The contour trend has been quite popular over the last several years.

I mean, my husband even knows what contouring is (I just went and asked him to make sure! haha). That’s saying something. Sure, it’s nothing new to the makeup world, but the volume and diversity in contouring products is a clear indication that this trend has caught the makeup industry by storm. There have been some shifts, with the “glow” trend lately focusing more on highlighting than creating shadows with the contour, but it all sort of follows that contouring principle.

I am fully on the contour bandwagon and won’t be looking back anytime soon. My deceptively slimmed down nose thanks me. It’s amazing what a few well placed shades of makeup can do.

I’ve tried my fair share of contour products. There’s definitely been quite a few makeup “misses”. But there have also been a few “hits” along the way. They’ve taken up permanent residence in my makeup bags (yes, it’s plural.)

So here’s what I’ve found…

P.S You may have a completely different opinion on these. What works for me, may not work for you and your skin! But hopefully, this gives you a good place to start looking.

I’ll start with the misses:

Makeup Revolution Ultra Cream Contour Palette:

I got this when i first started playing around with contouring. Armed with this palette and some youtube tutorials, I gave it a go. The price on this palette is affordable, but that’s about all it has going for it. The texture was a bit sticky, it wore off super quickly, and it didn’t seem to blend very well for me.

Ulta Face Sculpting Color Stick:

I used this for a while, because I wasn’t sure what else to try and I was too nervous at this point to invest in a more expensive product.  It looked kind of greasy going on and it was sort of tricky to blend. More often than not, when I added any sort of setting powder after blending, the powder would stick to it and then if you tried to brush it off/blend it more it would strip off the contour as well as the foundation I had so carefully applied underneath. Leaving me with a “bald spot” on my cheeks. Rather frustrating.

Hoola Cream-to-Powder Quickie contour stick:

I received a sample of this, so I hesitate to write to strongly about it since i really haven’t used it very much. However i haven’t loved the results with this product either, even though I’ve liked other Benefit Cosmetic products and it’s higher quality (read: pricey). There was one time where it did the whole bald spot poor blending thing like with the Ulta Color stick. I didn’t notice it till I was out of the house and checked my makeup in the car in full daylight. Mortifying. My biggest issue though is just that the color isn’t right for my skin tone. I look better with cool shades for foundations/contours and this is just a little to warm and orange for me. On someone else it probably looks great though.

Hits:

NXY Wonder Stick:

I’ve finally landed on this product as my go-to cream contour product. It’s actually quite affordable being a drugstore product! I have it in the “universal” shade and it’s a good color for my skin tone. Not too orange-y. I have to admit, I don’t ever use the highlighting part of it, I prefer a powder highlight for my cheekbones and a super light shade of concealer for highlighting under my eyes, down the center of my nose, and up through the center of my forehead. I use the darker shade in this contour stick for my cheekbones, down the sides of my nose, and on my forehead along my hair line. This product blends well for me, and when you take time to set it with some powder properly, it stays on pretty well! I might have to touch it up in the evening after nannying and working out, but that’s to be expected.

Too faced Chocolate Soloeil Matte Bronzer:

This stuff is a dream, folks. I did quite a bit of research before taking the plunge to invest in this product. My only regret is not getting it sooner. It has lasted me super long making the cost worth it. (My husband got it for me for Christmas this past year, and It’s just now starting to run out. That’s with using it daily.)  It smells amazing, like chocolate, but not in a weird why-am-i-smearing-chocolate-on-my-face kind of way. It’s got great pigmentation, blends like a dream, and I’ve used it on several different skin tones. It’s looked gorgeous on everyone. Plus, it’s great that it’s matte- I shy away for super shimmery products because I don’t want to emphasize my pores. I use this after the Wonder Stick in the same areas, to further set the cream product and to amp up the contour. I also add it along my jaw line and on my neck a bit to blend and define my jaw.

That’s probably more than you ever wanted to know about these contour products, but I hope it was a little bit helpful. Let me know what some of your favorite contour products are in the comments!

Have a lovely Weekend!