12 Best Contour Sticks to Snatch Your Face In Minutes
It’s true that contouring your cheekbones, nose, and face can be done with any type of product, but nothing makes it easier to hack than a contour stick. No matter what skin type you have, there’s a contour stick that will make carving out razor-sharp cheekbones a piece of cake. Luckily, there are some seriously impressive shade ranges available on the market to make defining your cheeks even easier, no matter your skin tone.
“Contour sticks can help you achieve a more chiseled face structure, depending on where or what you would like to make more defined,” says Kathy Zikas, lead makeup artist and co-founder of the full-service glam team, Curled + Contoured, based in Miami, New York, and New Jersey. “They can also give your face an illusion that something is bigger or smaller, depending on the placement of contour,” she adds. Read on to check out our top picks for the best contour stick for what you’re after, according to our expert and Ipster reviews.
About the Expert:
Kathy Zikas is the lead makeup artist and co-founder of Curled + Contoured.
1.Best Bronzer Stick:
TRESTIQUE Color + Contour Bronzer Stick
Sometimes you don’t want to do an entire face of contour, but you just want your cheekbones to pop a little with a hint of shimmer. That’s where this bronzer stick comes in handy. It’s simple to use, comes in a crayon-style format, and even has a built-in brush that makes application even easier.
2. Best For Dry Skin:
LYS No Limits Cream Contour Stick
If you have dry skin, “look for a hydrating contour stick,” explains Zikas. “Look for sticks that glide on very easily and feel super creamy. You can also set that with translucent/contour/bronzer powder, depending on how dry your skin is,” she says. One of her favorites is the LYS cream contour stick. It includes rosehip oil as a main ingredient, so your dry skin gets a boost of hydration every time you use it.
3. Best for Oily Skin:
FENTY BEAUTY Match Stix Matte
With an impressive shade range spanning across 28 hues, FENTY BEAUTY is one of Zikas’ favorite contour sticks to use on clients with oily skin. This one dries with a matte finish, which “goes on a bit drier than the more creamy/liquid ones,” she says. Match Stix also have a long-wear and buildable formula.
4. Best Contour Stick With Highlight:
NYX Wonder Stick Cream Highlight/Contour Stick
This is another great pick from Zikas, who suggests it for clients. On one end of the stick is a creamy, buildable contour color, and the other end features a perfectly paired highlighter. It helps you pare down what you’re toting in your makeup bag and is perfect for contouring newbies. If your face is the canvas, consider this tool your paintbrush.
5. Best for Combination Skin:
MAKEUP BY MARIO SoftSculp Shaping Stick
If you have combo skin, Zikas suggests this pick for its creamy formula that comes in a stick design, so it’s not made up of a liquid base. This MAKEUP BY MARIO stick includes the perfect buffering brush on the other side to seamlessly blend out your contour to a natural-looking finish.
6. Best Full Coverage:
BOBBI BROWN Skin Foundation Stick
Pick up this full-coverage stick a few shades darker than your natural skin tone, and you’ve got an instant contour stick. This one starts out with medium coverage that can be built to full coverage, so you can cover up acne scars, discoloration, or anything you want to conceal in the process of contouring.
7. Best Oil-Free Contour Stick:
CLINIQUE Chubby Stick Sculpting Contour
If you’ve got enough oil on your face naturally, go with this water-based contour stick that glides on effortlessly and stays in place all day. Reviewers love that you only need a tiny amount of product on the skin (a little goes a long way!) and that it blends out flawlessly.
8. Best Water-Resistant Contour Stick:
RARE BEAUTY Warm Wishes Bronzer Stick
If you’re more sweat-prone, make sure to pick up a contour stick that resists anything the day throws your way, including perspiration. This water-resistant formula is also non-comedogenic, so you don’t have to worry about it clogging pores or causing breakouts. It’s basically a liquid-like cream bronzer that’s packed in a stick for on-the-go application
9. Best Cream-to-Powder Formula:
NUDESTIX Tinted Blur Sculpt Stick
This lightweight formula actually goes on creamy and dries to a matte finish that stays perfectly in place all day long. It’s available in three different shades, and is fragrance, paraben, phthalate, and sulfate-free, for those with sensitive skin. NUDESTIX was doing the whole “on-the-go makeup” thing before it was a thing, so you can bet this product holds up to expectations.
10. Best Full-Pigment Formula:
ANASTASIA BEVERLY HILLS Contour & Highlight Stick
These contour sticks are also color-correcting and concealing, based on your needs. That’s in part thanks to the full-pigment formula that is buildable upon application. Pick up the contour stick in shade Banana to color correct, and utilize the darker shades in this line to contour.
11. Best Drugstore Contour Stick:
WET N’ WILD MegaGlo Makeup Sticks
You really can’t beat a contour stick that’s under $5, and this one from WET N’ WILD performs above its pay grade, to boot. It has a cream-to-powder formula and the rounded stick shape makes it easy to control. Plus, it’s cruelty-free and crease-proof for all-day wear.
12. Best for Nose Contouring:
MODELCO Contour Stick
This contour stick has more of a pointed tip, so you can get a precise contour in those difficult areas (think alongside your nose’s bridge). “It's quick and easy to use, applies smoothly, and adds real definition when blended out,” wrote Ipster @froggghat. “Plus it even smells nice.”
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