BestReviews is reader-supported and may earn an affiliate commission. Details.
Are Morphe or Tarte contour palettes best?
A contour palette holds a variety of complementary shades of makeup you can use to contour your face. Within a contour palette you can find blush, highlight and bronzer, and sometimes there are shimmery shades as well.
Contour palettes can be used to create makeup looks or add color and definition to your facial structure, such as your cheekbones or jawline. You can use them to add subtle definitions so your skin looks natural and smooth. Whether you want to achieve a natural look to wear every day or something with a little more glam for a night out, these palettes are designed so you can easily use the shades and blend them with a great makeup brush.
From travel-size palettes to bigger palettes with more shades, Morphe and Tarte both have a good variety to choose from with different shades, and they’re inclusive for different skin tones, too. Morphe and Tarte are both well known makeup brands and offer unique contour palettes.
Morphe contour palettes
Morphe has a wide selection of contour palettes for different skin tones in various shades. Each palette has contour, blush and highlight options, all with beautiful pigmentation. Morphe’s palette has a powder texture, making it easier to apply, especially if you are not a pro at makeup. These palettes are easy to use, and go on smoothly with buildable wear.
Each Morphe palette has brighter shades that give a luminous look to eyes, cheeks, nose or forehead; bronzer shades that give a warm look to high areas of the face; contour shades that enhance and sculpt facial structure; blush tones that give cheeks or nose a rosy glow; and highlights that give cheekbones and nose a pop. The Morphe palette has a powder texture and would be best applied with a small or big fluffy brush.
Morphe contour palette pros
Morphe’s palettes come at an affordable price and provide good quality and quantity, and they’re guaranteed to be long-lasting. Morphe’s many choices make it easy to find your perfect shades and not have to buy different products, hoping they all look good together. Morphe’s palette makes getting ready easy by having all the shades you need to contour and add dimension.
Morphe contour palette cons
Although Morphe has a great selection of shades, they may not work for everyone. Individual Morphe palettes are limited to a particular range of colors, so if you want more, you don’t have the option.
Best Morphe contour palette
This palette is good for light-to-medium skin tones and includes eight shades; each shade is given a different name, making it easy to remember your favorites. With five formulas — brightener, bronzer, contour, blush, highlighter — this palette gives your complexion depth and dimension, while still having a natural glow.
Sold by Ulta
Tarte contour palette
Tarte has a smaller selection of contour palettes, but their design and shades are warm and fun.
A couple of them are travel-size palettes with only three shades so they fit easily in a makeup bag. They come with either two highlighters and contour or with a combination of bronzer, blush and highlighter. These travel-size palettes would also be good to have in your car or purse to touch up your makeup.
The bigger palette has nine neutral to smoky shades and three of blush, bronzer and highlighter so you can create a lot of makeup looks of different combinations. The Tarte palette has a cream texture, so it is a little harder to put on compared to powder. This type of cream-based makeup is best applied by a small flat brush.
Instead of breaking up the palette into different shades for varying skin tones, Tarte decided to make one big palette for everyone. This lets you have different shades to choose from and worry less that you’ve chosen shades that might not work for you.
Tarte contour palette pros
You can choose a palette with a lot of shades or try one of the travel sizes. It would be great to have both the big palette to use at home and purchase the travel size when out and about. The big palette offers a lot of shades for highlight, blush and contour. The palettes are guaranteed to be long-lasting and come at a reasonable price.
Tarte contour palette cons
Tarte is limited in options for different skin shades and tones, so these palettes may not be the best shades for everyone. Tarte also offers fewer palettes. Their big palette is not very cost-effective and has a cream texture that can be hard to blend in without the right brush.
Best Tarte contour palette
Clay Play Face Shaping Palette Vol. 2
This palette includes 12 shades of bronzer, highlight and blush. It’s great for adding color and definition to the face and enhancing your features. The powder is infused with amazonian clay that helps blend into a natural long-lasting look. Vanilla extract in the makeup offers a faint smell of spice, while mineral pigments help ensure the skin is soft.
Sold by Ulta
Should you buy a Morphe contour palette or a Tarte contour palette?
Morphe is the ideal choice, because it has so many variations among palettes and comes at a reasonable price. With these variations, Morphe makes it easy to choose a palette that will best match your skin tone, as well as stay within your budget.
This palette would be great for an easy everyday look or when you want a more elegant look for a night out. The Morphe palette is also the better choice because it includes shimmery shades and neutral tones that will let you create multiple makeup looks for different occasions.
Sign up here to receive the BestReviews weekly newsletter for useful advice on new products and noteworthy deals.
Madison Long writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money.
Copyright 2021 BestReviews, a Nexstar company. All rights reserved.