Internet brand Violet Voss will soon release the "Ride or Die" palette, which has an entirely over the top and unnecessary 42 shadows.
And I won't be buying.
As a disclaimer, I am angry today. And I suspect I will be angry for a long time. I didn't put up a post yesterday because it was a horrendous day for me. This is a blog about makeup, not politics, and I'm certainly not inviting any discussion on the topic. But I am in a foul mood as a result of Tuesday's election. So you will have to forgive if some of that anger seeps out into this post about this ridiculous eyeshadow palette that no one needs or wants or voted for... err... never mind.
Violet Voss as a brand is overpriced. I have seen enough reviews of the shadows to know they are of Morphe quality (which is "meh" at best) with double the price tag. They choose trendy colors and use YouTube lingo in their names to appeal to people enamored with the YouTube beauty community. And they use hype tactics to drum up interest in their palettes before giving useful details such as pricing and release date information.
First, this image surfaced:
And I find this really, really obnoxious. Wow! So helpful! Thanks so much for a picture of your EMPTY new palette. So excited!
NO.
This tells me that you are making a new palette. Great. Good for you. So is every other brand. I don't need to see an empty palette to know something is in the works. This is simply a tactic to get people excited, even when they have literally no idea what they are getting excited for.
Then this image surfaced:
Ooo! Extra helpful! A picture of the packaging! Thanks so much for telling me what the outside of the palette will look like! Getting so, so excited!!
Again. No.
This tells me your product has packaging. Awesome.
And then these:
I truthfully have no idea if these images were released one at a time or all at once, but it seems pretty deliberate to not provide a picture of the full palette.
Nonetheless, this is what the palette looks like minus the cranberry shades shown above:
And you know what I see? About, what? 15 or so distinct colors. And those colors repeated several times over until you get 42 shadows.
Some colors (like the silver-gray on the far left, the matte browns on the bottom of column 3, and the entire row of golds) look like the exact color has just been put in a couple or more times.
These are not 42 distinct colors! And because of that, you really don't need this palette.
At the time that I am writing this post, there is no price listed for this palette or a release date. Violet Voss has just said—which is so helpful—"coming soon." But based on the price of the "Holy Grail" palette, which retails for $45 with $6+ shipping for 20 shadows, "Ride or Die" is likely pretty expensive.
But you won't be paying for a unique palette, a high quality palette, or a diverse palette. Hell, you're not even paying for a palette with completely different shades. This is the McDonalds Supersize fries of eyeshadow palettes. And you definitely don't need it.
Here are some similar palettes:
The Morphe 35O is the closest in color selection, shade range, and number of eyeshadows. And it's also similar in quality. Except the Morphe palette is $23.
This also looks like the Naked palette:
And the Lorac Pro:
And the Chocolate Bar:
And the Semi-Sweet Chocolate Bar:
And the Lime Crime Venus:
And the Modern Renaissance:
Even their own Holy Grail:
Chances are, no matter what eyeshadow palette or collection of singles that you have in your makeup collection, you have something that already replicates this palette. And if not, if you are a total beginner and are excited by the possibility of having a lot of shadows to play with, the "Ride or Die" is still a bad purchase. It will be expensive for shadows that repeat themselves. You would be much better off buying any of the palettes listed above or purchasing a few select singles from MAC or Makeup Geek.
I may be in the minority here, but I find the name of this palette obnoxious. It is my understanding that the term "Ride or Die" gained popularity in the YouTube beauty community specifically (not outside of it) because it was a phrase mega popular YouTube personality Jaclyn Hill used frequently. Jaclyn Hill also created the immensely popular "Ride or Die Tag," where people discussed their absolute favorite products from each makeup category.
Few YouTube personalities using this term while applying makeup understand that it became popularized in hip hop and predominately black culture. The term was originally "ride or die chick," referring to a woman who "stands by her man" in the vein of Bonnie and Clyde. I find it—complicated—that white people are appropriating black culture and African American Vernacular English so heavily in the YouTube makeup community.
It annoyed me when Violet Voss named their other successful palette the "Holy Grail" palette as well. The terms "Holy Grail" and "Ride or Die" to most people who watch YouTube makeup videos mean "absolute best" or "most favorite." Calling your palettes these names tells me that you think your palette will be the "absolute best" palette in my collection. I find that cocky and a little ridiculous since the quality is "meh" at best.
Violet Voss preys off customers susceptible to hype by providing "sneak peaks" of their products that don't actually contain any information. The tactic is to get people so excited, so afraid that they will miss out if they don't buy a product immediately, that they already make up their minds on buying it before they even see the product. And more importantly, they decide they are going to buy it before they even know the price. And I don't want any part of that. The "Ride or Die" palette is excessive and promises so much and offers nothing. It's the Donald Trump of eyeshadow palettes. And I won't be buying.
