Swatch and Review: Kevyn Aucoin Contour Book Volume II

I've been meaning to do this review for ages now, but I kept forgetting. This poor palette was sitting in the back of my drawer for a few weeks before I finally remembered that it was there. And honestly, this kit is just too pretty that I didn't want to swatch it until now, lol.

This is the second contour book by Kevin Aucoin ($65), and I'm so in love with it. I remember seeing the first one in stores and I thought, what the hell is with this overpriced book of eyeshadows??? Seriously, there was such a minuscule amount of product in the first book that I didn't understand how you could use a brush with it, let alone contour a whole face.

The first volume is discontinued (still continued and popular but I don't know why?) and was priced at $59 for 0.36 oz of product while volume 2 is $65 for 0.95 oz. Needless to say, the second volume is infinitely better, and it's an incredible value.

The first section of the book contains tutorials on face and eye contouring. It's pretty self-explanatory and is a wonderful tool for beginners.

The book contains two creams and two powders for contouring and highlighting as well as four shades of eyeshadow. Starlight can be used as eyeshadow, but it's also one of the luminizing Celestial Powders in the collection, just in a smaller size.

On its own, the Sculpting Powder is $44 for .11 oz while this palette holds .14 oz of sculpting powder. Likewise, the Candlelight Celestial Powder is $44 for .11 oz and is .17 oz in this volume. So you're pretty much paying for 1.5 full sized products and getting the two creams and four eyeshadows for free. How amazing is that? The only con I can really think of is the fact that creams are in the same palette as powders, which might mean the creams will get fallout from the powders when using brushes. However, that's such a minor detail in comparison to the value and quality of this palette.

From top to bottom, Sculpting Cream, Sculpting Powder, Candlelight Cream, Candlelight Powder in indoor lighting

The quality of these is amazing! The creams are so soft and blendable, and the powders are very pigmented. The Sculpting Powder is much more neutral/cool toned than the warmer Sculpting Cream. The Candlelight Cream is also much sheerer than the powder.

Natural lighting. 

Top to bottom: Ruddy Earth, Cool Tan, Starlight, Brighten in indoor lighting. The eyeshadows are super pigmented. I only needed one swipe each to take these photos.

Natural lighting. Excuse the quality of the natural lighting photos. The days are getting so much shorter.

I cannot rave enough about this palette. It's super user-friendly and it has everything you need for a full face look, sans blush or lipstick. The quality is superb and for the value, this palette so worth the price.

5/5