Morphe 39A Dare to Create Palette for Holiday 2017

Say hello to the star of Morphe's holiday collection. I'm well aware that this is a contraversial brand, but I'll note that I've had seamless experiences with them the three times I've ordered direct (one for brushes, one for the Jaclyn Hill palette, and this order).

The Morphe 39A Dare to Create palette ($32) contains 2.67oz/75.7g  of product in total, spread between 39 shades.

One of the things I really liked about this layout is that the top two rows are warm, the bottom two are cool, and there are larger-pan transition shades in the middle. I'll give full credit to Jaclyn Hill in this video for appropriately ID'ing that the transition shades are the same size as the Make Up For Ever singles.

This is an aside, but I love the black and gold theme, and the affirmation in the lid, which reads "Be Your Own Muse. We Dare You."

This palette called to me, especially Snatched (bright red shimmer), Dare Me (Cobalt shimmer), Fickle (olive matte), Inspire (green shimmer), Pine (deep olive matte), Colour (deep teal shimmer). Yes, I'm still in my cool moment.

I've tested this off and on for several weeks. I didn't think to photograph my looks, but I've really liked how these perform. It's all been on par with the Jaclyn Hill palette in terms of performance.

I do have swatches per row for you:

Row 1:

Row 2:

Row 3:

Row 4:

Row 5:

One note on Muse- it is buildable but swatches miserably.

This is a lovely and well-balanced palette. I'm mad that there's not a matte cream (hello, us fair people can't live without it!) which means it couldn't be the only palette I travel with. That's the only thing I'm missing though.

This is apparently actually limited edition. I'm not sure of their shipping deadlines, but this would make a nice present for the younger makeup lover in your life. You do get the shade names in an overlay (annoying since they did print on the palette for the 9A at Ulta). This is standard Morphe cardboard packaging, but it does feel sleek.

I'm very happy to have this, and have enjoyed the looks that I've made with it. I'm still waiting for them to make a greens palette. And then try and stop me from buying it.

The Morphe Jaclyn Hill Palette: YouTube Hype or Worth Checking Out?

I watch a lot of YouTube. But this is one product I swore I wouldn't be picking up for numerous reasons.

Yet somehow... here it is, in my possession. I think my curiosity got the better of me and I wanted to see what the hype was about. Plus, some of Morphe's line is headed to Ulta this month and I was curious.

I'm not unfamiliar with Morphe. I own many of their brushes, and quite enjoy doing their brush club ($19.99 monthly gets you 3-6 brushes). I've discovered some great brushes, and I've also learned a lot about different types of tools. I have a better understanding for the general type of brushes that work best with different formulas because I have such a large collection.

But I didn't own any of their palettes. I was up early placing a few other orders the day after a restock (I think) and I decided to check and see if the palette was around. Since it was, I found myself ordering before I knew it.

The packaging (as I already knew) is white cardboard. I hate white cardboard- it's one of the reasons why I hide my LORAC Mega Pro 3.

When you open it up, there's no mirror (no problem) and there are a total of 35 shadows- a total weight of 1.98oz/56.2g. In case you didn't know, these are made in China.

There's a message from Jaclyn opposite of the pans.

One quick note- the pans aren't labeled but they do include this card to give the shade names.

If you're interested in the inspiration behind these names, here's a link to Jaclyn Hill's video.

Back to the palette. I'm going to break this down by row.

Row 1:

I like all of the shades in this row- I just wish there had been a matte cream shadow included because I actually have to pull in a separate matte cream shade. Sort of defeats the purpose of a 35-pan palette. I do like having nice inner corner and transition shades though. I use Silk Creme or M.F.E.O in almost every single look.

Row 2:

These are traditional Jaclyn Hill colors, if you've watched her channel. I love that these are so pigmented and lovely. Pukey is such a good shade in particular.

Row 3:

This is a nice, warm row. I do like Obsessed all over the lid and had fun playing with S.B.N.

Row 4:

This row gives me all of the feels. All of the damn feels. Royalty called out to me like a siren's call and it's gorgeous. I wish I knew what to do with Twerk, because it's stunning. I love these cool and neutral browns. Love this row.


Row 5:

I love most of this row. Diva makes an incredible lid shade, and I used Central Park a number of times. Soda Pop and Abyss are disappointing. I can't wait to play with Pool Party and Jada next summer.

This is a great assortment of shades, and I think it would be a great addition to a collection. I think the majority of these shades perform beautifully.


One of my favorite looks was green-based.

Here are a couple of other looks that I enjoyed. I could've shown you all of the neutrals, but here's some color!

I think this palette is exceptionally versatile and I'll continue to play with this.


I also wanted to see what type of shipping experience I'd have.I'd read about terrible delays and had experienced slower times than I'd like in the past.I placed my order before work on Friday September 22. I'm in the eastern time zone, which is 3 hours ahead of Morphe's HQ. Checking my confirmation email, they received my order at 3:26AM local time.

I received a shipment notification at 11:20AM HQ time/2:20PM local time. That's impressive. When I checked the UPS Sure Post projected date of arrival, I was stunned to see that I'd have the palette by the following Wednesday. That would be a total of four business days after I ordered it- which is impressive. Turns out, my palette was shipping from Ohio- which makes a difference in terms of transit time.

I'll throw a bit of shade as well. I placed orders with two other brands that morning, one of which is also CA-based. Morphe was the only one of the three to ship same day. (By comparison, both Ulta nd Sephora's turnaround times were comparable to Morphe, but I paid more to ship with Ulta, and Sephora has gone to LaserShip, which is horrific for me locally.)

I actually ended up paying for the UPS upgrade to get the palette a day early on Tuesday because I was home sick from work. That $3.50 seemed reasonable. I was impressed to receive another email from Morphe on Tuesday morning telling me that my palette was out for delivery.

I heard a serious THUNK. I guess UPS didn't notice this:

I have to give some major props to Morphe for their packaging. It goes above and beyond- and others need to take note.

Your eyes aren't fooling you. The palette, which was externally bubble wrapped, is bubble wrapped inside the box.  That's legitimately amazing.


Bottom Line: Morphe palettes aren't the second coming. However, for the price point they're excellent. Do they blend like Viseart? No. Would I expect that? No. I think this palette has a great range of colors and it has satisfied my curiosity about the brand. I found the ordering and shipping experience to be well above average in the industry.