Rant & Rave: Cheek Palettes
Tell us what you love and hate about...
Cheek Palettes
I enjoy duos and trios, but if they are bigger,
then I find them overwhelming or that some shades won’t be used often.
— Christine
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Rave: when they are done right, and only have 2-3 shades, they can be very lovely and useful.
Rant: however, they are hard to do right. Too often, brands will release one cheek palette with a range of colors to suit several skin tones and way too many shades. This makes the majority of the palette unusable to one person. I much prefer when brands release multiple palettes to suit more than one skin tone. I also don’t really like palettes with bronzer because I rarely use bronzer and it’s hard to find one I like for my skin tone. I prefer some combo of blush and/or highlighter, and I like the colors to coordinate (i.e. similarly toned blushes of the same color so I can get a contoured affect using blush).
I agree with everything you said !!
Ditto to everything.
I prefer a smaller palette to a larger one full of shades I know I will never use when it comes to blushes (and highlighters, for that matter).
100% agree!
I agree with Christine. l love the look of cheek palettes and have purchased a few but overall I don’t care for them and for the same reasons Christine lists. I won’t use all the shades, they are frequently larger and more difficult to travel with and within palettes I have seen huge differences in performance of the shades which also leads to my only using a couple of shades. I have recently started picking up blushes from S. Korea and Japan and I am enjoying them a lot. I also have my Ciate Glow to Illuminate blushes and in both cases the packaging is great for travelling and the shades I purchase work well for me. So, not that interested in blush palettes anymore.
I don’t need cheek palettes – they are just too large and unwieldy for me to carry in my purse for touch ups during the day or after the gym. Invariably too they always contain some cool tones (good for me) and some peach, coral or other unflattering (for me) shades. But I’ve not even built my own cheek palette of 3 or 4 shades I like because it just is not how I wish to store or carry my blushes (and highlighters)
Exactly!
I agree, Christine, I either have a shade exactly the same as what is offered in a palette, or I just don’t use all of the shades, which is a waste of product and money, for me.
I love that there are so many choices! But I hate that its very hard to get a blush palette with EVERY color being a favorite
I prefer my blushes as singles, although I prefer my eye shadows in palettes. I think it’s because I love using several eye shadows in one look, but I can’t say the same for blush. One and done for cheeks!
Cheek palettes are my weaknes, especially the ambient lighting edits that hourglass puts out every year. I have a couple of them, and I know that their aesthetic values are probably somewhat larger than their usefulness.
While I do have 3, I’m in no hurry to buy many more. The ones I do have get decent usage, for the most part though. The UD x Basquiat Gallery Cheek Palette getting the most use due to the fact that it is a perfect all-in-one cheek quad. Those smaller quad or less palettes, when well curated like that, are wonderful to use!
As for larger palettes, they can get overwhelming. For instance; a palette full of *just* highlighters. Or *just* blushes.
Out of mine, the only palette that tends to get overlooked is the ABH x Nicole Guerriero, and that’s only recently.
I like them! If they’re good value compared to single pan blushes, I’ll definitely consider them even if there is a shade or two I’m a bit dubious about. I’ve found that I can make most colours work for me, even if I blend them out or soften/enhance them with other shades. I have favourites I wouldn’t have otherwise considered from some particular trios and quads.
The only rant I have is when they make the pans in thin, elongated strips that make it harder to pick up a single shade – give me decent sized round or square pans so I can get my swirl on! 😉
I like them too and only have one blush palette but the sizes are a nice square so is great. I don’t like though when they are so thin then I end up picking up on the other colors and they can get messy that way. I prefer a nice sized single color but the colors look so pretty against each other making them pop individually and whom can resist? 🙂
It’s weird because I prefer an eyeshadow palettes to singles but when it comes to cheek products, I’d rather they be singles. I do not mind a contour-blush-highlighter trio but typically it’s bronzer and not a contour color and I don’t use bronzer. I need a gray-undertone contour color to use as well, contour, and have only have successful shades in Asian brands (I’m Asian so that makes sense that they would nail my undertone correctly.) Bronzers are often too orange for me.
I would LOVE a trio blush palette with a warm pinky-peach blush, a light cool pink blush, and then a highlighter of some sort. I’ve been eyeing the MUFE customizable palettes but haven’t pulled the trigger.
I don’t like them. I have no problem buying eye shadow palettes even though I will not use all the colors. However, I don’t want to have a cheek palette where I will not use all the colors. It’s just a quirk of mine.
Other than custom palettes (e.g., MUFE), I find these are not for me as I’ve not yet seen one where I’d use all the colors.
Rant: In so many cheek palettes there are shades that you wouldn’t use, so it’s a waste of money
Rave: In the smaller duos/trios that are attuned to your colour they can be fantastic.
Raves: Because I’m very fair with neutral undertones, I can get away with most colors. I love having variety, and blush palettes are a good value. I really like them for traveling so I don’t have to corral and keep track of multiple singles. It’s nice when blush palettes include a highlighter. Tarte Pin-Up Girl and Blush Bazaar are my favorites.
Rants: I don’t find them useful when too many shades are unflattering, way too bright, or way too dark. If I can’t wear all the shades in a 3-5 pan palette, there’s no point in getting it. Ditto if one of the shades is a too dark and/or too orange bronzer.
The same pretty much goes for highlighter palettes, though I can use some darker highlighters for blush, so it really depends on the palette.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a cheek palette that I’d even use half of!
I think the only cheek palette I have ever really considered as a viable option for me is the new Natasha Denona palette in Darya. Every other palette contains bronzer and/or is entirely the wrong colors and finishes for my skin tone. I don’t see the value in buying a palette when I am only able to use one or if I’m lucky two shades and the rest sit there unused because they either don’t show up or look muddy/dirty/chalky on my skin. I wish brands would stop putting out a million palettes that are basically the same. Many (dare I say most) people aren’t flattered by super warm and muted or dusty rose/mauve/plums that dominate all palettes including cheek palettes in recent years.
To me, cheek palettes are often underwhelming. There’s not usually enough options available to make the purchase worthwhile. The blush range will inevitably include ubiquitous pinks/corals that I already have and little else. Or there’s be that one “trendy” product that everyone’s doing. As for highlighters, if you have one in a suitable undertone, you’re all set as far as i’m concerned.
I love them for collector’s reasons because I love hoarding them and they’re usually pretty (plus if they come with big mirrors I love that for travelling), but overall I don’t think I end up getting my money’s worth out of them.
I don’t think I’ve ever found a bronzer in a cheek palette that I like, as I’m very fair and most cheek palettes have midtoned bronzers. I usually like a couple of the blushes but not all of them are flattering on me, and with palettes with multiple highlights, I can usually make one or two highlights work and the rest look stripey. For shades in cheek palettes that are unworkable on my skin I try to use them as eyeshadows (the rose gold highlight in the becca x chrissy teigen palette is great for this!)
I like trying them all…I have a medium skin tone so most colors work on me. I really like the BH 10-pan palettes. But it’s rare that anything in a palette becomes and absolute fave.
As much as I love cheek palettes, I never grab for them!! I think I almost get overwhelmed by how many colors to choose from!