Smashbox step by step contour kit - Review

At the minute contouring is the obsession of the beauty world, everybody seems to be aspiring for the Kim K look that only very skilled make-up artists would tackle in the past. Along with this their only seems to be one main contender in this ever growing market, the Anastasia Beverly hills contour kit, and I think its a shame that a few gems have been slipping through the cracks, so I decided to pick up the new smashbox contouring kit and give it ago after hearing it was a Kim K favourite.

As a novice to contouring this kit didn't look too overwhelming, all of the three colour's where comparable too ones I already use but all compacted into one. The palette retails for £35 or their about and you could say that this was fairly expensive for a three colour palette when others exist with more colour's for a very similar price and it is very true. But personally I don't think the colour's available have ever been as suited to me and universal for many skin tones while remaining compact and travel friendly.

The palette itself doesn't feel especially luxurious, it's made of plastic but is lovely and sleek, I've tested it and its nearly exactly the same size as my I phone 5S. The large size mirror is also a bonus for me and again a perfect travelling palette, and a demonstration is stuck onto half the mirror for those who are needing  a little guide, but its easily removed to make the mirror larger. The best little perk for me is it comes with a small travel size contouring brush that is the perfect size for chiseling those cheek bones and is lovely and soft.

The colour's themselves feel very soft and creamy almost, and once put onto the skin blend seamlessly for a very natural look that doesn't say I've just rubbed a load of contour on my cheeks and now it looks like I've been rolling around in the mud look (no judgement I've been there). The first shade on the left is the 'contour' shade (my personal favorite), I find the colour is very similar to my Kevin Aucoin sculpting powder but just a touch warmer and not as grey, this is what I think will make this colour a lovely contour shade for many skin tones. The middle bronzer colour is a lovely warm middle of the road sort of shade, this isn't anything special for me personally though does remind me of Benefit's Hoola in someways, however it does warm up the complexion nicely and is a lovely edition to this palette so you don't need to take an extra bronzer in your make-up bag. Then moving onto the matte highlight shade which is very much a new concept for me, but I liked the idea of highlighting under my contour which is something I would have never tried with a more sparkly or dewy highlight (sweaty jawline anyone?) but this does a very good job of highlighting all over. It made me feel slightly more sophisticated for some reason using a matte highlighter and it worked perfectly on the brow bone, cupids bow etc.



So overall, is this a product for everyone? I don't think so mainly due to it's price as mentioned earlier. However to the right person this palette really is a game changer, well it has been for me, i finally feel like i know what contouring is and means and the technique is getting there. Its simple, compact, and could maybe be considered a 'best of' for the Anastasia palette if you need the smaller stepping stone into the world of contouring. I thought this palette really deserved a mention if not just for that contour shade which no one but Kevin has got close to yet!

Gemma x