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

posted in: Makeup
July 22, 2015

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.

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

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.

Review & Swatches: New e.l.f. Studio Bronzer Palette | Slashed Beauty

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.

Review & Swatches: New e.l.f. Studio Bronzer Palette | Slashed Beauty

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.

Review & Swatches: New e.l.f. Studio Contour Palette | Slashed Beauty

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.

Review & Swatches: New e.l.f. Studio Contour Palette | Slashed Beauty

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.

Review & Swatches: New e.l.f. Studio Foundation Palette | Slashed Beauty

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.

Review & Swatches: New e.l.f. Studio Foundation Palette | Slashed Beauty

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!

What kind of palette would you like to see from e.l.f. next?

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26 Responses

  1. Heather ツ
    | Reply

    I have the Bronzer and Contour palettes in my cart – just waiting…lol

  2. Rachel Runyan
    | Reply

    The contour palette actually looks promising for those of us with fair skin. Unfortunately, the swatches I’ve seen from the fair/light foundation palette still look too dark for me. I have oily skin, so it sounds like I would have to pass onit regardless.

    What’s great about all of these is that you can pop them out and mix and match with any of the other palettes.

    I wish they would bring back the LE highlighter palette they had. I ordered one right as soon as it was available, only to get an email a few days later saying they ran out of stock and were deleting it from my order. I was so ticked off, because I really like their highlighters.

  3. Lisa Marie Heath
    | Reply

    For $6 these are definitely worth checking out!

  4. Phyrra
    | Reply

    The contour one looks like it might work for a skintone like mine

    • Miranda | SlashedBeauty.com
      | Reply

      Yes, I’d say your complexion would work well with that one and the bronzer palette!

  5. FabZilla_Kath
    | Reply

    Elf is stepping up their makeup game! For $6 e/a, these are steal!

  6. Destany
    | Reply

    Looks like palettes for all skintones!

  7. Nidia Doherty
    | Reply

    That contour palette is nicer than I thought it’d be, and for the price, it’s a great way to learn how to contour. I love that you can pop the pans out easily and create your own palette!

  8. marciaf
    | Reply

    Whenever I see ELF it’s always the older products. They need to get their newer ones on their displays.

    • Miranda | SlashedBeauty.com
      | Reply

      I totally agree– I usually wait for free shipping days which they just had yesterday when I want their new stuff.

  9. PrimeBeauty
    | Reply

    I’ll check into these next time I’m at Walmart.

  10. Chelsea
    | Reply

    I want that contour palette just for the banana shade!

    • Elizabeth
      | Reply

      Ditto! I just discovered the Beautifully Bare Natural Glow Face Palette.I don’t need two peachy blushes, but I could definitely use the banana! I’m going to hunt one down.

  11. CosmetopiaDigest.com
    | Reply

    A foundation palette? I want one! But too bad it didn’t hold up on oily skin – my face is oily enough to grease the baking dish twice over.

  12. Anastasia
    | Reply

    These look FANTASTIC! Thanks for putting them on my radar, I’ll def pick up a couple.

  13. Allison @neversaydiebeauty
    | Reply

    They all sound pretty great especially for $6. I love elf’s packaging these days.

  14. Jia Han Tong
    | Reply

    thanks for such a comprehensive review! palettes aren’t really my thing because I’m don’t wear much makeup on a daily basis, but I may consider if i ever need one

    www.chloecake.blogspot.com

    • Miranda | SlashedBeauty.com
      | Reply

      They’re def a great option when traveling, or even if you want to add to your collection without adding bulk. Thanks for reading and commenting! 🙂

  15. Miki Nyckel
    | Reply

    Oooooh that contour palette! I almost bought that when it came out! It was so hard to resist! But I already have too many ….
    Thanks for the fab review! I may just go ahead and buy it haha …

    • Miranda | SlashedBeauty.com
      | Reply

      It’s only $6… 😉

      • Miki Nyckel
        | Reply

        Oh if I saw it in the store, I would have it in a heart beat lol. But the selection is usually pretty limited. I have to buy online, and the shipping is so expensive, so I usually buy a bunch of their products at once. There isn’t a lot I want right now …. but soon … 🙂

  16. Erika
    | Reply

    I love that you can pop out the powders and create your own custom palette. That is a fantastic feature. The powders sound nice… I should look for these next time I’m trolling around Target.

  17. Charline Steuckers
    | Reply

    The contour palette really sounds promising! 😉 and all of that for $6? That’s almost too good to be true 😉

    Love, Charline | Charline Has a Blog

    • Miranda | SlashedBeauty.com
      | Reply

      It’s def my fave of the three. Agreed, as always, a great value from e.l.f.! Thanks for commenting 🙂

  18. Katie Lemons
    | Reply

    I’m loving the contour palette! Emily Noel on Youtube mentioned that it’s a great dupe for the Smashbox contour palette, and it’s the only contour palette I own/need.

    • Miranda | SlashedBeauty.com
      | Reply

      That’s what I’ve heard from other reviews as well! I haven’t tried the Smashbox palette but the texture is definitely comparable to high end powders. Thanks so much for commenting!

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