Everyone knew that the time would come around eventually that I, Nicole Rae, would go a step further into the world on contouring and buy myself a contour kit of some sort. The decision was a bit tricky, only because Sephora had decided to put a big selection of their best sellers on display at the same time. I had done my rounds of research online and read up on a bunch of the different brands and what they each have under their pros and cons list, and left the store with the Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Kit, in the light to medium shade range for my skin tone.
I think that the price point between all the different contour kits, powder to cream, palettes to sticks, are all around the same CND $50 price point, and I am happy so far with my selection. This contour kit comes with six different easy to blend shades to use to highlight and contour your face in many different ways. The top row of lighter shades come in Vanilla (a matte highlight), Banana (a yellow toned highlight), and Sand (a slightly shimmery highlight), while the bottom row of darker contour shades include Java (medium warm contour), Fawn (cool-toned contour), and Havana (the darkest warm contour). I find that the contour shades are dark enough to make a dramatic difference on my face, so I definitely value how easy it is to blend these products to make the contour effect a bit softer. The highlight shades are not as highlighting as expected, but do well to add a super subtle highlight on my face when applied. I can say this is mostly because my skin tone is already really fair, so the effect is not as visible as it would be on someone with slightly less pale skin.
My favourite contour shade in the kit by far is the cooler toned Fawn shade in the bottom middle. This shade adds a really nice shadow to define my cheekbones really well, so I tend to use this one the most. I prefer the Sand shade of highlight because it does have a tiny bit of shimmer in it, so it is noticeable when the light hits where I have applied it. The Banana shade is also nice to apply below my eyes to cover up any extra darkness to make that area look a little bit brighter. I am still testing out how much product I can apply before it comes too much or too fake looking, but I do not think I have hit that danger stage yet. I think this is a good contour kit for contouring beginners like myself and I appreciate the shade range and formula of the products.
Have you tried out any contour and highlight kits that you think deserve my attention? Leave a comment below and I may just add them to my list of products that I hope to eventually try out one day!
[signoff]