PÜR The Complexion Authority Festival Pressed Pigment Palette — Review & Swatches + 3 Looks

Hey dolls!

That’s an enormous title!

I’m kind of on a roll in reviewing palettes as of lately so I want to keep the ball rolling. I decided to review this palette for you before I reviewed my April 2019 Boxycharm in full so nothing in there is missing, though I think I’m leaving one item out, but that’s it.

I do talk about this palette briefly and show a few swatches in my video. It was my second time using the palette so I provide more insight in this post. However, I’d say it’s worth watching if you want a makeup tutorial.

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Product Description from PUR Cosmetics:

Putting together a one-of-a-kind festival makeup look is easy with this limited-edition, 12-piece pressed pigment palette with blue light defense. Complete with a bold, imaginative mix of highly pigmented shimmer, matte and glitter pigments that effortlessly build and blend onto the skin, this palette has everything you need to achieve the show-stopping looks you crave. From boho-inspired, wearable metallics to eye-catching glitters that add a gorgeous pop of sparkle, each cruelty-free pigment is infused with skin-loving ingredients.

Bask in the antioxidant-rich benefits of Energy Complex, that’s made from a signature blend of Green Tea, Ginseng and Vitamin B, to deliver much-needed nutrients to help achieve a healthier-looking complexion. Plus, this limited-edition palette is uniquely formulated to help protect against signs of aging caused by high energy visible blue light, so you can go about your day confidently. Stand out from the crowd and easily elevate your daily looks—from brunch to girl’s night—and every event in-between.

Price: $36.00 USD

Packaging / Formula & Application

The palette comes in a cardboard sleeve that looks just like the palette itself. It definitely has the festival vibes going on with the sunglasses, sunset colors, palm trees and Ferris wheel. It comes with a decent sized mirror AND the shade names are next to the shades.

I think at first I said I was excited about this palette because it looked “different”, but I was completely fixated on the purple and pink shades because they were the ones that stood out and I wanted to try the most.

In terms of formula, I have to say that it’s 10x better than the PURxBoxycharm palette we got last year, which wasn’t so good. That palette was so inconsistent compared to this one, so it was refreshing to not have a hard time with it.

The mattes are buttery smooth and blendable. They are buildable which is nice when it comes to the darkest matte, All Night, because if you wanted to go with a subtle smokey eye, you could certainly do that. You can use them on a dry base and still get some pigment, but applying them on a wet base amps the pigment by a whole lot!

I do have a beef with this palette only containing 4 mattes (and one satin) along with 7 metallics/glitters. While I think these mattes go well with every metallic shade, I think the lack of other matte shades make the palette suffer because you’d only be swapping a metallic shade for another whilst keeping the crease/transition shades the same more or less. In terms of creativity, this palette felt short for me there.

I do like the ingredients they used for the formulas such as Energy Complex; a combination of ginseng, green tea and vitamin B to helps boost the skin’s natural metabolism and rejuvenate the skin’s appearance. They also used Xanthophyll; which helps protect skin against visible signs of aging induced by high energy visible blue light.

I did want to talk about the eyeshadow primer sample that came with the palette; I did NOT like it. It had the consistency of a concealer without the coverage, even though it was pretty lightweight. However, it felt very drying on my eyelids. Kathleen Lights said you had to let it dry down completely, and even then I didn’t feel like the shadows were blending very well on top of it so I took off my makeup and used my own primer and that worked out better.

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Shade Breakdown & Swatches

As I said, mattes blend well, no problem with those. I think they’re well-pigmented using either dry or wet techniques. The metallics are also quite pigmented which is nice and I really enjoyed trying out the glitter formula in 24k Magic and Fireworks; this kind of formula was very new to me and it was fun experimenting with it a bit.

HOWEVER…

The one shade I was hoping to be stunned by, Gypsy, lacked some of the pigment that the others had. It seemed to be far more pigmented on a wet base, while on a dry base, I had a harder time building it up. Weirdly, this is supposed to be a satin shade, but it looked more like a shimmer because it has micro-glitter. AND… also weird, it applied better using my finger than a brush.

Shades:

• Free Spirit — iridescent white gold w/ silver flecks
• Psychedelic — metallic gold
• Good Vibes — metallic copper
• Peace — metallic bronze
• Epic — matte pastel peach
• Gypsy — satin electric purple
• Wild Child — matte neon pink
• 24K Magic — glitter gold
• All Night — matte dark chocolate brown
• Hidden Desert — matte cinnamon brown
• Sunset — coral shimmer pink
• Fireworks — glitter ruby red w/ gold flecks

I also want to mention the glitters because the formula is something else. They’re so smooth even though they’re chunky, but the best part: there’s almost no fallout! The glitter itself practically clings onto your finger tips or bristles, it’s like witchcraft! I don’t even know how to explain it!

To apply these glitters you can use your fingers, or if you’re wanting to be more precise, a flat brush. Either way, I highly recommend using a glitter primer because it will help the glitters stick AND you won’t have a hard time building up the glitters, as I did without it.

These glitters do apply patchy if swiped on (as seen on the swatches), so another tip to using these glitters is to tap or press into the skin. That way you’re placing the glitter where you want it and you will avoid moving the product more than necessary.

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Looks

I have a full lookbook that I posted yesterday, so there are more photos over there if you’re interest. But I will quickly show you the looks I have created with this palette.

#1: Glitter Gala

This was the first look, done on a dry base. I tried my best to make it “festival approved”.

Shades Used: Epic, All Night, Wild Child, Fireworks, Gypsy, 24k Magic, Free Spirit

#2: Warmed Sunset

There’s a tutorial of this look in the video I linked at the beginning. Super simple, gives you an idea of what the mattes look like and what kind of looks you can create with the mattes.

Shades Used: Epic, Hidden Desert, Sunset, All Night, Free Spirit

#3: Purple Aura

Shades applied on a wet base for more intense pigment. I added a creme eyeshadow on the lid because I felt like it needed more sparkle/shimmer. Gypsy looked too boring on its own.

Shades Used: Wild Child, Epic, Gypsy, Free Spirit

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Pros & Cons

Pros:

• Consistent throughout
• Mattes blend well
• Very Pigmented
• Glitter formula was great
• Paraben & Gluten free
• Cruelty-free

Cons:

• Predominantly warmed toned palette with two colors
• Gypsy (shade) was a bit of a letdown, but there’s ways to work with it
• Learning curve using the glitter formula (but I provide you with tips!)
• Could have more matte shades AND different shades (preference)

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I do wish it had more mattes and more color for a palette that’s marketed for a festival. That’s just my own preference. I think the fact that it’s warm toned with only two pops of color is meh but that does not take away from the fact that the palette’s formula was good and consistent throughout, with the exception of the Gypsy, but being that it’s the only satin shade, I’m willing to let that slide a bit.

I wouldn’t recommend you get this palette only because I feel like you can get the warm toned shades elsewhere. I would only recommend it for the glitter formulas to be honest but you don’t need to buy a palette for two shades only.

I’d love to know your thoughts on this palette.
And if you own it, what did you think of it?

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Disclosure: this review is a personal opinion and is honest. I do not receive compensation for my reviews. Product(s) was/were purchased by me, unless noted otherwise.