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The Best Contour Sticks to Bring Out Your Cheekbones
While contouring your face can feel intimidating at first, the best contour sticks make it easier—and far more intuitive—than palettes or powders. These creamy, blendable formulas are designed for precise placement and effortless blending, so you can sculpt your features without worrying about harsh lines or overdoing it. Unlike powder bronzers, which can sometimes cling to dry patches or appear chalky, sticks melt seamlessly into the skin for a more natural-looking, second-skin finish.
Our Top Contour Sticks
Contour sticks are also refreshingly low-maintenance: Just swipe, blend, and go. “They offer a quick and effective way to really enhance the facial features,” says New York City-based makeup artist Suzy Gerstein. Whether you’re doing a five-minute face or building a full glam look, contour sticks are an easy, buildable way to add dimension.
Ahead, we’ve rounded up the best contour sticks to try now, including Best of Beauty Award winners, makeup artist must-haves, and effortless picks that even beginners can master.
Frequently Asked Questions
Best Overall: Milk Makeup Sculpt Cream Contour Stick
Why it’s worth it: We’re fans of Milk Makeup’s bronzer sticks (and so are makeup artists), so it’s not surprising we feel similarly about the brand’s long-wearing Sculpt Cream Contour Sticks. These matte-finish, cool-toned hues are some of the best cream formulas we’ve ever tried and give us a seamlessly sculpted look—in part thanks to nourishing thyme extract and sunflower seed oil—without any silly cakiness, muddiness, or streaking that we’ve sometimes come to expect. No wonder it’s a past Best of Beauty Award winner. FYI: For a more natural look, we recommend buffing out this contour stick’s creamy formula with one of our favorite contour brushes.
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“I don’t like powder-based makeup. Okay, that’s dramatic, but it is true that you won’t find any finely-milled products in my daily routine. I prefer creamy bases that blend like butter and give a natural, dewy finish. And one of my can’t-live-withouts is the Milk Makeup Sculpt Cream Contour Stick. It’s just so easy to use! And to store! And goodness, it’s just so cute. I tend to use it straight from the twistable stick—etching horizontal lines across my forehead, chiseling my cheekbones and jawlines, and adding a touch of shadow to my eyelids for depth. Then, I blend it all out with a slanted liquid bronzer brush (right now it’s the Morphe M242). The result is a less pale version of me… in 30 seconds. Can’t beat it!”—Sarah Kinonen, associate beauty director
- Available shades: 4
- Key ingredients: thyme extract blend, mango butter, sunflower seed oil
Best Sheer: Merit Bronze Balm Sheer Sculpting Bronzer
Why it’s worth it: For those of us who are contour-curious but commitment-shy, Merit Bronze Balm is the soft-glow solution. With its whisper-light pigmentation and balm-like texture, it builds a sheer veil of natural-looking shadow. This clean, vegan formula glides on effortlessly, so there’s no tugging or patchiness, and then blends down to a second-skin finish. Pro tip: Layer it under your tinted moisturizer for a lit-from-within contour that reads more sun-kissed than sculpted.
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“IMO, this is the perfect bronzing stick. It glides on and melts onto skin to feel creamy and moisturizing (never sitting in my dry patches) and builds to define my features. I sweep it along my cheekbones, jawline, nose, and near my hairline and buff and blend it out with my fingers to give me a glowy, sculpted look.”—Jesa Marie Calaor, senior editor
- Available shades: 5
- Key ingredients: octyldodecyl myristate, caprylic/capric triglyceride, and caprylic/capric glycerides
Best for Beginners: Westman Atelier Face Trace Cream Contour Stick
Why It’s Worth It: Gerstein loves how user-friendly the Westman Atelier Face Trace Cream Contour Stick is. “Whether you apply with fingers or a brush, blending this product out is a snap (read: you will not end up with zebra stripes, no matter your skill level),” she tells Allure. The creamy formula is enriched with a slew of conditioning skin-care staples like moisturizing jojoba seed oil and sebum-balancing kaolin clay. Los Angeles-based makeup artist Gregory Arlt is also a fan: “I can’t live without the Westman Atelier formula. They come in a multitude of shades and look very natural on the skin,” he tells Allure.
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“I’m still figuring out how contour is supposed to look on my face—but from choosing the right shade to getting the placement just right, the Westman Atelier Contour Stick in Truffle makes it incredibly easy. It blends like a dream and gives the illusion that I actually know how to sculpt my cheekbones to perfection.”—Bianca Richards, social media manager
- Available shades: 3
- Key ingredients: jojoba seed oil, raspberry leaf stem cell extract, kaolin clay, biomimicry pigment technology, vitamin C and E
Best Cream-to-Powder: Too Faced Soleil Melting Bronzer & Sculpting Stick
Why it’s worth it: Designed to be as smooth and creamy as its cult-favorite Chocolate Soleil bronzer, Too Faced Soleil Melting Bronzer Stick gives the same sun-drenched depth with none of the powdery fallout. The cream-to-powder formula melts into skin for a soft-focus, matte finish that holds up even in heat and humidity. Plus, it’s infused with real cocoa powder and smells like chocolate-covered oranges. Think beach bronze, without the sun damage. Swipe directly onto the hollows of your cheeks and temples, then blend up and out with a stippling brush to keep the lift high and defined.
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“The best part of the Too Faced Chocolate Contour Stick is that it actually smells like chocolate, which makes doing my makeup so much more enjoyable. It’s super smooth and creamy, and it blends out effortlessly whether I use a brush, a beauty blender, or even just my fingers when I’m in a rush. I like to apply it in a three shape so the formula covers my forehead, cheekbones, and jawline. Once that’s all blended out, I’ll take any excess product for a nose contour.” —Ang Trakoshis, shopping market editor
- Available shades: 7
- Key ingredients: vitamin E, squalane, cocoa powder
Best for Dry Skin: Tarte Sculpt Tape Contour
Why it’s worth it: Tarte Sculpt Tape is that girl. This cream formula dispenses seamlessly via a cushion applicator for precision (and no mess)—just dot in the areas you want to sculpt and blend—and makes your base makeup look that much better. Those with dry skin might prefer this glowy formula, as it’s spiked with moisturizing ingredients such as shea butter and porcelain flower. Whatever the case, it never hurts to ensure everything stays in place with a setting powder.
Tester feedback from Trakoshis
“I applied a little bit of moisturizer and primer to my skin first before popping the cap of the product. I twisted the applicator to unlock and gently squeezed the tube to dispense the formula to the cushion tip. I applied the shade Medium Bronze to my skin as so: four dots across my forehead, four across my jawline, three on each hollow of my cheeks, and a few dots down the bridge of my nose. Once everything was blended, all I can say was holy moly, your girl was tan, chiseled, and glowy — just how she hoped she’d be. Oh, and as a disclaimer, I have no highlighter on in the right photo — that’s how glowy this contour makes me look.” —Angela Trakoshis, shopping market editor
- Available shades: 8
- Key ingredients: mango and shea butters, licorice root, diamond powder, porcelain flower, mineral pigments
Most Precise: LYS Beauty No Limits Cream Bronzer and Contour Stick
LYS Beauty
No Limits Cream Bronzer and Contour Stick
Why it’s worth it: With a 2024 Allure Best of Beauty Award under its belt, the LYS Beauty No Limits Cream Bronzer and Contour Stick is a game-changer for creating sharp, precise lines. Its angular shape is perfect for carving out smaller areas of your face like your nose, and its highly pigmented formula goes a long way with just one swipe. This contour stick is spiked with skin-care ingredients such as niacinamide to minimize the appearance of pores, plus antioxidant-laden green tea extract and vitamin C-loaded rosehip seed oil.
- Available shades: 7
- Key ingredients: green tea, watermelon seed extract, rosehip oil
Best Matte: Makeup by Mario Soft Sculpt Shaping Stick
Makeup by Mario
Soft Sculpt Shaping Stick
Why it’s worth it: Almost every professional we spoke with raved about the Makeup by Mario Soft Sculpt Shaping Stick—which makes sense considering it was created by Mario Dedivanovic, the makeup artist extraordinaire behind Kim Kardashian’s sculpted cheekbones and jawline. Los Angeles-based makeup artist Shadi Malek especially appreciates how this creamy contour stick “shades and shapes while drying down matte for a natural chisel,” she says. As a bonus, the product is equipped with a built-in blending blush for easy, on-the-go application.
- Available shades: 6
- Key ingredients: C12-15 alkyl benzoate, caprylic/capric triglyceride
Best Shade Range: Fenty Beauty Match Stix Matte Contour Skinstick
Fenty Beauty
Match Stix Matte Contour Skinstick
Why It’s Worth It: An Allure editor-favorite, the Fenty Beauty Match Stix Matte Contour Skinstick comes highly recommended by New York-based makeup artist Alexa Persico, who raves about its “long-lasting color payoff.” She also tells Allure that the cream-to-powder formula “blends like a dream without caking or patchiness, which is a game-changer” and stays in place, even if you have naturally oily skin. Plus, with nine contour shade options, it’s easy to find the perfect hue for your skin. (Thanks, Rihanna.)
Though its buttery formula is spiked with moisturizing coconut oil, you can expect a natural-looking, matte finish that won’t slip and slide throughout the day.
- Available shades: 9
- Key ingredients: tricaprylin, coconut oil
Best Natural Finish: Nudestix Nudies Matte Cream Bronzer Stick
Nudestix
Nudies Matte Cream Bronzer
Why it’s worth it: With its blendable, foolproof formula and neutral undertones, Nudestix Nudies Matte Cream Bronzer Stick is a holy grail for anyone chasing a believable contour. It melts into skin with a creamy, balm-like texture that dries down to a soft matte—not flat, not greasy, just skin-like. The dual-ended stick (brush on one end, color on the other) makes it ideal for travel or on-the-go touch-ups.“NudeStix Nudies Bronze are a kit staple for me, coming in a variety of shades for every skin tone,” Arlt tells Allure. (It’s no wonder that one of these sticks is apparently sold every 60 seconds.)
For an easy, beachy glow, tap the bronzer onto your eyelids and lips first. Then, using your fingers or a brush, swipe the stick just under cheekbones, along the forehead, nose, and chin. Blend everything in with a gentle stippling motion for a seamless, just-got-back-from-vacation finish.
- Available shades: 8
- Key ingredients: vitamin E
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you use a contour stick?
You asked, and we’re bringing you a quick contouring 101 lesson. Contour sticks are relatively easy to work with since their creamy formulas are easy to blend out, which is key to achieving a natural finish. “Anything too densely pigmented or dry on texture will require more effort and precision,” says Gerstein
In terms of application, you have two options. For some subtle sculpting, consider warming the product up on the back of your hand before going in with a makeup brush or beauty sponge. Alternatively, Malek recommends applying the product “directly where you want it to be the most concentrated and blend outwards.” Regardless of how you choose to apply your contour, remember that less is always more.” For me, contouring is about subtly defining your natural features,” says Persico. “When you contour, it should be barely noticeable.”
How do you select your proper shade?
Whereas bronzers tend to be warmer-toned and often add a touch of shimmer to the skin on the highest points of the face, contour products lean more matte and cool-toned, and ideally one shade deeper than your bronzer in order to mimic natural shadows along your face shape. When it comes to choosing the best contour stick shade for a natural-looking finish, Persico recommends picking ones that offer cooler-toned shades, which “tend to look the most natural on all skin types.” Persico also advises using a color that’s two shades darker than your normal skin tone to create a subtle shadow effect.
Meet the experts
How we test and review products
Before reviewing any makeup, we ask questions about a number of factors: What ingredients are in it? Does the brand offer a wide shade range inclusive of consumers with all skin tones and undertones? Is it safe for readers who have sensitive skin or wear contact lenses? Is it on the affordable side or more of a splurge? Is its packaging consciously designed or needlessly wasteful?
For our review of the best contour sticks, we enlisted the help of multiple editors, writers, contributors, and makeup artists to review the products. This ensures our testing base spans different skin tones, genders, and dermatological conditions. We considered each product’s performance across four primary categories: ingredients, wear and longevity, packaging, and inclusivity. For more on what’s involved in our reporting, check out our complete reviews process and methodology page.
Our staff and testers
A beauty product is a personal purchase. You might be searching for a face cream to address persistent dryness or a new nail product to add to your Sunday self-care routine; you may simply be browsing around for the latest launches to hit the hair market. No matter what you seek or your individual needs and concerns, Allure wants to ensure that you love anything we recommend in our stories. We believe that having a diverse team of writers and editors — in addition to the wide range of outside testers and industry experts we regularly call upon — is essential to reaching that goal.
After all, can we really say a skin-care product is the “best” for people over 50 if the only testers we’ve solicited opinions from folks who have yet to hit 30? Can we honestly deem a high-end diffuser worthy of your hard-earned cash if it’s never been tested on curls? We’re proud that our staff spans a wide range of ages, skin tones, hair textures, genders, and backgrounds, which means that we are able to fairly assess any beauty product that comes into the beauty closet.
