Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Kit

Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour kit

I've been eagerly awaiting for this palette to become available from Cult Beauty- Link! As soon as it arrived I ordered it as I had heard nothing but good things about it from numerous American beauty bloggers.
This palette is sold as a pro product aimed at makeup artists. There are three highlight shades and three bronzer/contour shades. I can see why it would appeal to both makeup artists, and amateurs alike.
Initially when I bought this palette I wasn't sure how many of the shades I'd be able to use. Since getting the palette, I have used all of them. The shades are suitable for most skin tones as they range from pale cool toned contour to deeper warm toned bronzer/contour shades. As well as highlight shades (shimmer and matte) ranging from pink tones yellow toned.
The pans are magnatised and therefore removable, I assume the palette was designed this way to make it convenient for artists to put the pans in Z palettes or to switch them around as new shades become available- More are to be released very soon and are going to be sold individually. This palette itself is made of cardboard and does not have a mirror. I can see why they may have decided not to include a mirror since the palette is really aimed at makeup artists and they wouldn't need a mirror when applying the product on different clients. However I would have liked them to include a mirror as it would be handy when travelling.

These powders are smooth, finely milled, blendable and highly pigmented. The lasting power for all of these shades is 8/9 hours. Each pan in this palette has 3.0g/0.11oz of powder.

Vanilla

Vanilla-This is a pale matte beige shade with peachy pink undertones. This can be worn as an under-eye highlighting powder to set concealer, or can be used to highlight the centre of the face when contouring. Personally, I have found this shade has a slightly powdery dry texture - therefore I have found when I used it under my eyes over time it tended to exaggerate the fine lines around my eyes. Although its texture is slightly powdery the shade is still finely milled and blendable. I like to use it to highlight the centre of my face.

Banana

Banana- A pale matte highlighting powder with a yellow undertone. Again, like Vanilla, this can be used under the eyes or in the centre of the face as a highlight. This shade also has a drier powdery texture. Unfortunately I ran into the same under-eye issue with this as I did with vanilla. However, it does work nicely in the centre of the face as a highlighter.
After using both of these shades I would say Vanilla is more suitable for paler to medium skin tones whereas Banana would be more suitable for medium to deep skin tones.
Also I would like to mention I do tend to have drier skin - which is also probably why these powders aren't great under my eyes.

Sand

Swatches from left: Vanilla, Banana, Sand

Sand- This is a extremely smooth, shimmery champagne highlight shade with peach undertones. There is micro-shimmer through this powder. However, when this highlight is applied it leaves a sheen on the skin as opposed to a shimmer. It is a ideal to highlight the tops of the cheekbones.
I have found the best way to apply this is with a duo fibre MAC 188 face brush as it only picks up a small amount of product, which gives greater control when applying it (See my favourite brush post for more information here).

Java

Java-This is a neutral toned matte brown shade ideal to use as a contour or all over bronzer. This shade has a smooth, blendable texture and would be suitable for people wearing MAC shades NC20-25.

Fawn

Fawn- A pale brown shade with grey undertones. Because of the grey undertones it enables me to easily create shadows on the face. Again this has a soft, smooth blendable texture and has excellent colour payoff.

Havana

Havana- This is a darker matte warm toned bronzer, ideal for adding warmth to the face for summer (when I have a tan). I think this would suit anyone that is a MAC NC30 or darker. This is a soft, smooth, pigmented shade.

Swatches from left: Java, Fawn, Havana

I like to apply these contour shades with my Blank Canvas Cosmetics F30 sculpting brush. Check out my Instagram for a pic here. The only problem I have encountered using this brush is that it is wider than the pan. However it is great for applying the powder to the contours of the face. I lay the brush flat to apply the contour powder under the cheekbones starting at the ear and blending forwards and upwards. I also turn the brush at a 45 degree angle to shade in the outer edges of my forehead (triangle between hairline to the outer arch of the eyebrow) and again turning it flat to blend along to hairline.

In the below photo I am wearing Vanilla down the centre of my face, Fawn underneath my cheekbones with a small amount of Java on top. I also applied Java along my temples and hairline. I also have Banana under my eyes and finally I applied a small amount of sand on the tops of my cheek bones as a highlight.
For my eyes, I applied Vanilla all over and a mixture of Java & Fawn in the crease.

Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour kit 

Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour kit

All in all I really liked this palette - I was a little disappointed that the highlight powders exaggerated the fine lines around my eyes, but I do have dry skin so it's probably more to do with my skin than the powder itself. However the contour shades worked really well on me.

Please note I purchased all of the products mentioned. The above links are not affiliate links.
I hope you have enjoyed this post and found it useful!
LL
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