BARRY M CHISEL CHEEKS MEDIUM TO DARK CONTOUR KIT REVIEW

Contouring still remains the love of my life and for the longest time I read post after post about how amazing the Barry M Chisel Cheeks Contour Kit (£6.49) was, but of course like many other contour palettes the kit was far too light to do anything for me. But lo and behold there is a God because Barry M decided to introduce the same Chisel Cheeks Contour Kit for medium to dark skin tones i.e. me, and I snapped it up sharpish. In fact, I purchased this so long ago that I am slightly embarrassed that it has taken me this long to share my review with you all. I have no excuse, except I have been using it incessantly since the day I got it. I took lots of beautiful photos of it untouched and unloved and then promptly deleted them to make space for Temple Run 2 (this game has a hold on me, please help), so I am afraid you're being presented with the slightly weathered version of this palette. 

I am pretty sure you can tell I love it, but I promise I have reasons. First off the packaging, it is the perfect size. Although I love the bigger contour kits, like the NYX palette (review here) all one person really needs is three shades at most, so in this regard Barry M have hit the nail on the head. Furthermore, it is encased in cardboard rendering it lightweight, ideal for travel and on-the-go applications, just an ideal palette for someone who only needs it for themselves. Inside, there are three pans of pressed powder: a light coloured powder (creamy yellow in colour, I assume to be used for setting the under eyes); a medium brown shade (intended for bronzer, but in my opinion this is still quite cool in tone so can be used for contouring still) and a cool-toned deep brown (darkest shade in the palette for contouring). You can see the swatches below, personally the shade in the centre is the shade I use the most. I love it for a subtle every day contour (or non-touring if you will, post here) like being a little extra I use the darkest shade on a Sigma E40 to really chisel out my cheekbones and use the centre pan to blend it out with an angled contour brush. My only con is the light powder which I don't think I have used at all. If you have used it and like it let me know in the comments. It does looks lovely and swatches really well, but I skip concealer most days and prefer to set with loose powder. Irrespective of that, this palette is a winner.

PROS 

• Travel-sized, compact and lightweight
• Minimal, yet still has everything you would need
• Great colour options for medium to dark skin tones, especially for me
• Can customise your own contour shade by mixing the two browns
• Beautiful, soft, easy to blend, pigmented formula makes contouring very quick and effortless
• Will last a long time

CONS

• The lightest powder doesn't seem necessary, I don't use it
• The packaging can look a bit beat-up after a while and gets messy
• Bit of powder fall out when you dip your brush in
• Very pigmented, especially the darkest shade, so be sure to tap off excess or dab on hand first

Thank you so much for reading. I hope you enjoyed this post. For a drugstore contour kit I am very impressed, extremely happy I purchased this; it's so easy to toss in your bag or suitcase. I am not too sure how well this would work on deeper skin tones so if you have any thoughts on that let me know in the comments. I hope you're all enjoying the weekend, tomorrow is supposed to be the hottest day of the year so I have a special post planned, be sure to check back. Take care.

What is your favourite affordable makeup product?

Love ❤

Kiran

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