Contouring the face seems to be all the rage now.
I blame it on the Kardashian ladies. Ok, blame sounds harsh. I actually really love contouring, so we can thank them for bringing it to popularity!
The art of contouring baffles most women as to how to even get started.
There are many ways to contour – with creams, foundations, or powder products. It can either take a really long time to perfect, or you can do a minimal approach in a short amount of time. It can be costly or you can contour for cheap.
The good news is, there are options for everyone on how to master the contour depending on your budget. I have a “mom budget” so I’m always going to try out the CHEAPER beauty products first, in hopes they’ll deliver HIGH END results.
This NYX Highlight & Contour Pro Palette, $24.99, I’ve been super happy with!!
And for 25 bucks, I think this palette of 8 shades is a steal. You can sculpt your nose, fake sharp cheekbones, and and brighten your skin to look more dewy, all with one product!
I have started using this palette often because I find that contouring with powders is faster and easier to pull off then creams or foundations.
Powder contouring can be done in 5 minutes really.
ALL of the above pics I am showing here, I have used this NYX palette for. And I don’t look overdone, which should always be the goal with contouring. If they can tell you have super light and super dark areas, you’ve gone too heavy handed.
Why I like it:
- because it’s inexpensive. you get 8 colors for $25 bucks. which compared to some other palettes like the Anastasia Beverly Hills one and Kat Von D’s (both more than $40), it’s a steal.
- the powder quality is really good – finely milled and go on smoothly.
- it has an awesome yellow shade included (which counteracts redness and rudy areas around that pop up around the sides of the nose and middle of chin)
- the medium highlighting shade with shimmer I love for the bridge of the nose and top of cheekbones (it’s the furtherest one on the right top hand of palette).
- the 3rd bronzer color from the left is my favorite for shading/contouring. it’s the perfect bronze with a hint of grey so it doesn’t go orange and looks more like hollow areas rather than fake bronzed areas.
- the other 3 dark shades are wonderful for very dark skinned ladies. plenty of pigment to show up on darker complexions and range from cool to warm.
- works well for all skin types – from oily to dry.
What I don’t like:
- the other three dark bronze colors are too dark for my super light skinned clients. this palette would not be ideal for anyone with Nicole Kidman or Emma Stone complexion.
- the lightest highlighting shade (first one on top row on the left) is a bit too white and light for my skintone . however, on a positive note, I CAN use it on my eyelids for a tear duct shimmer!
So as you can tell, I don’t have a lot of bad things to say about this NYX palette. If you are a contouring newbie (and aren’t super fair skinned!) I would say give this one a try. And it comes with a cheat sheet (seen above) to show you some placement ideas.
If you’re curious about some of my favorite brushes for highlighters and bronzers, check my BRUSH GUIDE HERE.
There you have it – a cheap and easy way to start shaping and contouring your face! Have you tested out this NYX Palette yet? What did you think?
