Neutrogena Essential Cheek Palette by Kerry Washington

As a font enthusiast/typography aficionado, I would like to point out that the “K” in Kerry Washington’s signature on the front of her new Neutrogena cheek palette merits my stamp of approval. I spent an inordinate amount of time — weeks, perhaps even years — perfecting the “K” in my signature, and IMHO, this is a good “K!”

You probably know Kerry Washington from her role in Scandal, but did you also know that she was in one of my favorite movies from the ’90s, Save the Last Dance? And that she’s an ambassador for Neutrogena? And that her LE collection also has an eye palette? And a body wash?

I’ve watched this movie at least 50 times.

The cheek palette caught my eye because it looks a little like BECCA’s epic Chrissy palette (minus a highlighter), and in one way it’s similar — the pigmented peachy coral blush. It’s not nearly as shimmery as the BECCA blush, but the color’s almost a dead-on dupe.

Kerry’s blush is the most pigmented thing in the palette, by the way. It’s much more pigmented than both the bronzer and highlighter, so you’ll want to take it easy the first time you dab it on your sweet cherub cheeks.

I’m a little bummed about the warm golden bronzer, because it looks so pretty in the pan, but it doesn’t easily show up on my skin. No bronzing for this girl, wah! When I finally pick up the pieces of my broken heart (you don’t understand; I’m USELESS — absolute DEAD WEIGHT — without bronzer), I will tell myself, “Self, get it together. Re-purpose it as an eyeshadow.”

For reference, I’m a MAC NC42 and wear shade Honey 98 in Neutrogena’s Hydro Boost Tint, and it takes a lot of layers to get the bronzer to show up even just a little, so if you’re around my skin tone or darker, the bronzer will probably do nothing for you. If you’re lighter than I am, however, you should be able to easily carve yourself some razor sharp Kerry cheekbones with it.

I will say that even though I have to pile on the bronzer to see it, the powder doesn’t look heavy or caked-on, and that applies to all of the powders in the kit. They look expensive.

Lastly, the highlighter. SUPER mellow. Almost looks like a matte on the skin at first glance, but there’s a teensy hint of shimmer.

Even though the bronzer doesn’t really bronze me, considering that this whole kit is $9.99 and I only had to touch up once (after six hours), I still think it’s a great deal. When I wear it, my skin still looks like my skin, which is a very Neutrogena makeup thing to do. Their stuff is all about enhancing your natural features and not overwhelming you with color or shimmer or glitter or bling, and this cheek kit, when you use all three products together, delivers a softly defined cheekbone with a flush of peachy coral color on the apples, which I think is flattering and pretty. 🙂 I say go for it!

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen