Anastasia Contour Kit Review and Swatches

One of the most buzzed-about and coveted makeup products is the Anastasia Contour Kit. This kit solidified Anastasia's place in the beauty industry as not just a brow expert, but a makeup genius.

The classic Contour Kit is composed of six shades, three for highlight, and three for contour.

For women of colour, this kit does flatter most shades. I feel anyone below NW43/NC50 won't really benefit from this kit, however, and should consider custom-building their kit from Anastasia's website, or order the "Medium/Tan" version available at Sephora online or in store. 

After hitting the NC45 mark, the highlight shades start to appear a tad ashy, and the contour blends in more with the skin rather than accentuating shadows. The powders themselves are incredibly buttery and smooth. They aren't too heavily pigmented, which is a good thing! Too much pigment would make the contour and highlight look unnatural, and this kit has the right amount of pigment for darker skin tones to avoid the highlights looking ashy and the contours looking too harsh.

Vanilla is a neutral, matte, creamy off-white.
Banana is a warm pale yellow, good for setting undereye concealer, as the yellow will brighten the undereye area.
Sand is a cool beige tone, with subtle shimmer.
Java is a neutral mid-brown, a perfect contour shade for anyone in the NC35-NC42 range.
Fawn is a cool toned gray-brown, perfect for mimicking a face's natural shadows.
Havana is a more warm toned, earthy shade. I prefer this shade for my contour, generally, as the other two contour shades blend too much into my skin colour.

I've custom-built a kit for deeper tones that should hopefully be coming in the mail anytime now! Keep your eyes posted for a review and more swatches.