Drugstore/ Affordable Palette Showdown: Overview and my recommendations
So I'm trying to do some reviews and things for back to school types of items and I wanted to kind of compare all the drugstore palettes or things that you can get online that would be great for back to school. I have quite a few to choose from... both eye and face palettes too... so I'm just going to jump right in.
Face Palettes
Lets start with face, cause I don't have too much to recommend here. I have 2 from Elf, one is the Blush palette in light and the other is the Contour Palette. Both of these are really great, they have a nice, soft texture. Easy to blend out. I haven't used the contour palette a ton... actually I've only used it once... I'll have a review on that sometime in the near future... but I wouldn't really recommend contouring on a day to day basis. Its going to take a lot of time for back to school, and it is something hard to do... so for school maybe don't do it. If you want to do it for a dance or something it might be good... but contouring isn't really easy so... just get used to it first. At Sephora you could just ask someone that works there what they do and what they recommend and they'll help you out totally for free and you don't need to buy their contour kits if you don't want to... those are just my thoughts on it.
The Blush Palette I would definitely recommend for back to school. There is a light option and a dark option... I only have the light one, but the Dark is also really pretty and would be good for fall. There is one shade thats a shimmery peach like the famous Nars blush (not going to say the name since I want to make this a school friendly post... but you know what I mean... lol.) Really pigmented, just tap off your brush before applying these and it'll work great and last a long time. They're very soft and basically it doesn't feel like a $8 palette. There are 4 colors, so thats pretty amazing, and one is kind of a bronzy color. Its really good. I've also seen these used as eyeshadows which looks really pretty.
Quick LTD Mention
I just kind of want to mention my Pixi Ultimate Beauty Kit 2nd edition because it is really great quality and no one really talks about this brand a lot. I don't think this is available any more... but I think they'll probably have another one at Christmas Time. I think this might have been around $30 isn but I got it on sale for $17 and it comes with 40 eyeshadows... all amazing colors and a bunch of blushes and the best highlighters in the world possibly. Its really good.
Even though this isn't available I know Pixi has other face and eye kits and eye palettes. They have one skinny palette thats for brows that I think could probably double for an eyeshadow. And they have a bronzer/highlighter eye set that looks really nice to.
Online Only
Coastal Scents is a great company that makes really great eyeshadow palettes. I have the Revealed Palette by them which is $19.99 + shipping... but it goes on sale like all the time. This palette is basically all dupes for the Naked 1 & 2 palettes. The The Revealed 2 is kind of a dupe for the Naked 3 and the Revealed 3 is like berry colors and it kind of looks like the Naked 3.
I only have the first Revealed Palette and I don't have the Naked 1 or 2... but from what I've seen it looks pretty identical. And that aside... its a great palette. The eyeshadow quality is amazing, its a lot like the Urban Decay quality (I do have the Naked 3... this one has a little fallout but way less) and it comes with 20 neutral shades. There aren't a ton of mattes, but the matte browns in here are pretty good. The shimmers are a little better than the mattes... but this is such a great deal with really great colors.
The packaging is also great, it doesn't have a mirror unfortunately but its nice and slim and the closure is really good on it.
Coastal Scents does specials a lot where they'll have one of these palettes with like a brush set and some other things for a certain price. Right now they have the Revealed 3 with a Blush Palette and a Brush Set for like $35... it looks pretty nice Idk if its still available... but I'm tempted to get it. The only thing is the shipping is expensive sometimes. For this it wasn't bad it was only $5... but that makes it $40 when I wanted it for $35... so thats kind of a thing. Lol.
Elf
Alrighty back to Elf I have 2 palettes from them, both are $10. One I think you can find in stores and the other I don't think you can yet. I have the Prism Palette in Sunset and the Mad for Matte Palette.
The Prism Palette is really good. They're really pigmented, they blend nicely and they last all day! I worked out and had these on and they stayed on and still looked good... so thats always a good sign. The sunset might not be the best color arrangement for everyday school use... but it would be fun for like dances and stuff I think. There is a more neutral version of the Prism palettes also, which I don't have. The only problem with these is that there are no matte shades... so it is a lot of shimmer. And there can be some fall out. The packaging of this is nice too though. Its small and has a mirror... which is always a plus.
The Mad for Matte palette is really good also. Again, long wearing, easy to use, easy to come up with looks. Same packaging... less fallout than the prism palette I think. Its also super neutral. There are a lot of matte browns in this... which can tend to look similar, but I think there is enough to contrast it so that you can come up with different looks. These blend nicely and are nicely pigmented as well... so thats always good.
Wet N Wild
I recommend any wet n wild shadows except the cream formula. As far as big palettes, the Comfort Zone palette is amazing. Their trios are amazing. They have 5 pans and 6 pans... all good. They're constantly coming out with limited edition sets and they've stepped their game up a lot with those. They actually listen to reviews and customer complaints and things I think and they've improved their 5 pans from when they started and their limited edition things. The Fergie palettes are good too... most of the line is under $5... I highly recommend.
Just for reference I have the comfort zone palette (#1 Pick), the limited edition cream set in Ho- Ho Hollywood (complete dud), the trios in I'm getting Sunburnt, Silent Treatment and Sweet as Candy. And some other limited edition sets from their Fall Collection last year and their Silverlake collection from early in the summer. All of those were great too... and a lot of times they re-promote things. I have a fergie palette too that I don't use as much as the others... but probably should!
Nyx
Nyx has stepped up their game a lot too... but I don't totally love the sets I have. The Wicked Dreams is okay... but don't get it unless there is a sale or coupon cause its a little chalky and not all that pigmented. Its a great selection, great packaging... but not the best from the line.
I have a Love In Paris set in Mon Cherie... which I don't think they make anymore, but these shadows are great and their other Love in Paris sets I've heard are pretty consistent with the formula.
I have a Love in Rio trio in the shade En Fuego... its nice but theres a lot of fallout. I don't think they have this particular shade anymore either.
And last but not least I have the smokey palette... which I never use. Lol.
Nyx and wet n wild had the first palettes of the drugstore and I think they've gotten a lot better with their stuff since then.
I'd stick to their single shadows. The Prismatic ones are great.
Makeup Revolution
This is a new line to Ulta and to me! They have tons of palettes for eyes and face... most are kind of dupes for popular palettes. They have ones similar to all the Naked Palettes and some that are like the Lorac Pros. They're like $7-$15 and the quality is amazing. I have the Romantic Smokey Palette... which looks different from all other smokey palettes I've seen. There is no fallout and the pigmentation and wear time is amazing. I like it as much as if not more than the Urban Decay formula... thats how good it is. This might be my #1 pick. Even though it is "smokey" its still pretty neutral. There are like olive green and berry shades in it too though. Its really unique and pretty and I highly recommend it.
Its also great because there are 12 shades, 6 are matte, 6 are shimmer. I was going to do a whole review on this... which I could still do... but basically thats what I think of it. Really nice palette and I kind of want to try more to be honest. They're pretty awesome!
L'oreal La Palettes
These... I was kind of hesitant at first. I like them, they're pigmented have little fallout and are overall good shadows... but for some reason I had a hard time keeping them on my lids... which I usually don't have much problem with. The only primers that have worked for this are the Urban Decay Primer Potion... which I usually use anyway... and I buy the small size of so its inexpensive... OR the cheaper option which is taking your concealer, I use the Maybeline Superstay Better Skin and then I powder over it with Elf's under eye setting powder and then I put this on top. That worked really well, it lasted all day through the heat and a bunch of stuff. Its not the easiest step to take... but its inexpensive and it works really well.
Which one do I like better? I'm not sure! The mattes are a little better and the Nude 2 has more mattes... but I like the pigmentation and I feel like you can come up with more looks with the Nude 1. They're both really different so if you want to buy both... do but if you don't I don't think you really need both.
Maybelline The Nudes
This one has gotten a lot of bad reviews... but I really like it. It lasts on the lids really well and this is really user-friendly. The back of this palette has kind of a guide of how to use it. Basically its designed to go into quads, duos or trios. You can get a lot of looks with this, the matte shades are a little chalky but they show up on the lid and these last with pretty much any primer. I think they're sort of made for the Maybelline Color Tattoos which work really well with it. I say this is great... but get it on sale.
Here are my "superlatives" for each palette
Best Value- Wet n Wild Comfort Zone (unless you can find one of the Pixi Palettes like that on sale! )
Best Quality- Makeup Revolution Romantic Smokey
Best Quick Look- Elf Mad For Matte
Easiest for beginners- Maybelline The Nudes
What you can get most looks from- L'oreal La Palette Nude 1, Coastal Scents Revealed
Hope this was helpful!
Byeee!
-Shannon
Face Palettes
Lets start with face, cause I don't have too much to recommend here. I have 2 from Elf, one is the Blush palette in light and the other is the Contour Palette. Both of these are really great, they have a nice, soft texture. Easy to blend out. I haven't used the contour palette a ton... actually I've only used it once... I'll have a review on that sometime in the near future... but I wouldn't really recommend contouring on a day to day basis. Its going to take a lot of time for back to school, and it is something hard to do... so for school maybe don't do it. If you want to do it for a dance or something it might be good... but contouring isn't really easy so... just get used to it first. At Sephora you could just ask someone that works there what they do and what they recommend and they'll help you out totally for free and you don't need to buy their contour kits if you don't want to... those are just my thoughts on it.
The Blush Palette I would definitely recommend for back to school. There is a light option and a dark option... I only have the light one, but the Dark is also really pretty and would be good for fall. There is one shade thats a shimmery peach like the famous Nars blush (not going to say the name since I want to make this a school friendly post... but you know what I mean... lol.) Really pigmented, just tap off your brush before applying these and it'll work great and last a long time. They're very soft and basically it doesn't feel like a $8 palette. There are 4 colors, so thats pretty amazing, and one is kind of a bronzy color. Its really good. I've also seen these used as eyeshadows which looks really pretty.
Quick LTD Mention
I just kind of want to mention my Pixi Ultimate Beauty Kit 2nd edition because it is really great quality and no one really talks about this brand a lot. I don't think this is available any more... but I think they'll probably have another one at Christmas Time. I think this might have been around $30 isn but I got it on sale for $17 and it comes with 40 eyeshadows... all amazing colors and a bunch of blushes and the best highlighters in the world possibly. Its really good.
Even though this isn't available I know Pixi has other face and eye kits and eye palettes. They have one skinny palette thats for brows that I think could probably double for an eyeshadow. And they have a bronzer/highlighter eye set that looks really nice to.
Online Only
Coastal Scents is a great company that makes really great eyeshadow palettes. I have the Revealed Palette by them which is $19.99 + shipping... but it goes on sale like all the time. This palette is basically all dupes for the Naked 1 & 2 palettes. The The Revealed 2 is kind of a dupe for the Naked 3 and the Revealed 3 is like berry colors and it kind of looks like the Naked 3.
I only have the first Revealed Palette and I don't have the Naked 1 or 2... but from what I've seen it looks pretty identical. And that aside... its a great palette. The eyeshadow quality is amazing, its a lot like the Urban Decay quality (I do have the Naked 3... this one has a little fallout but way less) and it comes with 20 neutral shades. There aren't a ton of mattes, but the matte browns in here are pretty good. The shimmers are a little better than the mattes... but this is such a great deal with really great colors.
The packaging is also great, it doesn't have a mirror unfortunately but its nice and slim and the closure is really good on it.
Coastal Scents does specials a lot where they'll have one of these palettes with like a brush set and some other things for a certain price. Right now they have the Revealed 3 with a Blush Palette and a Brush Set for like $35... it looks pretty nice Idk if its still available... but I'm tempted to get it. The only thing is the shipping is expensive sometimes. For this it wasn't bad it was only $5... but that makes it $40 when I wanted it for $35... so thats kind of a thing. Lol.
Elf
Alrighty back to Elf I have 2 palettes from them, both are $10. One I think you can find in stores and the other I don't think you can yet. I have the Prism Palette in Sunset and the Mad for Matte Palette.
The Prism Palette is really good. They're really pigmented, they blend nicely and they last all day! I worked out and had these on and they stayed on and still looked good... so thats always a good sign. The sunset might not be the best color arrangement for everyday school use... but it would be fun for like dances and stuff I think. There is a more neutral version of the Prism palettes also, which I don't have. The only problem with these is that there are no matte shades... so it is a lot of shimmer. And there can be some fall out. The packaging of this is nice too though. Its small and has a mirror... which is always a plus.
The Mad for Matte palette is really good also. Again, long wearing, easy to use, easy to come up with looks. Same packaging... less fallout than the prism palette I think. Its also super neutral. There are a lot of matte browns in this... which can tend to look similar, but I think there is enough to contrast it so that you can come up with different looks. These blend nicely and are nicely pigmented as well... so thats always good.
Wet N Wild
I recommend any wet n wild shadows except the cream formula. As far as big palettes, the Comfort Zone palette is amazing. Their trios are amazing. They have 5 pans and 6 pans... all good. They're constantly coming out with limited edition sets and they've stepped their game up a lot with those. They actually listen to reviews and customer complaints and things I think and they've improved their 5 pans from when they started and their limited edition things. The Fergie palettes are good too... most of the line is under $5... I highly recommend.
Just for reference I have the comfort zone palette (#1 Pick), the limited edition cream set in Ho- Ho Hollywood (complete dud), the trios in I'm getting Sunburnt, Silent Treatment and Sweet as Candy. And some other limited edition sets from their Fall Collection last year and their Silverlake collection from early in the summer. All of those were great too... and a lot of times they re-promote things. I have a fergie palette too that I don't use as much as the others... but probably should!
Nyx
Nyx has stepped up their game a lot too... but I don't totally love the sets I have. The Wicked Dreams is okay... but don't get it unless there is a sale or coupon cause its a little chalky and not all that pigmented. Its a great selection, great packaging... but not the best from the line.
I have a Love In Paris set in Mon Cherie... which I don't think they make anymore, but these shadows are great and their other Love in Paris sets I've heard are pretty consistent with the formula.
I have a Love in Rio trio in the shade En Fuego... its nice but theres a lot of fallout. I don't think they have this particular shade anymore either.
And last but not least I have the smokey palette... which I never use. Lol.
Nyx and wet n wild had the first palettes of the drugstore and I think they've gotten a lot better with their stuff since then.
I'd stick to their single shadows. The Prismatic ones are great.
Makeup Revolution
This is a new line to Ulta and to me! They have tons of palettes for eyes and face... most are kind of dupes for popular palettes. They have ones similar to all the Naked Palettes and some that are like the Lorac Pros. They're like $7-$15 and the quality is amazing. I have the Romantic Smokey Palette... which looks different from all other smokey palettes I've seen. There is no fallout and the pigmentation and wear time is amazing. I like it as much as if not more than the Urban Decay formula... thats how good it is. This might be my #1 pick. Even though it is "smokey" its still pretty neutral. There are like olive green and berry shades in it too though. Its really unique and pretty and I highly recommend it.
Its also great because there are 12 shades, 6 are matte, 6 are shimmer. I was going to do a whole review on this... which I could still do... but basically thats what I think of it. Really nice palette and I kind of want to try more to be honest. They're pretty awesome!
L'oreal La Palettes
These... I was kind of hesitant at first. I like them, they're pigmented have little fallout and are overall good shadows... but for some reason I had a hard time keeping them on my lids... which I usually don't have much problem with. The only primers that have worked for this are the Urban Decay Primer Potion... which I usually use anyway... and I buy the small size of so its inexpensive... OR the cheaper option which is taking your concealer, I use the Maybeline Superstay Better Skin and then I powder over it with Elf's under eye setting powder and then I put this on top. That worked really well, it lasted all day through the heat and a bunch of stuff. Its not the easiest step to take... but its inexpensive and it works really well.
Which one do I like better? I'm not sure! The mattes are a little better and the Nude 2 has more mattes... but I like the pigmentation and I feel like you can come up with more looks with the Nude 1. They're both really different so if you want to buy both... do but if you don't I don't think you really need both.
Maybelline The Nudes
This one has gotten a lot of bad reviews... but I really like it. It lasts on the lids really well and this is really user-friendly. The back of this palette has kind of a guide of how to use it. Basically its designed to go into quads, duos or trios. You can get a lot of looks with this, the matte shades are a little chalky but they show up on the lid and these last with pretty much any primer. I think they're sort of made for the Maybelline Color Tattoos which work really well with it. I say this is great... but get it on sale.
Here are my "superlatives" for each palette
Best Value- Wet n Wild Comfort Zone (unless you can find one of the Pixi Palettes like that on sale! )
Best Quality- Makeup Revolution Romantic Smokey
Best Quick Look- Elf Mad For Matte
Easiest for beginners- Maybelline The Nudes
What you can get most looks from- L'oreal La Palette Nude 1, Coastal Scents Revealed
Hope this was helpful!
Byeee!
-Shannon
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