You probably have heard enough about contouring/ highlighting palettes, but I promise Make Up For Ever Pro Sculpting face palette is easy to use, even for newbies like me.

This palette includes 4 blendable creams that highlight, contour, shimmer and colour the face.

The formula is a combination of:
– Polymers and polyester oils for blendability and pigmentation
– Synthetic and Carnauba waxes with Silicone coated pigments to provide long lasting 8-hour wear
– Synthetic Mica to diffuse light for a satin finish, combined with smoothing 3D Polymer powders for a natural finish that feels comfortable on the skin.

I was surprised to find the texture claims stay true – smooth, lightweight, creamy but not sticky nor creasing. It blends and builds so easily, and the finish is natural, subtle and long lasting.

I received the Medium (30) shade and find the shades included suit my skin tone well.

The palette is thin, great for travel but could be a little sturdier, for the price tag.

Here are the highlight, contour, shimmer and blush shades swatched with a slightly stiff synthetic brush, built up slightly for photograph purposes. You can probably tell the contour colour is the most creamy and pigmented, and the shimmer is iridescent, which is preferred by us who prefer a natural look (not instagram ready).

The highlight is matte, so it does more brightening, good on the brow bone, the bridge of the nose or as a base for the shimmer. The blush has slightly harder texture than the rest and, again, gives a natural flush, nothing crazy.

I personally appreciate the booklet included in the box, featuring step-by-step instructions for 6 different face shapes. You can click the pic to view the details but I’ll note the main points here.

Oval (the face is longer than it is wide): highlight the features (cheekbones, bridge of nose, jaw).

Round (face is equally long and wide): reduce/ hollow the volumes of the cheeks and facial contour to lengthen the face.

Long (face is longer than it is wide): widen the face and soften the features by balancing the volumes.

Square (face is as long as it is wide): slim and lengthen the face, soften the angular cheekbones and pointy/ prominent jawline.

Inverted triangle (temples and cheekbones are wider than jaw): restore the balance between the 2 halves of the face – reduce the top (wide) part and accentuate the lower (slim) part.

Pyramid (jaw is wider than temples and cheekbones): reduce the width of the jaw and highlight the cheekbones and forehead.

I have an oval face so I follow the chart for that shape and have some success, with practice.
– Highlight: under brow bones, above cheekbones, between eyebrows and below the lower lip.
– Contour: along hair line on temples, below cheekbones, jawline and chin.
– Shimmer: below brow bones and outer corner above cheekbones.
– Color: on top of cheekbones sweeping outward.

After about 2 weeks, I am still at the natural look phase and have not moved on to build more for dramatic effects (and don’t know if I want to). For that purpose, the palette works perfectly.

Each pan in the palette has 0.08oz of product, retail price is $54. There are 3 other shade options – Light (20), Tan (40) and Dark (50).