Good evening! I've had my eye on a new contour product for a little while, having used Mac's pressed powder blush in Harmony religiously for the past 2 years or so - I still haven't even hit pan (that product just goes on and on!), but unfortunately I was itching to try something new. I'd read quite a few reviews for Smashbox's step-by-step contour stick trio and originally went into Boots with that on my shopping agenda... however. The lovely lady on the Smashbox counter sat me down and tried both the stick trio and the powder trio on each half of my face, and I'm so glad she did. I prefer a fairly light, blendable contour, and on my skin the contour sticks unfortunately looked a little bit like I'd patted a clump of mud under my cheekbone. The pressed powder however, applied like a dream. 20 minutes and £35 later, I walked out, palette in hand, almost foaming at the mouth with excitement.
I have to admit, I can't do the same job as the lady on the counter, obviously. I feel like it's going to take me a little bit of practice to get the hang of it, especially with me not exactly being the contour queen.
But the colours are lovely - this comes in two shades, I got mine in the lighter shade. From left to right are the contour, bronze and highlight shades. The contour is a cool greyish brown, the bronzer a tad warmer, and the highlight a creamy magnolia sort of shade. All three are matte, and quite densely packed. The bronzer and highlight shade definitely have a higher fallout than the contour, but the palette itself contains 11.47g of product which I think is pretty generous considering the Mac blush I mentioned at the start (which I've been using since forever) is only 6g! I love the packaging too, it's very sleek and streamlined but still easily fits into my makeup bag. The palette is just a little bigger than the Naked Basics palette if that works as a comparison for anyone.
It also comes with a contour brush 'free' (oh that deceptive word), which has actually proved itself to be great. Previously I was using the Real Techniques contour brush from the core collection, which was okay, but actually tended not to pick up as much product or provide as much precision when compared to the Smashbox brush. Below you can see the product in action on my usually very one dimensional face...
I'm very basic and just follow the instructions you get with the palette. Included is a little leaflet which tells you the different contouring techniques for different face shapes, and stuck onto the mirror is a rough guide. I've been using contour just under my cheekbones, around the top of my forehead and hairline, either side of my nose and a tiny bit under my chin - but like I said, only a very light swish as I'm generally not a fan of heavier contour looks. I use the bronzer just above the contour on my cheekbones, then sweep highlighter just above this, and just under, as well as down the bridge of my nose and just above my cupid's bow. The colours work great together, are super buildable, and blend to give a lovely matte finish which also lasts for hours.
This is the finished look...
All in all, £35 well spent. Not something you'll hear me say often! Has anyone else tried this or the contour stick trio instead? What did you think!?
Ruby x
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