Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Cream Kit in Deep Swatches, Review & How I Use It

As I mentioned earlier this week, I’ve succumbed to the highlighting & contouring craze and have been trying out a few contour kits. The Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Cream Kit was number one on my list and I had planned to pick it up at The Makeup Show, however the brand wasn’t there.  So I ordered it from Macy’s for in-store pickup. Easy peasy.

The Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Cream Kit contains six highlighting and contouring shades that work together to help you sculpt, define and enhance your natural features. Each pan has a good amount of product and is removable to allow for replacement with a refill. The palette comes in three shades Light, Medium and Deep. I purchased Deep and the included shades are a great match for my complexion. The palette includes a highlight, orange corrector, concealer and three contour shades, all leaning very warm.

Nude, Coral, Cinnamon, Chocolate, Espresso, Carob

The creams are a little dry and stiff at first. I find that rubbing my finger in it for a few seconds works to warm them up, then they are very creamy and pigmented. I’ve tried applying with a concealer brush and my fingers, the latter works best for light application, the brush for heavier. They dry pretty fast to a demi-matte finish, but not too fast that you don’t have enough time to blend… and they blend very well.

Nude (highlight) works well alone to create a defined highlight. For daily use I mix with Cinnamon to tone it down for a more natural looking highlight. It can also be mixed with other shades to create a custom highlight for a variety of complexions.

Coral (orange corrector) hides dark under eye circles

Cinnamon can be used as a concealer but it’s a little too orange for me to use it this way. As mentioned above, I mix it with Nude to tone down my highlight. It can also be used as a highlight on darker complexions.

Chocolate (contour) is a little too light for me to use as a “real” contour but it does add warmth and slight definition to the skin. Will be perfect for a very natural, I’m not wearing any makeup look. Will work well to contour lighter complexions with a light hand.

Espresso (contour) is perfect to contour for an everyday look. It’s slightly lighter and cooler than Carob.

Carob (contour) is perfect for a bold contour, but when applied with a light hand will work for an everyday look as well.

Here is how I use the palette to create a natural, everyday look. I used Coral to cancel out my under eye circles, Nude mixed with Cinnamon as a highlight and Carob to contour. I am wearing a light layer of foundation which I applied before. Don’t mind my all over the place application as I’m not as precise when I’m rushing for work. I used a beauty blender to blend my highlight, the micro beauty blender to get under the eyes and blend the nose contour, and a fan brush to blend out my forehead and cheek contours. Here’s the results after I applied the rest of my makeup…

Now I have a really dry under eye area with naturally deep creases. I have yet to master applying a light layer of concealer and have it not crease at all, only when I apply a thicker layer when I’m going out. However, I’ve been getting minimal creasing with the highlight in this kit. The creams wear well all day without moving or fading. I do notice that my skin gets more oily than usual, especially in the t-zone so I have to apply an oil absorbing powder or use the oil absorbing sheets mid day. Overall, I love the Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Cream Kit and can’t wait to master how to use it. It’s a great palette for those who highlight and contour on the regular and a great choice for an MUA Kit. I’d love to see Anastasia sell the empty palette to allow for customization with your own shades (since individuals will be available as refills), that would be awesome!

Available exclusively at Macys.

The product(s) in this post was purchased with my own money.  See my Disclosure page for additional information.