The Truth About Ben Nye Lumiere Grande Colour Palette

TANGERINE

SUN YELLOW

SILVER

JADE

ICED GOLD

ICE

COSMIC VIOLET

COSMIC BLUE

CHARTREUSE

AZTEC GOLD

AZALEA

AMETHYST

While browsing Google Reader one day last week I came across Spankedelic's post about wanting to raise money for the new iPod. She was having a sale on some items so I took a gander. I have been eyeing the Urban Decay Baked Palette since the rumblings first began on the blogosphere but I figured I would try to create the look with items I already had, you know being mindful of money and all (NOT!). Well I did a little something with it but I still had a hankering for the real deal. I had gone to Sephora that weekend to pick it up and it was SOLD OUT! I was happy my pocket got a rest but sad that I missed out. Well what a pleasant surprise that Spankadelic not only had the palette up for grabs but at a fraction of the cost! Now yall know I love a deal so I just had to have it. In addition to the Get Baked Palette I also saw that she was selling the Ben Nye Lumiere Grande Colour Palette, again at a sale price. I promptly notified her of my interest and the rest is history.

Above you can see swatches from each of the shadows in the Ben Nye palette. As always the swatches are done with no mixing medium and no base (NC50 or darker now, all this sun we've been having) so you can get the real color payoff. Of course you know that the shadows over a base (white or black) will deliver a more vibrant color.
Palette closed

Palette open

This was my first time trying the Ben Nye pressed shadows. I happen to own 3 of the Lumiere Luxe Powders and 2 of them just so happen to be colors that are also in the palette so I decided to do a little comparison to see which gave a better result. Take a look for yourself to see what happened:

BEN NYE LUMIERE LUXE POWDER - SILVER

LEFT - SILVER SHADOW, RIGHT - SILVER POWDER

BEN NYE LUMIERE LUXE POWDER - AZALEA

LEFT AZALEA SHADOW, RIGHT AZALEA POWDER

As you can see the loose powders deliver quite the punch, eh? Especially that Azalea! I happen to love that color - I used it on my client Keyonna. I paid $9 each for those luxe powders and they last a LONG time. Compare that to the amount you get in other loose pigments that shall not be named and there really isn't a comparison. You definitely get more bang for your buck with Ben Nye.

I tried the Ben Nye Lumiere Grande Colour Palette and the truth is I don't mind it. I, however, don't think I will purchase any other Ben Nye Palettes, I happen to prefer the luxe powders for the price and the color you get, they are great! If you happen to want to purchase the palette from me let me know, if not, it will get used, don't worry. :-)