Smashbox Step-by-Step Contour Kit Review

Hello everyone,

This review will be on the “Smashbox Step-by-Step Contour Kit” in the shade “Light/Medium.”

Smashbox Step-by-Step Contour Kit

Product Details:
What it is:

An exclusive contouring kit that teaches you how to sculpt, shape, and define your features with three shades for defining, bronzing, and highlighting any complexion. Only available on Sephora—Master basic contouring or advance your skills with this advanced sculpting kit designed for your face shape. Three blendable, buildable shades contour, bronze, and highlight the face for foolproof contouring, and the specially designed angled brush assists with even application.  This set contains 0.4 oz Contouring palette and angled brush.

Smashbox Step-by-Step Contour Kit

Price:

$45

Smashbox Step-by-Step Contour Kit

My Experience with Smashbox Step-by-Step Contour Kit:

Packaging:  This product comes in a very sleek compact with a nice sized mirror inside. There is also a card attached to the mirror which simplifies the steps of contouring and highlighting which you would find really helpful if you are a newbie. This product also comes with a small angled brush.

Smashbox Step-by-Step Contour Kit

Though I don’t think this is the best brush out there, it is not terribly bad either. It is soft enough that it doesn’t scratch and picks up powder nicely. The small shape is very helpful to get good precision when contouring your cheeks and also helps to go along the hairline and jaw. The brush is not too dense and does shed minimally. I do recommend using your own favorite brush to use with this kit for best results.

Smashbox Step-by-Step Contour Kit

Shade:  This product couldn’t be any more simple and to the point. It has 3 shades with one cool-toned greyish taupe shade which is perfect for contouring as it mimics the effect caused by shadows. This contour shade doesn’t look too muddy on my light-medium skin tone and when you build it up, you can very easily get super sharp cheek bones.  The bronze shade is a neutral bronze color which is neither too warm/orange nor too cool/taupe. It does give a beautiful warmth to the skin along with dimension and life.

Smashbox Step-by-Step Contour Kit

The highlight shade is a creamy beige color. It is not too yellow nor too white. It doesn’t contain any shimmer yet it does leave a sort of satin finish on the skin. It does effectively bring forth the area it is applied on. Though this will not replace your need for the glow-y shimmery highlight, it is a good product to use to set and brighten the under eye and to apply on the tops of cheeksbone, middle of forehead and chin.

I love using this powder on its own for an everyday contour/highlight routine, but I will also use these powder shades to set and also intensify the effect I get from cream contouring using the Smashbox Step by Step Contour Stick, which are basically these exact shades but in an easy-to-use creamy stick formats.

Texture and Blend-ability:  These powders do kick up some product when you dip your brush in. They are very powdery but they do not feel chalky. They apply and blend out quite easily.

Contouring

Pigmentation:  These powders have good pigmentation, but I would recommend them if you are a beginner to start with little at a time and build up the pigmentation in layers. This ensures that you do not go overboard with stripes on your face.

Staying Power:  These powders do wear nicely throughout the day.  I did see minimal fading in the 7-8 hours I usually wear my makeup for.

Smashbox contouring kit swatches

Overall, I really love this product. Your contouring and highlighting routine couldn’t get any simpler if you use this product. Everything is laid out so systematically and the choice of colors included is perfect, would flatter light-medium skin tone. This kit also comes in “medium-deep” variant. The extremely travel-friendly kit and the easy-to-understand and follow instruction manual gives this product bonus points.

Smashbox Step-by-Step Contour Kit

If you are someone wanting to dip your feet into the whole “contouring-highlighting” trend, but do not want to fuzz around with tons of different kits, this is the product for you. I will recommend this.

Pros of Smashbox Step-by-Step Contour Kit:

  • Travel-friendly, sleek packaging.
  • Comes with a decent quality brush and easy-to-follow instructions.
  • The powders are smooth and easy to blend.
  • Flattering colors for those in the “light-medium” skin tone range.
  • All matte shades, the highlight gives a slight satin finish on the skin.
  • Good staying power.
  • Pigmentation is buildable.

Cons of Smashbox Step-by-Step Contour Kit:

None.

IMBB Rating:
5/5

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2 thoughts on “Smashbox Step-by-Step Contour Kit Review

  1. Neha, I would prefer the smashbox trio over this one for the ease of use. So thoroughly reviewed, I am super interested in contouring now 🙂

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