If you follow me on Twitter, you may have seen me tweeting relentlessly about the Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Kit from when I ordered it until it arrived on my doorstep and I tried it for the first time. I’m not being dramatic - I honestly think I was the most excited about it as I’ve ever been for a new makeup product. Before buying it, though, I almost never found the time to do any contouring, meaning this was a bit of a risky splurge. But I’ve used it every single day (that I’ve worn makeup) since I got it.
I had always been tempted to buy this ever since it came out, and as I got more and more interested in trying my hand at contouring. It wasn’t until the lovely Jasmine wrote a review on it that I decided I needed it and ordered it within 5 minutes of reading her post.
I’m totally in love with this palette, though there are a couple negatives for me. My biggest gripe with the palette is that there’s no mirror. The mirror in my room doesn’t get good lighting, so I’m always doing my makeup using the mirrors that come in palettes while sitting next to a window - it’s a little finicky to handle this and then another palette for its mirror. The second thing (that I actually don’t mind, but some people might) is that the highlight shades aren’t quite light enough for me - but I’m incredibly pale, so it’s pretty understandable. I don’t mind this because the two matte shades are the perfect shade match for my skin, so I like mixing them to use as normal setting powders. Despite having pink-toned skin, I’ve used the yellow powder a lot for setting the concealer around my nose - it does a fabulous job of canceling redness and making sure my concealer stays put all day. I use Sand as my everyday highlight - some people’s reviews have said that this is an intense highlight, but since it’s the same color as my skin, it just adds a subtle sheen on me that I love.
The contour shades are where Anastasia has really hit it out of the park. There are two cool-toned shades, Java and Fawn, and one warm-toned powder, Havana. I’ve been using all three of these, to my surprise. I use Fawn the most, for everyday contouring, but I actually really love using Java very lightly to just deepen whatever I want - I tend to add a little under my cheekbones after I’ve already blended Fawn there. You can see in the picture how much more pink-toned Java is than Fawn, so it complements my skin really well. I like using Havana as a traditional bronzer, since it's a little too warm on me to use as a contour.
The reason I’ve gotten even more use out of this palette than expected is because I really love using the shades as eyeshadows as well. I’ve been wearing Sand all over the lid, with one of the contour colors in the crease. I'm going away this weekend and I'm almost positive I'll just be packing this and no other eyeshadows. The powders are so creamy and soft, and they’re pigmented, but not so pigmented that you get harsh streaks of color on your face. Everything is so blendable, and I’ve caught on to contouring rather quickly with this palette. I actually have cheekbones now!
Have you tried this palette?
