Home Beauty NARS Exposed Cheek Palette Review, Swatches & Makeup Look

NARS Exposed Cheek Palette Review, Swatches & Makeup Look

by Tavia

Hello beauties!

 I have a very exciting review for you today, the new NARS Exposed Cheek Palette which hasn’t launched yet in UK. It’s part of NARS Spring 2019 Exposed Collection which hasn’t touched UK yet so I went and bought it from abroad.

I’ve been using it for a few days so if you are interested in swatches, shade by shade review and comparison with NARS Hot Tryst Palette, please keep on reading. Since I bought the NARS Hot Tryst Palette during the Holiday 2018 season I thought I’ll buy the NARS Exposed Cheek Palette as well to make a comparison. 🙂

U.S. – Now at ULTA, NARS Cosmetics | soon at Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, SEPHORA

UK – Now on Ebay UK |soon at Selfridges, Harrods, Debenhams, Feel Unique

 

NARS Exposed Cheek Palette Review

I’ll start with just some general ideas in the beginning and say that NARS Exposed Cheek Palette has a great value for money. Comparing to their single blushes, the price for these blushes hosted in the palette is considerably cheaper, almost with 50% OFF price per gram.

I think NARS cheek palettes are ideal for those who are looking to have it all in one palette, highlighter, blush, contouring, powder and even use it as eyeshadows. The shades are not so shimmery like those from NARS Hot Tryst Cheek Palette so they can double beautifully as eyeshadows. Just check my NARS Exposed makeup look down bellow.

The packaging is again similar with NARS palettes in terms that the palette is sturdy, snaps shut and has a large mirror inside. It doesn’t come with any brushes in case you didn’t know that.

The cardboard packaging theme just gives me Summer vibes with those pink-orange waves or maybe I just badly need a vacation by the sea. 🙂 Well, once I opened the cardboard packaging I more Summer vibes from those ripple plastic with watery vibes so I definitely know I’m gonna rock this palette in the hot season and until then.

Inside you’ll find the shades with the same ripple effect which I think is kinda cool, definitely Spring-Summer appropriate. 🙂

All the shades from this palette can be used wet and dry. I do recommend applying the shades with a moderately dense brush. When I tried using a dense brush, I got a noticeable powderiness in the pan as the shades feel a bit dry. Applying the shades with a less dense brush definitely improved the application and especially a dampened brush in case you want more pigmentation from the start.

My less favorite part for this palette was the texture which felt noticeably dry, dense and firmer in the pan but surprisingly it blend it out easily.

When I applied the shades dry I got a sheer coverage in one layer for Make You Mine and Now or Never which I had to build them up to 2-3 layers. For the other shades I was fine with just one layer, while the for the highlighter a second layer just added a bit more of a glow.

Compared to NARS Hot Tryst Cheek Palette, this one felt more dry, dusty and they shades needed more build up. On the other hand, because the shades were not so glimmery and shiny like the Hot Tryst ones, I felt I could work them on my eyes as well. 🙂

I think two of the shades from this palette, Make You Mine and New Fling are very similar to Bowery and Untamed from NARS Hot Tryst Palette. The other shades from NARS Exposed are completely different in my opinion. I personally find Tell All highlighter shade to be more flattering on my skin tone than the other 2 highlighters from Hot Tryst.

NARS Exposed Cheek Palette Shade by Shade Review

Tell All is a light, gold champagne with warm undertones and a metallic finish. The texture is soft but feels slightly dry to the touch and less firmer in the pan comparing to the other shades. It had a good color payoff applied dry and swiped on bare skin in two layers.

On me personally this shade looks flattering, adds just a bit of glow with a fine metallic sheen. I personally like wearing this highlighter more than the two highlighter shades from NARS Hot Tryst Palette.

It’s a shade that will complement all skin tones and applied wet it definitely intensifies the color and makes it more shiny. I had eight good hours wear with this formula applied with a dry brush. Just for the sake of review I applied this shade with a dampened brush, which looked pretty intense for my skin tone. I’m just fine with one or two layers of Tell All applied with a dry moderately dense brush.

Now Or Never is a soft, orange-terracotta with warm undertones and a satin finish. It had a semi-sheer to medium pigmentation buildale in two layers. Applied with a dry brush it just gave me a light coverage which was ideal for my skin tone as I could build up the color as I wanted.

I used this shade to add some warmth to my skin, basically as a light bronzer. The texture was smooth but felt dry even though it was easily blendable and to work with. For this one I found that using a denser brush was better so I could just pick up more color. On me it lasted well for about eight hours.

Give It Away is a medium, nude-brown with warm undertones and a light pearly sheen. The texture is smooth, definitely one of the best from this palette. It doesn’t feel so dry as the other shades but it was denser overall. It worked well applied with a denser and dry brush. For me this color was a bit too pigmented for my light skin tone. I did use it beautifully on the eyes but on the cheeks I think it looks better on medium and darker skin tones.

Applied with a wet brush it tends to look more shiny so I definitely wouldn’t see this shade on my cheeks. I got the same eight hours with this shade. I wore this shade just for the sake of reviewing and had to stay home during that day as the shade looked to intense on me. 🙂

Make You Mine is a light, peachy-coral with warm undertones and a slightly satin finish. It looked very sheer applied dry and I had to intensify the color with 2-3 extra layers. I successfully wore this shade applied wet as it didn’t look too intense over pigmented. For me it was buildable up to 3 layers which just gave a fresh touch to my cheeks.

The texture felt dry, firmly-pressed in the pan and definitely the least pleasant one from the palette. I got around eight hours wear with this one applied wet or dry. For me this shade is just a soft blusher and I can pair it with Come Hither for a pink touch just like I did in the makeup look bellow.

Come Hither is a medium-dark, watermelon pink with warm undertones and golden pearly sheen. It had semi-sheer coverage in one layer applied dry. It was buildable in 2-3 layers and definitely looked more intense applied wet. For a light skin tone is great that you can easily build up the pigmentation and not over do it with one layer.

When applied wet it looked more shimmery and definitely more pigmented. The consistency felt dry, dense but it was easily blendable when applied dry. In terms of long lasting I got eight hours when wore dry.

New Fling is a medium-dark, fuchsia-raspberry warm undertones and a satin finish. It had a good pigmentation being almost opaque in single layer when applied dry. It looked beautiful even as an eyeshadow, but as a blusher it was too intense for my light skin.

It had the same firm, dense and dry consistency but it was easily blendable. Applied dry it looked even more intense (definitely for medium, darker skin) but it wasn’t so blendable and easy to work with. It took me a little further than the average of 8 hours because it was more pigmented to begin with, comparing with the other shades.

NARS Exposed Cheek Palette Swatches

Here I applied all the shades on my bare skin (without any primer or base underneath the shades) and swatch them with my finger. I applied each shade in two layers as some of them were noticeable sheer in just one swipe.

Applied over primer, foundation or used wet they look more intense.

NARS Exposed Makeup Look

For this makeup look I used my NARS Exposed Cheek Palette on my cheeks but on my eyes as well. So basically for me it also doubles as an eyeshadow palette and I actually like some of the shades better on my lids than on my cheeks.

Because most of these shades have a gentle pearly or satin sheen and are not so shimmery like the ones from NARS Hot Tryst Palette, I actually enjoyed wearing them as eyeshadows as well.

On my cheeks I wore Tell All highlighter which I also applied on my brow bone. As a blusher I mixed Come Hit Her with Make You Mine. To add a bit of warmth to my face I applied as a bronzer Now or Never who was actually quite sheer in the beginning so I just needed to build up the color.

I created this makeup look in the morning with the idea of a fresh, springy-day to day look. In this case I went and applied all the shades dry so for some of them I applied up to three layers to build up the color. This may give some courage to those ladies out there with light or fair skin. You can’t overdue it with these shades! 🙂

One layer of color, especially applied dry will look flattering even on fair skin while those with darker skin will need to build up the color or use the shades wet for more pigmenation.

Enjoy more photos…

You may also like

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.