Drugstore Contour Highlight Palette Reviews

Even if you aren't a fan of makeup, I'm guessing you've heard the phrase "contour and highlight," right? While this technique has been around for decades (like in drag and theatre) it was brought to the masses by makeup artist, Mario Dedivanovic. Don't recognize the name? His most famous client: Kim K.

Anyway, contour and highlight palettes have been around for a few years and very recently drugstores brands have caught onto the trend. I purchased all of the ones I could get my hands on and tried them out for you. Here are my reviews:

Rimmel Kate Sculpting Kit

• $6.99
• 3 shades, pictured is #3
• Highlight, contour, blush
• I found this at Walgreens, but only saw it once. It is online.
• The shimmer highlight was nice, the contour was ok, but the blush was my fave. Could be hard to find in stores.

Wet N Wild Megaglo Contouring Palette

• $3.67
• 2 shades, pictured is the lightest of the two
• Both are matte, but did not show up very well on skin. I have a friend who tested the caramel one and she had the same results.
• The formula is very nice and it is very silky.

Above are swatches, so you can see the colors on my skin before blending them in. 

A couple of things to note: 

• since these are swatches, I applied them heavily so they could be seen on camera. I also brought them down a little further than I normally would when applying
• I don't have an after picture here, because these palettes deliver a natural-looking c&h that isn't visible enough to tell a difference on camera. I would really have to pile it on to get it to show up on camera, and I didn't want to do that here since I'm sure most of us wouldn't wear the product that way.

Maybelline Master Contour

• $12.99
• 2 shades, pictured is light to medium
• Features matte contour, blush, and shimmer highlight
• This one looked the muddiest on my skin. 
• Did not feel this one was worth the price for my skin tone.

NYX Cream Highlight & Contour Palette

• $14.99
• So far, I have only seen this at ULTA and NYX online, but this brand is sold in box stores, like Target, and a CVS drugstores.
• Features creamy matte contour, highlight and shimmer accent
• I liked the cream contour on my cheekbones, but it looked muddy on other areas of the face.
• Note, there is also another NYX cheek contour palette, which I shared here, but since the shade was so dark on me, I didn't include it in this post.

L'Oreal Infallible Pro-Contour

• $12.99
• Comes in 3 shades, pictured is light
• matte contour and shimmer highlight
• Has a pro-sculpt brush (didn't like it) and a guide on how to place product
• While definitely pricey, I liked the formula of the powder 

Swatches on face of contour and highlight before being blended in.

Arm swatches of highlight and of contour, done in natural light

Overall, contour powder or cream should be more grey or taupe in color, to mimic shadows, unless you have a medium or darker skin tone, where brown would work better. I found that WNW and L'Oreal were the closest to a proper contour color and I liked them the best. Maybelline was my least favorite, in terms of color. I still prefer high-end contour kits/palettes/colors, but these were fun to try and definitely an affordable option.

SEE ALSO: Strobing 101

Have you tried contour/highlight before?

Extra Elle

• I had a great weekend. My plans changed and instead of a quiet night in, I went to my first Atl Hawks game and then out after that.