Current Contour Makeup Products

I am no Makeup Artist or expert by any stretch of imagination but I love makeup and I am willing to learn more techniques every chance I have. I think I may have stumbled upon contouring and highlighting about a few years ago and I was intrigued. I watched countless YouTube videos to see how contouring and highlighting can change how a person looks. I have always admired how many girls on YouTube effortlessly create chiselled faces with a few products and flawless blending techniques. The truth is contouring and highlighting sometimes look best on print (magazines), in photos and in videos/films as opposed to real life. It's all about the angles and tricking the eyes but in real life, you sometimes can tell. Some people have perfected contouring and highlighting so well that they look flawless in real life (baby steps!!). Anyway, I started off with just contouring my cheekbone and nose using powder products only; in fact till date, I have only ever used Sleek Makeup Contour Kit and the Face Form to contour. Today’s  post is about what products I use to contour; I have christened them my Contour Combo Duo because they are all I use at the moment to contour my face. I won’t talk about highlighting today. That’s another topic for another day although I am aware they go hand in hand.

Sleek Contour Kit in Medium//Link 
I think this has to be the perfect kit for contouring especially for beginners. Sleek Makeup have another palette hybrid that combines a contour, highlighter and blush (the Face Form) which I have reviewed here. I can say hand on my heart I use the contour side everyday and you can see from the pictures how well loved it is. I decided to go back to an old favourite which is the Sleek Contour Kit. It comes in various shades: light, medium and dark and there is something for everyone. I have the medium and I think it is absolutely amazing on my complexion. I think I prefer the Sleek Contour Kit to the Face Form because it is more portable. Both the Contour Kit and Face Form essentially contain the same products except for the blush which the Face Form has. Anyway, I use the contour side to give some definition to my face. I usually start out with my cheek bones (from my ears) and then do a "3" shape around my temples and jaw line. I usually just concentrate most times on my cheekbones and I love to use the Real Techniques Contour Brush and recently, the Real Techniques Duo Fibre Contour Brush which I love. When I have a full face of foundation and I am going all out, I contour my nose which I think is even easier to do than my cheek bones but I don't do it often. I use a smaller brush for this and I start from near where my eyebrows begin all the way to the sides of my nose for a slimmer shape. I think I may do a tutorial soon (fingers crossed).The Sleek Contour Kit is very well pigmented and I always start with very light strokes and I blend in before building it up. It's just perfect. If you don't know what product to start contouring with I highly recommend this. 

Black Opal True Colour Foundation Stick in Suede Mocha// Link

I've noticed that quite a few YouTube Beauty Gurus have been using stick foundations to contour  (I think I may have noticed a few years ago) and it gives a more natural finish. However, I never even considered buying one because I was satisfied with the Sleek Contour Kit. Then, NARS launched their NARS Multiples which I lusted after for a while but gave up my fantasy because it was way too pricey at £30. I could not justify buying a product so expensive when I was not even sure how it would look on me or how I could effectively use it. This all changed when I watched the beautiful Jennifer from Jennifer Olae Makeup talk about the Black Opal True Colour Foundation Stick in Suede Mocha. She had used it several times in tutorials on her YouTube Channel so the haunt for this product began. I am not new to Black Opal foundation sticks at all because my Mum uses them frequently when she is not using her Fashion Fair Foundation.  It is a little difficult to get Black Opal here in the UK but if you check Afro Hair and Beauty Salons and some Asian ones, you would find them. I got mine in my local Hair and Beauty Salon where I buy all things hair and it was only £6.99. I finally found it on Amazon but it was £10.49 which is a little crazy; it makes me want to buy a few back ups from my Hair and Beauty Supply Store.



Black Opal offers a wide range of shades for this foundation stick but I got one of the darkest shades- Suede Mocha because it appears as a lovely contour against my complexion. I find that using a foundation stick or cream contour gives a more natural contour which looks more flattering than a powder contour. I like how easy it is to blend in texture my foundation/concealer. With this method, you need to ensure you blend really well (it is the absolute key for many makeup techniques). I find that I am getting better with practise although the Black Opal Foundation Stick is ever so easy to work with. I am absolutely in love with it and I think I may actually get a shade closer to my skin tone so I can use it as a concealer. I just apply it really lightly (it is very pigmented) on my cheekbones starting from my ears. I use it directly from the tube and I think it is best that way and gives me the best finish. It applies like a dream and it is really soft. It does not drag against my skin and it also feels light on application and afterwards. It blends really well once I buff it in with a brush and I cannot think of anything I hate about it.

How I use both of them

Before now, I used one or the other but I recently started using both of them and I think it looks much better and longer lasting. I start out with the Black Opal True Colour Foundation and swipe lightly on the areas I wish to contour (cheek bones, jawline, temples, etc). Then, I do some blending in with my brushes so it does not look crazy. Then, I lightly sweep my contour brush across the Sleek Contour Kit to further define my cheek bones and to also set the Black Opal contour. They both go so well like if they were made for each other which is why I christened them my Contouring Combo Duo. I love the results and I will post a picture of how it looks soon. (I forgot to take a nice picture)

Cost

I am currently pleased with my routine although I am open to try new products. These two products go so well and I particularly love that they were so inexpensive. Both of them cost less than £15 which is really incredible. I know they will last me a long while. The Sleek Contour Kit retails for £6.49 and you can get it the drug store. I have noticed it is quite difficult to find these babies in-store in Boots and Superdrug and I have no idea what they are playing at. You can find it online though; thank goodness for that. As mentioned, Black Opal True Colour Foundation Sticks are not sold in the drug store here in the UK but you can find them in Afro Hair and Beauty Salons and online on Amazon. It retails for £6.99. If you live in Nigeria, you can buy directly from Kuddy Cosmetics who are one of the distributors in Nigeria so you can be rest assured it is a genuine product. I believe it retails from N1300.

Overall Thoughts

If you can’t afford the NARS Multiple, I suggest trying out the Black Opal True Colour Foundation Sticks as I am guessing they are very similar. I have not tried the NARS version but they look really similar from what I have seen in pictures and videos.  If you also can’t afford the Bobbi Brown Foundation Stick (review here), I also recommend trying one of these babies out for a quarter of the price. As for the Sleek Contour Kit, I believe they are one of the best drug store contour kits here in the UK (I know it's the Cover Girl Bronzer in the US). I have not tried anything else that comes close to its perfection. That’s pretty much my lovely duo. What are your favourite Contour products?
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