NYX Highlight & Contour Pro Palette

[Purchased]

NYX Highlight and Contour Pro Palette (8 x 0.09 oz.) retails for $25 USD ($27 CAD) and contains four highlighting and four contouring powders in pearl and satin-matte finishes. It is said to be "a refillable highlight and contour palette to emphasize your favorite features."

* Ice Queen is described as a pearly pale white. [P]

* Soft Light is described as a matte nude. [P]

* Cream is described as a matte soft yellow. [P]

* Nectar is described as a pearly soft peach. [P]

* Tan is described as a matte soft brown w/ slight red undertones. [P]

* Toffee is described as a matte neutral brown. [P]

* Sculpt is described as a matte taupe. [P]

* Hollow is described as a matte deep brown. [P]

"Define your features like a pro with our refillable highlight and contour palette! Each set includes eight customizable highlighting and contouring shades perfect for emphasizing your favorite features. When it's time to swap out a pan or two you can replace them with the palette's Pro Singles."

The packaging is a plastic palette with a large transparent window to see the product. The palette does feel quite thin and fragile, so it may not be the best for travel. The individual powders themselves have no scent and can be popped out of the palette to swap or replace shades.

The singles can be purchased individually for $5 USD ($6 CAD) and come in an additional 4 shades—Bone (matte white), Soft Peach (matte nude peach), Sienna (matte light brown w/ slight pink undertones), Saddle (matte light brown w/ slight red undertones).

While I do appreciate the fact they've created additional shades, I wish you had the option to customize from the beginning with an empty palette and/or the palette came in different options (ie. a separate palette for Fair/Light and Medium/Dark). With that said, you could easily purchase the singles and use them on their own. Keep in mind, however, that the pans are not magnetized and they come housed in the plastic shell.

Ice Queen (Highlight) is a light white with cool undertones and a frosted finish. The texture was soft, smooth and had mostly opaque, buildable color payoff. The powder blended very easily on the skin, which made the finish controllable. I found applying too much product did emphasize the look of pores and imperfections on the skin. Ice Queen wore well for +8 hours before fading. (4/5)

Soft Light (Highlight) is a light off-white, beige with neutral undertones and a matte finish. The texture was soft, smooth and quite powdery, both in the pan and on the skin. It could be built and blended to a degree, but I felt the more my brush worked the product into the skin, the more it disappeared—and not in the good, blended type of way. Soft Light lasted +6.5 hours before fading. (4/5)

Cream (Highlight) is a light, yellow cream with warm undertones and a matte finish. The texture was soft, smooth, finely-milled and had great, buildable pigmentation. It was powdery in the pan which didn't translate onto the skin, but I felt the product sat on top, rather than blending in. Cream wore well for +7 hours before fading. (4/5)

Nectar (Highlight) is a light-medium peach with hints of yellow, warm undertones and a fine shimmer finish. The texture was soft, smooth and slightly powdery both in the pan and on the skin. The finish was a very fine shimmer that never emphasized pores or imperfections. Nectar lasted +7 hours before fading. (4/5)

Tan (Contour) is a medium-dark brown with slight hints of red, warm undertones and a satin-matte finish. The texture was soft, smooth and dense in the pan. It had good pigmentation that could be built to a degree. The firmer consistency made it a little tricky to pick up with a brush and blend evenly on the skin. Tan lasted +7.5 hours before fading. (4/5)

Toffee (Contour) is a medium-dark brown with slight hints of yellow, warm undertones and a satin finish. This shade had good, buildable pigmentation and a slight sheen once applied to the skin. The texture was soft, smooth without being firm or powdery. Toffee wore well for +7.5 hours before fading. (4/5)

Sculpt (Contour) is a medium-dark, muted brown with slight hints of grey, warm undertones and a satin-matte finish. The texture was soft, smooth and a tad powdery in the pan. It had nice pigmentation that blended easily and looked natural on the skin—it was the closest of the four contour shades to being matte. Sculpt lasted +8 hours before fading. (4/5)

Hollow (Contour) is a medium-dark brown with slight hints of red, warm undertones and a satin finish. The texture was soft, smooth but once again quite dense in the pan. It had nice color payoff and is also the darkest shade available. The firm consistency made it more difficult to blend out evenly, but the pigmentation could be sheered or built as needed. Hollow lasted +8 hours before fading. (4/5)

Overall, this is a nice, easy-to-use, affordable contour and highlight palette. It's definitely a cheaper alternative to the higher end ones you find at Sephora (they typically run anywhere between $45 - $55 each)! Despite the more powdery and firm textures that can be more time consuming to work with, the palette contains a nice variety of shades that can be mixed and matched to suit a wide range of skin tones—plus the refill feature is very appealing and convenient! So whether you're new to contouring and highlighting or you're just the kind of person who likes to try different sculpting palettes, this one is worth checking out next drugstore visit!

Available from NYX Cosmetics!