Welcome to Deep Reviews—your one-stop destination to discover the absolute best products and brands the beauty industry has to offer. The Who What Wear staffers you already know and trust will research, test, and review the market's most sought-after and buzzed-about products to see which formulas (of the hundreds up for consideration) are truly worth your hard-earned money and attention. You can expect honest, completely uncensored feedback and no-BS recommendations our hard-to-please testers endorse without reservations.
The majority of our Deep Reviews will feature our editors' honest, ultra-hot takes on entire product categories or multiple products from a particular beauty brand, but every so often, we'll sprinkle in a special single-product format called Honestly, I Love It. As the name suggests, these reviews will hone in on one standout beauty formula our editors quite literally can't shut up about. This time around, I'm highlighting the Victoria Beckham Beauty Contour Stylus.
I love doing my makeup… with one caveat: I hate contouring. Whenever I try to contour my face, I find that I accidentally put too much contour on, the shade seems to always lean a bit too warm, and the contour tends to rub off any makeup I have underneath when I try to blend it. Net-net, I usually skip contouring.
When Victoria Beckham Beauty released its new Contour Stylus, however, I still wanted to try it. I attended a meeting with the brand's team sporting a heavy dose of skepticism. Celebrity makeup artist Fara Homidi contoured my face perfectly using the sleek new product and even drew out a map for me to use at home. For the first time in a long time, I was actually excited about trying out a contouring product.
Whenever I like a product after a celebrity makeup artist deftly applies it on me, I take it with a grain of salt. I'm pretty sure most celeb makeup artists could rub dirt on my face, and I would be obsessed with how good it looks, so the real test is when I try a product on myself at home. Using the map Homidi gave me, I tried the contour stick out on myself. I was pleasantly surprised by how good it looked and how easy it was to use. Before we dive into the Victoria Beckham Beauty Contour Stylus, let's go over some contouring basics.
It's easy to get a contour stick mixed up with a bronzer, but there are a few key things that differentiate them from each other. "A contour stick is designed to create shadows and define facial features, while a bronzer adds warmth and a sun-kissed glow to the skin," says celebrity makeup artist Elizabeth Seropian. "Contouring sculpts and shapes, while bronzing provides a healthy radiance."
A good rule of thumb to follow is that contour sticks should be cool toned (as they're meant to mimic shadows), and bronzers should be warm toned (as they're meant to impart a glow). When choosing a contour shade, Seropian recommends picking one that's just slightly darker than your skin tone for the most natural-looking result.
"After applying foundation and mapping out the contour areas under the cheekbones, along the jawline, and [on the] sides of the nose, use a light touch to apply the contour stick," says Seropian. "Blending is key, so use a brush, sponge, or your fingers to seamlessly melt the contour with your foundation, paying attention to edges. Gradually build the intensity, blending in natural lighting for accuracy."
Keeping your face shape in mind is also important when contouring. Everyone's face is different, and to enhance your features best, it's important to follow your own bone structure. Since I have a heart-shaped face, I focus on my temples, forehead, and cheeks, but I also contour my jaw and nose to define them more—your face shape is just a guideline! Here's a good playbook to follow for how best to contour your face based on your face shape, according to Seropian:
Round faces should contour the sides of the forehead, beneath the cheekbones, and along the jawline.
Square faces should contour the jawline (blend toward the chin to soften any harsh lines), the forehead, and beneath the cheekbones.
Oval faces should follow their natural bone structure.
Heart-shaped faces should contour the temples, forehead, and cheeks.
Diamond-shaped faces should contour the temples, cheeks, and jawline.
While it's important to contour based on your face shape, the formula you choose is just as important. The Victoria Beckham Beauty Contour Stylus is packed with key ingredients that make it melt seamlessly into skin and work well with the rest of your makeup. Squalane adds moisture to skin while boosting radiance, Linefill fills in fine lines and wrinkles, and blue lotus wax helps color adhere better to the skin. Not only that, but the slim design helps you draw the most precise lines so you won't overcontour, and the shades truly work to mimic shadows for the most natural results.
Ever since I tried the Contour Stylus, it's been a staple in my routine. I even use it on my creases and outer corners to enhance my eyes in a flash. When it comes to my contouring routine, this product is a true game changer. It's the first and only contouring product that I actually plan to restock when I finish it.
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