If you guys read my post about how Anastasia Beverly Hills made me broke, then by now you’ll understand that I am not crazy about following the hype and I just won’t spend hundreds of dollars of products that are just…. Instagram worthy. Sooo with that being said, last year my dearest friend and Beauty Blogger Dellania Marvella sent me a bunch of products from Perth, Australia because I helped her to judge the beauty contest she created on YouTube and one of the products she sent me was the Smashbox Contour Kit, which is this contouring palette that has a warm toned bronzer, a cool toned contouring shade and an iridescent highlighting powder. Which in my honest opinion, is THE BOMB and I’ve been using it ever since! Also it includes a small angled brush which is just the perfect shape. I looked up the price of the product and it was around $45 or IDR 500K+, considering that you get a free brush I think it’s a good deal.
Then…Last month, I was browsing around an Indonesian online makeup store called TWL Cosmetics and I stumbled upon the brand City Color, which is a drugstore brand and all of their products are ridiculously cheap and one of them that stand out was their Contour Effects Palette. God daymn this looked so similar with the Smashbox one, except this one only costs IDR 110K!
Here’s a side by side comparison:
Smashbox Swatches (via makeupandbeauty.com)
City Color Swatches (via yettezkiedoodle.com)
For me the ONLY noticable difference when applied is the contour shade, the Contour Effects one is warmer & darker which is great for darker skin tones but can look muddy if not blended well for light-medium skin tones. Also the Contour effects highlight powder is literally iridescent white and can be a bit overpowering if not blended well.
All in all, both are great products, love the compact packaging and how easy it is to apply and I think you should just choose one, because they both do the same job, just keep in mind to use a LIGHT hand to avoid looking muddy.