From light and shade duos to full on pro kits, there is an abundance of contouring products out on the market right now. It was possibly one of the most talked about makeup technique of the year and love it or hate it, it’s here to stay. Whether you want a subtle sculpt to enhance your features or full on red carpet style face-changing contour, it’s all about the products you use to do this, and your technique of application.
Too Faced Cocoa Contour Kit (£32)
Ok let’s get the most important thing about this palette over with = it smells like chocolate. I love Too Faced and the Cocoa range is just brilliant with the bronzers and eyeshadows smelling of my favourite snack, I can’t get enough.*tongue out emoji*Moving swiftly on, besides that this palette is great because it has a small kabuki brush which unlike most mini brushes within compacts, it’s actually rather good for contouring. It has an angled shape that fits snuggly into the hollows of the cheeks to give you a great application. I am a big fan of the matte tones for contouring too & even the highlight shade for this is matte, which is great for more subtle looks.
Crownbrush 10 Colour Pressed Powder Contour Palette (£16.99)
Budget makeup heaven right here. This is my go-to budget kit and I actually now carry this in my pro kit ALL the time. I love the fact that it is sleek and compact to carry around and it has a great shade selection, particulary the contour shades which pretty much cover all skin colours. It also gets ticks in the boxes for having both matte and shimmer highlighters in. Most people opt for the shimmer/silver highlighter but a good option for a more subtle and natural finish is a pale matte tone. This is also great to use under the brow bone to give lift and open up the eyes. Makeup artists, this is an easy option for the kit!
Tom Ford Shade & Illuminate (£56)
The most luxury and probably infamous contour duo. This has been around for years and is a cream based contour & highlight. This is a popular one but for me personally, this is only used in my pro kit for shoots and red carpet. As it is cream it won’t stay on the skin quite as well as powder, so for me, is more of a short term/ photographic solution as opposed to your all day and everyday-wear. Makes the skin look optimumlly dewy and glossy with the gorgeous shimmery highlight. The contour shade can be quite orange if used too heavy-handed so light application is key. I find the best way to use this is with a brush for the contour to get an even and good blend (fingers for me don’t do it quite as well!) and I like to tap the highlighter onto the cheekbones with my fingertips and/or a brush.
Wet N’ Wild Color Icon Contouring Palette ($3.90!)
This was one of my purchases in my (riduculously huge) USA beauty haul. I was recommended this brand by a few trusty makeup artists and bloggers so bought a few bits, including this contour kit which has turned out to be one of my trusty favourites to use on myself. Both the highlight shade and contour shade are matte, which works really well on me for day to day ; I don’t like a hugely heavy stripey-face instagram-style contour, so this is just right. The shade I have is ‘Dulche De Leche’ which is the paler of the two and it gives my skin a very natural sculpt. It’s a pretty generous size and the best part is that this cost me just $3.90!! Which is like £2.50….the cheapest set I own and I think that money can even buy?! A must-have if you are in the U.S and are near a Walmart! (bring me one back too.)
KIKO Contouring Pencil Set (£9.90)
A well-priced contour duo that comes in the form of cream jumbo pencil sticks. These are easy to apply straight from the stick onto the skin and can be blended with fingertips for quick and easy application. The highlight tone is a pale matte pink which gives a really good lift on the skin and you don’t need much product to get a high impact look. The contour shade it matte and a nice flat brown shade that works well to shade, can also be used on the eyes to give a really quick & pretty muted eye.
Have you delved into the ‘art’ of contouring yet or is still something you are a little scared of?! What are your favourite contouring/highlighting products?
