Contouring 101

Everybody seems to be getting into contouring these days, and every brand has a different contouring product on offer, that it can be hard to know which ones to go for. I have chosen a few of my favourite contouring pieces to hopefully help your decision making process. 

Most of my products are powder, but I do have one creme bronzer I like to use for a natural contour in the summer time and that is the CHANEL Soleil de Tan. For me this contours as well as bronzes as I have fair skin, but I definitely need to be as light handed as possible when using this, but it is great for a natural looking bronze and contour. A highlighting product I like to use with this is the MAC Prep and Prime in the shade Light Boost. I don't only use this product when contouring, but it definitely brings out any contouring done. This is a yellow based highlighter and is great to use on the under eye area.

One of the first contouring products I bought was the Daniel Sandler Sculpt and Slim. This is another natural looking product, and I do find the contour shade to be more of a bronzer shade. I do really like this product, but it has definitely been neglected since I upgraded to the Charlotte Tilbury Filmstar Bronze and Glow. This is a very similar product but the finish is just like nothing else I have used. I cannot get enough of the highlight shade in the palette, and the contour shade is perfect for fair skinned girls like myself. 

Another much raved about contouring powder is one that left me a little disappointed when I first started using it. It is the Kevyn Aucoin Sculpting Powder. This is formulated with brown, grey and red pigments so is definitely more of a contour shade than a bronzer shade. This creates natural looking shadows and looks great in photos, but I do find it a little harder to blend compared to other products.

The final product is the most recent in my collection and it is the Anastasia Beverley Hills Contour Kit in the shade light. I have been really enjoying this palette, but I have to say that the contour shades are much better than the highlight shades. I don't know if the highlight shades show enough on fair skin, but the contour shades are perfect. I mostly use the middle shade and the shade on the left side to build on top of this. The shades are really natural looking and blend perfectly. I apply this with the new Real Techniques Bold Metals 301 Flat Contour Brush, and then blend it in with the Real Techniques Contour Brush.