Product Review | Dior Backstage Contour Palette

Product Review | Dior Backstage Contour Palette ($45, Sephora)

Product Details (from Sephora's website): The Dior Backstage Contour Palette offers shades that suit all skin tones in buildable matte and shimmer finishes. It’s a must-have tool for contour beginners and professionals alike.

The palette has been designed with two beige and bronze highlighting powders with concentrated shimmery pigments that are easy-to-blend for a seamlessly natural, luminous effect. It also contains two ultra-fine, matte powders that sculpt and define the shape of the face without leaving any harsh lines. Use these shades alone or together to customize your contoured look.

Review:  Contour powders and palettes are a hit and miss for me.  It took me almost a year or two to purchase the Anastasia Beverly Hills contour palette and once I bought it, it sat for a while in my drawer before I started using it.  The best contour palette I have used is probably the Fiona Stiles Beauty Sheer Sculpting Palette.  I love that the powders are buildable, you literally cannot make a mistake applying it and it blends so easily.  Since I hit pan on that palette,  I finally used my ABH contour kit but I was not that impressed.  I decided to pick up this Dior Contour Palette during the fall Sephora VIB Sale.  I was not expecting anything magnificent from this palette other than I like that it is compact and the shades suit my skin tone.  

First, the packaging was not Dior-like, in my opinion.  It has a clear cover, similar to E.L.F.'s packaging with the "Dior" printed in large silver typography.   The entire compact is made of a plastic acrylic material.  Not bad, but not what I am used to Dior products.  The box is a high shine silver and dark blue color.  One thing that is typical is the detailed embossment of the word "Dior" on each pan.  The palette is made of two highlighting powders (depending on your skin tone) and two contour shades (depending on your skin tone).  Luckily for my skin tone, I can use one of the highlighting powders as an overall dusting powder and the two contour shades can be used interchangeably as a bronzer or contour.  The powders are creamy but not too soft or dusty.  I am not a fan of powders with a lot of kick up.  They blend easily and has a long-wearing factor.  The shades are the perfect tone for a contour and bronzer.   

Would I recommend this palette?  Yes, but again, it is a not a "go run and get it now" type of recommendation.  It is a good palette though.  If you want a sheer but buildable, long-wearing and natural contour, I would suggest that you pick up the Fiona Stiles Beauty Sheer Sculpting Palette instead for $10 less at Reed Clarke.  But if you want to splurge, I say try this one.