In the past few months, I reviewed both the
Afterglow Palette by Becca and the
Rainforest of the Sea Skin Twinkle Lighting Palette by Tarte. Because the palettes have similar concepts and are at a similar price point, I wanted to write a blog that compared them, in case you were considering buying one or both. In case you haven't heard of these palettes, these are both face palettes that contain mostly illuminating powders and highlighters, although the Becca palette has a few blushes, and the Tarte palette has a setting powder.
In this blog, I'm going to assess each palette in four ways: packaging, quality of product, quantity and cost of palette, and variety and versatility. Now, if you read both of the individual reviews of these products, you probably won't be surprised by the conclusion of this blog, but I'm going to lay it all out again so that you can see how the products compare side by side.
Packaging: In my opinion, the packaging is the worst part of the Afterglow Palette. As you can see, the palette is very narrow and thin. Obviously, the pans for the individual products are round. Each pan is about the size of a standard single eyeshadow, which means that it's VERY difficult to use normal sized face brushes with this palette. You may be able to get away with a small highlighting brush, but you can forget about normal sized blush brushes. Most brushes are way too big for the product pans, and the products are quite powdery, which, as you can probably guess, is a recipe for a big mess. The loose powder from the products gets everywhere, including in the other pans of product. I wish they had made the pans a bit bigger, instead of trying to shove as much stuff as possible in a tiny little palette; this is a serious design flaw. And, in case you're interested, the mirror on this palette is virtually unusable (it's tiny). On the other hand, the packaging for the Tarte palette is very good. It comes with large pans of product, a decent sized mirror, and -- since it comes from a line of ocean themed products -- it has a gorgeous, water-inspired design on the lid.
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| Becca Packaging |
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| Tarte Packaging |
Quality: I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the Tarte products (generally, Tarte is not my favorite brand). This palette comes with two illuminating powders, both of which are very shimmery, buttery, and easy to blend and apply. You can definitely build these products up, but, on the first swipe, they give you a gorgeous, natural highlight. The Tarte palette also comes with a setting powder, which, quite honestly, is not a very good product. I sometimes use it to set my concealer or my eyeshadow primer, but I have other setting powders that I like more. On the other hand, I'm not the biggest fan of the Becca Skin Perfectors (in case you don't know, that's what Becca calls their highlights). I know that that sounds sacrilegious, but I've never really been impressed with the quality of Becca highlighters. They're difficult to blend, and, especially in this palette, they're very powdery. The blushes, however are excellent quality (there are two blushes in this palette). Both blushes are pigmented, easy to apply, and easy to blend.
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| Rainforest of the Sea Skin Twinkle Lighting Palette by Tarte |
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| Becca Afterglow Palette |
Quantity and Cost: Both palettes are expensive, which is to be expected from high end cosmetic brands. The Tarte palette comes with 0.37 oz of product for $42, while the Becca palette comes with 0.26 oz. for $39.50, making the Becca palette significantly more expensive per oz (the Tarte products are $113 per oz, and Becca is $150 per oz). However, neither price is unreasonable for a high end face palette. Although, as I said before, I think the Tarte palette is better quality for the money.
Variety and Versatility: The Tarte palette comes with three products, and the Becca palette comes with five (three illuminating powders and two blushes). By definition, that means that the Becca palette offers a wider variety of products. If you want to try a bunch of different Becca products without purchasing the full sizes, this might be the right product for you. However, I don't think the Becca palette is very versatile because basically all of the products in the palette are warm toned (with the exception of Moonstone). I really wish they had given us a couple more cool toned products in this palette. On the other hand, there's a little less variety in the Tarte palette and a little more versatility. The Tarte palette has exactly one cool toned and one warm toned highlighter in this palette, which I appreciate.
In conclusion, I think that the Rainforest of the Sea Skin Twinkle Lighting Palette by Tarte offers better value for your money. If you can only have one, I would suggest purchasing it over the Becca palette. However, if you really want to try Becca products, don't mind the packaging, and like warm tones, you might prefer the Becca palette.
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