Cosmetics, Anastasia Beverly Hills, Fenty Beauty, and Wet n Wild.We use cookies and similar tools that are necessary to enable you to make purchases, to enhance your shopping experiences and to provide our services, as detailed in our Cookie Notice. Theresa's favorites from this list include e.l.f. She learned to contour from The School of YouTube and has been practicing her sculpting and highlighting techniques for the better part of a decade. Some palettes have both highlighting shades (which might be matte or shimmery) and color-correctors (usually with more of a yellow or pinkish tint).Ĭommerce writer and Byrdie contributor Theresa Holland has several years of experience covering skincare and makeup products. 'The lighter colors in the kit can be used to either brighten and highlight or just to set your makeup in place if it's a powder formula,' says Ali.

That's why most contour kits come with both deep and light colors. In other words, the opposite hues complete each other, making up the two essential components of a pro-level makeup routine. That said, palettes with several hues allow you to blend colors to create your perfect shade.Ĭontour is the yin to highlighter's yang. For beginners and anyone who doesn't want or need the works, she suggests kits with two to four colors-we recommend the Beauty Bakerie Lemon Bar Face Palette or the Smashbox Step-By-Step Contour Kit. 'Typically, contour palettes have around six to eight colors, but unless you're a makeup artist, you don't actually need that many colors to contour and sculpt your face,' explains Ali. Similar to setting your foundation with a powder, some people use a cream formula and then set it with a contour powder. However, many powder formulas (such as the Anastasia Beverly Hills Powder Contour Kit) are notably silky and smooth, as they're designed to be both blendable and buildable. If you're a beginner, I would suggest you go for powder formula, as it's easier to use,' says Ali.Ĭreams (like the Danessa Myricks Beauty Waterproof Cream Palette) tend to be a little more blendable, and they work well for those with dry skin. 'When looking to buy a contour kit, you have to first decide if you want a powder or a cream formula. What To Look For In A Contour Kit Powder vs. She also posts makeup tutorials on her YouTube channel, which has over a million followers. Andreea Ali is a Paris-based celebrity makeup artist, whose work has appeared in Vogue and Marie Claire.

Amanda Benko is a makeup artist and makeup influencer based in Vancouver.After consulting experts for their picks and considering dozens of options, we landed on this list to give you the best in show. To find the best contour kits available today, we conducted hours of research-evaluating top-rated picks based on their shade range, feel, and finish. For example, I like my contour to be pigmented and blendable,' says Vancouver-based makeup artist Amanda Benko. I also think the formulation is very important. 'When I look for a contour palette, I make sure it is suitable to use on a wide range of skin tones, first and foremost. Many also come with a highlighter color, which is key to creating a pro-level dimension. We appreciate options with multiple shades, allowing you to blend colors for a customized effect. Luckily, contour kits come with everything you need (except maybe a brush and a blender sponge) to achieve the lifted, sculpted look you're going for. The possibilities are endless-that is, if you're equipped with the right products. You can make your nose look straighter, define your jawline, or create the illusion of a longer neck. You can sculpt your cheekbones and make your face appear narrower or shade your upper-forehead to draw attention down to your eyes.

In any case, the makeup technique is truly a game-changer. Believe it or not, people have been contouring their faces since the sixteenth century, but we can all agree it wasn't mainstream until the Kardashian era (which is to say, sometime around 2012).

Elf contour palette reviews