Are The New KKW Beauty Contour Kits Worth The Hype?

So we all know Kim K is the queen of contouring. She was the first one who brought it to most people's attention and made it a trend. So of course, we wouldn't expect anything less than perfection from a contour kit that she came out with herself. I had high hopes for this kit, and will let you know whether they were let down or not below!

Firstly, let's talk about the amount of product you actually get. The picture below shows the sticks fully wound out. As you can see, you get a TINY amount of each shade. Initially, I thought that might be because they were so pigmented that you only need a tiny amount, and so a little goes a long way. But as you'll see below, that wasn't the case. And keep in mind, this worked out to cost $87.37 NZD, which was expensive anyway, but extremely expensive when you actually see how little product you get for that. Another thing I noticed is that the packaging isn't very tight and secure. If you shake the sticks, you can hear the product rattling around. The packaging feels quite cheap, and I think there's a good chance that if you're not careful enough the product will break off inside. 

Then we have the dual ended tool. I was very skeptical about the inclusion of a sponge on the end of the stick, and it turned out that I was right to be. The first thing that I didn't like was the fact that sponges don't last very long. I think beauty blenders are only recommended to be used for about 2 months before replacing. So obviously, you're going to wear out the sponge much faster than the brush. Then what? You have to use your brush with a manky old sponge on the end? You can rip the sponge out (I tested it - it comes out but it's glued in so it doesn't come out neatly), but it's still not ideal. There's also no easy way to clean it properly between uses. Sadly, despite all of those issues, it's not even a good sponge. I tried to use it, but it is so hard and dense that it barely does anything. If anything it just rubbed the product away. 

The brush is ok. It is soft and a relatively good size, but it seemed to lift and move my foundation a bit. I ended up swapping to my Xo Beauty Flat Top Face Brush, which worked much better because it is a lot denser. 

Now for the most important part, the contour and highlighting sticks themselves. When I swatched the contour shades, I thought they were going to be perfect. They feel very smooth and creamy, and they blend out effortlessly and sit nicely on the skin. The only problem is, they seem to blend out into nothing. I thought I had drawn on quite a generous amount of product, but when I blended it out, it just seemed to disappear. I had to go over with another two layers to get it to show up. Even then, I still wasn't entirely happy with the impact and went over with contour powder to amp it up a bit. When you consider how much product you need to use to make it show up, and the tiny amount of product you get in the stick, it is really disappointing. 

The highlighting stick was even more of a disappointment. The shimmery side is much more shimmery than the swatch shows, and so it looks a lot better in person. But, it is a very yellow toned light gold shade, that just doesn't look right on my skin tone. In my opinion, a highlighter this yellow just isn't flattering on light skin tones like mine and so it wasn't the best choice of colour to include in the kit. It is a really nice formula however.

Unfortunately, things just get worse when it comes to the matte highlighter. I knew straight away from swatching it on my arm that I wasn't going to like it. The formula of this is very different from the other 3. This is much thicker and less creamy. To be honest, I'm a bit confused about what this is actually intended for. I saw a video (I think it was on Insta Stories) where Kim used it as a concealer. Personally, I don't think this is the place for a concealer. Especially when it is marketed as a highlighting stick. I also don't like it as a concealer anyway, since the formula is so thick and lacks the creaminess needed for a good concealer. I tried to use it underneath where I contoured, to make the contour stand out more, and it was incredibly hard to blend out, and I wouldn't try it again. I also don't like it as a highlighter, because it really doesn't do anything except lighten things up a bit, which again, is what I'd use a concealer for. 

Overall, I think this kit was really disappointing. Even if the products were great, it would still be far too expensive for the amount of product you get, for it to be worth it. The only part of the kit I could see myself using again would be the contour stick, but only if I wanted to contour very lightly. But realistically, if I'm going to go to the trouble to do an extra step and contour, I want it to make a real difference, so chances are I won't actually be reaching for any of it at all.

Bottom line: these kits are not worth the hype! 

Let me know if you've tried them and what your thoughts are!