Sephora Tranquil (26) Colorful Contour Review, Photos, Swatches
Sephora Tranquil (26) Colorful Blush (Contour)
Sephora Tranquil (26) Colorful Blush (Contour) ($15.00 for 0.12 oz.) is described as a “contour.” It’s a muted, medium-dark taupe with very subtle warm undertones. Smashbox Contour (P, ) is lighter, warmer. NYX Taupe (P, $6.50) is warmer. Kat Von D Sombre (P, ) is lighter, warmer. Inglot #504 (P, $15.00) is lighter. NYX Taupe (P, $5.00) is lighter, brighter, warmer. Chanel Notorious (LE, $45.00) is more shimmery, darker. See comparison swatches / compare dupes side-by-side.
The Colorful Blush formula is supposed to be long-wearing, buildable, and have a lightweight texture. My experience with the formula has shown that they’re soft, lightly powdery at times (some are worse than others) with semi-sheer to semi-opaque color coverage that blends fairly well and lasts seven to eight hours. There is some variance between shades, but there are some gems in the range. The color of Tranquil makes it more unique, but the texture is very powdery, so it has a lot of excess product that gets all over the pan and may look powdery on drier skin types. It blended out decently, though I was surprised it didn’t blend out more readily given the texture. On me, the color lasted for seven hours before fading.
P.S. — You may be seeing some inconsistency in photo sizes in the next week or two, as we will be increasing the size of our images, but photos that were already processed earlier will be in the previous size. Thanks for understanding 🙂
Tranquil (26)
PPermanent. $14.00.
Sephora Tranquil (26) Colorful Blush (Contour)
Sephora Tranquil (26) Colorful Blush (Contour)
Sephora Tranquil (26) Colorful Blush (Contour)
Sephora Tranquil (26) Colorful Blush (Contour)
Sephora Tranquil (26) Colorful Blush (Contour)
Sephora Tranquil (26) Colorful Blush (Contour)
i’ve yet to crack open my tranquil but excited to try this out
Keep me posted on how you like it, Kisha!
Too bad the texture is mediocre, this is a perfect contouring shade because of its neutral tone!
I was SO bummed at the powderiness. I was like “YES! GRAY! NOOOOOOOOOOO!”
I had the same reaction. Glad you are looking out for us cool toned girls!
Is this meant to be a Chanel Notorious dupe, do you think? I thought at first maybe Dolce and Gabbana Tan as well- thoughts?
It’s one of the closer ones I’ve seen, but it is definitely not as cool-toned/gray!
Interesting! btw, that was my first comment ever on Temptalia…i’ve been following you for awhile and it’s a real pleasure to see what terrific work you do- well done!
Happy first comment!
Thank you, Julia 🙂
Even with all the shortcomings, I still need this, LOL! I have literally every “dupe” you posted, except Notorious, but this looks like it *may* be HG in color…
Let me know if it is the HG!
Phooey. I had high hopes for this one. Maybe it wouldn’t be too bad on my oily skin. Definitely one I’d have to try on in person before buying.
I agree — would recommend trying it in person if you can 🙂
I picked this one up when it came out to give it a whirl, see if I could recommend it to people looking for cheap contour powder. It’s only okay-ish. If you have nothing else, it could be worth it if you prefer setting a cream or liquid contour with contour powder instead of translucent powder. But for a similar color that’s more grayed out in tone/on the cooler shadow end of the spectrum I always recommend Pumpkin and Poppy’s Oak Bark powder. It’s loose but buildable enough to do a pure powder contour or to set a cream/liquid/etc contour. Definitely has more value to me and will still be my go-to for a classic shadow color powder. I found Tranquil to be passable, but it also read powdery on me like you. Regardless of whatever I had underneath (tried bare skin, my usual cream foundation, tinted moisturizer, and lightly primed at various times), it caked up a bit due to the powderiness. Not perfect but not terrible.
It’s a shame, though, because I feel like Sephora could totally nail the formula – I don’t know why it was such a miss 🙁 It was by far the most powdery of the ones I tried (and I think I have ten or so? of them).
I knew that there are many cool toned people who will be rejoicing, but man, this would make me look dead, dirty, or both.
lol!
A bit disappointed that it’s not better but as there are so few contour powders in this colour range (like the much sought after Chanel Notorious – why they didn’t make that permanent is beyond me), and the price is right, I just may purchase this once it arrives in-store near me.
Right? Figures it would be a bit of a miss. Hope you can check it out, nonetheless!
Can anyone give me advice on whether this would be a good contour colour?? I’m medium-dark, yellow undertones… I’m so confused as to whether to choose a warm or cool shade, and how dark to go!
It worked better than I expected on my coloring, which is warm but not strongly yellow-toned, but something like Chanel Notorious didn’t look good on my skin tone (to me at least). When in doubt, you can always grab a foundation shade 2-3 shades darker than you!
Besides the texture, this does look like a great contour shade; I’m surprised! I thought it would be too gray, but it looks lovely on you. I’ll have to see it in store before purchasing, just to make sure it’s worth $15. 🙂
I was surprised it worked with my skin tone, too, Kelly! When they get really gray, I find they don’t work for my coloring (well, not to my taste is more like it!), but I do prefer something more neutral/shadowy!
Hmm… Decisions decisions. I wish this performed better because I have been looking for a contour color like this…. Now with that rating, I’m not sure if I should bother with it…though it does look really great on you…
They are hard to find in this color – I know some indie brands have cooler contour shades, but for something you can easily buy and return from a mainstream brand or retailer, this is one of the few.
Strange as it seems, sometimes it’s worth at least trying some eyeshadows you might already have in your collection to see if they might actually work as a greyish contour shade – something like MAC Omega or even Wedge. If you’ve already got it, there’s no harm at least trying it (just don’t try it when you have to rush out the door to work!)
How does this compare to the Kevin Aucoin sculpting powder?
http://www.temptalia.com/submit-dupe?sbs=1&pid=189261&dupe=201573
This is such a great color, wish the texture was better. It looks fantastic on you! You made it work well, but I think I will get one of the dupes to play it easier.
I hope one of the dupes will work for you, GK!
It looks like dirt on the swatch LOL, but I think this color might work on me, as 99% of contours seem too warm for my skin, and I missed out on Chanel Notorious. I have some MAC cream bases that are the color of my skin, and I can try using them under this powdery contour to make it stick. That’s how I get powder blushes to stick on my Teflon cheeks. For $15, it’s worth a try, and if I don’t like, I can always return to Sephora. If it works, I’m going to have to stockpile this, as cool contours seem rarer than unicorns.
keep us posted on how it works, Katherine 🙂
Honestly, even with its shortcomings on texture I’m willing to give this a shot. Too good of a pale-skin contour color to pass up, just have to have a careful hand.
I totally hear ya, Mesa! It is a hard color to come by. Let us know!
What a shame this one didn’t turn out better for those who have been waiting for a cool-toned shade like this one! This would have been TOO cool or gray on my medium olive complexion though anyways, so I’ll gladly stick with Nyx Taupe.
So sad about the texture!
Christine, after you first Sneak Peeked this one, I bought it. I’ve used it multiple times since I received it. I am fair/light with neutral tones but prefer to go to cools. I agree the formulation is powdery but I found that by swirling my brush in the pan, tapping off the excess, and then applying, I get good buildable coverage that on me is neither drying, cakey, or too powdery looking that makes for a natural contour. Because of the shading I am finding for me it works best when I pair it with a “purple-er” blush like the UD Bittersweet; but I’ve used it with UD Rapture as well. I don’t think it works well with my other blushes (like UD Score or Lancome Cosmopolitan Pink). Btw, I love #7 on you! I used it yesterday topped with the opal lipgloss and liked the change-up.
Very nice! I’m glad you’re able to make it work. What’s your skin type?
I’ve tried so many contour products, most of them were too warm and I needed something with more grey in it…the powdery texture is a bit off-putting though I still might get one just to see if it does look less warm on me 🙂
You should try it if you can – the color is hard to replicate!
Whatta shame! Lots of us are switching our clicks from ‘loving’ on the swatch page, for sure. This was a super opportunity to compare/contrast the two Nyx taupes. In-Ulta, I thought the HD was fairly nice, but now I know the original, from Nyx website, is the better option for me. I only rue the missed opp to get Notorious. Last time i saw it on Ebay, it was well over $100 smackeroos. FTS. I hate a reasonably unique shade/idea with poor execution. This would have been a top seller for Sephora, but count me out.
It’s a real shame Chanel won’t bring back Notorious!
Such an unusual shade! I kind of had high hopes for it, what a shame.
Me too 🙁
Love it on you! Really contours naturally, even with a color like that! <3
Thank you, Shipra!
I was hoping it would be awesome, the colour is perfect and not too easy to find a similar one!
It is SO hard to find a gray like this!
I’m drawn to the color as it has a greyish cast, and most other contours are more the color of bronzers.
I hear ya!
I love the color. Maybe I’ll try it out at Sephora. I’d gladly pay an extra $10 – $15 for a better formula though 🙁
Worth trying!
How do you think it compares to Kevyn aucoin medium? Also have you seen the grey in the new Illamasqua palette? In the pucture it looks a bit warmer but I’m wondering if the grey in the new illamasqua palette might look a bit too much like straight up grey? Would love to hear what you think?
Love your website btw. It’s the only newsletter I read as soon as I see it in my inbox 🙂
Love Ebs.
Totally different from Medium! http://www.temptalia.com/submit-dupe?sbs=1&pid=189261&dupe=201573
Thank you 😀
You would have to be very careful about how you applied this product because you could easily end up looking like you haven’t washed your face in awhile…….
I think I will pass..
Definitely!
I picked this up when I was in the US last week- oh GOD I wish we had Sephora in the UK!- because I really wanted a taupey contour product, but couldn’t find my original choice (NYX Taupe). I tried this out in store (seriously, I love the fact that Sephora is covered in mirrors and applicators and remover, if I tried that in Boots or Superdrug I’d be laughed out the door!) and actually really liked it!
Happy to hear it is working for you, Hannah! Is yours powdery at all? Maybe it’s a bad batch that I bought!
Christine, I got Tranquil and mine is not powdery at all!! I even took a firmer brush with shorter hairs (Elf Angled Blush Brush), swiped it across the pan, and there was no powder kicked up, and the powder adhered well to the brush and cheekbones. I wear it over primer and foundation. The color mimics shadows, so it can look very natural, unless you put too much, then it looks like dirt. So there’s probably a QC issue, with some batches more powdery than others. Since this is only $15, and it’s so hard to find a cool gray-toned contour (a dupe for LE Chanel Notorious), I think it’s worth trying and if you get a bad one, just return to Sephora and get another one, since they are good about returns.
Thank you so much for sharing, Katherine! Makes me want to get another one, LOL!
You might want to, Xamyx says her Tranquil was not powdery at all, and neither was the store tester
i’ve been using MAC’s prolongwear eyeshadow in Fashion Fix for contouring,
you need the littlest bit and you get the shadow effect to perfection
Awesome!
Yesterday I tried and bought this. I wore it all day today. I’m happy to report that mine is not at all powdery. It’s really silky and blends very easily. The color is perfection for a contour on my very fair skin. It lasted all day (I wore it over primer and powder foundation). I’m very happy with it.
NICE! So happy to hear this.