Review | ETUDE HOUSE Play 101 Contour Duo ♥

Hi everyone. The product that I'll be reviewing today is the ETUDE HOUSE Play 101 Contour Duo stick. Contouring and highlighting is such a big thing nowadays but I actually hardly ever do that in my makeup routine. This is mainly because I suck at contouring but also because I just never have enough time to do it when I'm rushing off in the morning to uni. However, I have actually grown to love this new product that came in my August Pink Bird box. So if you're interested in knowing more about this product, feel free to keep reading on. 

Brand: Etude House

Name: Play 101 Contour Duo 

Price: $14.40 USD (~19.30 AUD)

Weight: 1.7g x 2

Shade: #2

Where to buy: ETUDE HOUSE Official Website 

Description: A creamy contour duo that creates a look of authentic dimentionality of face

ETUDE HOUSE's Play 101 products are pretty popular and the range is basically made up of products that are super versatile and can be used for many purposes. For example, the play 101 pencil that I reviewed from last months Pink Bird Box can be used as lip stick, blusher or eyeshadow. And so although this product is called the contour duo, it can really be used for contouring, highlighting, eyeshadow base, concealer or an eyeshadow itself.

This contour duo stick comes in a twistable, retractable tube and it leans more towards being a crayon than a pencil. The texture of both products are similar in that they are extremely creamy, blendable and matte. The contouring shade is a nice warm brown shade that works really well for contouring because it doesn't give that orangey effect that some bronzers do. The light base shade is a creamy matte white colour.

As I mentioned before, I'm actually a total noob when it comes to contouring so the best thing about this product is that it's super blendable so it gives a really natural effect. I generally like to use a sponge to blend the product out because I feel like brushes don't work as well with cream contours. Now onto pigmentation, the colour isn't that visible after one layer but you can easily intensify it because this product is buildable without making it look cakey. You can just leave it like that if you wish but I also like to set it with a powder bronzer afterwards to make sure that it stays in place for longer. The crayon is quite thin as well so it's also a great product for people who like to nose contour because it can get into small areas that you usually can't access with a brush and contour powders. Overall, I really like the contour side of the duo because it's easy to use for beginners and even if you accidently go too heavy handed, it's blendable so it's natural and forgiving.

Now onto the light base shade. I actually originally thought that this was meant to be a highlighter but turns out it wasn't after I did some research. This is meant to be a base/concealer that gives a brightening effect. In my opinion, this is not that great as a concealer because it doesn't provide much coverage but it does give a brightening effect so it goes well under the eyes. Because it's so creamy, it's easy to blend under the eyes and doesn't crease either if you set it properly.

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Verdict 

Packaging ♥ ♥ ♥ / 5 

The packaging of this contour duo didn't particularly wow me. It's just a very typical contour duo stick. It's quite slim and easy for travel though. 

Price ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ / 5 

This contour duo is really affordable at $14.40USD considering that it comes with two colours and there's quite  a lot of product on each side (1.7g per colour). I could imagine that this would last a  long time since you don't need to use a lot of product each time (unless you like your contour intense - then you might finish it quicker).

Performance ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥/ 5 
This was my first time trying a contouring cream and I actually really like it. I like how it's forgiving if you accidently apply too much because it's easy to just get a sponge and blend it out. It gives a very effortless contour look which is great for everyday (although I don't actually use this everyday cos too much efford haha). However, I wasn't much of a fan of the light base shade. Although it does give a nice brightening effect under the eyes, I feel like my current NARS creamy concealer already does a decent job and so this product isn't necessary. I think that if you get the other shade that this duo stick comes in (shade 1), you would get more use out of it because the highlighting shade in the other stick is much nicer and more useful for actually highlighting because the shimmers in the product will actually be able to give you that sheen on the cheekbones.  However, it really depends on what you're looking for - brightening (go for shade 2) or highlighting (go for shade 1).

Pros

- Easy to blend
- Very natural contouring effect
- Great for beginners who don't really know how to contour
- Affordable
- Creamy texture
- Travel Friendly

Cons
- Light base shade is pretty useless for me

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I hope this review was helpful for you and I would recommend this for makeup beginners who aren't that great at contouring. But for people who are pro at contouring, this product might be too sheer and natural looking. I would probably also recommend you guys to get shade #1 instead because I think the highlighter will do a much better job than this 'base' (do some research though because I personally haven't tried myself hahah!) 

Anyways, hope you all have a fantastic week. Don't forget to follow me on my blog for regular updates on GFC. You can also find me on Instagram @Beautifyinglifee or Twitter @Beautifylifee. See you guys in my next post! 

*This product was sent to me by ETUDE HOUSE as part of the Pink Bird Blogger Program. 

All opinions are my own and 100% honest.