Review & Swatches: New e.l.f. Studio Face Palettes

I will go out on a limb and say that most makeup lovers probably prefer palettes over single products. They’re travel friendly, they offer several looks in one compact, and they make it easier to rotate through different shades because they aren’t forgotten in the back of your drawers like singles tend to be. So I was personally pretty excited when e.l.f. started cranking out a ton of face palettes. Even though they’ve put out more since the release of the foundation, bronzer, and contour palettes, I’ve got these three to show you today.

The palettes are housed in the same types of compacts as their blush palettes, and each cost $6. The sturdy black compacts have four pans that can actually be popped out and rearranged. They also have a huge mirror that will reflect your whole face, which I really appreciate for traveling.

Let’s start with the new e.l.f. Studio Bronzer Palette. There are two mattes and two shimmers, which come in handy for different purposes in sculpting and warming up your face. The two matte shades are both cool toned, one being what I consider to b a light camel shade and the other a medium tan. The other two are more caramel-y. The one on the bottom left is silky and the shimmer seems to be a spray-over. The shade in the top right is really soft (to the point of crumbliness when too much pressure is applied) and has bigger glitter particles. Not my fave, but with a light hand it can add a pretty glow to your face.

I’d consider this palette to be fairly pigmented for my light/medium skin tone. I really don’t think they’d do a lot for dark skin. I wish that there was more of a contrast between the shades, maybe with one much darker contour shade. Although, I’ve been using the mattes for sculpting and while it’s not Kim K status, they do offer a more natural effect which definitely works well for the summer looks I’ve been going for.

Next, we’ve got the new e.l.f. Studio Contour Palette. This one won me over more than the bronzer palette. Infused with Vitamin E, all of the shades are equally buttery and easy to blend, a formula I’m totally into. Each shade serves a specific purpose. The top left shimmery eggshell shade is perfect for a powder highlight that’s more sheen than sparkle. The top right shade is what most would call “banana,” which is a yellow-toned matte that’s great for brightening up the under-eyes or setting concealer. The bottom left is a light warm matte that looks great on the perimeters of the face, and the bottom right is a deeper cool brown for sculpting and contouring.

Again, these shadows offer a natural pigmentation on my light/medium skin, and can be built up for a little more color. I wish the sculpting shade was a tad darker, but it still works for an every-day look. Even as a cream highlight junkie, I find myself liking the shimmery highlight shade in this palette since it adds a glow instead of glitter– something I particularly look for.

Lastly, and what I was most excited to try was the new e.l.f. Studio Foundation Palette. The palette actually comes in 3 shade selections, Fair/Light, Light/Medium, and Medium/Dark. I personally tried Light/Medium which was a perfect match for me. You may be thinking, why would you need four different foundations in one palette… especially if you’re not a makeup artist? For the every day girl, having a few foundations that are similar shades in one palette can help with changes in skin tone throughout seasons, or just mixing your perfect match.

The foundation has a very light and creamy formula. They’re rather slick, but as you buff them into your skin, they set into more of a silky finish. It applies best with a damp sponge, and they’ll give you light to medium coverage that has the potential to look great and last hours on one condition: if you have relatively normal skin. As a beauty blogger, perhaps it’s a good thing I have combo skin, because it allowed me to tell that this foundation didn’t quite hold in my oily parts, looked a little weird over my dry parts, but worked really nicely on the rest of my face. It definitely held up better when set with translucent powder, so oily girls don’t need to completely write this one off just yet.

All in all, these palettes are great for more natural, lightweight looks. For only $6, you get a lot to work with and I like the option of popping the pans out and even making your own custom palette out of them. Because I also have the blush palette, it’d be easy for me to make a compact with a foundation, contour, highlight and blush for an all-in-one travel palette!