The feud between James Charles & Tati Westbrook shook the beauty world considering how long the two had been friends like family. The intensity and graveness of the situation grew when some horrible allegations were hurled.
Tati, one of the OG beauty bloggers, had a parental role in James’ life when he just started out in the industry. She and her husband took care of him, supported his projects publicly and mentored him throughout his career. James used to call her ‘mom’. But they soon turned into arch-enemies.
The two just launched their first-ever makeup palettes around the same time. Once supporters, they are now standing rivals, both with their own eye-shadow palette i.e. every beauty influencer’s dream come true.
Before we do an eye-shadow palette face-off, you might want to know how Tati Westbrook & James Charles became opponents.
James posted a video supporting a brand called ‘SugarBearHair’, a direct rival of Tati’s similar company called, ‘Halo Beauty.’ In response, Tati posted a story where she, teary-eyed and hurt, shared how betrayed she was feeling. In response, James did give an explanation and an apparent ‘sorry’ to Tati.
However, what came next was the worst possible destruction of James Charle’s public image. Tati uploaded a 43 minute long YouTube video named ‘BYE SISTER’ directed at James. Here she accused him of predatory behavior, especially when pursuing ‘straight’ men. In fact, she warned people about him.
In an eight-minute-long video, James apologized to Tati for hurting her feelings. But James had lost his credibility and respect. And he did admit to some of his mistakes:
I’ve been involved in a lot of very unique and strange situations that have left people confused or upset, and I’ve learned the hard way about ways that I can interact with boys that I’m interested in and also ones that I should or shouldn’t be talking to,” he said. Finally, James confirms Tati’s claim that she warned him about his behavior and admits that “she was right.”
The online drama continued for several months when makeup artists, Jeffree Star and Nikkita Dragun also got involved. Sides were chosen, more naming, blaming, shaming was done until all the parties decided to finally stop.
However, Charles, lost more than 3 million subscribers meanwhile Westbrook gained more than 4 million.
Tati Westbrook released her Textured Neutrals Volume 1 palette on October 25, 2019. Interestingly, James Charles dropped his mini OG eye-shadow palette of original Morphe collab with Tati’s palette with just a few days gap. The timing only means that the two palettes will compete for side by side.
Here’s a step-by-step breakdown/comparison of the two makeup palettes:
Both the palettes have a completely opposite feel to them.
Tati Westbrook’s Textured Neutrals palette has a mystical, fairytale-like vibe. In Tati’s words, it expresses “ease and elegance” for perfect everyday looks as well as heavy glam.
Whereas, James Charles palette is a full-on rainbow palette with ever bright color in every hue possible. He states while revealing his palette that this is inspired by his own style that people deem as “not everyday wearable content.”
The packaging of both the palettes is fairly similar. The James Charles PR palette packaging is light grey with the ‘Morphe X & James Charles’ iconic signature embossed in a white glossy font. It also has an art-work of James’ face printed on it.
This palette’s look is super-minimalist and chic.
On the back is a cute note from James, it says
Hi sisters, James Charles here and welcome back to my palette. l love glam but i also have a huge passion for crazy, colorful, outside of the box makeup and I’ve created this palette with that in mind. I included very beautifully formulated shade necessary to create any look you could possibly imagine. i cannot wait to see what you come up with, when you unleash your inner artist- Love, James Charles
The palette itself is built in a matte black soft-touch texture. Inside the palette is a message for his customers: ‘unleash your inner artist’.
Tati Westbrook’s palette is similar as is it is also made of matte soft-touch black finish.
Tati shared that she aimed for a theme of fairy-tale books that can be stacked, hence the label ‘Volume 1’.
It is a lay-flat palette with a generously sized mirror, which is also bendable.
The James Charles palette houses 39 shades. It contains metallic shades and one glitter metallic pigment. It even has a highlighter formula. The rest of the shades in the palette are bright, pigmented mattes.
James shared that the formula is made of pressed pigments rather than typical eye-shadows. He explains that this is the actual pigment of color, helping create more vibrant looks. Whereas a regular shadow has different ingredients. A disclaimer from James; some shades ‘may’ be harder to work with if you’re not a pro.
Meanwhile, the Tati Westbrook palette contains 24 shades. Tati has really experimented with the formulas. She has incorporated four different formulas in her makeup palette. Mattes, shimmers, pressed glitters… and her greatest reveal: An all-new ‘Sequin’ formula innovated by Tati herself.
The sequin formula is undoubtedly unlike anything we have ever seen before. A blend of matte & glitter, Tati says it is for the evenings you don’t want a heavy glitter look but want the sparkle.
Tati also emphasized that her matte formula is buttery smooth and even. It is the mattes that conclude how truly good a makeup palette really is.
According to James Charles, he has created “the most bomb ‘rainbow’ eye-shadow palette ever!” It does have every color in the rainbow, every single hue, in all its glory. Another reason why he launched the mini-version of his original palette.
The top two rows have every-day glam shades and more neutral colors. The middle row contains bigger pans with the most used shades. A matte white or matte black alongside a highlighting shade. And three “deep, deeper & deepest” transition shades for any warm-toned smoky eye look.
The two bottom rows contain the rainbow shades. These would attract anyone who loves to play with color.
All the shades’ names are derived from James’ ‘sisters sayings’ and his personal memories. For example, ‘Ring-light’ inspired by the college yearbook photo that made James famous, ‘518’; his hometown area code and a bright-blue shade ‘Anthony’ named after his best friend.
Tati Westbrook’s palette has 6 color families. Each color family comes in the 4 different formulas so the palette shades complement each other.
‘Aura’ family has pearly iridescent opal & nude pink tones. ‘Story’ signifies rust, orange, bricky hues. ‘Soothe’ is a family of beige, light brown, champagne shade. Poet is a range of pinks and burgundy. There is also ‘Ritual’ containing browns. And lastly, ‘Memory’ with black, grey & silver.
James Charles mini palette is priced at $26, while the original is $39. It is available on the Morphe Cosmetics website.
Tati Westbrook’s Textured Neutrals Volume 1 palette is priced at $48. This eye-shadow palette is currently available for pre-order on Tati Beauty due to re-stock.
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