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!

Haulin', Haulin', Haulin': What I Purchased During Sephora's VIB Sale

Disclaimer:  I purchased this.

I've been spreading a little too much love amongst various beauty brands/sites lately, so my Sephora VIB purchase this year was modest - in size at least. I decided to focus on a brand I've been curious about for a while but have yet to try, Kevin Aucoin.

I love a good highlighter and Kevyn Aucoin's Celestial Powder in Candlelight ($44) gets good reviews, so why not go all out and get the Contour Book , I asked myself ($65 regularly, $56 with VIB discount)? Plus, the Contour Book actually contains larger sizes of both the Celestial and Sculpting powders and creams than the singles, which is crazy! Crazy good, actually. Here's what you get:

- 0.17 oz The Celestial Powder in Candlelight 
- 0.04 oz The Celestial Powder in Starlight 
- 0.16 oz The Creamy Glow in Candlelight 
- 0.16 oz The Sculpting Cream 
- 0.16 oz The Candlelight Cream 
- 0.14 oz The Sculpting Powder 
- 4 x 0.04 oz Eye shadow in Eye shadow in Brighten (luminous pearl), Starlight (luminous light peach/pink), Cool Tan (light brown), Ruddy Earth (rust) 
- How-to guide

I've just started playing with it so expect a full review in a bit. Initial impressions are positive.

Clinique really went all out with the packaging for their Take the Day Away cleansing balm sample, didn't they? It's larger than the contour book. I'm all for visual presentation but this seems a bit over the top/wasteful considering the size of the actual sample.  

My other 2 sample picks were erborian's Bamboo Waterlock plumping mask and Bobbi Brown's Intensive Skin Concealer or Serum, which I forgot to take a picture of. Honestly, I enjoy choosing samples so much and have walked away from a purchase if the samples were not to my liking. Weird, I know, but they can sway me yay or nay.  

Australis AC on TOUR Contouring & Highlighting Kit

 Disclaimer:  I purchased this.  Links are for convenience only.

Yeah, yeah I know.  Contouring is probably the most over-hyped beauty trend that has probably crested and will be passe shortly.  And I'm not really much of a contour person anyhow.  But this kit was the right price ($14.95) and offered some colors I thought I'd actually use, so I got it.  If you are as unfamiliar with this Australian brand as I was, this vegan palette is animal cruelty free.

You get 3 light shades for highlighting, including one shimmer (3rd from left), and 3 darker shades for contouring.  I like the middle dark one, as it has more of a taupe tone which mimics shadows really well.  The darker shades are nicely pigmented, and while the lighter ones don't show up well in the arm swatches due to being close to my skin tone, they have color as well.

The first shade is closest in color to my skin, hence why it's hard to see.  The middle, yellow toned light shade can work well under your eyes, as the yellow tone helps minimize dark circles.  The shimmer oyster beige highlighter is quite nice, which an understated and finely milled shimmer that stacks up against any of my higher end powder highlighters.

I appreciate the detailed chart of the back of the palette on how to use the shades, being the novice I am at contouring.  These do kick up quite a bit of powder, but they are not chalky or powdery looking on my skin.

Outside lighting

Inside lighting

I got the Australis AC on TOUR kit from All Cosmetics Wholesale & Retail, and shipping was fast and it came securely packed.  This is the second time I've order from this site, and I've been quite happy with them so far (I have no affiliation and links are for convenience only).  I doubt I'm a convert to contouring on a daily bases now, but this kit was an inexpensive way to play with the trend without sacrificing quality, so I'm quite happy!