So, initially, I was trying to find an affordable cream contour palette for the average makeup user, and I came across this fairly new City Color Contour & Correct Cream Palette. I had previously had a positive experience with a few other City Color products, so I had high hopes for this kit.
I know some people don't want to invest a ton of money into products they either don't know how to use, won't take time to use on a daily basis, or want to try but aren't interested in paying an upwards of $40 for these high-end contour kits coming out.
And personally, I don't blame you. If you're not super into makeup, then you probably don't need multiple contour kits. In fact, the average makeup user would probably best benefit from one good bronzer that can be used to contour or give the face a sun-kissed glow if buffed lightly all over the face and neck.
I bought this from eBay, because at the time it was the best price I could find for the product. I'm not going to lie, I was very excited to see a drugstore brand releasing a cream contour palette.
The seller I ordered mine from still has the item listed, so click here if you're interested in purchasing this product. I purchased it for close to $11, so the price is basically the same from the seller at $10.86.
From the swatch photo, you can see that the pigmentation is pretty decent. The palette comes with some color corrector shades in the top row, a skin-colored concealer on the bottom left, and two deeper bronze shades. One more suitable for probably a medium skin tone, while the other would be best used on a deeper Hispanic or African American skin tone.
The correction creams in the top row are the common yellow, green, lilac and orange for dark circles, skin discoloration, redness, etc.
The most disappointing aspect of the color range is that there isn't really a shade for fair skin. I have a light-medium skin tone with yellow undertones when I haven't been out in the sun, and you can see that even the lighter brown shade is quite a few shades darker than my natural skin tone. And for a more natural contour, you need a shade only 2-3 times dark than your skin color. The depth of the mid-tone shade just makes it harder to blend out more naturally. Plus, the formula of this product isn't overly nice and creamy since it is of drugstore quality, so it doesn't offer as blendable of a formula.
The Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Cream Kit Light I previously reviewed at least had a good formula consistency because it was a higher-ended product. So even though the colors in the kit were a bit too much like the clay I got in my water shoes at the lake as a kid, you can blend them much easier and get away with using the muddier shades.
Plus, the good thing about cream contours is that you pretty much always set them with some kind of powder, whether it be translucent, your everyday face powder, a powder bronzer, or a combination of them. So even if the shade is a little too orange or light for your liking, you can deepen it up and redefine those natural contours of your face with your favorite powder bronzer.
I included these photos as well, so you can see what the back of the palette looks like. It has the ingredients, name, and also a cool chart that explains what each shade is used for. I think it's nice when any contour kit provides charts like this for the less-experienced consumer. It's a way of making it a lot more user friendly. I studied Professional Writing in school, and delivering products to consumers that are useful and easily understood by the everyday user is the most important thing about any product presentation. That is true in any market, though.
Overall, I have to give this product a C-D rating. I won't fail it completely because it does have the informative info on the back, but the quality of the creams is just disappointing. Also, I never even used it on my face, because I disliked the product's blendability (I just literally made that word up. Where do I get it added to Webster's?) And lastly, the color range sucks, because the shades are not appropriate for all skin colors. The products I previously tried from City Color were powder, so maybe they just need to stick to their powder products and give it up with the cream formulas.
Let me know what your thoughts are on this palette. And if you have any questions or other drugstore contours I should check out, comment and let me know!
xx
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