You guys, I am totally new (and late on the gravy train) to this strobing thing. It’s been around for a hot minute but I didn’t seem too interested in this trend because to be completely honest… I am not into the dewy look. I am more of a matte girl because of my oily skin type and with this strobing thing, you’re powder usage on your face should be kept to a minimum. Me on the other hand? You know how much I love my powders and baking.

Nonetheless, another one of my beauty purchases that I ended up picking up with my recent Dischem haul is this strobing and contouring palette from Essence. Wowzer! I haven’t bought or reviewed Essence products on my blog in a hot minute and I remember that Essence and Catrice used to be my holy grail brands to review when I just started out blogging 8 years ago. Not only are the products super affordable but they are great, great, great quality – for the most part. Up until a couple of weeks ago when I started using this palette, I had no idea what the difference was between strobing and highlighting. I came across this nifty little article that explained it to a T and even a YT video of Wayne Goss explaining it. With the strobing, you typically want the dewy look so you have to be well moisturized before you put the product on. Wayne also explained that the strobing product is applied on the exact same places where you would apply your highlighter but with strobing you have to apply the strobe product before you do your foundation.

I’m not gonna lie, it’s alot of extra steps that alot of people don’t need or have time for but I lowkey am a fan of it and if you’re a beginner to this strobing thing and then this palette is definitely for you. I even use this palette for alot more things than strobing and contouring. I am not a fan of the a dewy look but for some reason I do like it when I use this palette and I don’t look overly powdery or ‘wet’ at all. Just well moisturized, glowy and foundation sitting pretty.Okay now let’s get into the reviewing, this creamy textured products applies smoothly and for strobing for my skin tone I like mixing in the last two shades from the right in the top row. I tried buffing it into my skin with both a brush and a beauty sponge but I find that the beauty sponge works better because the brush tends to move the product around too much and leave it sitting on the skin. What I loved about the top row shades is that my current foundation that I am using, applies over the product so smoothly and you don’t end up with foundation bunching up where the product is.

I use the second and the third shade in the top row (mixed) as concealer over my foundation. I must admit, I don’t like looking super glowy and as Wayne demonstrated in his tutorial – you don’t powder much over your strobing but I tend to set the concealer with powder and this is the first “concealer” that I have EVER used that have not creased under my eyes. I use the second last shade in the top row as highlight over my foundation and it adds a stunning slight glow. I also love using the first three shades from the left as an eye-shadow primer. I set it with a little bit of translucent powder and it makes a really great base for eye-shadow and it lasts super long!The bottom row in this palette is obviously for contouring. If you like a subtle contour then you will be a fan of this palette. The bottom row (just like the top row) is not very pigmented but it is definitely buildable. I also apply these contour shades over my foundation and then blend it out with a beauty sponge because I feel when I use a more dense kabuki brush, it moves the product around too much and it can end up looking muddy.

I have this one neutral tone shimmer eye-shadow palette in my collection that has the most flattering shades of browns for my skin-tone but the only drawback is that it is a tad powdery. I then started using the bottom three shades from the left side and put it on my eyelids (without setting it) and then pat the shades on to make it stick. It was a brilliant idea… even if I have to say so myself! I only use the second last shade on the right as my contour on my cheeks, forehand and nose. I prefer the second last shade as my contour as it is more warm toned and suitable for my skin-tone, whereas the last shade is more cool toned.In my opinion, this palette is more suited for light to medium skin-tones as the second last shade in the palette for contouring is my perfect shade and that being said – I am in the middle of fair and medium toned. I do however think that the last shade in the strobing row would look bomb AF on a deeper skin tone. This palette retails for R150 and I think that it is super affordable. I have seen international Youtubers call it a dupe for beginners for the NYX Highlight & Contour Pro Palette. All in all… I love the versatility of this palette and I am definitely one of those people that advocates that there are no rules in makeup such as “you can’t mix creams with powders”. I did it and I think it looks absolutely great. Or maybe I am just a noob but it WORKS FOR ME.

Ps I unfortunately don’t have a ‘face-look’ picture of it on my face but all of the pictures on my sm that I recently uploaded, I am wearing it. I will take a picture this weekend when I attend one of my blogging gigs and then make reference to this review when I upload next week.