REVIEW & SWATCHES: Anastasia Beverly Hills Powder Contours

ITEM: Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Book (link) & Kit (link) & Refill (link)
RRP: Book - $150; Kit - $40; Refill - $14 each (all prices are USD)

Claims: Sculpt and define your features with up to 29 powders designed to contour and highlight.

So I have had the Anastasia Contour Kit for a long time. However, I was dying to get my hands on this Contour Book so... I did! This was something I wanted so that I can provide people with swatches of all the colours whilst also giving my personal review on the product. I have the Original Kit but these are now available with greater flexibility.

For review and swatches of the ABH Cream Contour Kit please CLICK HERE.


You can purchase them as the following:

Single refills
There are 29 shades that you can choose from and purchase them individually for $14USD each. They are magnetic and can be put easily into a Z-Palette. If you choose six pan refills however, you will only pay $40USD and this will include a sturdy and good quality Anastasia Beverly Hills Palette to put your shades in.

Contour Kit
There are pre-made kits with 6 shades inside labelled Light-Medium; Medium-Tan; Tan-Deep. These have assigned shades in there ideal for your skin colour.

Contour Book (Limited Edition)
This is a limited edition book with all 29 contour powder shades. It retails for $150USD and comes with the above photographed book.

My pictures will be mainly all from the Contour Book because it can cover the entire scope of colours on offer from the company. 

INSIDE OF THE BOOK COVERING THE ENTIRE RANGE OF SHADES AVAILABLE

So as this picture shows you, the 29 shades covers a very large range of highlight and contouring shades (and some can even be used as a blush). As the picture shows, it really caters for those with very fair skin to those with very deep skin. It also has a good range of cool and warm shades (but there is quite a few more warm-ish shades than cool ones in my opinion). Logically, the left side is the highlight shades and the right side is the contour shades. However, I feel like you can mix and match accordingly! (And as I already said, mix and match to make some blush shades!)

Okay, so let's get into the SWATCHES. My skin colour is about NC25-30 for MAC. Please know that most of the colours were a tiiiny bit more obvious than the photos.

THE HIGHLIGHT PAGE

The following are swatches of the highlight page:

FIRST ROW
Left to Right:
Sand - Champagne - Vanilla - Latte

Sand and Champagne are shimmery shades perfect for highlighting the cheekbone or centre of the face. Vanilla is a matte finish great for setting the under eye area, pulling a little pink. Latte is a satin finish with a beautifully natural sheen, great for either setting the under eye area lightly or as a very natural every day highlight on the cheekbones or the centre of the face.

SECOND ROW
Left to Right:
Sandstone - Peachy - L'Orange - Peaches & Cream

All of these are matte finishes. Sandstone, Peachy and L'Orange are awesome for deep skin ladies out there! However for everyone else, these are versatile shades that can be used as beautiful blushes. Peaches & Cream can be used as a beautiful blending shade or highlighting under the eyes for deeper skin ladies.

THIRD ROW
Left to Right:
Terracotta - Cream Soda - Nude - Golden Peach

All of these are matte finishes. Terracotta would be a beautiful blush shade. Cream soda could be a perfect bronzer for fair ladies or a under eye setting powder for the deeper skin ladies. Nude is actually quite similar to my skin colour (so I actually had to really pack it on to get this pigmentation). Golden peach is a fair shade that would be good for blending out any harsh lines that are impossible to blend or for highlighting for tan-deep skin tones.

BOTTOM ROW
Left to Right:
Banana - Mellow Yellow - 10K

Banana and Mellow Yellow are both matte whilst 10K is another beautiful shimmery shade. Banana is the oh so popular under eye setting powder perfect for all skin tones. Mellow yellow I found a bit too yellow and drastic, but mix this with a bit of banana and it would be a lovely under eye powder for deeper skin ladies. 10K is a gorgeous olive based highlight. This photo doesn't capture the intense pigmentation and beautiful rich olive colour it has. It is a more golden highlight and perfect for tan-deep skin. Lighter skin tones could use it as a blush topper.

THE CONTOUR PAGE

 The following are swatches of the contour page:

TOP ROW
Left to Right:
Nutmeg - Macchiato - Camel - Earth

All the contour shades are matte finishes (duh!) Nutmeg and Macchiato are gorgeous as a bronzer for fair to medium skin tones or even as a blush for medium to tan skin tones. Camel and Earth are really good contour and bronzing shades for tan to dark skin tones.

SECOND ROW
Left to Right:
Copper Brown - Havana - Clay - Cinnamon

Copper Brown, as the name suggests, pulls a little more red than the other shades. I think this would be best suited as a bronzer rather than a contour shade. Havana is one of my absolute favourite shades in the entire palette. It is a perfect neutral shade great for bronzer or contouring. LOVE. Clay pulls must more grey than the others so far and so it's an excellent contour shade. Cinnamon is slightly warmer so a great bronzer for tan skin tones.

THIRD ROW
Left to Right:
Fawn - Java - Ash Brown - Mink

 Fawn, Ash Brown and Mink are all quite cool shades that are great for contouring. If you are fair to medium skin toned, then Fawn is going to be perfect. Medium to Dark would suit Mink and dark to deep would love Ash Brown. However Java is a beautiful neutral toned colour. Pulling slightly red. It is perfect for contouring as well as a light subtle bronzer.

BOTTOM ROW
Left to Right:
Espresso - Carob

These are for my dark to deep skinned ladies. Carob is honestly so close to black that I think finding a deeper contouring shade than this would be extremely difficult. Espresso would be a great bronzer or contour shade for the dark to deep skinned ladies too!

REVIEW

So, there are several pros and cons about this product so I decided it might be easier to understand and follow if I write them down as a list (kind of like my Quickies).

Pros:

• Range of shades: it is obviously superb the way that this product caters to so many different skin tones and colours. 

• Packaging: the palette is extremely sturdy and reliable

• Versatility: I love that these are versatile. 
• Firstly, you can use them as highlight, setting powder, bronzer, blusher, contour AND eyeshadows. (Could a product be anymore perfect?). 
• Secondly, I love that there are numerous ways you can purchase them (as mentioned above). You can get the 8 well palette, buy them in singles or buy the entire contour book. This caters to the everyday simple make up girl, to the make up artist with a kit full of beautiful things.

• Blendability: These are a dream to blend. I have to admit that some of them are easier than others. However, even the ones that I had to work with a little more, were high quality. I do think it tends to get a bit patchy if I put it on top of a liquid foundation that hasn't set yet, so make sure to powder your face or give your foundation like 5 minutes to set before you put this on.

• Pigmentation: OOOOO the pigmentation is crazy. Like the pictures show, the colours just come out like BAM. Love it.

• You can purchase refills: I love that you can replace the shades that you want singularly. One annoying thing about palettes is usually that if you run out of your one favourite shade, that's it. You're done. But this, you can refill which is always great!

• Creamy: it's not a powder formula. The lighter highlighter shades can be a little bit powder-y if you're heavy handed, but other than that, the formula is super creamy and easy to apply on the face.

Cons

• Lasting power: I think that sometimes the contour or bronzer tends to fade during the day. It does last about 4-5 hours but I prefer something that last 8+ hours. It doesn't disappear but it does definitely fade.

• Beware those with dry under eyes: I do love the banana powder because it's brightening and in pressed form. However, I have super dry under eyes and I feel like this doesn't help that much. It kind of accentuates dryness, and on days that my under eyes are super dry, the concealer potentially will begin to separate after about 15minutes. This doesn't happen often but it has happened with this particularly product so I thought it was worth mentioning. 

• Price tag: I feel that it's a bit steep for a product that isn't that big. It's not overly expensive, but it's not the most affordable product. 

• Online colours: I feel like the colours that they show you online are so different to what they look like in person and that is a huge con. It was also a massive driving force for me to make sure that I do this post.

Overall: I do enjoy this product and I definitely use it very very often. It's easy to use and replace, good quality, versatile, and excellent to apply on the face. However, I feel like there are possibly better dupes out there for a better price. For those in Australia try the Australis AC on Tour palette, or in the UK maybe the Ulta Contour Kit. They are comparable. However, if you're happy to fork out the money, I do think this is a great palette so it's worth the investment! 

Rating: 8/10

Please feel free to ask questions in the comments below. Ask away about colour, application, my favourite shades etc. Anything you wish!

For review and swatches of the ABH Cream Contour Kit please CLICK HERE.