I know what you’re thinking, “Why did she write a review about the Make Up For Ever Pro Sculpting Palette * when she said all the time she doesn’t do contouring? ” Well, very good question! bigsmile
I’m not going to play you and pretend I discovered that contouring is the greatest makeup technique of all time. Nope, don’t worry, I’m still not a fan of what is often referred to as Kardashian makeup.
In fact, Make Up For Ever invited me to discover this Pro Sculpting palette during a workshop with their makeup artists and the person who took care of me was really professional, really considered my needs and explained to me how to do a very light and natural contouring (which is probably the only kind of contouring I can bear). And also, they gave me these palettes. bigsmile
OK more seriously, I was quite curious about by this palette before MUFE introduced me to it because all the reviews I read were saying how super easy it was and provides a very natural result.
Basically, a professional contouring palette for contouring newbies (aka me).
Could the Make Up For Ever Pro Sculpting Palette be a pass to the wonderful world of contouring and make me change my mind about this technique? wink
Make Up For Ever Pro Sculpting Palette, presentation:
What the brand says about it:
“Pro Sculpting Palette features everything you need to contour and transform your face.
You can easily highlight, contour, shimmer and color, for a perfectly sculpted look.
These long-lasting, ultra-blendable shades create a flawless, even finish and effortless contour.
Included are Pro step-by-step guidelines so you can sculpt like an expert.”
This is a 4-in-1 contouring palette that will help you to sculpt and transform your face shape in a super easy and natural way with the 4 cream shades it contains (3 matte and iridescent 1):
– the first one, Highlight, is a light matte shade that you are supposes to apply to the areas you want to highlight (usually under the eyes and the center of the face)
– the second one, Contour, a matte dark shade, allows you to sculpt and define the face contours,
– the third one, Shimmer, is obviously shimmery and gives radiance and glow to the face,
– and the fourth one, Color, is supposed to be applied on the apple of the cheeks, as a blush.
The airy light texture of these cream shades really allows a super easy application. With this type of texture, you can really blend them so easily and obtain a super natural result.
There are 4 versions of the palette, one for every skin tones:
– Pro Sculpting Palette #20 Light for fair skin tones,
– Pro Sculpting Palette #30 Medium for medium skin tones (duh),
– Pro Sculpting Palette #40 Tan for olive to golden skin tones,
– Pro Sculpting Palette #50 Dark for darker skin tones.
Make Up For Ever Pro Sculpting Palette, my test and thoughts:
– Packaging:
This is a transparent plastic case, like most of the professional MUFE palettes. Simple, robust and easy to carry for a makeup artist kit but also for non-pros. Practical and easy to store, I like it!
– Texture and Finish:
The texture is creamy so before touching them, I was afraid that it was like an old-school kind of make-up, super greasy and thick. But MUFE is a leading brand in the professional makeup market so they know how to innovate with their textures! Here, it’s a creamy texture but very light, very airy and it doesn’t leave a greasy residue on the skin, not at all. It almost feels like a cream powder kind of texture. I have oily skin, so I still need to set them with a loose powder but for a drier skin type, I’m not sure you would even need to do that.
The finishes of these shades are 3 mats (Highlight, Contour and Color) and one shimmery (Shimmer).
– Color Range:
It’s quite complete because there are 4 different versions from the lightest to the darkest. MUFE gave me the Light and the Medium to try and the Light is the best match.
Maybe if I get a tan this summer, the Medium could work too. (but, let’s be real here, it’s highly unlikely: I’m not crazy enough to sunbathe in Dubai during the summer lol)
On the first picture (on the left), we have the #20 palette and on the second one (on the right) it’s the #30.
To be honest, I don’t use every shade in the palette. I’m not a fan of matte highlighters in general, I prefer to use a traditional concealer because I find the effect of a matte highlighter very visible and less natural.
However, I absolutely love the Contour shade, it looks very natural on my skin. It’s a cool tone contour shade, which works very well with my skin tone (I’m a MAC NC20-25 ).
The Shimmer one is gorgeous: very luminous and glowy but still very natural on the skin.
The Color shade (the blush) is not my favorite. When I applied it on my skin, it was a little bit too orange for my taste, I would have preferred a slightly pinkish color or a nude.
– Application:
Incredibly simple! If you want to keep things as simple as possible, it works great with your finger tips but what I personally prefer is to apply it with a Beauty Blender. Of course, it also works perfectly with a makeup brush (especially a synthetic one), but it’s just so much easier with the 2 other options! smile
And if you don’t know how to make the best contouring according to your face shape, MUFE has planned everything and provides a leaflet with your palette. This brochure, which is a sort of mini contouring guide, explains where to place the makeup depending on your face shape, to enhance your features. I found this little guide really well done and super easy to use.
– Pigmentation:
All the shades have a very good pigmentation and are very easy to blend for a buildable effect: very natural and more intense, as you prefer.
– Lasting Power:
The cream texture made me fear the worst but because it’s a fairly light texture, it doesn’t move during the day. Generally, I apply the sades of this palette after I apply my foundation and my concealer and I apply my powder on top of it to set everything.
It’s easier to apply first every creamy product, and then apply the powder products. Doing that, the textures glide better on the skin and are not blotchy. Having said that, I also tried to apply the blush and the shimmery highlighter on my skin after I applied my powder and it still works fine (it doesn’t make the products I applied below move).
– Value For Money:
The only thing I’m not really sure about is the price. $45, I think it’s a bit pricey.
But I guess it’s because I never buy contouring palettes because when I compare to the price of the other brands, it’s more or less the same thing… But still, the MUFE pans in this palette are not very big, don’t you think? uneasy
Finally, here are the swatches:
And on me:
It’s still a struggling to take a good photo of this kind of product, I hope you will be able to see something. But I didn’t really want to do a super heavy contouring in the style of the people you see on Instagram because it’s not really something I would do in real life! wink
In summary:
[wprs-pros][wprs-cons]
So clearly, contouring will never become an essential step in my makeup routine but for the days I want something more sophisticated, the Make Up For Ever Pro Sculpting Palette allows me to sculpt my cheekbones super quickly and easily.
So if contouring tempts you, but you are a little scared to start, this palette seems ideal for beginners! smile
It’s available on Sephora.com for $45.
And you, are you a contouring fan? An have you tried the Make Up For Ever Pro Sculpting Palette?
Photo credit: bonnie-garner.com
*: the Make Up For Ever Pro Sculpting palettes in the shades #20 and #30 were offered to me by the brand to do a review on the blog.