Make Up Forever HD All-in-one Face Palette

Where I got it

I have seen this palette on Sephora.nz a while ago, but it sold out and has not been restocked for a few weeks. So when Sephora had a sale, I picked it up. I was only tier Black so it was only 15% off. Better than nothing! I picked this up for NZD$125.8 (RRP NZD$148). This is also available at AdoreBeauty and MakeUp Forever’s own website.

Now I have used a couple of Make Up Forever products before, mainly complexion products and I loved their Reboot foundation. I have yet to try any of their cream products and have been quite interested. I am not very familiar with cream products, but I do love a couple of cream blushes and cream illuminators as they are easy to blend and it blends seamlessly with my foundation. I do have a couple of cream concealers, but they tend to be a little bit too waxy and too cakey on my skin. One more thing that puts me off cream product is how fast it dries up in the pan and how it will catch onto dirt and hair and whatnot. I will address all my concerns on a cream palette further down.

What I got

This is the MakeUp Forever HD All-in-one Face Palette (H1 Harmony 1) (25g total). The latest addition to the bestselling HD Skin collection, this multi-use cream palette has all you need for a full-face complexion routine, in one travel-friendly compact. Now available in two harmonies to flatter all skin tones and introducing a new shimmer highlight shade to take your look to the next level. The 12 creamy formulas can be used alone or mixed to create your perfect foundation, concealer, blush, contour and highlight shades. Its lightweight, buildable coverage and a natural radiant finish make it easier than ever to achieve an even, softly sculpted complexion.

In this face palette, you will find 3 cream foundation shades, 4 concealer and corrector shades, 2 blush shades, 2 contouring shades, and 1 highlighting shade.

How I find it

Let’s make a start with how to navigate this palette. From the website and from the box, you open up the palette and the numbering starts from the left side. We have 1-6 on the left side and 7-12 on the right-hand side. The left column and the top right shade are concealers and corrector shades (1, 2, 3, 5). Shade 1 is a warm-toned concealer, 2 is a salmon-toned corrector, and 3 and 5 are lighter shade concealers with a pinky undertone with 5 being the lightest shade.

Then we have foundation shades on the right corner of the left side of the palette -4 and 6 are foundation shades. Shade number 7 on the right side of the palette is also a foundation shade and these are actually light/medium to medium skin tones IMO. Shade 4 is lighter compared to 6 and 7 and has a warmer undertone. While 6 has a bit more neutral undertone and 7 is actually quite a deep shade with an almost orangey undertone.

Then we have our contouring, blush, and highlighter shades on the right-hand side palette. These are pretty self-explanatory. We have two pretty dark cream contouring shades, or you could use them as bronzers.  9 is more cool-toned and 11 has a more orangey-red undertone and is slightly deeper. Shade 8 is an opalescent highlighter shade. Shade 10 is a warmer coral blush shade and 11 is slightly on the pinky side.

Each pan can be removed from the palette and rearranged and possibly replaced with the pan of your choice. I will definitely be rearranging these pans around to suit my preference.

Now that we have the shades sorted out, let’s move on to the application of these products. MakeUp Forever recommends using Brush 152 to apply the foundation and contouring shades, Brush 114 (104) for the highlight, and Brush 154 to apply blush. Now I do not have any of their brushes, but 152 is just a medium, rounded dense brush (not too big to fit in the pan), and 154 is a medium, flat-top dense brush to buff and blend. 104 is a small, tapered flat foundation brush for precise application.

I usually use my fingers for cream blushes and highlighters, which works pretty good IMO to warm up and loosen up the product before application, but it is important to keep your fingers clean and non-oily as it will compromise the cream product and make it dirty. As for the contouring shades and foundation shades, you will definitely need some brushes.

The application of these shades is easy and blends very nicely. You can layer the products little by little and the finish is natural – not too dewy and not too matte. I was a little worried that the contouring shades were way too deep, but it blends out looking pretty good and not muddy or weird. However, the foundation shades were quite off for me. Shade 7 was way too deep, but 4 and 6 were just a little off in tone.

The look I have done below is using mainly shade 2 & 3 corrector shades for my dark circles, shade 3 concealer to some off post-acne hyperpigmentation. Then I used shade 4 sparingly around the centre of my face. For blush, I used shade 10 and for contour, I used shade 9. I also used a mixture of shades 9 and 10 to create some natural-looking depth around the eye area. As you can see, it is not high coverage (which I like) and it leaves a natural finish instead of looking matte and cakey. I would prefer to use my own foundation to get a better match, but I actually really like the cream contour.

Overall

I find it hard to describe how I feel about this palette. Before purchasing, I thought the palette would be such a handy all-in-1 palette, but I was also worried that it would be a “make-up artist” type of product where it contains a number of shades of concealers and correctors that I don’t actually need. Another factor I was worried about is how fast this will dry up as it is a cream-based product. After getting my hands on the palette, I was once again smitten by how cool it looked and how easy it is to travel with. The texture and formula of the cream products were creamy and not thick and waxy. I was impressed. However, the worry about the different shades not matching me was real. Not that none of the shades matched, but I would probably not use 3-4 of these pans because they would never match which was a bit of a shame.

All in all, I love the creamy texture of these cream formulas, I think they are wonderful formulations. They last on my skin and are so easy to blend without looking patchy. You won’t be able to use all of the shades on your skin tone doesn’t change much during the seasons. Unless you are a makeup artist? I wonder how you deal with the hygiene of a cream product – can anyone enlighten me? I really like the palette, and I find myself reaching for it every day, even if it is just for the blush and highlight, and contour.