The £2.89 Contouring Palette | Cheap and Cheerful or Cheap and Nasty?

For a while now, I'd seen these contouring palettes all over Depop and Instagram. They looked so pretty, that I thought I'd investigate more. After doing my research, I found a whole load of hoo-har on Depop, from people stating that users are selling them for like £15, when in reality they cost about £2 off eBay and for people not to be fooled. Wowzer. Obv, hearing the key phrase about £2, which DOES sit within my budget, I scuttled off to eBay and bought one for £2.89 with 59p postage; from a UK seller who promised speedy delivery [the cheapest ones are shipped from Hong Kong and can take about a month to show up and I didn't quite fancy my chances there - but the option is there to buy one for even less than this if you want!]

So: are these palettes cheap and cheerful... or cheap and nasty?

I have to say; maybe because I'm used to cheap and cheerful rather than high-end products [some of you may cringe, shudder and vom when you see this and what I've been putting on my skin, sorry guys] I was really very impressed. As you can see from the swatches of some of the darker shades above, you only need to pick up the smallest amount of product for a really high level of colour pay off. I haven't used any of the paler concealers in the palette; I'm not sure that they quite live up to my concealer expectations - but they're there if you want to have a go! The palette also contains a green, pinky and yellow colour correcting concealer section; which is great [but again, I have products I'm loyal to for this purpose.] The shimmery highlighter is quite good for highlighting your browbone though. 

What I really bought this palette for was to up my contouring game; up until now I had been contouring with powder and although it was successful[ish] I felt like sometimes it was too obvious and a little difficult to blend. I'm all for a good contour, but I don't like it when I can see obvious lines on my face; even if to others, they might look ok. I have been having a BALL with this palette. The creamy consistency of the concealers it contains are just fab. I contour my cheekbones, around my chin and down the sides of my nose to slim it down using the darker concealers; occasionally round the side of my fod and temples if I'm having my hair up. I highlight down my nose, around my eyes and under my eyebrows with a pale, highlighting concealer and then blend.

This palette genuinely works a treat for me in contouring these departments. It blends incredibly easily with the help of a sponge or my Makeup Revolution stippling brush, giving me the subtle contour I so desired. I have only really used the darker colours in the palette, so I can't really comment on about 30% of its repertoire; but the colours I've used have been fab.

The only downside I guess is that it comes in a plain, nondescript black case with no indication of what ingredients it contains. I think it might have come with a plastic sheet with a slight indication of such, but that's most likely hit the bin of life [if it actually existed.] So yeah, I'm not 100% sure what I'm putting on my face. But with my current financial budget, as long as it doesn't bring me out in some mad allergic reaction or poison me - I'm happy [and it's done neither so far!]

I will definitely repurchase this; avoiding the steep prices on Depop and heading straight for my beloved eBay. 

My verdict - Cheap and CHEERFUL!

What do you think? Have you tried and loved one of these palettes or had a bad experience with one? Will you give one a go now you've seen this?

As ever, leave me a comment, tweet me, connect with me via Instagram or drop me an email - let's get social! You can also follow me on Bloglovin' to keep up to date with all the lols, makeup, beauty, lifestyle and fashion posts I throw out each week.