($20.00 for 1.41 oz.) is a new, limited edition palette where 100% of net proceeds are donated to The Trevor Project (between June and July 2019). In a sea of brands celebrating Pride, there are only a few that are hitting that charitable aspect on a high note, and Morphe is one of them. Additionally, they’ve also set up a way to donate directly to The Trevor Project at checkout. On their website, there’s a detailed breakdown of the names used, which I thought was a nice touch, and they also have video stories from 12 LGBTQIA+ individuals.

The palette is sold out online, and I last saw Morphe comment via social media that it was still available in some stores. It doesn’t seem like they plan to do any restocks, so I don’t know that I’ll end up doing a full review, but I did try it a few times (and struggled) so I can share some of that initial thoughts. I had higher hopes for the palette, as it swatched quite well, but I found a lot of the shades difficult to work with and end up attempting and removing twice before producing the looks shown above (which aren’t perfect or where I wanted them to be at by any means).

There was a fair amount of fallout with the matte eyeshadows, while the shimmers are thicker/denser and were better applied with fingertips or wet brushes. I don’t think the palette works well with regular primer (like Urban Decay Primer Potion, MAC 24HR, NARS Smudgeproof, etc.), let alone over bare skin, and needs a tackier, thicker base like a white, cream eyeshadow or concealer. I had issues where the more I built up a matte shade, it eventually started to erase itself, and this also occurred when I tried to add a darker shade on top (like something to deepen the crease). I also experienced heavy fading (within four to five hours) with the mattes on their own. It was, unfortunately, a poor experience for me, even though it seemed rather promising when swatched.

You can always donate $5 or $10 to your favorite LGBTQIA+ organization directly, in case you thought about supporting this product but did want something of higher quality. On the other hand, if you use a white base and don’t mind fallout and some extra effort, enjoy it as well. I just didn’t want to share swatches, which look promising, without sharing that experience was wildly different (in the wrong direction).