Before starting this post, I want to acknowledge the fact that not too long ago, I wrote an entire post calling out Morphe for being a shady brand. In said Morphe bashing post, I swore up and down that I would not be giving Morphe a cent of my hard earned money. I am also acknowledging that by actually spending $38 + shipping for the Jaclyn Hill palette, I look like a pretty big hypocrite.
Let me also preface that I’m not a Jaclyn Hill super fan, who will blindly purchase anything she puts her name on. But I’m also not going to lie and say that I wasn’t drawn to (and slightly curious of) the Jaclyn Hill x Morphe palette. I love the clean aesthetics of the palette, and I love the color range; I like how there are neutrals, mattes, shimmers, and pops of color. It really does seem like a palette that I can use for every day looks (and give my Too Faced Natural Love palette a break! Off topic: that palette is a $52 splurge for sure, but worth every penny).
So I went ahead and bit the bullet. If I’m going to give Morphe a chance, I might as well purchase the palette that actually intrigues me, right? So let’s dive into this review! I will leave all of the drama surrounding this palette out of it (you can read about that in my Morphe Exposed post). No Morphe drama, no Jaclyn Hill drama. We’ll focus on the Jaclyn Hill x Morphe palette itself with swatches of each color, as well as testing the formula for blend-ability and ease of use/application. We will go over each each pro and con, so that you can determine for yourself if this palette deserves your money. To let’s start this review! First, I’ll be going over the packaging, and I’ll start with the outer box that the palette comes in.
[edit: I am aware that the packaging is getting a little makeover for the Morphe launch at Ulta. This review will be going over the original packaging, which as recent drama ensues, you may just get the original packaging even if you’ve recently ordered the Jaclyn Hill palette from Ulta.]
As we can see, it is plain white, with shinny silver writing. The back of the box shows four pictures of Jaclyn Hill herself (well, how she used to look… but all shade aside, she did mention that this palette took two years in the making, and I guess we all change in appearance after two years). It also has a lovely message to her subscribers, stating how hard she worked on the palette, and that she hopes we love it as much as she does.
The palette also comes with a shade name card (about the size of a postcard), which does seem like an afterthought, to be honest. For me personally, I would have preferred the shade names to be on the palette itself. This may be a little nit-picky, but I’m slightly ADD, and I can’t keep track of my stuff. That said, I know I will lose that card in no time. But hey, at least my palette came with a card, right?
However, if you do lose the card, (or your palette didn’t come with it in the first place, which seemed to have been a problem with the first release of palettes), all you need to do is contact Morphe’s customer service, and they will allegedly send you a new one. However, that was before you had the option to just download it directly from Morphe’s website.
I guess the missing shade names in some peoples’ palettes really brought up the call volumes, and Morphe decided to just give us an online solution so we’d “stop calling about that damn shade name card!” (sorry, I can totally see a rep saying something like that after the thousandth call about it in a row 🤣) In a weird way, I like that Morphe is pretty much setting the expectation that you won’t get the insert with the shade names. Mine did, and I got the later restock (when they stopped playing the limited edition game, and announced that it would be a permanent palette). But if yours doesn’t come with the card, at least you’ve already figured that would be the case.
I’m perfectly fine with that solution of just downloading it myself, though. Personally, I’d rather find a solution via the internet rather than calling a company’s customer service line. The idea of being on hold for an extensive amount of time for something that seems like an easy 10 minute fix just does not appeal to me. This still doesn’t solve the “issue” of not having the names on the actual palette, but at least that card could be saved to my phone or computer for easy access.
And if you’re that pressed about the names being on that actual palette (or maybe you’re not; some of them are pretty ridiculous), you can get creative and write them on the palette yourself… or you could even tape (or glue) the shade name to the back or inside of the palette (which as I’m writing this post, I’ve decided that that’s exactly what I’m going to do). All in all, I know I’ve talked enough about the shade name insert, but I hope that Jaclyn Hill takes this feedback for any future palettes that she collaborates on.
The actual palette is bubble-wrapped inside the box, and I do appreciate that layer of protection. I’ve got to say, I’ve ordered many eyeshadow palettes online, and this Jaclyn Hill palette was probably shipped better than any of the palettes that I’ve ordered from Sephora. Most places that I’ve ordered from simply bubble wrap the box, and not the palette itself. Maybe it doesn’t make much of a difference, but I was happy to see that my palette arrived clean and without any broken shadows (I’m looking at you, ABH Subculture palette)! And, if you are curious, the palette was shipped from California, and it took less than a week to arrive.
But so far, I’m not mad at the Jaclyn Hill palette. It really is well designed. And while I do love the color/design, one thing I will point out is that this palette will get dirty very easily! Unless you want eyeshadow and other makeup stains all over it, it’s best to be constantly washing your hands while using the palette (caution: the longer you wait, the harder it will be to remove the makeup fingerprints). This is especially true if you like to apply makeup (for example, shimmer eyeshadows) with your fingers. However, this isn’t the palette’s fault; this would happen with any white or other light colored cardboard eyeshadow palette.
The struggle is real with light eyeshadow palettes. This happened after my first use.
The palette itself is also very lightweight. Whether or not this makes the palette less luxurious or high quality, is up to you to decide. In my opinion, this weight “issue” is due to two things: the quality of the cardboard, and that a mirror is not included. We’ll first talk about the cardboard material of the palette. It is pretty flimsy, and I’m not going to lie: unless it was on hand and in my purse for safe keeping, I would be worried about traveling with this palette. The cardboard does not feel durable enough to actually protect the eyeshadows.
And don’t get me wrong, I’m not about to say that all cardboard palettes are “cheap.” I will say however, that cardboard has a range of grades and qualities (much like the different grades of diamonds. Weird analogy, I know, but that was the first thing that I could think of to compare it too). I’ve had other makeup palettes come in cardboard, and they’ve been pretty sturdy and durable (which contributes to the palettes having that heavier weight). With the Jaclyn Hill x Morphe palette, I feel as though if I put enough pressure in it, I could literally break it in half. Not that I would ever feel compelled to do such a thing, I’m just giving an example to demonstrate a point.
Now let’s discuss the lack of a mirror. With all that space on the inner flap (which would have accommodated a nice sized mirror), Jaclyn Hill opted to include another dedication message to her subscribers. Is this a nice gesture? Sure, why not. She has quite a following, and it’s nice that she acknowledged her followers in this palette. Let’s be real here, her fans probably share the vast majority of the palette’s sales, and they probably feel very special with this acknowledgement. However, because I’m not a subscriber or avid watcher of her YouTube channel, I did have a brief moment in which I felt weird about owning this palette. Do I have to be a subscriber to enjoy, or even own this palette?
And while I don’t think that Jaclyn’s intentions were to alienate non-subscribers, I do think that a mirror would have been nice. If the material of the palette were to stay the same, a mirror would might have justified the price tag a little more. As we all know by now, the $38 (+ shipping) price tag for the Jaclyn Hill x Morphe palette far exceeds the $22 price tag of a regular Morphe palette. In my previous post about Morphe, I questioned whether or not this packaging justifies that price. By having the actual palette in hand, I’m going to have to say no.
Now let’s dive into the colors and formula! I mentioned earlier that this palette has a nice range of shimmers, mattes, neutral colors, and a few pops of color. My eye immediately goes to the bottom left corner, and I am most excited to play with the blue and green shimmer shades (Poolside and Jada). As we can see, this a predominantly neutral palette, which I am fine with. As much as I love colorful eyeshadow, I’m just not constantly reaching for my rainbow palettes, which is why I’ve stopped buying them. We can also see that the neutral colors are definitely more warm toned, which shouldn’t really come as a surprise to anyone. From the Jaclyn Hill videos I’ve watched, it’s easy to come to the assumption that that she loves her warm-toned shadows.
And I will admit that I was pleasantly surprised by the formula of each eyeshadow. With this being a Morphe palette, I’ll admit that I didn’t have high expectations. From everything that I’ve read about Morphe being “cheap China dust” (and other variations of that), let’s just say that I wouldn’t have been surprised if the eyeshadows were chalky in texture. Instead, they were all quite smooth and dare I say, “creamy.” The shimmer shades also had an almost wet-like feeling to them. The quality feels decent, and at that point, I was pretty excited about the palette. Hey, if these eyeshadows are good, I won’t be afraid to eat my words about Morphe, and dare I say it, buy more products?
I’ll include some swatches, but we can really see how the shimmer shades are really the Jaclyn Hill x Morphe palette’s strong suit. The matte shades did not do so well in terms of swatches and pigmentation. If you’ve been on the fence about buying the palette based on the many swatches found online (and the ones below), I will say that I can’t disagree with the hesitation. I too, was hesitant after seeing the patchy matte swatches online.
However, swatches can really only tell so much about an eyeshadow. There have been instances where an eyeshadow palette would swatch horribly, but blend beautifully on the eyes. So I’ve had some time to play around with the palette, and I’ll now discuss my findings. The first time I played with the palette, I stuck with a more bronzey-neutral eye look (even though I really wanted to use “Pool Party,” it did not match my outfit). I used the color “Silk Creme” as a base,” and I mixed “Chip” and “Roxanne” and applied them to the outer corners and crease. I also blended those colors onto the eyelid to achieve that “gradient” look. I also wanted to apply an incorporate a gold shimmer shade on the lid, so I went with “Queen.”
I would include a picture of the look, but unfortunately, I felt as though that wouldn’t do the palette justice. I did have a harder time with the darker matte colors (“Chip” and “Roxanne”) when blending them out. I felt that the pigment wanted to stay where it was applied, and it “skipped” while blending in the crease. I was able to save the look by adding some more eyeshadow to where I was blending, but it did take a little bit of work, and the look still came out rather “muddy.” This seems to be a problem that a lot of people are having with this palette; I’m sure you’ve read many reviews stating that this palette does take some effort for it to reach its full potential.
However, on the flip side, my first experiences could have been due to user error. Perhaps I was mixing the wrong colors together, and that was the reason for the muddy appearance. I don’t know a lot about the color wheel theory, but from what I do know, some colors shouldn’t be mixed together. This is why I continued to play around with it; I wanted to give this palette a fair chance. So after using this palette for about a week straight, here are my updated findings:
The shimmer shades are still the palette’s strongest eyeshadows. These are very pigmented, and they last all day! However, due to their consistency, these need to be applied with a dense brush, or your finger. They may apply “choppy” at first, but they do play well with the matte shades, and a fluffy brush can be used to blend the different formulas together. I’ve even mixed “Enlight” with the matte shade, “Silk Creme,” and used the two colors as a base color. It may seem strange to use a shimmer shade as a base, but the bone color of “Enlight” really neutralizes the yellow tone of “silk creme,” and the shimmer shade actually works pretty well as a base for the rest of the matte colors to stick on to.
Enlight and Beam are basically the same colors. They look slightly different in the pan, but lets just look at the swatches side by side. Sure, Beam may have more of a slight yellow undertone, but again, the difference is pretty minimal.
The mattes aren’t quite as pigmented, but they are buildable. This could be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on your personal preference. For me, I don’t mind a buildable matte. I feel as though it’s better to have a shadow that starts out light, so you can blend and add color as desired, as opposed to having too much pigment right off the bat. For me personally, I feel as though that gives you more control over the product.
The mattes are definitely best applied with a fluffy brush. During my first experience with the mattes, I had a difficult time blending them out. The pigments wanted to stay where they were placed, and they did not want to blend evenly in the crease and eyelid. During this experience, I tried applying the matte shades with a flat brush, and then went on to blend with a fluffy brush. This did not work well, so after my second go, I applied and blended the mattes with a fluffy brush, and they were much easier to work with. No, you may not get as much pigment when initially applied with a fluffy brush, but as mentioned in the above point, this gives you more control over where the pigments are placed.
Fix + or any other setting spray makes a difference with pigmentation. If you’re an avid user of setting sprays, this should not come as a surprise. However, I discovered this by accident, when playing with these eyeshadows. I did my eye makeup and face (foundation, setting powder, and contour), and then set my makeup with my GlamGlow Glowstopper setting spray. When I applied my highlighter on top, I immediately noticed how much more blinding it looked! So at this point, even though I already had my eye look done, I applied some more color on top of the eyeshadow/setting spray, and it definitely made a difference with the vibrancy of the eye look. I’d imagine that you’d get the same results by spraying your eyelid or brush prior to applying the eyeshadows.
For fun, I picked three random mattes (Roxanne, Chip and Jada), and applied them with a dry fluffy brush (top), and again with a fluffy brush sprayed with setting spray (bottom). While the shades unsurprisingly didn’t swatch well, we can see a world of difference between the vibrancy of the colors.
And now let’s just end this post with my final thoughts. Do I think that this is the worst palette in the world? No. Is it so amazing and mind blowing, and the absolute best palette to hit the market this year? Absolutely not. Do I think that there are better palettes that you can buy for the same price tag? Yes. Overall, I’m not mad about the palette, but I’m not quite ready to eat my words about Morphe just yet. In my opinion, the palette is just okay. Not the worst, but certainly not the best.
So here are a few things to keep in mind if you’re still debating:
you typically like Morphe products, and you’re a fan of Jaclyn Hill and….
you don’t mind “buildable” eyeshadow colors, and you have the patience to make them work, and….
you love a predominantly warm-toned, neutral eyeshadow palette, and have a “the more the merrier” attitude when it comes to purchasing them and….
you love the colors, and the drama surrounding the palette does not phase you.
DON’T buy this palette if:
you hate Morphe products. Just because it has Jaclyn Hill’s name on it, the shades were still made wherever Morphe products are made. It’s been proven that the formula is no different than any of Morphe’s other eyeshadow palettes.
you hate Jaclyn Hill, and you’re buying the palette just to complain. That’s just stupid, and you’re still supporting and giving her your money buy purchasing the palette.
you don’t have patience and/or time to build up your eyeshadows, and you want something that is easy to work with.
you already have a million and one neutral eyeshadow palettes that you would get more use from
you’re not in the United States, and plan to purchase from Morphe’s website. The international shipping rates are exorbitant, and you might as well take that money and buy a $100 Natasha Denona palette instead.
The Jaclyn Hill x Morphe Palette | Is This Worth Your Money?! Before starting this post, I want to acknowledge the fact that not too long ago, I wrote…
