It’s official: Made By Mitchell’s Curve Case Could Rival My Usual Chanel
Main image – Courtesy of writer
Makeup artist and entrepreneur Mitchell Halliday is known for his endless artistry talents, his refreshingly direct manner and now, his hugely successful makeup line, Made By Mitchell.
The collection seems to cater to all makeup needs, particularly the Curve Case range of which there are six products, in a variety of grouped shades. The inclusivity of this brand is good to see, with Halliday even once telling us, “if you’re still launching bronzers in three shades in 2025, that’s unacceptable.” Amen!
As an oily skin kinda gal myself, and a huge fan of cream blush and bronzer (nothing has ever come close to my favourite Chanel Les Beige Bronzing Cream), I thought it would be rude not to test out the Curve Case Matte – Matte Cream Blusher & Bronzer Palette. After all, matte formulas aid oil absorption, but a cream texture keeps the skin glowy. My perfect combination.
Despite loving my Chanel bronzer, it’s unbelievably pricey so in an ideal world, this palette would provide me with the right shade and a similar finish – naturally sunkissed and slightly glowy. Plus, it might even house my perfect blush shade too.
Keep scrolling to see how I got on.
The product details
Made By Mitchell Curve Case Matte costs £30 (from Superdrug UK or $32.50 for the regular – non matte – version from Ulta US) and comes in six shade variations – Lighter, Light, Medium, Medium-Deep, Deep and Dark.
Inside each one are four blush shades and four sculpting shades (each with their own name) which promise to deliver a velvety soft finish.
Image – Courtesy of writer
My palette is in ‘Medium’, with blush shades called Melon Sorbet, Peach Sugar, Sweet Cheeks and A Shy Boy and sculpting hues entitled Toned Up, Caramel Chizel, Teddy Bare and Rich & Rosey. Helpfully, the shades in the matte case here are identical to the ones in the regular case, making it less confusing for anyone switching between the two.
How I tested Made By Mitchell’s Curve Case
I applied my usual makeup base, then added one of the sculpting shades, followed by a blush shade.
First impressions
The packaging for Made By Mitchell is super fun – I love the bubble writing and the vibrant colours. I slid the palette out of its box and pulled off the lid to reveal all 8 shades. They gelled well together and I could tell there were definitely a few shades in there to suit me.
I instantly went for ‘Caramel Chizel,’ a milky brown sculpting shade that best rivalled my shade in the Chanel bronzing cream. I found each square a little small – not what I’m used to – so needed to find a bronzing brush that would both fit and do a good job. I eventually found my Real Techniques Buffing Brush which was the perfect fit.
I swished my brush around the shade and applied it directly onto my cheeks, as I normally would. It looked quite harsh at first – perhaps I had pressed too hard – and I noticed that it definitely wasn’t as sheer as the Chanel bronzing cream. Lesson learnt – every product is different and it probably would have been better to test it on my hand first.
Image – Courtesy of writer
As I blended it in though, it started to warm my skin up nicely – I was pleasantly surprised – and it was easy enough to move around with my brush. It is noticeably matte, so lives up to its claims there and the finish is indeed velvety, but I was a bit worried it was so matte that it might be a bit drying (yes, even for me). Only time would be able to answer that though, so I moved onto my blush.
I liked the look of Peach Sugar so using my usual blusher brush, I swished it around the cream (this time not so heavily) and applied it to the apples of my cheeks. The shade was right up my street – a lovely corally pink – and it blended in really nicely with the bronzer underneath. Pretty!
My results
Overall, I’m really happy with the results of this palette. The formula could be a little more glowy if I’m honest but my concerns about it drying out my skin as the day went on were unfounded. I just added a little bit of highlighter to get my ‘glow fix’ and that did the job.
The colour lasted most of the day, with only a slight touch up needed mid-afternoon before going out. And I could have gone a little heavier with the blush shade as it was quite faint by touch-up time but the formulas are easily buildable.
One of my main bugbears about palettes like these is that once you’ve found your shades, you’re only really going to use one or two of them. It’s a big palette to carry around if you’re only using 2 of the 8 colours. The others always feel a bit redundant and you’re basically spending £30/$32.50 on something you’re not even half using.
Image – Courtesy of writer
However, these shades are so complimentary to each other that as the seasons change, you can easily adapt from one to the other, depending on your skin tone. Personally, I go a lot browner in the summer so I will probably naturally go from Caramel Chizel to Teddy Bare as the sun makes more of an appearance and then possibly to the darker Toned Up when I’m on my summer holiday.
All the blush shades, except for possibly A Shy Boy suit my skin tone so I’ll definitely use the remaining three depending on my mood and what I’m wearing.
Image – Courtesy of writer
It’s a cute palette – not one to completely replace my all-time favourite, I’m afraid (well not yet, anyway) – but definitely one to rival it when I’m feeling the pinch and need time to save up for the big one.
What other users are saying
Alongside the influencer hype around this palette, it seems that regular beauty users are fans too. Taking to Reddit, I can see plenty of praise for Curve Case, with many crediting its shade range and longevity.
User Just-Peachy-94 said: “Coming from me who has dry skin, I don’t set it personally and it lasts all day till I remove my makeup at night so I imagine if it’s set with powder it will last really well also”.
The same user added: “Honestly from personal experience, they’re really nice, they look beautiful on the skin and are amazing to work with. They apply and blend really easily with little effort and because they’re a balmy formula they don’t feel heavy on the skin either”.
The main negative that I have seen levelled at this palette though is that the contour shades can skew slightly too fair or too cool-tone. Reddit user 80sPrincess said: “I am pretty fair skinned (always use fair /porcelain shade foundations). I find the bronze /contour shades really “muddy/ugly” colours.”
I personally think there’s a good mixture of shades and undertones in my Curve Case, but it does somewhat highlight the issue with palettes in general – that not everything will often be for everyone.
Overall value for money
I love how this houses lots of shades (that I personally like) in one place. In particular, if you think about what I spend on my normal Chanel bronzer (£50) and then think about everything I’m getting for £20 cheaper with the Made By Mitchell one, it’s a no brainer really (yes, the Chanel bronzer is much bigger and lasts for months but I’m still impressed).
Again, the overall value here will come down to how many of the shades work for you – but I’m certainly happy.
The takeaway
I think Made By Mitchell’s Curve Case Matte has actually been really successful in persuading me that there are other cream bronzers out there to rival my Chanel favourite, and that they can perform just as well.
Ok, so this matte case could be a little more glowy and I’m not ready to ditch the Chanel just yet, but I was really pleased with my results and I love the shades, not to mention the inclusivity of the brand as a whole.
I will be keeping it close by this summer and may – just may – even give my Chanel a little break for a few weeks, just to see if I can cope. You never know, I could still be turned!
Get Glowing!
