It’s time for the showdown of the blush palettes I bought and wore this summer! Which one is better? Here’s the NARS Unfiltered I and BECCA x Chrissy Teigen comparison vs. essence 01 … & my crazy family face palette.I’ve had fun with both palettes throughout the season (just recently got the essence face palette), and I feel like I will use them longer throughout fall and winter. Plus, there’re still available for grabs at NARS or Sephora, so why not? But let’s see how the different palettes compare and if you need them both (or even all three).

NARS Unfiltered I Cheek Palette, Becca x Chrissy Teigen Glow Face Palette, essence 01 ... & my crazy family face palette
NARS Unfiltered I Cheek Palette, Becca x Chrissy Teigen Glow Face Palette, essence 01 … & my crazy family face palette

NARS Unfiltered I Cheek Palette

This was the first cheek palette I got this year, and to be honest I was thinking that I’m not going to buy another palette after this (not true). Nevertheless, it’s really one gorgeous palette perfect for warm skintones. It’s limited edition though (NARS online) (Sephora) and one of the shades (Exhibit A, the bright red one) is permanent and available as a single.

NARS Unfiltered I Cheek Palette
NARS Unfiltered I Cheek Palette

Packaging

This is the perfect travel palette for me: It’s not too big and bulky, it fits easily into my makeup bag and it feels very sturdy and well-made. It also has a huge mirror, which is great – you can easily do your whole face while using this mirror. I also don’t like to bring individual shades of blush, eyeshadows, whatever when I’m travelling, so this is a great opportunity to still have several choices and combinations in one palette.

Versatility

This is a great, super versatile blush palette if you’ve got a warm skintone. If you’ve got medium skin or darker, you’ll miss a bronzer shade, though – the shimmery brown Takeover is too light to use as a bronzer for my NC42ish skintone. Unfiltered I sports a mix of various colours and highlighters from pink to plum to red that you can layer with the highlighters or each other as well, making it really one palette for every occasion. Exhibit A totally rocks my socks, though – it’s an awesome red that’s super pigmented. Don’t be scared of it, though – it can be toned down with one of the highlighters and also be sheered out.

Color Payoff

NARS Unfiltered I Swatch
NARS Unfiltered I Swatch: (L-R) I -Watch Me, II – Me First, III – Takeover, IV – Out There, V – Chic, VI – Exhibit A

Very good colour payoff, as usual and like I expect from NARS, especially for Chic & Exhibit A. There’s not one dud in the palette, all shades are pigmented, smooth and blendable.

Price

You’ll get six different shades, in total 0.72 oz./21g for $59.00/45€. That’s a very generous amount of product, especially as a regular NARS blush is 0.16 oz/ 4.8 g for $30/32€.

Final Verdict

NARS Unfiltered I Look
NARS Unfiltered I Look

It’s a good palette for warm skintones: It’s pricepoint is excellent, quality is great and if you’re warm-toned and enjoy plum, pink and red blushes, you’ll love this.

Becca x Chrissy Teigen Glow Face Palette

I got it at Sephora Germany, when I swatched it in store. It’s a lovely palette – I mean, look at it! It ticks all the boxes: pretty packaging, and an array of great colours. Chrissy Teigen, who designed the palette, and I actually share the same skintone, so I already felt a connection with her (and the palette). It already featured in my favourite beauty products in this post.

Becca x Chrissy Teigen Glow Face Palette
Becca x Chrissy Teigen Glow Face Palette

Packaging

The case difinitely has a very cute design that looks like pink marble. It’s also very sturdy with an even bigger mirror than the NARS Unfiltered I. BUT it’s really too big to carry around. I can’t really fit it in my makeup bag for travelling, which is sad, because it must’ve been designed for that with bronzer/blush/highlighter combo? Also, it’s heavy (must be the metal casing that houses the pans). It has a very luxe feeling to it, I’ll give it that.

Versatility

There’re not too many color combos you can do with this. But if a warm summer glow is what you want (and I mean, a summer glow goes with everything), this is basically the only thing you’d need. Less color choice is also less confusion, and less time to laboriously think about which color you might want to wear. So, in the end, it’s really okay, especially since this is perfect for all the makeup looks I want to wear in summer anyways. Plus the shimmer in the shades… it’s a summer glow win for sure!

Color Payoff

Becca x Chrissy Teigen Glow Face Palette Swatch (L-R): Shimmering Skin Perfector™ Pressed in Rose Gold (subtle gold with rose), Luminous Blush in Hibiscus Bloom (golden-pink coral), Sunlit Bronzer in Malibu Soleil (medium amber), Shimmering Skin Perfector™ Pressed in Beach Nectar (juicy apricot with gold)
Becca x Chrissy Teigen Glow Face Palette Swatch (L-R): Shimmering Skin Perfector™ Pressed in Rose Gold (subtle gold with rose), Luminous Blush in Hibiscus Bloom (golden-pink coral), Sunlit Bronzer in Malibu Soleil (medium amber), Shimmering Skin Perfector™ Pressed in Beach Nectar (juicy apricot with gold)

The shades are incredibly easy to apply and blend. The texture (especially the shimmers) are incredibly smooth and easy to blend. It’s not going to be a glitter bomb. So yes, like in other cases, the texture of Becca is smoother, softer than NARS.

Price

You’ll get 9,9g/0,35oz. for 45€/$46 (it’s limited edition as well, but right now easily available at both Sephora Germany and Sephora US). You’ll get a lot more bang for your buck with the NARS Unfiltered I.

Final Verdict

becca x chrissy teigen palette review
Wearing the shades of the Becca x Chrissy Teigen Palette – look at the glow!

I enjoy this palette a lot! I know NARS Unfiltered I gives you more choices, isn’t limited to a summer look and easier to carry around with you. BUT, Becca x Chrissy Teigen Glow Face Palette color palette is such an easy combo for that summery-bronze glow! Even for the limited combination it offers, I find myself reaching out for this palette more than then NARS one.

essence & the lovely little things face palette 01 … & my crazy family

I just couldn’t resist the cute packaging when I saw this palette in store. I mean, cats AND a representation of diversity at the same time?! Who could resist that?!

essence blush palette
essence …& my crazy family palette.

Packaging

I actually wouldn’t hesitate to bring this palette on a vacation, because it’s both lightweight but not too flimsy. Also, for the pricepoint you wouldn’t be heartbroken if something would happen to it. It’s also cute, and the pans double as background for the skin colour of the girls on the cover. Diversity for the win! (And, I mean, from a German drugstore brand?! That’s something new!)

Versatility

I’ll just get it out now – on my face, the shades are actually very similar to the Becca Glow Face Palette. Basically, it has coral-pinky blush shades, a rosy (and silvery) highlighter, and two shades that can do double-duty as bronzer or contouring shade. Like with the Glow Face Palette, there actually aren’t that many colour combinations you can actually come up with (especially because, although there’re six different shades, the blush, highlighting and bronzer/contour powders all look a little bit same-y once applied to the face).

Color Payoff

essence and my crazy family review
essence … and my crazy family face palette swatches

Unastonishingly, the color payoff isn’t all that. You really have to pack it on to see a good result, but thankfully, the shades don’t get patchy, dusty or chalky when layered.

Price

Of course, you can’t beat 5,95€. Essence doesn’t say how much product is in the palette, but come on. A close Becca dupe for 6€?! It’s limited edition as well and I think you’ll have to hunt for it if you want it!

Final Verdict

essence and my crazy family swatches, look
Wearing a lot of shades from the essence … and my crazy family palette.

Of course, the pricepoint is great, it’s a cute palette that’s great for travelling AND a close enough dupe to the Becca x Chrissy Teigen Glow Face Palette. But my skin reacted to some ingredient in it and I ended up with some bumps on my face that vanished when I didn’t wear it. So maybe err on the side of caution if your skin is sensitive? Essence also has all the ingredients on their page, so better check that first. If your skin reacts ok with it though, definitely a great palette to bring around for a music festival ;).