e.l.f. Studio Contour Palette {Review}

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Overview

Rating: 3.5/5 stars ★★★☆☆
Price Tag: $6 USD
Palettes Available: 1 palette
Weight: 0.56 oz / 16 g
Where to Buy: Online at eyeslipsface.com

The Studio Contour Palette is a follow-up product to the Studio Blush Palettes that features four interchangeable pressed powder squares of different shades.

e.l.f. is a cruelty-free brand with most products being vegan-friendly.

Packaging

Like the Studio Blush Palettes, the Contour Palette is a satin black plastic compact with four individual pans that can be popped out from the base. Inside the lid is a very nice, large mirror. There are no spaces for applicators.

Front of the packaging.

I had an issue with one of the Blush Palette pans not being glued down properly into its square, but so far I haven’t had any problems with the pans of the Contour Palette.

Reverse of the packaging.

The pans for the Studio Blush, Contour, Illuminating, and Foundation palettes are interchangeable, so you could have one foundation, blush, highlighter and bronzer squares in a single compact. To date, e.l.f. has not sold any individual squares, so if you want a customized palette you’ll need to purchase the full face palettes separately.

Formulation

I would have preferred the pressed powders to have a creamier feel to them as all four shades are very powdery, especially the two light colors. They are slightly creamy, but when a brush hits them powder goes everywhere. Overall, the powders have a lightweight formula and it doesn’t feel like you’re using tons of product when they’re applied to the skin. I have very dry skin that can’t tolerate a lot of powder, but I don’t find these problematic.

Contour Palette opened.

The lighter shade in the upper left corner has a pearl finish while the other three have a matte finish.

All of the shades have good payoff, with the exception of the cream color. I have difficulty with it showing up on my skin—though that could be because it is similar to my skin tone—and it was very difficult to swatch.

Shades

There are four shades in the palette. None have official shade names. I noticed this palette seems more suited for those with light to medium skin tones.

Closeup of the Contour Palette

Light Shimmer [Pearl]

A light, almost white highlighter. Very powdery. Use a light hand when applying to the face.

Cream [Matte]

A translucent cream shade. This one doesn’t have much opacity and is super powdery. I don’t see much difference when I use the color, both due to its sheer consistency and similarity to my skin tone.

Swatches of the Contour Palette

Tan [Matte]

A warm, light tan. I think this one is good for warming up the areas around the hairline.

Brown [Matte]

A cool toned brown. My understanding is that cool toned browns are more natural for contouring than warm ones. I think this shade could stand to be more cool because it’s not significantly cooler than the tan.

More color accurate view of the Contour Palette.

All in all, it’s on the dark side for me, but should work well for those with light to medium skin tones. I don’t think the color will work well for those with darker skin tones.

This shade shows up warmer and lighter in my photos than it is in person.

Images

Final Thoughts

Pros: Budget-friendly, three shades have matte finish
Cons: Powdery consistency, suitable for light-medium skin tones, sheer consistency in one color, needs more shade options

As much as I do like the Contour Palette, I don’t use it all that often, but that’s probably because I don’t contour much. I may own a nifty contouring palette, but that doesn’t mean I have contouring skills. Also, I have a ton of other similar products.

The budget-friendly e.l.f. Studio Contour Palette is a good addition to your makeup collection if you are looking for an all-in-one palette option—and you have the right skin tone. If you already own a lot of highlighting and contouring powders, however, there’s not a whole lot that’s new here. At the very least, the contouring colors look similar to those in the Studio Contouring Blush & Bronzing Powders (my review here) that many already own.

It’s disappointing that there’s only one version so far of the Contour Palette. One size does not fit all, especially when it comes to face products. Hopefully e.l.f. will expand the product to include more shades in the future.

 

Have you tried the e.l.f. Contour Palette? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!