Shade And Light

I feel like I've really gotten into the whole Contouring and Highlighting thang over the past year or so. If you'd have even asked me what they were a while ago, I bet I wouldn't have been able to tell you but now? It's pretty much become a staple feature in my makeup routine. I love adding more shape and definition to my face (who doesn't?) and I love me a bit of glow (again, much like a lot of people) and I find the process to be ideal for ticking both those boxes so I thought today I'd give you lovely lot a rundown of my favourite products I like to employ...

SHADE - For contouring, I used to be all about the powder products, but recently I've found a couple of creamier alternatives which I've been loving so there's a nice mixture here. Powder-wise, I love the Maybelline Master Sculpt Contour Kit in 'Medium/Dark'. This contains a pan split between a contour and a highlight, but personally, it's the former which has my heart. The shade looks rather dark, but using a duo-fibre brush (my favourite type when it comes to sculpting) and light hand, it works a treat for my paler skintone. It's got a lovely ashy undertone to it, but it's not too ashy (if that makes sense) to create a natural shadow without deadening the complexion. Another great contour kit from the drugstore comes in the form of the Collection Contour Kit. This is even more of a bargain and again, offers both a sculpting and a highlighting pan. This set is available in one shade only and the contour hue inside is a tad warmer than the Maybelline offering, but once applied, I still find it to work well at sharpening up those features. Moving over to cream formulas, I really like the NYX Wonder Stick in 'Light'. This is basically a chubby pencil-type format, with a contour on one end and a highlight on the other. I'm not a massive fan of the highlighter, as it's of a matte texture, so doesn't work so well for if you're into your highlighting solely for the glow purposes (like me) - but the contour, I am most definitely into. The size of the bullet is perfect for getting into all your usual contouring areas and the formula is super-creamy and easy to apply and blend out (I personally like to use my fingers for cream contour) - but it still hangs around and doesn't fade throughout the day. Once again, it looks rather dark in the tube, but blends out to an ideal shade for me and it's got that lovely grey undertone. Finally, my most recent find (and love) - the Collection Precision Contouring Stick in 'Light'. Another inclusion from Collection, I know - both of their products from this arena I just really like. As I said, this is a new addition to both the drugstore and my personal collection (as you would have seen in this post) and so far, so good. This contour stick is again of a cream texture and this time, features a sculpting shade only - something I really appreciate given my feelings on the highlighter in the NYX Wonder Stick. This has an even slimmer set-up than the NYX one, so is even more convenient in terms of getting a really precise application and is great for sculpting the nose. It blends out like a dream (again, I like to employ my very own digits for this) and I think the shade of this is perhaps my favourite of all. I don't know what it is, but whenever I use this, I seem to get the most natural, realistic effect. I really love how with cream textures, everything really meshes into the skin and almost becomes a part of it, as opposed to sitting on top - and combined with the spot-ton, not-too-light-not-too-dark, ashy tone of this product - it's perfect.

LIGHT - Highlighter-wise, I think over the past few months I've really cemented a handful of products as my true loves. You know those that have kinda made it into 'Holy Grail'-type status and are the ones which you reach to most often, are the ones you always come back to and are just generally the ones which if you were to lose all your makeup - you'd be the most heartbroken about? Yeah, that. For a while, I felt like in terms of highlighter, I hadn't really found those kinds of items - but recently, I think I have. Of course, theBalm's Mary-Lou Manizer just had to make it into this line-up. This is the one I've been using (and loving) for the longest and for good reason. Before trying this out, I was hearing so many people raving on and on about how good it was and I can safely tell you that all of the hype is absolutely true. It is the most highly-pigmented highlighter I've ever used and it can be really layered up to a super out-there, extreme glow or applied with a much lighter hand for a slightly more subtle sheen. The champagne tone makes for a really natural effect on the skin (even if applied rather liberally, the colour doesn't look out of place, if that makes sense) and the texture is so buttery and creamy considering it's a powder formulation. Regarding actual cream highlighters - the Collection Speedy Highlighter in 'Pearl Sheen' is all kinds of awesome. Once again - another amazing product from Collection. You guys have probably heard me mention this tonnes of time before, as ever since discovering it sometime last year - I have fell in love. the slightly wider packaging makes for a really easy application if you want to use it straight from the bullet - but personally, I really enjoy slathering this on using my fingers. Whilst with cream contour, it's handy to use the applicator to get more precision, with cream highlight I like to achieve less of a 'uniformed' look so I find with fingers I can deposit the product a tad more randomly. The formulation of this one is really creamy and the actual texture is so, so good. When applied onto the skin, it gives the most gorgeous sheen - and that's it. There's no chunky glitter or shimmer, just a very healthy glow - almost as if you've applied no product at all and it's simply the natural radiance of your skin. Lastly, I have the newest highlighter (or should I say - highlighters) that have made their way into my stash. Again, if you've read this post, then this may come as no big surprise - I have been loving the Sleek Highlighting Palette in 'Solstice'. Another hugely hyped-up product that having given a go, I have to admit really is worth all of it. For just under a tenner you get four highlighters - one cream, two baked and one powder - and they're all equally beautiful to both look at and apply. They're pigmented, creamy, blendable and sit really nicely on the skin. They can be applied more sheer or built up and whatever way - they work really well and in this collection you've pretty much got ever shade of highlight you'd ever need as a paler-skinned gal. Love, love, LOVE.