Viseart - #05 Sultry Muse and #06 Paris Nude

(Affiliate links.)

If you're a hardcore beauty junkie or makeup artist, you probably already know about the wonder of the Viseart palettes. And if you're Canadian, you've probably cursed the heavens for the relative difficulty in acquiring said palettes, as until very recently they were only available through pro stores in the US, like Alcone, Naimie's, Nigel's and Frends. (All of these ship to Canada, but not without the hassle of extra taxes, fees and duties when passing through customs clearance. Without the benefit of a pro discount, the added costs were especially dissuasive for a lot of non-MUA consumers.)

And then...a miracle. I was browsing the palettes section of the Sephora site, checking for anything exciting and new (fellow addicts, please stand up) - AND THERE WAS VISEART. Four eye palettes (two of which I don't have and ordered as soon as they were in stock), two lip ones, and two concealer ones.

If this brand is new to you, let me give you some context and the broad strokes info:

Viseart is and has always been an artist-oriented brand. Their palettes, and especially their #01 Neutral Matte, are kit staples for many, many artists - and for good reason. Made to exacting standards in France, the eyeshadows are triple-milled for an incredibly refined texture that balances perfectly between softness and adherence. The satin and shimmer shades in particular feel silky smooth to the touch, with a plush, creamy texture. These eyeshadows have brilliant pigmentation, and blend and build so easily that you'd swear they apply themselves.

They are, in my opinion, some of the best eyeshadows currently on the market. They easily compete with any other high-end brand I've tried, including Chanel, Dior, and Charlotte Tilbury. Like most brands geared towards working professionals, the packaging is very practical and simple, with sturdy plastic housing the pans and a clear lid cover. Not sexy or swanky, but in this case it really is the stuff that's inside that makes it worth the eye-blinking price tag. (Yeah, the 80$ took me a while to swallow down, but after spending 60$ or so on high-end quints or quads from other brands - sometimes with disappointing results - I managed to talk myself into trying Viseart out. And I'm really, really glad I did.)

Basically, if I could only pick one brand of eyeshadows to use from now on, I'd be hard-pressed to select anything over Viseart - and at that point it might only come down to either the packaging or the variety, as Viseart generally focuses on more neutral, pro-friendly shade ranges (though they are apparently working on an editorial brights palette).

I'll start with a review of the two palettes that I've owned and used for a few weeks - the #06 Paris Nude and the #05 Sultry Muse.

The Paris Nude is a beautiful range of shimmery and satin neutrals, or quasi-neutrals. They're wonderful to integrate with existing matte shades in your collection (or the #01 Matte Neutrals palette), but also work beautifully used together for a softly shimmery haze. The reflective quality here is relatively low-key - this is not a metallic or glitter-leaning palette, so it would work very well for a work-appropriate look, or for a gentle, blown-out smoky eye. (I feel like you would need something deeper and matte to amp up the drama.) There are two shades with micro glitter that have a somewhat drier texture and sheerer application, and to my mind are best applied wet, otherwise the glitter can fall down. Personally, I could have done without them but they do add the potential for greater drama, should you wish it. They do add a beautiful wet-effect sparkle.

What I find interesting about this palette is how bland it looks at first glance. All the shades look sort of muddy, but when actually applied to the skin they have this incredible dimensionality. All of them have a subtle duochrome or hidden shimmer adding depth and complexity.

Pont des Arts, Champs-Élysées, Beax-Arts, Alexandre Trois, 
Saint-Honoré, Orangerie, Marais, Montaigne, 
Vendome, Jeu de Paume, Grand-Palais, Saint Germain

Pont des Arts is a peachy pink shimmer. Champs-Élysées is a white gold shimmer with very faint pink duochrome and small, flaky gold micro glitter. Beaux-Arts is an almost metallic rose gold with a peachy copper duochrome - completely gorgeous. Alexandre Trois is pale gold beige with gold micro glitter. Saint-Honoré is a slightly plummy mauve with a warm taupe undertone, very lovely. Orangerie is a changeling, looking alternatively light brown, bronze or peach depending on the light.

Pont des Arts, Champs-Élysées, Beaux-Arts, Alexandre Trois, Saint-Honoré, Orangerie

Marais is a rich copper. Montaigne is a pale old gold, with a khaki undertone. Vendome is a dusty lilac, with lighter lavender-pink shimmer. Jeu de Paume is a light, silvery sage. Grand-Palais is a smoky olive with a faint mauve shimmer underlay. Saint Germain is a plummy pewter shimmer.

Marais, Montaigne, Vendome, Jeu de Paume, Grand-Palais, Saint Germain

Sultry Muse is a more dramatic palette, with a higher degree of contrast between the shades and four of those micro glitter flecked shimmers. It also contains a few outright metallics. It suits more deeper, smokier, more outgoing eye looks, though you can definitely create a daytime appropriate looks as well. Of the two, it's probably the more versatile palette because of that range of colour depth and created texture variation.

Yves, Camille, Kifu, Gitte,
Tym, Jori, CIndi, Chantille,
Chloé, Melonié, Diane, Ceska

Yves is an icy white with silver micro glitter. Camille is an almost metallic warm, light brown. Kifu is a pale beige with a slight pink undertone and golden-pink micro glitter. Gitte is a deeper beige with gold micro glitter. Tym is an intense copper metallic with a distinct rose undertone. Jori is a deep, cool, bittersweet chocolate brown. 

Yves, Camille, Kifu, Gitte, Tym, Jori

Cindi is another intensely metallic copper, this one with a strong orange cast. Chantille is a muted burgundy brown. Chloé is a silver-slate metallic, with silver micro glitter. Melonié is a slightly dirty peach with a melon pink undertone. Diane is a deep charcoal shimmer. Ceska is a soft gold shimmer.

Cindi, Chantille, Chloé, Melonié, Diane, Ceska

I also have some quick comparisons with the two brands that I think have the closest match in terms of pigmentation and/or texture. (I wasn't able to get exact colour matches, but something in the general family to give you an idea.)

Below are the three shades from the Charlotte Tilbury Dolce Vita quad (minus the glitter shade) versus three from the Viseart Sultry Muse (Melonié, Chantille, Jori). Among my high end brands, including Chanel and Dior, the CT has the closest similarity when it comes to texture. They feel alike in terms of silkiness, softness, creaminess and refinement of the pigment. I find they also apply and blend very, very similarly on the eye. That said, I do think the Viseart are a bit more pigmented - not a huge difference, but enough to note.

Below are three shades from Urban Decay (Derailed, Half-Truth, Chase) versus three from the Viseart Sultry Muse and Paris Nude (Grand-Palais, St-Germain, Ceska). Again, I didn't have a chance for closer colour matches, and Chase is more metallic in finish compared to the gold from the Viseart. But you get the idea. These are some older UD and definitely represent the best of their quality - they are perfect in terms of opacity of pigmentation and creaminess. They have that classic UD richness and are denser and more buttery feeling than the Viseart, which feel finer and silkier in comparison. The Viseart are somewhat easier to blend out and use, due to that refinement, but the pigmentation is similar. I think these are both excellent formulas and it would be a question of preference. (The ease of use with the Viseart is probably why they end up in pro kits with far more regularity.)

Availability: From pro shops like Naimie's, Frends, Nigel's, Musepro, and now at Sephora, as part of their pro-oriented line-up (though available for anyone to buy). The price is 80$ CAD and USD. I would highly recommend giving them a try during the VIB/Rouge sale, coming soon.

Have you guys had a chance to try these yet? I'm kinda obsessed, if you can't tell. :P 

(PS - I'm trying out the wider shots of arm swatches, for a clearer context for the colours. Let me know if you have strong preferences either way!)

(I purchased both palettes. This post is not sponsored or compensated, all opinions are my own. Contains affiliate link.)