Today, I wanted to share a quick comparison between two highlight/contour palettes that are both from the drugstore, but with a pretty big price difference.
The NYX Highlight & Contour Pro Palette ($24.99) and the brand new Jesse’s Girl Highlight and Contour Kit ($12.99) are both eight-pan palettes with a range of shades to complete your sculpted and glowing look.
At first glance, the palettes look like they house almost identical shades. While it looks like the Jesse’s Girl pans are significantly larger than the NYX palette, according to the packaging the difference is actually negligible, being very close in product weight— so I’m assuming the NYX pans are just deeper. In terms of packaging, the NYX palette may hold up through more wear and tear with its sturdy and thick plastic case. The pans within the NYX palette are also removable, so you can pop them out and move them around or replace them with the refill singles they sell on their website.
The Jesse’s Girl palette packaging is very simple and straightforward. The plastic seems a little thinner, but also the pans are closer together (as well as stationary) which makes for a more compact case. Personally, this would be what I prefer when I’m traveling, though I can see the draw in a customizable palette.
Above I’ve swatched all of the “corresponding” shades in order, alternating between NYX and Jesse’s Girl. You can see that each palette has some shades that are more pigmented or smoothly applied than the other. Something interesting I noticed is that both palettes have variety in the texture of the powders. Some are more textured while others are so buttery smooth, and they’re different on each palette. Overall, I got more product kickback from the NYX powders, though I found them to be more pigmented by majority.
They both wore very similarly throughout the day, with the Jesse’s Girl powders looking only slightly patchier than the NYX side by the end of the day. But the difference was minimal, and the look very similar.
My ruling? Unless you plan on personalizing your palette and moving pans around, and you’re using it for day-to-day looks, I would go for the Jesse’s Girl Highlight and Contour Kit for half the price. However, if you see specific shades you wear all the time that look better on one side or the other int he swatches above, that’s probably a better indication of which palette is for you.
You can find the NYX Highlight & Contour Pro Palette for $24.99 at Ulta Beauty, and the Jesse’s Girl Highlight and Contour Kit for $12.99 on Amazon (btw, Amazon is now their nationwide retailer besides Rite Aid and their official site).
Which palette do you prefer?
Jessica
Wow! I certainly like the size of the Jesse’s Girl and the price more than the NYX… but I don’t see myself using a full palette like this. I think if I did makeup for others more often, it’d be worth it. For now, all I need is one shade of contour… and I do have a collection of different highlights… but they’re just so pretty!
Miranda Mendoza
Very true, Jessica. I think this is more for the fanatics who like to play with different shades and looks, or do makeup on others. It’s nice to have options depending on what you’re going for… though I also tend to grab my single contour compact most of the time as well!