Makeup Review: Ulta Contour Kit

If you’re checking out my blog because of Instagram, here’s that swatch and review I promised of the new Ulta Contour Kit that was released in November. I use the Anastasia Beverly Hills contour kit in my client kit and the Urban Decay Naked Flushed palettes (original, Streak, and Native) on myself, plus the Too Faced Chocolate Soleil bronzer and Inner Light highlighter, which were both part of the Everything Nice palette. I LOVE the ABH contour kit — it’s a beautiful palette with all the right shades, plus the powders are extremely creamy and pigmented and wear very well. Chocolate Soleil is probably my most favorite bronzer of all time (on me), and you can’t beat the fact that it smells like candy. 🙂

The Price
The Ulta contour kit is a STEAL at $18 (ABH retails for $40 and the Kat Von D Shade + Light contour kit retails for $46. They also have coupons every month, plus a lot of sales, and I was lucky enough to snatch up two contour kits during the Buy Two, Get Two Ulta collection sale (I was hoping to buy four, but unfortunately almost all the stores in my area were sold out, and I didn’t want to wait to receive them in the mail by ordering online). I purchased two contour kits and two angled foundation brushes (all retail for $18 apiece) for — get this — $34. Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat.

The Packaging
The packaging is pretty nice. It is a cardboard case, but it’s quite sturdy, and it opens like a book. There is a guide on the front that shows you a good universal face chart for highlight and contour, and there is a card in the back pocket that goes over which shades are best for your skin tone. I’ve read some complaints that people think they’re either too light or too dark for everyone to use, but I disagree (more on that later)! The cover is magnetic, so you don’t have to worry about getting fallout on your counter or dust on the palette.

Image courtesy ulta.com

The Product
I’m going to be straight up and honest right now — this isn’t as nice as the Anastasia Beverly Hills. But that’s not very surprising — it’s a store brand, and it retails for less than half the cost of the “original,” so I didn’t expect it to be an exact dupe. [Just an aside on dupes in general — in my opinion, there is no such thing. You can find products that are the same color, but they are absolutely not going to wear them same or perform as well as the originals.] However, it is still a really good contour kit, and the powders are very easy to work with.

The left side is supposed to be for lighter skinned individuals, and the right side is supposed to be for medium skinned, but I’ve been mixing and matching them on myself (I am fair/light in the winter and on the cusp of perhaps being light/medium in the summer). This is a very ideal kit for makeup artists who are starting out for kits because you can use them on nearly all your clients, and I think it’s even fine for individuals to purchase who want to try some new looks out. If you’re not entirely convinced or you don’t use a lot of highlight/bronzer on a regular basis, I’d give this a pass simply because you won’t get your money’s worth. There are several brands (including Ulta) who offer individual highlighters and bronzers, and that might be more your style.

This is the left side (with flash):

Photo copyright Daisyhead by Mary 2015

and the left side (without flash):

Photo copyright Daisyhead by Mary 2015

From top to bottom, the shades are: Radiance Highlighter, Warmth Bronzer, and Bombshell Bronzer

I’ve used the Radiance Highlighter twice now and like it quite a bit. It isn’t as shimmery as the Naked Flushed highlighters I use, but it gives a very lovely, natural looking highlight. I haven’t really used the Warmth or Bombshell Bronzers as of yet because I like a darker, more sculpted contour on myself, but I will definitely use them in the next week to give you a full, honest review!

Photo copyright Daisyhead by Mary 2015

I apply the highlighter in a diagonal line across my cheekbone, and I think this is a nice highlight. The powders are actually quite pigmented, so it doesn’t take much product at all to achieve a beautiful glow.

And here is the right side (with flash):

Photo copyright Daisyhead by Mary 2015

and the right side (without flash):

Photo copyright Daisyhead by Mary 2015

From top to bottom, the shades are: Goddess Bronzer, Golden Bronzer, and Lustre Highlighter

I watched a YouTube review on this contour kit before purchasing it by meimeimakeup, and she mentioned the Lustre Highlighter was pretty chalky, and unfortunately not a dupe for the ABH Banana Powder. I’m sorry to say that she is absolutely right. You can see how chalky it is in the pictures, especially the one without flash, and that makes it a little more difficult to apply and blend. I still use it, but it’s definitely NOT my favorite highlighter by far. Golden Bronzer is the most similar to the Chocolate Soleil, and I use it along the hollows of my cheeks, and then I like to add Goddess Bronzer to the area right along my hairline and maybe an inch in on my cheeks to add extra depth and drama. They are SO pigmented! It barely takes any product at all to achieve a gorgeous, sculpted contour.

Photo copyright Daisyhead by Mary 2015

I also applied a bit of bronzer along the sides of my nose to show how easy they are to work with and blend, but that’s not something I do on a regular basis. I know a LOT of makeup artists who always contour the sides of their noses, but I don’t really feel like it’s something I need to do (I might be wrong, and that’s okay). I believe what I used for the sides of my nose was the Warmth Bronzer and a fluffy eyeshadow blending brush (Mirabella Beauty Eye Blender).

I’ve used a couple different brushes with this contour kit to see what I like best — my Morphe Brushes MB8 small buffer and my Morphe Brushes M104. I use my MB8 with all my other bronzers, but to be honest, I really liked the M104 with these bronzers, so I think I’ll stick with that brush/product combination. Because of their high pigmentation, I felt like the MB8 made things a little too dark and a little too dirty looking on my face, while the M104 really kept a pretty clean, even line that was still blendable. I always use the MB33 Jumbo Fan for highlight because I like a big area of glow on my face!

Final Verdict
Definitely get this product if you’re on the lookout for a contour palette you can use everyday. Don’t be scared by the large number of bronzers in the one palette (four) — mix and match and try different combinations! It might really surprise you what you end up liking and using on a regular basis. If you think there are too many colors for you, don’t buy it just for the sake of buying it. Stick with individual highlighters and bronzers if that’s the case!

I really like this contour kit a lot and anticipate using it very regularly. I still love my other products (the Naked Flushed palettes have some of the prettiest highlighters I’ve ever used), but this is a great go-to palette and nice for a more natural look versus something shimmery. Of course, there is the Lustre Highlighter situation, but five out of six isn’t bad, and for the price, you can’t beat it!