I think it's safe to say contouring is as normal as cleaning your teeth nowadays and back in March I reviewed the NYX Wonder Stick, which is perfect for anyone that's new to contouring. Maybelline have recently released their own version too called the Master Contour which is similar to the NYX version, so of course I had to put this to the test too and here's my thoughts.
Price
These retail for £6.99 each for 7g of product, they also come in two shades Light and Medium which is great as these are easily adaptable to most skin tones.
Packaging
These come in a retractable, easy to use pen format and the stick itself is double sided with the contour on one side and the highlight on the other.
Application
As I mentioned above the stick is double sided and super straightforward to use, it's also great for travel as it's so compact. Both the Light and Medium shades are richly pigmented and look lovely and natural looking on the skin, they also glide on like butter and are trouble-free to blend out with either a brush, sponge or your fingers, but because of the creamy consistency, I would recommend setting your contour with a powder too.
Longevity
These do last all day providing you blend everything well and set with powder.
Overall Thoughts
This is another great, easy to use contour stick from the drugstore which is not only affordable but perfect for travel too. The only thing I would say is because the stick is double-sided when it start's to wear down, it can be a bit difficult to use each side evenly, so I do think it would be more beneficial if the stick was double ended instead. But apart from that I love the fact that this glides on beautifully, blends out effortlessly and is super natural looking too. So if your a beginner to contouring and your after an affordable contour stick that's quick and easy to use, then I defiantly recommend trying this out.
I award the Maybelline Master Contour 4.7 out of 5
With the drugstore constantly launching new products, I thought it would be a good idea to focus a First Impression on one brand, covering and testing several new products at once. First up is Rimmel as they have some really interesting and exciting new make-up releases, that I just had to put to the test. So here's my thoughts firstly on the Kate Sculpting Palette.
I've linked the One Brand First Impression down below where I cover all three new releases, but for the purpose of the blog, I am going to be reviewing each item separately.
Price
This palette retails for £6.99 for £18.5g, which is actually great value for money considering you get three different powders in this compact.
Packaging
I love the copper packaging and clear lid on this palette, as it's easy to see what's inside the compact. It also has a great step by step instructions and picture guide on how to use this product too.
Application
As I mentioned above this sculpting palette has three different face powders including a highlight, contour and blush. Upon application the consistency of these powders were pigmented, although a little chalky, but overall the palette was easy to use thanks to the detailed instructions on the back.
1. Highlight - This shade is a yellow based champagne highlighter. I applied this to the middle of the forehead, under the eyes and nose. The colour was nice but did need building up a little, to be able to see the full effect.
2. Contour - The contour shade was a nice subtle matte brown shade, which had a slight sheen to it. This applied nicely, blended in well and didn't look orange at all.
3. Blush - I picked this up in 002 Coral Glow, but there is also a slightly darker compact for deeper skin tones which is called 003 Golden Bronze. The blush itself was a matte, peachy coral shade. This looked lovely and soft on the cheeks and completed the look nicely.
The overall look was pretty, glowy and natural looking.
Longevity
This for me is a big thing and unfortunately only the contour shade stayed on the longest. The highlighter was still apparent, but only slightly and it did look somewhat patchy and dry in places. The contour shade like I said had the best longevity, although it had faded partly and the blush had completely gone within a couple of hours, which was a shame. So I would recommend taking this with you if your on the go.
Overall Thoughts
Overall this sculpting palette was pretty looking and great value for money for three powders in one. I also loved the detailed instructions on the back and the clear lid on the front so you could see what you were getting. The powders themselves, despite being a little chalky, were pigmented and on the whole applied nicely, leaving you with an overall natural, sunkissed glow. But what let this product down for me was longevity as I do take longevity seriously when investing in both drugstore or high end makeup which was a shame.
So if your looking for an easy to use, contour, highlight and blush kit that's both affordable and natural looking, then this may be for you, but just keep in mind that you would need to keep this compact with you for on the go touch ups.
I award the Rimmel Kate Sculpting Palette 3 out of 5.
Just lately I've been dabbling in a bit of contouring, I say dabbling lightly as I'm by no means an expert at this, but it does make a difference at enhancing your best features and hiding your not so good parts! I recently picked up this highlighting and contouring stick from NYX, as I thought it looked like an interesting alternative to your regular powder and brush contour method, so here's my thoughts.
Price
This retails for £10 for 8g of product all together, which I guess you could say is a little expensive for a drugstore brand, but this is a unique product with a dual ended stick that helps make contouring a breeze. The double ended stick also comes in four different shades, which is great to see. I picked mine up in the Light/Medium shade.
Packaging
I love the box the stick comes packaged in, as it has detailed step by step picture instructions on how to use the product, which is fantastic and defiantly helpful. The stick itself actually looks like a double ended lipstick, but this in fact helps you contour and highlight really easily.
Application
This is by far the easiest contour and highlight product to use, thanks to the stick formula and really helpful instructions. Each end is also shaped differently to help you sculpt and focus on particular areas of the face without difficulty.
Upon application this glided on effortlessly because of it's beautiful and creamy consistency. This also was the perfect shade as the contour colour wasn't to dark and the highlight end was more of a lighter concealer shade, so not shimmery at all. I applied this after my foundation and before powder, I then blended it in well to reveal a super natural and subtle contour, which was just what I wanted. The only thing I would say is because of it's really creamy consistency, you do need to powder lightly, just to prevent the contour and highlight from slipping around on your face.
Longevity
This stayed really well providing you powder with a translucent powder, plus this is almost like your sandwich layer after your foundation and before your powder/bronzer stage and so that helps it to stay put all day too.
Overall Thoughts
I absolutely loved this stick as it was so easy to use, plus it wasn't to dark, orange or shimmery at all. The consistency was beautiful and the longevity great, providing you set the creams with a powder, but apart from that I think for the price this is brilliant for anyone and everyone, whether your just starting out in make-up or your a seasoned pro at contouring and highlighting.
Make-up brushes can be the best investment to make when it come to applying your makeup, as they can totally change how a product looks on the face, but I hear you brushes can be expensive sometimes.
I recently reviewed the Real Techniques Bold Metals range, which is the big premium sister to the original core collections. And although these where amazing brushes, they are pretty pricey, so I wanted to find some budget alternatives. I had a viewer recently recommend to me Revolution make-up which is an affordable drugstore range that also sells brushes, which look very much like the RT Bold Metals Range. I picked up this contour brush to try first, so here's my thoughts.
Packaging
I absolutely love the rose gold packaging, how could you not! The brush also comes boxed with a detailed description on the back on what this can be used for. The brush itself is weighty, with quite a chunky medium length handle, it also has beautifully soft synthetic bristles and is ideal for contouring or face baking.
Application
This brush helps make contouring easier because of it's flat short bristles. I did initially use this to contour all over my face, but found this worked better for contouring the cheeks and jawline or baking under the cheeks as it is quite a large contouring brush.
Overall Thoughts
Although this was my first time using a flat contour brush, I really found this one so easy and a pleasure to use. The synthetic bristles are beautifully cut to help make contouring a breeze and it also helps that this brush is super soft on the face. I absolutely love the rose gold packaging, but I do think the handle is maybe a little bulky to grip on to. Overall this brush is a great price point and is perfect if your a beginner to the contour game. I defiantly look forward to trying more brushes from the Revolution family, so I will keep you updated!
I award the Revolution Ultra Metals Flat Contour Brush 4.5 out of 5
With a wide variety of drugstore brands to choose from nowadays, it's easy to get stuck in a drugstore vortex when choosing make-up. I wanted to start this new series on my YouTube channel called, my Top 5 Drugstore Products Worth Buying. Each episode I will focus in on a particular make-up brand, sharing with you my top five products that are worth buying from each.
I do believe the drugstore has come on leaps and bounds with regards to quality and value for money and although not everything is good from one brand alone, there is defiantly some superstars within each, so here's my top five best of the bunch starting with Collection.
Collection are a brand that have been around ever since I can remember, previously named Collection 2000, Collection bring to the market affordable and on trend make-up products, that are both great quality and accessible. You can find Collection at most drugstores within the UK including, Boots,Superdrug, Wilko and Amazon.
Wearing Ochre from the Eyes Uncovered Palette, Collection Perfection Concealer, Collection Contour Kit, Collection Glam Crystals in Va Va Voom and Collection Lasting Colour in Rosewood.
1. Collection Eyes Uncovered Palette in Nude Bronze £3.99 - I have mentioned this palette in numerous posts before, but the reason why I love this is because it's a steal at only £3.99, the colours are completely wearable for everyday and each shade is super pigmented and long-wearing.
2. Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer £4.19 - This popular concealer is another must have in anyone's make-up bag. I love this because it has a creamy consistency, medium coverage and it lasts. It's also the perfect size to pop in you handbag for touch-ups.
3. Collection Glam Crystals £2.99 - If your off out after work and don't have time to completely get ready again, then these crystal eyeliners are perfect to glam up any look. Not only are these a great dupe for the Urban Decay Heavy Metal Glitter Liners, they come in an amazing array of colours and last all night long.
4. Collection Contour Kit £4.19 - The Collection Contour Kit is one of my newest favourites and for a drugstore contour kit this is great value for money, as you get a lot of product. There's a lot to love about this contour kit as both shades apply beautifully, due to their finely milled consistency and the bronzer or sculpt shade is the perfect, non-orange colour for both bronzing and contouring. The highlight shade reminds me of the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powders as you can get away with applying this all over the face, due to it's subtle ethereal glow.
5. Collection Lasting Colour in Rosewood £2.99 - This affordable lipstick is a beautiful flattering nude/taupe that has a creamy consistency and is a great dupe for MAC Velvet Teddy. I was surprised at how pigmented and buttery this lipstick was and with a great colour selection to choose from, how can you not go wrong with these.
