Make Up For Ever - 15 Artist Shadow Palette (Holiday 2015)

If you've been following my blog or Instagram for any amount of time you probably already know what a huge fan I am of the Make Up For Ever Artist Shadow formula. These are a permanent formula which is available at Sephora and the full range includes over 250 shades! 

The holiday release for this year is a compilation palette of some shades which are organized into trios to create looks from. The trios are positioned in rows. The cost of this palette at Sephora is $58 and I think it's well worth the money even if you're only thinking about getting one palette this holiday season.

Personally I'm a big fan of the color selection, the only improvement I can conceive of is the addition of either a true pink or a light violet shade. The color selection is varied and contains neutrals as well as pops of color, and even some deeper unique shades (D-830, S-228)

Here is the back of the palette which shows the exact shades (this is useful to see if you have any of the singles and are worries about repeats). I also own the Make Up For Ever Artist Shadow Palette 2 which contains vibrant colors and was released in Spring 2015 and there don't appear to be any duplicates. 

Swatches of the palette can be seen above. On the left are the most neutral shades with the more vibrant shades on the right. I love the rightmost shade as a highlighter, of course it appears much more blendable when applied with a brush! 

If you aren't familiar with the formula of these shadows, they are somewhat cool and gel-like to the touch but they blend like a smooth, creamy powder and immediately blend out like a finely milled powder. In my opinion, although many companies have tried to create this sort of eyeshadow, Make Up For Ever is the most successful! 

I love this palette and I received it as a gift but I was already sure I wanted it! ❤️

Upcoming Holiday 2015 Product Preview - Standouts!

Kat Von D - Mi Vida Loca Remix Palette - Sephora Exclusive ($59) available now

For me, this is the most exciting release of the whole year. Not for the faint of heart but definitely a hardcore makeup junkie's dream.

Arranged like a color wheel, this beautiful palette and accompanying sleeve are truly the work of a talented artist. I'm inspired just looking at the photo and it helps you keep in color theory in mind when pairing colored eyeshadows. For me this palette is an absolute must-have and I'm ordering it for myself! Kat Von D and Sephora have outdone themselves this time, especially during the holidays when almost every other company plays it safe with color selection.

With 17 vivid bright eyeshadow shades and 7 nudes & neutrals, you get 24 full-sized eyeshadow pans so this is a whopper of a palette. It's a great bang for your buck at just $2.46/eyeshadow. The quality has been reported thus far to be buttery-smooth with great color payoff.

Lorac - Mega Pro 2 - Ulta Exclusive ($59) available mid-October

Since last year, the world has been anticipating another Mega Pro Palette from Lorac and they did not disappoint. This year's Ulta exclusive palette promises to be in larger quantities than last so hopefully more makeup lovers can get their hands on it. Buyer beware, once these sell out, they're gone!

This year's Lorac Mega Pro 2 Palette boasts some cooler shadow selections than last year and is arranged in a similar fashion with 16 eyeshadows being matte (the top half of the palette) and 16 eyeshadows being satin or shimmery (the bottom half of the palette). The pan size has gotten significantly smaller than last year but it is not noticeable in the packaging (last year's contained 0.62 oz vs this year's 0.45 oz of product).

Like last year's palette and most Lorac Pro products, the shadows kick up a lot of powder and it is advised that you tap off your brush before applying the color directly to your eyes to avoid significant fallout. With that being said, Lorac eyeshadows are notoriously some of the best blending shades on the market so if you're a fan, it's definitely worth the money!

Too Faced - Le Grand Palais - Sephora Exclusive ($58) available now

This year's Too Faced palette contains 3 highlighting eyeshadow shades, 15 eyeshadows, 2 blushes (Stardust and Skyline), a Flush highlighter and a Sun Bunny bronzer. As extra goodies, Too Faced also included a deluxe-sized Melted Peony liquid lipstick, a deluxe mini Better Than Sex Mascara, and a deluxe sized Shadow Insurance eyeshadow primer.

This set is a good value (the website claims it is a $378 value) but if you were to choose the products yourself you probably would not have come up with this exact configuration, so take those values with a grain of salt!

Preliminary reviews of this palette have claimed that there are some very chunky glittery shades prone to fallout and the eyeshadow formulation is not as good as is usually typical of Too Faced powders. Most, if not all, of the colors, are fairly easily dupe-able and even seem repeated in Too Faced's own holiday palettes - since I have the one from last year, I'll be skipping it this year.

Too Faced X Vegas Nay - Stardust Palette - $45 - Ulta Exclusive, Now Available 

 My holiday purchase choice from Too Faced for this year was the Too Faced X Vegas Nay Stardust Eyeshadow Palette.

This kit comes with 12 eyeshadows (with phenomenal formulation across the board, I have not been disappointed by these) in slim travel and vanity friendly packaging, Nude Glamour Dust sample, deluxe mini Better Than Sex mascara, deluxe mini Shadow Insurance eyeshadow primer.

There is a good but wearable variety of color in this palette and I was drawn to it because of the inclusion of mauve/violet shades and burgundies which are a little harder to come across in palettes of this size. This is overall a warm-toned palette lovers dream and I highly recommend it - the quality seems far superior to other Too Faced Holiday 2015 releases.

Tarte - Bling It On Amazonian Clay Blush Palette - $44 - Sephora Exclusive, Now Available

For the third year in a row, Tarte has come out with an Amazonian Clay Blush Palette which is available at Sephora.

If these colors appeal to you, it is a great value considering each Amazonian Clay Blush single costs $28 at 0.2oz of product and each blush in this palette is 3/4 of that size at 0.15oz but you get 5 of them!!! You're only paying $8.80 per blush shade even though you get 75% of product in each blush. I don't know about you but I've never finished an entire blush shade so these would last me literally forever. I may cave and get this palette this year because the colors are beautiful and the packaging is slim (that's really what held me back last year).

The colors of blushes included are: Fetching, Dollface (light pink), Prim, Smashing, Beaming 

Eyes of the Day with MUFE Artist Palette

I created this look and I wanted to show you that you can use the pink (blended in the crease) and purple (under the lower lash line) shades from the Artist Palette Vol 2 by Make Up For Ever to create a dreamy eye look.

This look is soft and romantic - I actually paired it with a floral dress which was mostly cream and peach toned. I also did not find the colors to be irritating to my eyes and they did not stain. I used a Wet n Wild Makeup Remover Wipe and everything came off in a few gentle swipes. 

As a highlight I used the first frosty pink shade (left most swatch) and all over the lid I used the cool beige tone (right most swatch).

I finished off the look with the Physicians Formula 2 in 1 eyeliner and Rimmel Scandaleyes Mascara.

Check out my review of the Make Up Forever Artist Palette Vol. 2 here.

Make Up For Ever Artist Palette (Volume 2) Review & Swatches!!

Make Up For Ever Artist Palette (Volume 2) - Packaging

First and foremost a disclaimer that I have not tried any of the individual Make Up For Ever (MUFE) Artist Eyeshadows before this review so it will also include my first impressions on the overall formula. 

This new palette from MUFE immediately caught my attention because of the bold colors inside and the beautiful artistic packaging. I have to add that even though the palette itself is made of a very finely constructed cardboard - it feels even more substantial than new Z-Palettes I purchased a few days ago. The price is $42, which is a steal considering each palette is 9 eyeshadows which are each 0.06g and the singles retail for $22 each for 0.08g of product (only a quarter of the quantity more per color). You can essentially buy this palette for less than the price of 2 Artist Shadow singles. 

This palette is Limited Edition and Sephora-exclusive so get it while you can if you're interested! It is available both online and in stores.

Make Up For Ever Artist Palette (Volume 2) - Colors

The texture of the eyeshadows is described as a gel-powder formula blended with ultrafine pigments. The eyeshadows in general are all extremely smooth and creamy. 

They feel a little bit like the L'Oreal Infallible Eyeshadows when they are pressed and packed really tightly in their container but they do not crumble the same way. The powder is very finely milled and each finish 

The shadows do not pop out of the palette since I know this is a feature MUFE has included in past, bulkier palettes - this palette fits in my hand.

Make Up For Ever Artist Palette (Volume 2) - Color Names & Close-Up

I made a quick chart to show you which color each name corresponds to. Each name is indicative of a specific finish since these shadows have a wide variety of finishes in the complete line:

I = Iridescent
M = Matte - there are no Matte shades in the palette
ME = Metal
S = Satin
D = Diamond

This palette even includes a little look book which orders the shades in columns from left to right, with the looks called "Playful", "Bold" and "Sultry" respectively with step-by-step instructions to achieve the look.

Playful Look: I-872 Pearly Pink, ME-910 Electric Magenta, S-924 Purple
Bold Look: D-552 Crystalline Gray Beige, ME-232 Turquoise Blue, ME-302 Peacock
Sultry Look: ME-512 Golden Beige, ME-700 Amber, ME-930 Black Purple

Make Up For Ever Artist Palette (Volume 2) - Trio Swatches

My swatches revealed that the pigments travel quite far - which means that the shadows are strongly pigmented. The shadows are smooth and creamy, after wearing them I find that you can achieve better color pick-up using a more dense, coarse brush than a soft and fluffy one or alternatively the best way I found was to use my fingers and swipe the color where desired.

I also had some trouble when I was wiping off the pink and purple shades, it took quite a bit of scrubbing to get the staining off - an important note is that these two shades are considered "blush" and not designated eyeshadows. Obviously you can use these shades at your own discretion but they may be harder to remove on the sensitive skin of your eyes and usually red pigments are not approved for the eye area by the FDA. To avoid any problems I suggest just wearing them in the crease or as a blush and avoiding the lash line or eyelid area.

All of the colors are impressively pigmented, with the best performers being I-872 (Pearly Pink), D-552 (Crystalline Gray Beige), ME-302 (Peacock), ME-700 (Amber) and ME-930 (Black Purple). I was least impressed with ME-910 (Electric Magenta) and S-924 (Purple) as they were chalkier and even skipped on the skin a little at the bottom of my swatch (this could be remedied by blending though).

Make Up For Ever Artist Palette (Volume 2) - From Left to Right Highlight Comparison: I-872, D-552, ME-512 

For a close-up look at the highlight shades (or the lightest color in each trio) I swatched I-872 (Pearly Pink), D-552 (Crystalline Gray Beige), and ME-512 (Golden Beige).

I-872 on the left is an icy pink tone, followed by D-552 which is a cool-toned beige and then ME-512 is a light warm golden tone.

As soon as I get a chance, I will create some looks with this palette and post them for reference!

Have a great Memorial Day weekend, everybody! Let me know what your thoughts on this palette are.

Urban Decay Vice LTD Palette: In Depth Review & Swatches

I picked up the Vice LTD palette from Urban Decay awhile back but I didn't think I would keep it until I saw the fabulous reviews from other bloggers. So I decided to take the plunge and review it for you guys even though there was some insane controversy over the release of this product. 

Urban Decay says this is an extremely limited palette and I do not own any of the previous VICE palettes so this one looked like it would be my favorite curation of colors (the neon packaging helped, too).

The Urban Decay Vice LTD palette retails for $58 at ULTA only and contains 20 shades of eyeshadows, of which 9 are exclusively in this palette. 11 other shadows can be found in other palettes, so I'm listing them all below for you:

Crystal (Book of Shadows IV), Junkshow (15th Anniversary Palette), Backdoor (Smoked Palette), Deeper (15th Anniversary Palette), Nameless (Shattered Palette), Vaporize (Anarchy palette - reformulated) and Perversion (Book of Shadows II), Freakshow (Fun Palette), Blitz (VICE Palette), Last Sin (VICE 3 Palette), Anonymous (VICE Palette)

I'm lucky that I don't have that many duplicates, I only have the Book of Shadows and I didn't bother buying UD smaller palettes or the other VICE's, but if you have been collecting, you're definitely going to have repeats.

Inside some typical psychadelic cardboard packaging you will find this hard-plastic neon-green case with a push-button. This palette is great because you press the button gently and the top raises up on its own, which means you don't have to pry at it with your fingernails to get it open or worry about magnets not sticking closed during travel.

I love the bejeweled "UD" decal on the front, it adds some glitzy feeling to the otherwise Nickelodeon slime green color selection (I'm not even knocking it, I love it!).

Upon opening the palette, an over-sized mirror greets you, which is upright and ready for makeup application (perfect for on-the-go if you don't mind lugging this rather large and bulky palette around).

There's a nice variety of candy-colored shades in here, ranging from hot fuchsia, muted neutrals, to pops of glittery and metallic orange, yellow, golds, and some gem-toned shades such as sapphire and emerald.

If you're a fan of mattes, this palette is not for you. Urban Decay does a lot of things right, but mattes are rarely among those - there are only 4 matte shades: Backdoor (cool dark brown), Perversion (soft black), Anonymous (peachy cream) and Laced (soft pink-nude taupe).

The mattes, especially the darker shades, are rather patchy and more difficult to blend than the satins, metallics, shimmers and glitters. If you love glitz and pops of color in your eye looks, you will love the VICE LTD palette.

There is also an exclusive double-ended brush in this palette but it's smaller than others I have received in my Naked 2 and Naked 3 palettes. There's an all-over shadow brush (right side) and a crease brush (left side). 

The bristles are a tad stiff on the all-over shadow brush but it has a nice density. The blending brush seems to have a rather small point so I don't think it would be too useful for creating a blown-out effect, but rather applying more concentrated color to the crease.

I didn't find myself reaching for this brush because it was a little bit small for the purposes I would use it for.

As you can see from my swatches above (if you want to see the photos larger, click to enlarge), there is good news and there is bad news.

The poorest performing shades were definitely Backdoor (patchy and dry), Perversion (just not black enough, patchy - has to be layered a lot), Junkshow (powdery, needs building up for full opacity), and Laced (dry, hard to get any color payoff from this one).

The good news is great, out of the entire palette I was only disappointed by 4 shades. Roadstripe is sheer but has a beautiful duo-chrome pink to blue shift, so it makes a wonderful highlight. Crystal and Provocateur are to die for light blue and mauve shades with plenty of shimmer that will make any eye look pop. Deeper, Heat and Vaporize are buttery smooth to-die-for shades that will enhance any look. 

Goddess and Floss were okay, but that might be just because I'm not a huge fan of chunky glitter fallout - I suspect these are great over a black base and Floss is definitely superior to Goddess in consistency and shadow quality. Although Disco is also a glitter it seems to have the particles embedded in the formula better, making it easier to blend out. 

Any shade I didn't particularly mention performs as I expect from the Urban Decay brand (since reformulation of their eyeshadows) - can blend easily, has a smooth consistency and good color payoff.

For my look, I used the following colors and created a look exclusively from the Urban Decay VICE LTD palette:

• Crystal - all over the eyelid
• Anonymous - brow-bone highlight shade, underneath eyebrow
• Laced - as a transition shade in the crease
• Deeper - to define the crease
• Blitz - inner under-eye corner
• Hoodoo - outer under-eye

Verdict

This palette is worth your time if you're an avid Urban Decay collector or you don't own too many palettes from them (to avoid repeat shades). I do appreciate that all of the shadows are their new pigment-infused formulation so you're getting tons of color payoff with most shades. 

If you like fun shades and like to experiment with color, this palette is definitely for you (specifically if you didn't purchase an Electric Palette). 

For the bold, adventurous and wild at heart, I give it two thumbs up and a very respectable score of 9/10.

Pastel Eyes of the Day Featuring Essence Cosmetics

Recent purchases from Essence Cosmetics have persuaded me to do a one-brand Eyes of the Day look with Essence products. I created this fairy-esque Candy look, just in time for Hallowe'en, using some palettes and Essence eyeliner. It is my experience that the products I used wore all day without any noticeable fading until the 8-9 hour mark.

In my crease, I used the very pigmented orange blush shade called Peach Babe from the Essence "How To Make Your Face Wow" Palette.

On the lid, I applied the violet/purple shade from the Essence All About Candies Eyeshadow Palette.

The jet black eyeliner I used was the Essence Eyeliner Pen in 01 Black

Under the black eyeliner I applied the Essence Effect Eyeliner Pencil in Steel Smurf (intense aqua blue)

The mascara used is the Jordana Best Lash Extreme Mascara in Black

I think this look is quite appropriate for the weekend, a regular day (assuming you don't work anywhere very formal), and even a Hallowe'en girly look (maybe even Easter!).

Essence Cosmetics - All About Candies & All About Nude Eyeshadows (Review & Swatches)

Continuing on with my Essence haul, I'll share with you the All About Candies Eyeshadow palette, which is a collection of soft pastels, creamy to the touch and featuring a rainbow assortment of shades.

 I also picked up the All About Nude Eyeshadow palette which is a nice dupe for the Wet N Wild Melrose at Night palette that was a very coveted Fall 2014 Limited Edition product (you can see my post about that collection here).

Essence All About Candies Eyeshadows

Essence All About Candies Eyeshadows - Swatches (no primer)

The All About Candies Eyeshadow Palette swatches very beautifully, except the peach, pink and purple shade seem to swatch exactly the same. I'm most impressed with the yellow, blue and green shades, which are very unique and really do wear well over primer for 6-8 hours without fading. These palettes are only $4.99 so I wasn't expecting anything amazing out of the shadows, but I was very pleasantly surprised! I wouldn't recommend this palette if you're looking for 6 unique pastels, but you will receive 4 different identifiable shades, in my opinion. 

Essence All About Nude Eyeshadows

Essence All About Nude Eyeshadows - Swatches (no primer)

The All About Nude Eyeshadow Palette was extremely impressive, out of the whole bunch I only found one dud, and that is the 2nd shade in the top row - this color is poorly pigmented (probably due to its matte nature) and basically just won't show up on my skin at all. The shimmers are all very distinct colors, I especially love the dupe for MAC's Sketch which is the final swatch and the rightmost shadow in the bottom row of the palette. This palette can give you either a romantic look or a vampy look, depending on which colors you apply and the level of intensity you apply them with.  I highly recommend this palette.

Overall, I think these palettes are very good quality, in terms of their value for the price. They are soft and buttery and easy to apply on the eye, as well as having good lasting power (especially if you use them over a primer). I think your happiness with these palettes is probably going to be related to the color selection - you will definitely enjoy these palettes if you wear the one you choose!

Product Review & Swatches: Cargo Shanghai Nights (Ulta Online Exclusive)

I'm so excited! I received my Cargo Shanghai Nights Palette from Ulta and I got a chance to take photos, do some swatches & create a look to show you! I was super drawn to this palette from when I first saw the promo photos of it because it has nice shades of gold, bronze, taupe, bright blue and purple! I think there's a great variety of colors to create a multitude of looks.

Now, I have to tell you the truth, I had never touched a Cargo eyeshadow before this, but I had a hunch they may be decent because they came highly regarded by Marlena from MakeupGeek during one of her videos. And let me tell you, I was absolutely BLOWN AWAY by the quality, they are similar to the Lorac eyeshadows, but they feel even more smooth, buttery and richly pigmented to me, I noticed very little powdering from the mattes (this is to be expected of all mattes, though).

The packaging of the Shanghai Nights palette is to die for! It has a nice weight to it, although it's made of reinforced cardboard and its covered by a plastic overlay, it feels sturdier than some plastic palettes I own. I would feel very confident traveling with it and knowing it won't break. You are receiving a nice amount of product for $39, it contains 12 eyeshadows, each at 0.03oz (or 0.8g) - for comparison, MAC eyeshadow singles are 0.05oz full size (or 1.5g). The price here is amazing, this palette retails for $39 regularly, but I picked it up during Ulta's 21 Days of Beauty Sale for $20!

The eyeshadows consist of a wide variety of brow-bone shades (Neon, Hu), crease/transition shades (Wai Tai, Bund, Jin Mao), pops of color (Lychee, Jade, Bar Rouge, Skyline) and shades with depth to them (Street Style, Night life). 

I noticed right away that there were 4 mattes (Wai Tai, Skyline, Bund and Hu), 5 metallic shades (Lychee, Jin Mao, Street Style, Ginger, Jade), 2 satin shades (Neon, Bar Rouge) and 1 glitter shade (Night Life).

So not only is there a great variety of shades that can be used for different purposes, but there are also many finishes in this versatile palette. All of the shades in this palette are limited edition.

Bonus! It even comes with a dual-ended eyeshadow/liner brush, which I used to complete my look today. This brush is versatile because one end can be used to pack on eyeshadow and the other end can be used for more precise application under your lower lash line and above your lash line as well. The bristles are flexible and soft.

These shadows were not applied over primer, they are very richly pigmented, the only one that wasn't as vibrant as I was expecting was Skyline which appears as a gem-tone blue in the pan but swatches more like a navy. I was extremely impressed with Wai Tai and Bund, they are very rich and smooth shades, especially for mattes, and they were very easy to blend out. Jin Mao and Lychee performed very well and true to the shades in the pan and Neon was a tad sheer, but very pleasant.

Night Life was much more pigmented than the black from the Everything Nice palette I reviewed last week, and I found during application that much of the glitter doesn't really stick to the eyeshadow itself and therefore won't show up much, if at all (I'm perfectly fine with this!). Bar Rouge is a stunner, I love this fuchsia reddish purple shade. Jade was also less its namesake and more of an army green with shimmer. Hu, Street Style and Ginger looked exactly the same when applied or swatched as they did in the pan.

Here's the look that I create today with the Cargo Shanghai Nights palette:

I used a whopping 8 shades in my look and I feel that it didn't turn out muddy at all and you can see precisely where I placed each shade, even though I did some major blending! The performance of this palette was spectacular and I highly recommend it. It has treated me better than many of my higher end palettes and I am very excited to start collecting Cargo's Limited Edition palettes.

Here's a guide to show you where I placed each shadow if you own the palette and want to try out this look!

Product Review & Comparison: Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Kit vs. City Color Contour Effects

Today, I bring you a comparison post between the Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Kit and 

City Color Contour Effects. I have seen loads of hype about these products and I really wanted to see if they were worth the hype.

Right away you can tell that the pan sizes of the City Color Contour Effects is larger than those in the Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Kit, but you are receiving 3 additional shades in the latter. The City Color Contour Effects only comes with one shade of highlighter whereas the Anastasia Contour Kit comes with three. The Anastasia Contour Kit has shades which can be popped in and out of the palette by the little finger-dip zone to the bottom right of each color. This is so handy since Anastasia Beverly Hills now sells refills and you can build your own palette if you want.

You can tell from my photo that I have gotten quite a lot of use out of this palette in just a few weeks of owning it. I have also made a concerted effort to use drugstore-quality contours and bronzers since this is a high-end option I don't want to have to repurchase refills for in merely a few months.

I mix Vanilla and Banana for the perfect lighting for my face (I do have to point out that my skin is more yellow than pink-toned, so this may be a contributing factor as to why this works so well for me). I use Sand as a pop of shimmer above my cheeks and on my cupid's bow as it does reflect the light beautifully. 

Fawn is the perfect contour transition shade. This works the same way on your face as a transition shade would above your eye crease - it blurs out and essentially makes your face look Photoshop-flawless as opposed to giving you a harsh bronzer or contour line. I use Java to warm up my skin-tone as a bronzer and as the contour shade on days I'm looking for less definition. If I want more distinct definition, I usually use Havana specifically for under my jawline and to lift my cheekbones.

You can see in the swatches that all of these shades are very pigmented and it really doesn't take a lot of layering to get the desired tone. The colors are also not so highly saturated with pigment that they are hard to work with - in my opinion, they are the perfect fine-milled face powders. It is very easy to achieve a "blown out" look with all of the shades and Fawn is an absolute holy grail since it is taupe-leaning and cool contour shades are rather difficult to come across.

The City Color Contour Effects palette consists of 3 shades: Contour, Bronze and Highlight, as well as a guide instructing how to use the shades. Each person's face is slightly different and may need definition in places another person's may not, so always use these guides at your discretion. Remember, you know your face best and makeup is all about having fun with creativity :)!

The texture of the powders is harder in this palette than in the Anastasia Contour Kit, but the shades are highly pigmented. They are so pigmented in fact that you have to be careful not to pick up too much of any shade on your brush. You can see that the Highlight is a stark white shade, Bronze is an orange-leaning bronzing shade, and Contour is a medium-dark brown.

When I apply these colors to my face, I have to use a light hand because it can get out of hand and I can start to look like an awful Kim Kardashian wannabe very quickly. Contour is too dark for my fair skin-tone, this may work better if you are of medium to dark complexion. I can only use this shade lightly underneath my jawbone (since that's probably the place least seen). I am more likely to use the Bronze in this kit as my contour, but since this orange-leaning, it is a little Oompa Loompa for my taste. Also, I applied the Highlight shade to highlight my nose, forehead and cheeks, when I went out during the daylight, even though I had blended the powder, it was a very bright white on my face. So again, this isn't a subtle palette, not for those who like natural contouring and highlight nor those who use their brushes more aggressively in powder.

Here is a comparison swatch line-up so you can see all of the colors side-by-side. You can see that Highlight is much lighter than Vanilla, Banana, and Sand (Vanilla and Sand are much more beige). You can also tell quite easily that Contour is the darkest shade in both palettes by at least 2-3 shades. Bronze is a more orange-toned version of Java. 

All things considered, I really do think you are better off purchasing the Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Kit, specifically if you are of a fair or light complexion. I really only see the City Color Contour Effects

working for medium to dark warm-toned complexions. Seeing as I have already purchased this, I will try to give it a whirl when I'm more tan.

Do you own either of these? What do you think?