As a makeup artist and a blogger, I have often been asked about the proper way to contour and which contour palettes I consider are the best buys.

In a world filled with beautiful things, our need for perfection is understandable. Which is why it’s not surprising that women like to contour their face. Contouring is a technique used mostly for stage performances and film to enhance the bone structure of a person, it can create illusions of thinner, narrower faces or wider, bulkier ones whichever you’d like to achieve. Although, I believe in today’s trend most women want to achieve a narrower, more chiseled face.

Most Sought After Budget-Friendly Contour Palettes

Professionally, I would deploy the contouring technique only when necessary, a light contour on the cheek to create a light shadow gives a more profiled cheekbone for someone who has a wider, rounder face. My personal rule is anything over the top is probably not the best idea, so someone with a small face coming to me for contour would get a little bit of shadow and more use of the blush to create dimension than to create a narrower plane from an already narrow face.

Aside from that, my best advice is to get a contour palette that does not hurt your pocket and I’ve listed some of them down for you.

There is no need to splurge on expensive contour palettes, you can create the same chiseled feature with budget friendly contour products.

ELF Studio Contour Palette

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ELF Studio Contour Palettes are lovely because of the cool toned colors contained inside, priced at only $6 online, this contour kit is a really good buy especially since you have 4 blendable colors you can mix and match. I’ll be reviewing this palette soon so watch out for it.

NYX Highlight and Contour Pro Palette

The NYX Highlight and Contour Pro Palette contains four different contour shades and 4 highlight shades, this pro palette is considered one of the best in the drugstore line because the colors are perfectly cool-toned and the pans are interchangeable, so when you run out of one color, you can get a refill and replace the empty pan. This palette is sold at $25.

City Color Contour Effects

The contour palette from City Color Cosmetics comes with a contour shade, a bronzer, and a highlight shade. To me, that sounds like all the things you need to a sculpted face. Get this for $16.99 online.

LA Girl Blush Collection

The good thing about this blush palette is that it comes with a contour and highlighter shade, so you can create dimension and depth with one palette. Affordable and functional for $10.

Covergirl Trublend Contour Palette

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Covergirl’s Trublend contour palette is a contour product that includes a bronzer and a highlighter. It is also designed by a true artist, Pat McGrath, and for $11.99 that’s not bad at all.

Maybelline Master Contour Palette

This new contour palette from Maybelline comes with a gorgeous highlight shade that flatter light to medium skin tones. This palette is only $12.99.

In addition to having the quality makeup products, you should also bear in mind the importance of having quality makeup tools. Remember, makeup application does not rely solely on the product you use but also on the makeup brushes you use. Check out this affordable yet high-quality 18-piece-brush set.

Watch this tutorial on how to contour and highlight by Kaushal Beauty:

Whichever product you choose, what’s important when it comes to contouring is that it does not appear orangey or brown, because that’s the work of a bronzer, it should appear as a cool-toned gray-brown color that looks like a shadow. The softer the edges, the better too. Remember to blend, blend, blend! Not too much though that you’ll end up blending away your contour.

Are there are other budget-friendly contour palettes you’ve tried? Let me know in the comments below. You can also check out this review on the highly coveted Jeffree Star Skin Frost Highlight.

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