Duped: Benefit's Ten Highlighter/Bronzer Duo

You may mock it's admittedly ludicrous name, but in being a rather decent dupe of a product over 21X it's cost, Nose Shadow will have the last laugh!

Ok, so that was a tad over the top. But seriously, finding a credible dupe for RM5 is every budget beauty maven's dream! I won't pretend that the Nose Shadow here is the equal of Benefit's Ten in functioning as a highlighter and bronzer, but it may surpass its more expensive rival as a contour palette!

Read on for a comparison.


Found in Daiso (The Curve, Mutiara Damansara) Nose Shadow is marketed as err... powder for contouring your nose. And in actual fact it does work very well as a mini contour palette. In a sturdy plastic case, it features a sheer, matte, medium-dark brown shade for contouring, and a sheer, matte white shade for highlighting.

Because both shades are matte, I believe Nose Shadow surpasses Benefit's Ten for use on an oily nose, and in terms of natural contouring for day-wear all over the face. However, the shimmery pretty bronzy and pale pink shades in Ten make it more glamourous for night-use, and prettier as a day-time bronzer & highlighter.

In a nutshell, Nose Shadow is more natural, and is for straight up countouring. While Ten is more glowy, and works better as a bronzer/highlighter/blush.

Oh, and if you want to do the "Sexy Sweep" I don't see why it won't work just as well with the half-and-half Nose Shadow as it does with Benefit's Ten.

Usage

For both products, my brush of choice is the petite fibre optic blush brush from Silk Naturals. It lays down a sheer and natural amount of pigment that can be built up, and it's small head (1.5cm in diameter) allows precision and control around the nose and under the cheek bones.

I brush the brown/countouring shade down the side of my nose from my tear ducts to my nostrils (Tyra's tip to focus attention on the eyes), under my cheek bones, along my hair-line and the sides of my face (to make my face appear less round), and under my chin to define my jawline. I then dust the white/pink/highlighting shade on my cheek bones, verrryyy lightly down my nose bridge, on my eye brow bone, and on the tip of my chin. And oh, for plumper lips it really does work to dust some highlighter above the top lip, and countourer under the bottom lip.

Then using a tip from Leesha of xsparkage, I blend the highlighter and contourer on my cheeks with a sheer blush and dust face powder over the whole to give it a more natural look.

For more contouring tips, watch Leesha's great video. Warning, it will make you want to rush out and buy that gorgeous Coastal Scents contour and blush palette! (Note I'm rather addicted to Leesha's great vids. Unlike many other You Tubers she's articulate, not-annoying, not too fast or slow, and her videos are pretty educational! Check out "the perfect red lip tute" too).