Makeup

Battle of the Drugstore Nude Palettes (L’Oreal, Revlon & Maybelline)

April 16, 2016

Nude palettes are now taking the drugstore-makeup-world by storm, and with a plethora of nude palettes out in the market today, it’s easy for us to feel overwhelmed when trying to buy that one, perfect nude palette.

This post will compare three nude drugstore palettes: the L’Oreal La Palette Nude in Beige, Revlon Colorstay Not Just Nudes in Passionate Nudes, and Maybelline The Nudes.

(Psst… I have actually tried, and wanted to include, the Covergirl nude palette too but I ended up returning it since I really disliked it, so that palette won’t be featured in this post. Sorry, Covergirl! Your blushes are bomb though!)

So, first off… here are the swatches of all three palettes:

Note: The L’Oreal La Palette Nude I have is the Australian version, and the colors are different from the American version. Click here to view the American version.

Shades & Color Payoff

L’Oreal:

4 frosty shades, 1 shimmer-satin, 5 mattes (but with more of satin, semi-matte finishes).
I wish they had more color variety; the brownish matte shades can be very similar.
Color payoff isn’t excellent – some can go on very, very sheer, especially the yellowish gold one in the centre.
Colors in general are more on the soft and subtle side compared to the other two palettes.

Revlon:

Mostly shimmery, frosty shades with two darker satin shades.
Opaque intensity is hard to attain, except for the fourth color from the left (bronze-copper shade).

Maybelline:

A good mix of matte, satin, and frosty-shimmery shades.
Pigmentation isn’t amazing, some can be very sheer, but they do have the best color payoff and variety out of the three.

Winner: Round one winner is Maybelline even though all three have sorta meh pigmentation and payoff. However, all three work pretty well on top of a cream shadow base.

Texture & Formula

L’Oreal:

Very soft and buttery, so easy to blend!
Almost no fallout at all.

Revlon:

Dry, scratchy and powdery texture that causes pigmentation to be very poor (except for the bronze-copper shade mentioned above).
Formula very inconsistent between shades, some are chronically dry and rough-textured, some are just stiff and chalky, while the bronze-copper shade is very beautiful and buttery.

Maybelline:

Formula also pretty inconsistent, some being very dry and rough, some pretty smooth and creamy, but most are pretty nice. Still much better compared to the Revlon!
Shades that perform well are mostly frosty, shimmery ones.

Winner: Clearly L’Oreal. I’ve been using this palette a lot despite its poor pigmentation because it’s so smooth and easy to work with, but the colors are pretty buildable and work well on top of cream shadows.

Longevity

L’Oreal:

Excellent longevity, especially on top of a cream base, lasting for about 8 hours before they start to gradually fade.

Revlon:

The shimmery taupe shade on the far right (second from the right) has terrible glitter fallouts throughout the day.
Shades normally wear for about 4-5 hours before fading without a cream base, but will last a bit longer with a base.
Shimmer shades lose its vibrance after 5 hours.

Maybelline:

Longevity isn’t as good as the L’Oreal, but isn’t as bad as the Revlon, on average lasting for about 6 hours before fading.

Winner: L’Oreal. Of course.

Packaging

(Note: Just want to point out that all three palettes have approximately the same thinness.)

L’Oreal:

Very slim and travel-friendly.
Looks very sleek and chic. The most “expensive-looking” out of the three.
Comes with a useful double ended brush (brush on one end, sponge applicator on the other end).
Plastic packaging feels sturdier and heavier than the other two palettes.

Revlon:

Comes in a see-through plastic packaging.
Plastic gets scratched and stained so easily, and is somehow difficult to clean.
Comes with a double ended synthetic brush, one’s flat, the other’s a tiny, fluffy blending brush.
- Since they have synthetic bristles, they can’t pick up powder shadows pretty well. They’re terrible for application, but can be used for blending.
- Fluffy blending brush is too tiny though, so they’re kinda useless.

Maybelline:

Also comes in a see-through plastic packaging, but is slightly thicker. However, the Revlon is slightly wider because each eyeshadow comes in a bigger pan.
Feels sturdier than the Revlon, but weaker than the L’Oreal.
Comes with a double-ended sponge-tip applicator. No. Just. No.

Winner: Hands down – L’Oreal, although it’s the only one that isn’t see-through. It’s much sturdier than the other two, has a more “expensive” look, and the applicator is actually useful.

Price

L’Oreal:

You get ten shades with a total of 7 g of product.
Retails for US$19.99 at Ulta and drugstores.
Retails for AU $29.95 at Priceline and various chemists/department stores across Australia.

Revlon:

You get ten shades with a total of 14.2 g of product.
Retails for US$14.99 at Ulta and drugstores.
Not available in Australia.

Maybelline:

You get twelve shades with a total of 9.6 g of product.
Retails for US$9.99 at Ulta and drugstores.
Retails for AU$18-25.95 at Priceline and various chemists/department stores across Australia.

Winner: You get more value for money with the Maybelline as you get 12 different shades (versus 10 shades) although the palette itself is smaller than the Revlon. With only a $5 difference I wouldn’t think twice about taking the Maybelline instead of the Revlon because you get more variety and the formula is much nicer than the Revlon.

Final Verdict

So, here’s an overview of the winners from all categories:

Shades & Color Payoff: Maybelline
Texture & Formula: L’Oreal
Longevity: L’Oreal
Packaging: L’Oreal
Price: Maybelline

I guess the clear winner is L’Oreal here because when it comes to price, it’s all based on how much you’re willing to spend. I am willing to spend $5-10 more for the L’Oreal because nothing beats creamy, soft, buttery-textured shadows. I love working with the shadows so much because you can never go wrong with it! Its sheerness actually makes it pretty easy to work with. If I want to create a more intense look with the palette I just use an intense cream shadow as a base. The shades in this palette make excellent crease contours!

If US$20 is still way over your budget, the Maybelline one isn’t that bad. Just don’t expect it to be as smooth and dreamy as high end nude palettes. All in all, the quality of the Maybelline often seems to be in between the L’Oreal and Revlon. So, Maybelline wins second place for sure.

As for the Revlon, I say leave it. The bronze-copper shade is gorgeous, but it’s not worth buying the whole palette for. I’m not hating on Revlon, they’re such a wonderful brand and I love their lip products! However, this eyeshadow palette is just not worth it. In all honesty, if I could return this, I would.