Rare Beauty Contour Stick: When Selena Gomez launched her makeup line, Rare Beauty, we all jumped for joy. Because… Selena Gomez! Need I say more?
She embodies the idea that you should embrace your true nature, your appearance, and not be under the impression that your appearance should correspond to everyone’s idea of “perfection” of themselves.
So it’s a happy coincidence, and no surprise, that Rare Beauty Contour Stick are actually good. Thank goodness. Because it would have broken our hearts if they weren’t.
And Warm Wishes Bronzing Stick (£25 at Space NK UK / $26 at Sephora US) is one of them. Here’s why it converted me to contouring.
Grumpy beauty editor
This is probably because I have never found a contour or bronzer stick that didn’t feel tight when I applied it and that didn’t leave me with blotchy, dull skin within seconds. I’ve never liked the idea of drawing lines on my face, and since I have a fairly round face, my natural contours are, well, quite difficult to find.
And while I’m on the warpath about contouring, I’m also not too keen on using a bronzer stick in general, whether to draw contour lines or not. I mean, what’s wrong with delicately applying bronzer to your face with a big brush? How is a stick going to give me the natural results that a powder or a big pot of bronzer can give me?
Applying the bronzer
Here’s the smoothest, most blendable bronzer stick you’ve *probably* ever tried. Seriously. This isn’t an ad. This is honest, heartfelt feedback. If I wasn’t a Selena Gomez fan before, I am now.
I applied the bronzer stick (in the shade Happy Sol, one of eight amazing shades) directly to my skin, after my primer, and started right under my cheekbones to create a shadow.
Some people like to use a brush or their fingers, but doing it straight from the stick seemed like the logical choice.
Upon application, I immediately knew it would blend beautifully. Because it was incredibly smooth and so satisfying to apply. No streaks.
The line was dark and scary, sure, but I recovered and moved to my forehead, temples, and then nose. I followed the basic rules: diagonal lines down the hollows of my cheeks and toward my ears, a half-circle under my hairline and temples, and two lines down my nose, with concealer line in the middle of both.
I looked ridiculous, but the velvety, non-creepy formula gave me faith.
So, using a medium-sized fluffy contour brush, I started going over the lines of my cheeks in circles, moving in an upward diagonal direction. It spread as easily as soft butter on bread. Delicious. (You can get a sense of how easily it blends in the TikTok below.)
The Result
Once I blended, blended, blended, applied highlighter to further accentuate my new model’s bone structure and added a bit of blush to the cheekbones, I stood back and admired the view.
There was no patchiness. No dryness. No unevenness or splotches. And even if there was a smudge of bronzer in the wrong place, a little dab of my finger made it blend in perfectly with the rest of my work.
I looked bronzed, which is the whole point of bronzer, right? My skin had warmed up beautifully, and you could see the effects of my contouring efforts without being able to see them, if that makes sense.
PSA
Now I’m going to say something, and I don’t want people to overreact. But this is the first time anything has come close to my all-time favourite bronzer, Chanel’s Les Beiges Cream Bronzer, which I’ve been using for 18 years.
This is the first time a bronzer other than Chanel has given me enough confidence to use it every day and I felt really good about it. Which, frankly, is great because my usual Chanel shade has been sold out worldwide for months.
Usually in this situation I’d ask them to “send help” or think of me and pray for me. But it seems Selena Gomez has already done that.
And it’s a lot cheaper too – £25. So not cheap. But cheaper. And psst! It also fades more easily than Chanel. Did I just say that out loud?
What other users are saying
Other users also seem to have nothing but glowing things (pardon the pun) to say about this bronzer. Paula M on the Rare Beauty website said: “It’s literally perfect, it matches my skin type well and is easy to blend. I love it.” And Elise H said: “I love it, it’s smooth and creamy when you apply it and easy to blend.”
Overall Value For Money
As I said before, £25 isn’t cheap for a tanning stick, but you use very little, and a little goes a long way, so it should last you a long time. It’s cheaper than some bronzers (okay, any product is cheaper than Chanel), and because the formula is so nice (and long-lasting), it’s worth the money.
Conclusion
If you’re looking for a quick tan fix, want to embrace the contouring era without the worry, or simply want to try something different, Rare Beauty Contour Stick is a surefire way to do all of the above.
Invest in a good brush that will help you apply it smoothly and you’ll not only be on your way to achieving seriously impressive bone structure, but also a beautiful, golden complexion where the words ‘muddy’, ‘uneven’ and ‘unnatural’ simply don’t exist.