I don't recall if Max Factor had any contouring products before, but they recently released their sculpting palette and they made it an all-in-one & fits everyone type of product that will probably appeal more to makeup artists or those who often do makeup for other people than your average makeup user. There are similar palettes on the market, though not that many that are sold in drugstores here, most of the competition is online. There are eight cream products in the palette, four are contours, two are lifting concealers and two are highlighters. 

Texture: The creams in this palette are more on the thicker, waxier side. While this means it's a lot less messy than creamier formulas, it also means they work best when they've been warmed up a bit before application, so I find fingers are actually the best way to pick up and apply these on the skin. For blending you can use a brush for a more speedy result, though for concealers I still find it's best to tap them on the skin with fingers for a more seamless blending result. Pigmentation differs and it's quite simply that the lightest have the least colour pay-off, while the darkest shades hold most pigment. Contours work ok and are pigmented when you apply them, but they are also very blendable, which means you need to build them up slowly, which at contouring isn't a bad thing, but it takes time. I can only grab the colour with fingers and apply it on the skin because not even my densest brushes could pick the colour, but they blend easier and better with a brush once on the skin.

Contours

There are four contours in this palette, three are warm and one is a cool taupe one. 

Top left - a warm caramel shade.

Bottom left - deep chestnut brown.

Top right - cool taupe. This is the only shade that fits my porcelain skin tone. 

Bottom right - a medium brown. This one looks almost cool in the palette, but it's warm on my face.

Concealers

Both concealers lack pigmentation for any significant coverage. It'd say they've got light-medium coverage if I layer it.

Top - a neutral pale shade. It's a tiny bit too dark for my NC-W10 skin tone, but it should be perfect for NC15.

Bottom - a warm NC25 shade.

Highlighters

I can't call these highlighters on my skin tone, since both aren't pale enough to create a lighter/brighter effect on my skin tone and neither do they have shimmer to create an illuminating effect. They should work on darker skins a lot better. Pigmentation is the same as at the concealers, so not particularly good. 

Top - neutral pale shade. I'm impressed that Max Factor created something so neutral and not pink.

Bottom - yellow toned pale shade. 

 Lightest contour, concealer and highlighter. You can't see the last two.

Staying power: I could only check how long the contours last, since the concealer and highlighters did a poor job of covering anything and I couldn't tell when they were gone. The contour lasted decently for a cream product. I couldn't say in hours, but it holds on quite a while, though not to the end of the day. It's of course a lot better if you have a good base and if you set it with powder.

Packaging: The palette has a tight closing system, which is very important at creamy products. I also noticed the pans at the back kind of look like the could be replaceable, but I haven't tried to push any of them out and I haven't seen any individual replacements being sold.

Price and availability: The palette is sold in drugstore and I think I was the price tag was 19.99 €, which comes at 2.5 € per pan.

I like the idea and it's great that they created such a product, but it could be a bit better. I can work with the contours and even from that just two colours, while the rest of the palette is sadly a waste for me. The concealers are not the best in terms of coverage (they can be used as highlighters on darker skin tones) and the highlighters need to be shimmery for me, because my skin tone is already too pale for creating light areas. But for those have a darker skin tone or need something like this when they do makeup on other people, at least the contour shades are a nice thing to have. For me I'll stick to L'Oreal's Infallible Sculpt palette in 01 because I don't need any extra shades and I don't even use contours much.

I took a liking to this already in the shop and the reason it appealed to me is because it actually has everything you need in one palette, plus the blush looked like my type of shade, though I discovered at home it's a lot peachier than I imagined. You get a contour powder, a matte powder, a blush and a highlighter. Apart from the highlighter, all shades are matte, but the highlighter is not as strong, so this is a palette for those who want a more mat look.

Texture: All shades are very powdery and loose, so when you swipe your blush in one shade, it's not uncommon that bits fly into other pans. I don't find these the best powders, since you need to be very careful at application because if you don't swipe the brush with product on the back of your hand first to basically distribute the powder better, it applies blotchy on the skin, thought it's not that odd for more pigmented products. I forgot to do that once because I was in a hurry and I ended up with an espresso eyeshadow stripe on my cheek, which I had a hard time blending it nicely/fixing it. The blush is much the same, applies unevenly and I have trouble blending it. I got a Trend it Up blush at the same time and the difference in ease of application is vast. The other two powders are so light in tone that you can't mess up anyway, but the Strobe Matt powder actually has some more coverage which comes handy under the eyes.

Contour: is a cool brown shade that's very pigmented. It should fit most of light-medium skin tones, but on very pale like mine, it could be a bit more grey. Compared to Catrice's Contour palette, it's a shade darker, but similar in tone, maybe a bit more brown.

Strobe Mat: a light, yellow-toned skin tone shade. It has some additional coverage and it matches my skin tone almost exactly, so I can't use it for highlighting, but it will work on medium skin tones.

Blush: a muted peach shade. It looks pinker in the pan, but there is almost no pink when on the skin, at least on me. I have nothing similar in my collection and all my peach blushes are much brighter.

Strobe Pearl: Highlighter doesn't appear to be much of anything in the pan and also as you can see on my arm swatch, it's barely visible, however, on the cheeks is gives a decent glow. It's not strong, but it gives a nice amount of radiance on the skin that will please those who like a more natural look, but I feel it will be underwhelming to many glow lovers. The shade is one of those that fits many skin tones - a classic champagne colour.

Staying power: It lasts averagely on the cheeks and the base itself has a lot to do with it. 

Packaging: The whole thing is like a little thin book. It's made of durable cardboard and it feels like it's going to last if you don't plan to shuffle it in makeup bags, though it's very light and travel friendly. I'm a fan of the idea of having everything in one place, I just wish that the texture were a bit better pressed so shades wouldn't mix. You also get a good set of instructions.

Price and availability: These are sold for 14.99 € in Slovene DM's, it's probably about the same in Douglas. This comes to 3.75 € per pan for 3.8 g, which is a similar price to Catrice's Illuminating blushes.

This is a palette that has so much potential and it's a decent palette with everything you need, yet I wish the powders were smoother and easier to blend. The shades are good for light-medium skin tones, so it should fit a lot of people, though those with cooler skin tones may find the blush a bit too warm. The price isn't too high for the amount of product you get, though cheaper, really good options exist as a direct competition, but I have yet to see one that includes a mat skin toned powder for which BeYu gets a plus from me.

Also read Taya's review here for more opinions.

*PR product.

L'Oreal embarked on creating a large selection of contouring products including foundations and blushes, but I haven't seen the foundations in Slovenia. I got both shades of Infallible Sculpt palette to try, which are actually just one set of the many contouring products I got to try recently, but I have to say that these are my favourite in the bunch. I'm referring only to the lighter shade of the two, and even that only the contour shade.

Texture: unlike my other cream contours these come in a palette and they decided on a waxier consistency, which was clever because otherwise the brush would have picked up too much, however, now that I'm through the top layer, I need to be quite careful with it. It feels lighter on the skin than stick contours, it doesn't simply blend out too much and you can get a better application on the area you want. 

Colours: I have both colour combinations, though actually there isn't much of a difference in the darkness on the contour shades, instead it's more about the undertones. Both shades in the palette contain no shimmer. 01 Light/Medium is a combination of a neutral skin tone shade and a taupe shade that's still more brown than grey, but it's the greyest out of the cream contours I own. Therefore it fits me best and creates a believable shadow on my pale skin. The highlight shade is basically the same as my skin tone, so it doesn't do much of anything on me and I can't even use it as a concealer for example because it's too sheer.

Medium/Dark is a much warmer duo. The highlight has strong yellow tones, but it's again without shimmer and the contour side is very warm, actually closest to Wet n Wild's Dulce Leche palette. You can see on my swatches that 02 isn't that much darker than 01.

  

Staying Power: I noticed nothing special in terms of staying power. The fact is that it also depends on the base, but for extra staying power. I'd apply a powder product on top.

Packaging: The palette is actually quite thin and I don't think there's that much product in it (10 g), but it's made well enough. L'Oreal included quite a detailed and pretty good set of instructions how to apply products, plus the mirror is a very good size, so it's actually useful.

Price and availability: The price is 10.99 € in local drugstores.

I'm still not blown away by the contouring trend, but so far this one appeals to me the most for my skin tone (the light version). The rest cream contours I have are a bit too warm, but this has enough grey for it to fake a shadow. The packaging isn't the most practical for picking up the product, but it's not that bad. All in all another nice drugstore buy.

Here's something kind of new - a drugstore contour powder kit where both products are matte. An interesting idea, but does it work? Well, not on my skin tone, but I can see it work on darker skin colours than mine. This holds a high rating on Makeup Alley, but I get the feeling it was mostly reviewed by people who aren't pale as snow like me and probably have a warm undertone. Out of all the contouring products I own, this is definitely the warmest palette, so if you find most such products ashy, this might be for you.

Texture: These swatch a bit chalky for my taste, though the powders are soft, they're just a bit dry. Both are nicely pigmented and yes, also the highlighter, which tend to be more sheer in other palettes. They apply ok, though I need a bit more time blending the contour.

Highlight: It's a slightly yellow tinted matte powder, but it's actually very pigmented. As a highlight on my face, it doesn't do much of anything because it actually matches my skin tone well, in fact so well that I've been using it as a powder, but not in a way that you would expect - I found a great use for this. Since it's very pigmented I use it to set the concealer, as it adds more coverage, but it doesn't look that terribly heavy. When I had a few spots, this was perfect and it works great under the eyes as well.

On the lips is Revlon Ultra HD Matte Lipcolour 600 Devotion.

Contour: The darker shade in the palette is very warm. Unfortunately my skin needs a greyish taupe shade to create a fake cheekbone effect (Nyx Taupe works great as well as most taupe eyeshadows), this however, is just too hazelnut brown, so it works better as a bronzer on me. Those with a warm/yellow undertone might find this works for them better. Regardless, it actually didn't look off in pictures. 

Staying power: I really have nothing special to say here. I don't notice when it's gone, but as a powder is keeps my concealer in place for much longer.

Packaging: I've been using this quite regularly as a powder and I found that I so miss a mirror at this. I really would be so handy. The packaging is a simple plastic one, not the best quality but also not the worst.

Price and availability: Mine is from Click2Chic where it's 5.99 €.

Not that I'm massively into contouring, but when I saw Catrice added a creamy version of a contour product in their permanent range, I wanted to try it because there weren't that many cream contours in our drugstores. Well in the next few months I ended up with three, all drugstore. I own Catrice's powder version which I quite like, so I hoped this will be good too and when I swatched it the shop, I loved how taupe the shading stick looked, so great for my pale skin. However, I ended up not liking it as much as the powder version, at least as far as the contour side is concerned, but the highlighter is lovely and it reminds me of an old favourite. I have the version for light skin.

Texture: Both sides very creamy and pigmented, though the contour is a bit creamier. Both blend with ease when I use the Real Techniques contour brush, in fact you have a lot of time to blend it because it takes long to set and this ease of blending turned out to be a minor minus because it blends into a too large area. Using a precise, thin brush is a better idea at this product, but with fingers it's just not working and it looks messy and patchy. The highlighter isn't an issue at all and it blends well with all tools.

Contour: The shade is a taupe colour than is leaning more to brown than grey. Compared to the shade from the powder duo, it's a lot more pigmented, darker and warmer, while compared to Taupe by NYX it's a lot more brown. It's a bit too warm for my skin tone, even though on the pictures it works and gives my face a more sculpted look. Due to a small size, it's very easy to apply this very precisely, including on the sides of the nose, which is much better than at Beauty UK's version, but blending is a bit more challenging if you want to retain most of the intensity at the edge and then having the product gradually blended out, since it's a very creamy, blendable product, so you quickly blend away too much.

Highlighter: it's a similar shade to the one in the palette duo by Catrice, but a more peachy version of the champagne shade and a lot more intense. It's similar to the long discontinued Jemma Kidd's cream highlighter in Ice Gold and has an impressive glow, though not like theBalm's Mary. Out of all the contour kits I got, this is my favourite highlighter.

Comparison swatches with Beauty UK's version and Wet n Wild Contour Palette are here.

Staying power isn't that impressive at the contour side, but the highlighter manages to hang on longer. I would set the contour with powder products, since the texture is so creamy, it tends to move.

Packaging: It's a dual sided design, which I think it's so much more practical than for example Maybellline's and it allows you to be precise because these are not just thin, but the contour is also pointed. The sticks are actually very small, which is a bit of a bummer for such a price, especially since they are so creamy that they won't last long. 

Price and availability: I got mine in Müller for 4.69 €.

Nice on a budget, but not if you're very pale or have a prominent cool undertone. Catrice did a more universal shade that fits light and probably also medium skin tones, but it also has enough grey in it, so it won't look too warm on those skin tones. The shape is great, especially the contour is very precise, so it's easy to apply where you want it. I would set this with powder, even though it's not as greasy feeling as Beauty UK's, but it's so creamy it tend to slip from the skin fast if you don't powder it. If you only have 5 € set for your contour kit, I'd still get the powder one instead of this one, but for porcelain skin I kind of prefer the new cream L'Oreal one. Out of the three contours I  got, I find L'Oreal's Infallible Sculpt in light to be the best for my skin tone, while I've forgotten about this one and Beauty UK's .

Have a great day!

There has been an explosion of contouring products in the drugstore ranks. Almost every brand came up with their version, some more successfully than others, but we no longer only have Sleek's little palettes when we want to contour on a budget like a few years ago. I actually got three in just one month to try and I'm not even that into contouring (I only very occasionally use something on the cheeks), but it was nice to test the newbies. Beauty UK launched both the powder and cream versions, the latter I got, but both version come in several shades. I got the lightest two in both contour and highlighter sticks. I have one other creamy contour duo from Catrice and they are actually quite similar.

Texture: These are very siliconey-creamy, have a great colour payoff when you touch the skin and glide with ease. Blending comes very easy with these, which could be a double edged sword at contours as you want to keep some intensity and too much blending turns that sharp contour into a muddy blob on you cheek. I suggest using a thin flat brush like this metallic contour brush or a small pointed fluffy brush like Real Techniques contour brush, I saw some people using a beauty blender with this, but I never tried it. The highlighter shade is not at all problematic to apply, in fact it's one of the easiest ever, I just run it on the high-points of my face and blend in seconds with fingers. These feel greasy to the touch when they are on the skin and they don't really set, so I would suggest using a light dusting of powder over them.

Highlighter: I got the shade called No.3 Beige Highlight which is a gold-beige-champagne colour with warm, but not gold reflect. It's similar to Catrice's version (swatched bellow side-by-side), but more yellow, yet the glow is the same, so very natural looking, however, it could turn greasy-looking on oily skins.

Contour: my shade No.1 Medium Contour comes in a scarily brown packaging, but the actually product is a lot cooler, so don't judge the book by its cover at this product. It's a medium cool brown shade, there's not much grey in it, but there is some that gives it that shadow effect. It's very similar to Catrice's version, only a shade lighter. This is not the best contour on me, though on pictures it works, but in person, it's just too warm. Better than for porcelain skins like mine, this would suit light-medium skin tones with a warm undertone, while those with pink will find this muddy looking. It's very pigmented when you apply it on the cheeks, but most of it disappears with blending, so you need to build it up gradually.

I have a picture of me facing the camera with the contoured nose here, I just didn't want to include it in the post because I really dislike myself with a nose contour (in general, not because of the wrong shade like here). I've just never been a fan of the trend.

Staying power: I didn't really notice anything special in regards to the staying power. At the end of the day, I couldn't tell if the it's the highlighter on my cheeks or my natural shine, but the contour wasn't' there when I was removing the makeup with micellar water. Both products are so slippery, they probably slid off, that's why I think that with powder they would perform better.

Koda BEAUTY-UK vam na Ličila.si prinaša 15% popust na neznižane izdelke Beauty UK do konca oktobra.

Using a different camera for reference and a much lighter contour just under my cheekbone.

I expected the shade won't be that good for me, but we very fair people are special little snowflakes who need a very cool taupe contour to pull it off, but of course, Beauty UK created shades that fit a wider selection of skin tones, as I think these might work both for light and more medium skin tones, preferably with a warm undertone. The highlighter is lovely for those who want a natural looking grow. I think that it would be more practical if the contour had a sharper design for a more practical application, but if you have good face brushes, application shouldn't be a problem. These are very similar to Catrice's offering, however, you get more product. I tried to find you a review of someone with a darker skin tone, but I can't find any, but there are a few quick videos on Beauty UK's Instagram.

Have a great day!

*PR products.