Hi guys, hope everyone is doing well and working on proactive things while observing the #socialdistancing rules? Dont know about you but I seem to get more quality matters accomplished now more than ever due to all the time in my hands. Today's blog will be revolving around #contourpalettes and how I can do a good look just by using one contour palette : to save time and money. If you know me by now, I am big on doing more with less or getting more bang-for-my-buck from my things; in this case - makeup. Why use more if we can so get away with less, right? #sustainablemakeup. So since I have just received the #scottbarnes No.1 palette, which is a lot more expensive than my current #kkwbeauty palettes and #nyxcosmetics palette - I want to find out how much better is it? I'd be super mad if it performs worst for sure. Some Youtubers' review of it werent very positive for the SB palette citing difficulty blending and also quite patchy in formula etc. To check out my vlog demo, swatches and comps please head HERE
First off : The Stats - below 2 pixes of my line and finger swatches
1. Scott Barnes Sculpting & Contour palette $58.00
- retails onsite at $58.00 for 8 shades, with total weight at 24.8g which works out to be approximately 3.1g per pan per shade
- Each shade = $7.25 (58/8)
- Per gram = 7.25/3.1g = $2.33 per gram
- made in China
- Cruelty Free (Bunny Logo)
Summary review - Right off the bat - I am not sure this is at all beginner friendly because onsite, this palette is positioned as a "beginner friendly" contour palette. I'd say I am more beginner skewed though learning fast; as all 8 shades are super unique and not your usual "run-off-the-mill" type of contour spectrum. Though I dont think it is rocket science for sure but definitely not a palette a beginner can get right on 1st attempt.
As for the shades - all are so unique that I need to play with them more to give a more accurate report. But so far I am definitely inspired to keep using this palette for various contour needs and intensity. For example, I cant wait to jump on my second attempt to use "Sculpt" and "Snatched" shades to hopefully lift my cheekbones and see if I get transformed to suddenly possess cheekbones like that of the "Hadid Sisters" for instance? Let me get back to you guys on this.
The standout shade for me is the shade called "#shade", gee how #imaginative Mr Barnes. Reason is I could even use this as a cheek tint or stain for a pretty wash of color for my cheeks without looking like I am wearing blusher - for those days I just wanna look like I have just gotten out of bed looking like this. Plus #shade could also be worn as a pretty transition shade as most of my transition shades are mostly from the beige, brown or taupe family. Texture wise for all shades are totally buttery smooth but I am picking up a bit of patchiness for the darker shades which went away nicely with some blending work, so no biggie there. Here is a short clip of my first-impression look for you guys to have a better sense of my initial results. FYI I also did try to use some of the shades to fix my brows but the results were only 4/10, need to mess with this further and report back.
Below please find more pixes of my side-by-side comparisons of SB, Nyx and KKW according to the lightest to the darkest shades.
2. Nyx Highlight & Contour Pro Palette $25.00
- my current drugstore go-to #nyxpropalette is 25g or 2.7g (25g/8shades) per pan
- Each shade = $3.10 ($25/8)
- Per gram = $3.1/2.7g = $1.10 per gram
- made in Taiwan
- Vegan
Summary review - Nyx is a great straight-forward contour palette to own if you want something totally fuss free and lightweight for traveling. For the price vs value, this is a no brainer. My only 2 "Cons' for this palette is that the formula gives my eye a bit of texture though but if you are not planning on using for the eyes (or if you do not have mature skin like I do) and if you just want something straight forward, then this is a great contour palette. Just do bring along extra brushes as I found the darkest shades quite "unforgiveable" - which leads me to my second "Con" - if you happen to go in with a heavy hand by mistake; you need to really blend and buff with a clean brush like crazy (use this technique as a last resort only, as this might move your foundation beneath causing more texture and unevenness). So morale of the story? Remember to go in with a very light hand for the darkest shade to avoid the issue. That said, all the shades are super nice for my under-eyes and outer V, they dont make me look pale or sick but quite low-key sexy.
3. KKW Beauty Powder Contour & Highlight Palette $44.00 per palette
- my current go-to premium brand : #kkwbeauty palette retails onsite at $44.00 - Each pan per quad is a whopping 7.5g, I thought it was a typo mistake onsite or that I need to wear glasses; but even the back of the palette indicated 7.5g per pan. Of course considering it only offers 2 contour shades (excluding the two highlight shades) for this quad. This was the reason I had to pick up all three palettes from this collection: Light, Medium and Dark in case 2 contour shades were not adequate for me to do a good sculpted look. So these collection literally sets me back $132!!!
- Each shade = $16.50 ($132/8 shades)!!!! The most expensive of my three powder contour kits!
- Per gram = $16.5/7.5g = $2.20
- Made in USA
- Not cruelty free nor vegan
While KKW is only 13 cents cheaper per gram weightage than the SB, however you get more product per shade for KKW with 7.5g per pan; so this means you will be hitting pan much quicker with SB than with the KKW. That said you get more variety of shades for SB. So I think it all works out as far as "cost vs value" goes - either one is a great contour palette to own depending on which one meets your needs and style better.
The Overall Review Summary (P.s. I apologize that my comparison or comp photos below arent the best, as there are quite a lot for 1 person to handle but that is no excuse - I will produce much better apple-to-apple comp photos from my next post onwards. Please dont give up on me yet as I am new to all these)
Style Comparisons Sum Up
To achieve a softer casual pretty "less-is-more" vibe - KKW
To achieve more intense smokey vibe - Nyx
To achieve a more rosy glow vibe that can take you from casual to intense - SB
Texture & Formula
In a nutshell, all three brands swatch pretty good; all are buttery smooth except I found Nyx to be a tad drier for my more mature skin condition. SB is also a lot more finely milled but so is KKW but not so much for Nyx. That said the formula of KKW's finely milled texture do not have as much fallouts as SB's though - as I could see super-finely-milled fleck powders falling off of my brushes more clearly for SB's than KKW and even Nyx.
Practicality Vs Usages Comparisons
For my mature skin, especially around my eyes - I found Nyx not suitable for using on the upper eyes and definitely not to my liking as it enhanced my texture quite a bit more. Not so much for the other 2 which performed great for my eyes. Definition of great means that I have no qualms using them on my upper textured eyelids as transition shades or even as eyeshadow colours. That said for my under eyelids - Nyx was great, as even the medium shades could give me a warm to smoky look without giving me "panda eyes" or making me look sick that day. Some contour shades makes me look sickly when used on my under eyelids, case in point the KKW. It is great for my upper eye lids but the shade colours do not offer me a good look when used for my under eyelids, ie I look pretty dull and even may come off looking I might have caught a "bug" God forbid.
So to conclude - all of the 3 palettes have their own Pros and Cons. While I love the KKW for giving me a pretty warm summer vibe without being overly bronzed up, I dont love that it is not practical for travelling as it is fairly heavy. The Nyx is lightweight and travel friendly but the shades are limiting in inspiration and gives me a bit of eye texture. The SB for now, seems to check all the boxes for me today - lightweight, offers a variety of inspirational shades and could be use for face, eyes and even brows! However I still need to mess around with it a bit more to give a more accurate review. But so far, on first impression? The SB wins over the other 2. That's it for now guys, hope you guys enjoyed this as well as my vlogs on this "Contour Palette" edition. Stay Safe! V