Ben Nye Lumiere Review and Swatches

I have been wanting this Ben Nye Lumiere Palette for a while now and finally I have added it to my collection of Face Painting Supplies. I was able to put it to use over this past weekend on two different gigs.

 Here is my opinion on the eyeshadows.......
Ben Nye is a trusted American brand for all your theatrical and makeup needs. There isn't a large budget for fancy editorial photo shoots from this company but, let me tell you the quality of their products is outstanding from a professional point of view and this palette has lived up to the hype.

 If you are a face painter you must understand this first....THESE ARE EYE SHADOWS.. they are not face paints. Yes, face paint is in the same category as makeup but, these are not face paints. The packaging does state that you can use them wet or dry however, after testing this out I quickly realized that wetting the shadows leaves the shadow hard then, when you go to use it dry again it is much harder to pick up the powder on your brush or smoothie blender.
 There are several ways you can use these including on their own or over a flat colored face paint to add shimmer or to create a different color. I like using them on the eyelids in my princess designs and layering over paint for a shimmery goodness effect or down the center of the nose for my butterflies.

Here are the pros and cons

Pros....
1. Ultra Pigmented eye shadows in a large pot for a small dollar amount means more bang for your buck.
2. Trusted American Brand
3. The colors are beautiful, shimmery and go on smooth.
4. Palette is durable for traveling with in your kit.
5. Great for using on girls and women's designs, great alternative to using glitter as they have a high shine factor.
6. The palette is refillable

Cons...
1. If you wet them, be prepared to shave off the top after it has dried in order to use the dry again..which means loss of product.
2. The brush inside is not great.
3. Some of the colors do stain like the dark green, dark purple and dark blue. I was a bit surprised by this considering they are eye shadows.

 I would recommend using a different smoothie blender on each person as these are not face paints and do not have the antibacterial properties that face paints do. I used a smoothie blender but, quickly moved to using my powder puffs for sanitary reasons. You can use the powder puffs with the Lumiere eye shadows just like with the Starblends and they are easier to toss in your dirty sponge bag and wash in the washer when you get home.

 Overall I really enjoy a few of the colors like Iced Gold, Charteuse, Azalea, Sun Yellow, Cosmic Violet, Cosmic blue and Jade.
I would probably reorder these colors in the larger size to refill the larger black Ben Nye Palette.

I would give this palette 4 stars out of 5

 Below are some photos of the palette as well as swatches....

 Below the swatches as follows Ice, Aztec Gold, Silver,Azalea, Cosmic Blue & Sun Yellow.

 Iced Gold, Tangerine, Chartreuse, Jade, Amethyst and Cosmic Violet.

I used Iced Gold over her forehead and down her nose, Sun yellow on her eyes, Azalea and tangerine as the base for the wings in this design. I even used Azalea on her lips and used a clean wet brush after I applied it to smooth the color out. Other products I used here.. Wolfe Deep Raspberry & Wolfe White.


*As a disclaimer..I paid for this product with my own money and was not paid for this review.