Product Review -- NYX Cream Highlight & Contour Palette

I've been a little reluctant to try cream contouring.

For some reason, it intimidated me, probably because it didn't seem like it left as much room for error as contouring with powder products.

But when you've got the right cream products, it can actually wind up being easier and more natural, especially if you have dry skin, because the creams blend into the skin a little more easily.

I've had a tough time finding a budget-friendly cream contour palette, though, so I was excited to see the NYX Cream Highlight & Contour Palette at Ulta recently.

The palette comes in a black plastic compact with a clear lid that allows you to see the shades inside.

NYX Cream Highlight & Contour Palette in Light

The palettes come in three shade options: Light, Medium, and Deep. Each option features a contour shade, a shimmer highlight, and a matte highlight. The contour and matte highlight shades come in slightly large pans than the shimmer highlight.

I purchased the Light palette for my fair skin, and find the contour shade to be a pretty good color -- it doesn't have any obvious orange or warm undertones that usually ruin contour shades for me.  The matte highlight shade is a little too yellow for my skin tone, but I think it would work nicely if your skin has yellow undertones.

The shimmer highlight is a pretty pale shade with slight pink undertones, and does work very well with my skin tone.

NYX Cream Highlight & Contour Palette in Light

NYX Cream Highlight & Contour Palette in Light

Unfortunately, the biggest problem with the palette is the texture of the products.

They're just too dry to really blend into the skin.

As a result, they can apply somewhat streak-ily (The shimmer highlight is a little creamier than the other two. As a result, that's the shade I've used the most from the palette).  You can fix the streakiness by blending really well with a clean brush, but personally, I feel like it requires more effort to get the look right than I'm willing to expend.

I want to be able to apply my cream contour products quickly and easily, and not think about it too much.

I can't do that with this product.

And while it's not as costly as the Anastasia Beverly Hills Cream Contour Palette ($40), for example, it's somewhat pricey for a drugstore type product -- I paid $14.99 for it at Ulta and it's listed as $15 on the NYX website.

I feel like that's quite a bit to pay for a product that's tough to work with.

So I'd advise passing on this palette. I don't have a recommendation for another cream contouring palette at the moment, but hopefully, more brands will try their hand at it and we'll have better options.

Have you tried the NYX Cream Highlight & Contour Palette? What are your favorite cream contour and highlighting products?