Product: Smashbox Step-by-Step Contour Kit
Claims: Highlight/Contour/Bronzer Palette | Easy to Use | Blendable Color | Deep Contour with Complimentary Bronzer & Bright Highlighter | Includes Angled Brush | Cruelty Free
Size: 0.4 oz.
Shades: Light/Medium | Medium/Deep
Price: $35.00
Purchase: Ulta | Sephora | Birchbox | HSN | QVC | Smashbox
If you watched a few of my videos back around March and April, you know what’s coming in this review of the Smashbox Step-by-Step Contour Kit. Let me refresh your memory: “That brush is hiding because it knows what it did was wrong!” Either way, keep scrolling to find out more about the Smashbox Step-by-Step Contour Kit and to read my review.
About Smashbox Step-by-Step Contour Kit
The full-size Smashbox Step-by-Step Contour Kit has 0.4 total ounces and comes with an angled brush included. The Step-by-Step Contour palette has three pans; highlight, bronzer, and contour housed in a rectangle compact with a large mirror and retails for $35.00. The Step-by-Step Contour Kit can be purchased at Ulta, Sephora, Birchbox, HSN, QVC, and Smashbox.
Smashbox claims that the Step-by-Step Contour Kit has a buildable, blendable formula. Smashbox also says that the contour is a deep contour with a complimentary bronzer shade and a bright highlight shade. The ingredients for the Smashbox Step-by-Step Contour Kit are:
Smashbox Step-by-Step Contour Kit Review
Which part should I tackle first? Let’s start with the formula for the Step-by-Step Contour Kit. I purchased the Light/Medium kit and for my skin tone (usually around an Ivory / Natural Ivory) the contour is a bit darker than I would normally use and the bronzer had a good warmth to it without out being super orange. However, the higlighter was not bright AT ALL. For my skin tone I couldn’t use the highlighter as even a natural highlight nor could I even use it to set my under eye concealer with! As for the blendabilty and buildabliltiy, I found both of these to not be the case. The different powders in the Step-by-Step Kit would pretty much stay where they were laid down. If you went in like an electric toothbrush from the beginning and barely touched your brush to the skin then you could get it to move and blend a bit. However, if you applied even a bit of pressure to the skin or didn’t constantly have the brush rotating in circles then it would stay in that one spot and then applying more over the top to get it to even out would just make it so much worse. Lastly with the formula, I didn’t expect them to have so much kick-up and to actually have fallout and they did!
Moving on to a pet peeve of mine, brands that want you to purchase a more expensive item so they sell a smaller version of that item but the quality compared to the more expensive item is far inferior. Natasha Denona is bad about this, a lot of people like her smaller 5-pan palettes but there are some that have problems with them. When people have problems with them and ask “Why should I pay $129 for the bigger palette?” they get “Well the smaller pans aren’t the same quality as the bigger palettes!” from the fans. Umm what?! You want me to purchase a $129 or heck even a $239 palette so you release smaller pan palettes for $48 to entice me in but you make the quality inferior?! NOOOOO that is not how this is supposed to work. Welllllll Smashbox participates in this philosophy with their angled brush. The angled brush that comes with the Step-by-Step Contour Kit looks exactly like Smashbox’s brushes that they recently revamped and had Tati shilling for. After using the brush with different products, products that I KNOW blend well with other brushes, and I was ready to call Tati a damn liar. However, someone mentioned in a comment on one of the videos I mentioned above that the brush with the kit, while looking similar, is in fact NOT like those brushes. WTF?! Nopity nope nope. Won’t be purchasing any of those. Excuse me while I sit over here and play with my Sigma brushes where the minis are EXACTLY like the regular size brushes, if not better sometimes. *walks off grumbling*
Final Thoughts on Smashbox Step-by-Step Contour Kit
If you can’t tell already my recommendation for the Smashbox Step-by-Step Contour Kit is a HARD PASS. I liked nothing about this palette except for maybe the mirror on the compact. Which is a crying shame because I LOVED the Casey Holmes x Smashbox Spotlight Highlighting Palette and those were supposed to be based off of this. Now if you got this to work for you or you love then I’m so glad you got it to work. However, if you don’t want to go to a store to test if this will work for you then I highly suggest skipping and moving on to a better palette. Some suggestions I have for you are:
- Tarte Pro Glow Palette – Purchase here
- Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Kit – Purchase here
- Benefit Cheerleaders Cheek Palette – Purchase here
- Lorac Pro Contour Palette – Purchase here
- Pixi Strobe & Sculpt Palette – Purchase here
Purchase Smashbox Step-by-Step Contour Kit
Don’t forget to signup for Ebates to get cash back when you shop the Smashbox Step-by-Step Contour Kit. Here are the current cash back options:
- Ulta | 4%
- Sephora | 1.25%
- Birchbox | 2.5%
- HSN | 1%
- QVC | 1%
- Smashbox | 4%
Shop the Smashbox Step-by-Step Contour Kit
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I would love to get this looks right. I’ve tried so many times and to me, I just look like a clown. Some women really do a great job of creating the look, not me! I’d love to have a lesson!
I’ve heard great things about this contour kit. And that’s a great deal!
So interesting. It’s a shame that it’s a fail since you don’t have extra money to throw around. My old Smashbox brushes including my old travel set are terrific but I haven’t bought any brushes from them in a long time nor will I. I laughed about ND since my Sephora order just arrived with a tiny ND palette that I bought on sale and another 15% off. I guess I’m lucky it wasn’t expensive.
Well, that was certainly a big miss! Thanks for the thorough review!
Bummer that this was a loser. There are so many amazing contour palettes out there though and I bet you have at least a few that are amazing. LOL!
Can you return it, Cassie? It sounds so disappointing. I am in complete agreement with you. Why would brands/companies make smaller products to entice people to try yet make the quality inferior? Makes no sense at all. I’m sad that you were disappointed, and I hope you can get your money back.
Unfortunately I learned how horrible it was AFTER the return window ended. That being said, I am in a B/S/T group for gently used makeup that I can try to put it in. I always sanitize first.
This looks like a nice palette, I just have so many like it!
I hear you about those super expensive palettes. Good to know your thoughts about this kit.
I need a new contour kit for the summer.. I might have to grab this at Ulta next time I go!
A kit like this would be perfect for throwing in the beach/travel bag.
This will make the process so much easier. I’ve tried contouring before only to look like terrible.
It can be difficult to get it right at first, you just have to keep practicing.
I have had some great experiences with Smashbox products. This looks like a simple way to do countouring.
This kind of setup really is a good way for beginners to get into contouring.
I Laughed so hard at “Ready to call Tahti a damn liar” . DID YOU LEARN ANYTHING FROM JAMES CHARLES? lol I always love your content.
Thank you! I know right?! At some point they have to learn…I’m just not sure when that point is going to be…