Kevyn Aucoin The Contour Book Volume II

Kevyn Aucoin's Contour Book Volume II was my big ticket VIB sale item, and after using it for the past few weeks I thought I would share my impressions. Here we go!

This compact contour palette packs a surprising amount of the Candlelight and Contour shades - much larger than the first version with .17 oz of the Candlelight and Contour powders and .16 oz of the Candlelight and Contour creams. Considering the single compact of Candlelight contains .11 oz and costs $44, it made the price of the palette ($65) seem like much more of a deal.

Candlelight was the main draw for me, having read such positive reviews on it, and it lives up to it's reputation.  It's actually quite a subtle highlighter, with finely milled powder that gives a soft pale champagne shimmer.  There is a slight difference in color between the powder and cream versions of Candlelight, with the cream running slightly cooler in tone.  I did a comparison of other similarly toned powder highlighters in my collection, and Becca's Moonstone is very close, albeit with slightly more intense shimmer.

The four eyeshadow shades were a bonus for me, but also where the palette started to get a bit lackluster.  The Brighten and Starlight shimmer shades are very nice, but the matte Cool Tan and Ruddy Earth have some sticking points. Literally.  They have a tendency to "grab" the skin and are difficult to blend out. At first I thought it was just that my less than smooth lids were contributing to the problem, but the arm swatches showed me that nope, it's the shadows.

With the exception of the two matte eyeshadows, this palette is a winner for me. I've been using the cream Contour shade under my cheek bones and along the sides of my nose and find it very easy to work with.  I use the powder Contour shade on top of the cream to set it, and find that they are both hard to overdo. Pigmentation is definitely there, they just blend so nicely and look quite natural on.

Sadly, this Sephora exlusive appears to be sold out, but I'm glad I focused in on it during the VIB sale, it was worth it!