High End Contour Kits Reviewed

When contouring first became popular, I would only really try it out if I was going somewhere, but now it is something that has worked its way into my daily makeup routine. Although, I don't think I've really mastered the whole perfectly sculpted face look, but I do try to feign perfect cheekbones. 

With its ever growing popularity, the beauty world has been flooded with different contouring products over the past few years. I have purchased a few of these to help me conquer the task of contouring and thought I would give my thoughts on each. I have the Smashbox Step-By-Step Contour Kit, the Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Kit (which is actually my sisters but have borrowed it a few times), and the Kat Von D Shade and Light Palette. 

The Smashbox Step-By-Step Contour Kit contains 3 powders and a step by step guide to contouring. Of the three of these palettes this one is the most basic, it has 1 contour shade, 1 bronzer and a matte highlighter and this is really all you need. This was the first contour palette I owned and I still love using it. I think it is the perfect introduction to contouring as it contains just what you need and makes contouring easy. 

Each shade blends so easily and lasts all day on the skin without fading. The matte highlighter is perfect for using on the brow bone as it is quite subtle but still gives light to the skin. The contour shade is an ash toned brown which leaves the face looking sculpted and doesn't look muddy on the skin. The bronzer isn't too orange and helps give the face a bit of warmth. 

The Smashbox Contour Kit comes with an angled brush and is available in 2 shades: Light/Medium and Medium/Dark. It is priced at £35/$45 and is available from Boots and Sephora.

The Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Kit was probably one of the first ones I heard about. This kit comes with 6 different shades, 3 highlighting shades (Vanilla, Banana and Sand) and 3 deeper shades for contouring and bronzing (Java, Fawn and Havana). Of the three darker shades, I find that Fawn is the best for contouring, however, it isn't an overly pigmented powder which means you really have to pack it onto your brush. Sand also lacks pigmentation, it has a slight shimmer to it but it doesn't really show up on the skin. 

I'm also not overly fussed on the packaging of this contour kit, it gets dirty so easily and has no mirror which is quite surprising for a high end palette.

This contour kit comes in 3 different shades Light to Medium, Medium to Tan and Deep. One thing that does set this palette apart from all the other contour palettes is that you can buy refills for it. The pans are removable and there are 27 different shades to choose from for your refill. 

The Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Kit is priced at £39/$40 and is available from Cult Beauty and Sephora.

The Kat Von D Shade and Light Palette has received a lot of hype online. However as it is a Sephora exclusive brand, I had to wait a while until I could get my hands on it. For me this is the holy grail of contouring, I absolutely love this palette. Each shade is so smooth and buttery and blends out effortlessly. There are  6 shades, 3 highlighting shades (Lucid, Lyric and Levitation) and 3 darker shades (Sombre, Shadowplay and Subconscious). Sombre is my go to contour shade it is a perfect ash toned brown. Sometimes I mix a bit of Subconscious in with Sombre if I want my contour a little darker. 

This is quite a bulky palette so it isn't ideal for travelling but I do love that it has a big mirror and the packaging is very sturdy despite it being made from cardboard rather than plastic. 

The Kat Von D Shade and Light Palette is priced at $46 and is currently only available from Sephora. 

Of these three my favourite contour palette is the Kat Von D Shade and Light Palette. But I would definitely recommend trying out the Smashbox Step-By-Step Contour Kit if you're just looking for a basic contour kit. 
Have you tried out any of these palettes? If so let me know what you think of them.