This looked chalky against my medium skin tone, so it is probably better mixed with one of the contours or for fairer skin tones than mine. The texture was soft and smooth but noticeably powdery. Soft Light is described as a “matte nude.” It’s a very light, white-beige that is fairly neutral in undertone paired with a matte finish. See comparison swatches / compare dupes side-by-side. LORAC Shimmer Highlight (P, ) is less shimmery. Cle de Peau Pastel (11) (P, $55.00) is less shimmery, darker. It just slightly emphasizes pores if I’m not careful or don’t buff it out enough. It had semi-opaque coverage that was buildable to fully opaque color if desired, though it’s likely a shade worn more diffused for most, so luckily, it blends out quite easily.

Ice Queen is described as a “pearly pale white.” It’s a very light, cool-toned white with a frosted finish. The highlight shades are soft and smooth but powdery. I had some trouble blending out the contour shades at times, and I had the best luck by applying with a more feathery brush to lay down the general outline of the contour, and then going back to darken as needed. The contours all had a semi-matte to satin finish, so none were totally matte, and they looked natural on the skin without looking too shimmery or too flat. I liked that two of the four highlighters had some shimmer to them, so for those who like a little sheen to their highlight, you’ll have those options, and you can always tamp down the satiny sheen by dusting one of the more matte highlight powders on top to stretch out the others if you like less shimmer. The only downside is that they don’t sell the palette empty, and there are two additional highlight powder shades (Bone, Soft Peach) and two additional contour powder shades (Sienna, Saddle) available as singles (each single is $5.00).

All of the shades included in the palette can be purchased individually, and the palette is refillable, so shades can be removed or rearranged.

NYX Highlight & Contour Palette ($25.00 for 0.72 oz.) is a set of four highlight powders and four contour powders.

Contour and highlight kit nyx