Clinique Chubby Sculpting Sticks in Curvy Contour and Hefty Highlight

Just a week after I featured one simple contour kit (with an unfortunate typo) along comes another, even simpler, one from Clinique.  Another extension to the astonishingly successful Chubby Stick range, this features one contour crayon, and one highlighter and is easy enough even for the most cack-handedly muppety of us.

Really, it's almost insultingly simple to use - draw a dark line where you want a shadow (underneath your cheekbone), a light line where you want to highlight (above your cheekbone), and blend away until only a subtle shading remains.

Even I can do it.  But, apparently drawing lines a la Adam Ant circa 1982 and humming Ant Music under your breath is completely optional whilst applying.  If you do go the unorthodox route, can I suggest you lock your bathroom door?  No reason.

Unblended, you can see you have a slightly reddish brown contour, and a pale champagne highlight shade, and I imagine they will work on all but the darkest of skins.

I applied rather too much of the Curvy Contour as you can no doubt tell - I'd probably applied enough for about four faces, and could possibly have contoured all the residents of Lippie Mansions should I have had the desire.  Which I didn't, and let's all be thankful for that - but the colours blend well, and even after a (literally) ten second application process this morning even *I* could pretend I had cheekbones.

All this brings me to the price, the Chubby Sculpting Sticks  in Curvy Contour and Hefty Highlight are £19. Each.  Which is £38 for the set*.  Which is, if you ask me, far too expensive.  Even the Laura Mercier kit which comes with "amusing" typos, and five colours is cheaper at £35.  The Chubby sticks are drier in texture, and you do get more product, and they are almost entirely foolproof (and I'm just the fool to prove it, believe me) but ... the price for the both gives me the heebie jeebies.  Hopefully there will be an offer which gives you a discount for buying both at the same time, but to be honest, you could use any highlighter you like with the contour crayon.

So, how committed to contouring are you?

* I'm an accountant.  Maths is totally my jam, bitches.

The Fine Print: PR Sample

The Even Finer Print: We're not featuring full fragrance reviews on Get Lippie at the moment owing to illness - please see The Parosmia Diaries for more.


This post: Clinique Chubby Stick Sculpting Contour and Highlight originated at: Get Lippie All rights reserved. If you are not reading this post at Get Lippie, then this content has been stolen by a scraper

Laura Mercier Flawless Contouring Palette

First things first, let's get some pedantry out of the way:

Discrete means: Separate.  Apart.  Individual. Distinct.

Discreet means: Subtle.  Unobtrusive. Private.

Both the packaging and press release for this Laura Mercier Flawless Contouring palette promises you, (over and over): "DISCRETE" contouring.  This word they keep using, it does not mean what they think it means.  It has caused a couple of head-desk interfaces at Lippie Mansions recently. Luxury brands really need to check these things.

Right, now I've got that off my chest, on with the review!  Contouring is the one beauty trend that WILL NOT DIE.  I've lost count, literally, of the beautiful young girls I've seen recently with what can only be described as tidemarks all around their overpowdered dusty faces.  Coupled with the current (mystifying) craze for multiple sets of false eyelashes for day time use, they look like Miss Havershams who have been attacked by tarantulas.

Yes, my name is Get Lippie, and today I'm mainly channelling your mum.  Because, your mum.

All that said, there are times and places for DISCREET contouring, I'm just not sure the number 319 bus at 7am is it.  Photo-shoots for example.  Wedding makeup.  Big nights out.  Events, in other words.  I have no desire to look like Kim Kardashian, not really (although it appears that she stole my "having a really, really, really,  gigantic arse" idea wholesale, apparently), but sometimes, you just do want to look a little more chiselled than you normally do.

 The Laura Mercier Flawless Contouring palette is a set of three creams in neutral browns, coupled with both a dark and pale highlighter, intended to make contourng both simple and discreet.  It's simple to use - you can mix and match the three main shades to complement your skin tone best - and just apply directly to either your bare skin, or over your foundation before you powder.

 Best places for contouring are the hollows of your cheeks, the sides of your nose - if you have a wide one - around the temples, and you can even contour out a double chin.  You can apply with either brushes or fingers, which is good, I think it's easy to overapply powders when you're using brushes.  Fingers will give a more subtle effect.

The highlighters are rather lovely - but I suggest you don't mix these with the browns to create shadows, it'll just look odd.

The palette comes complete with some handy cards to best illustrate how they intend for you to use the palette, and I can confirm that they are very handy.  I like how they slide out from behind the mirror to be seen alongside, which will make it easier to follow the instructions as you use the palette.

For me, I had a hilarious makeup lesson from Sasha at Harrods recently, where we confirmed that - possibly - contouring isn't going to be a daily essential for me.  I can see the difference when it has been done professionally, and discreetly, but as no one else could, I'll save it for special events only.

This is a very nicely done palette, and hopefully the fact that it is creams means my bus ride will be a bit less dusty from now on ...

The palette is currently available exclusively at Harrods and Selfridges until mid-February when it will go on sale nation-wide.  It costs £35.

The Fine Print: PR Sample

The Even Finer Print: We're not featuring full fragrance reviews on Get Lippie at the moment owing to illness - please see The Parosmia Diaries for more.

This post:Laura Mercier Flawless Contouring Palette originated at: Get Lippie All rights reserved. If you are not reading this post at Get Lippie, then this content has been stolen by a scraper