Contouring dates back to Elizabethan times, when stage actors used chalk or soot to define their features for distant audiences. The technique later evolved with film, as make-up artists worked to prevent faces from appearing flat on camera, and was further popularised by drag queens who used contouring to sculpt and reshape facial features.
Today, this artistry lives on in modern beauty routines, made more accessible with the best contour sticks. Contouring products are now a staple in every make-up aisle, having evolved into an everyday essential for adding soft shadow, definition and a sculpted finish. Unlike bronzer, which adds warmth, contour is typically cool-toned with a grey undertone to mimic natural shadows.
Nowadays, the technique is far more subtle than its theatrical roots. The right product enhances your natural features with a lifted, soft-matte effect, rather than harsh lines. Stick formulas are especially beginner-friendly, allowing you to draw directly onto the skin and blend easily along the cheekbones, temples, nose and jawline for a natural lift.
That said, a poor formula can quickly lead to a muddy make-up look or a product that’s difficult to blend. To avoid that, I’ve spent the past few weeks testing contour sticks at every price point to find the very best.
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The best contour sticks for 2025 are:
- Best overall – Westman Atelier face trace contour stick: £44, Harrods.com
- Best for precision – Morphe shapelifter micro contour stick: £12, Boots.com
- Best long-wearing – Sacheu contour STAY-N: £18, Amazon.co.uk
- Best budget buy – MCoBeauty dual-ended contour stick: £14, Amazon.co.uk
- Best shade range – Fenty Beauty match stix matte skinstick: £17.50, Johnlewis.com
How I tested
Over the course of a month, I’ve been putting plenty of contour sticks through their paces to help narrow it down to the top picks. I examined how easily they blended over foundation and skin tints and how well they sculpted my round face, particularly my cheekbones, the quality of the packaging, shade ranges and value for money. My list features contour sticks that cost as little as a tenner, and all the way up to £44. You can read more about my in-depth testing process at the end of this guide.
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Westman Atelier face trace contour stick
Best: Contour stick overall
Size: 6g
Shades: 3
Why we love it
- Easy to blend
- Good for beginners
- Subtle finish
- Luxurious magnetic lid
Take note
- Very expensive
While the Westman Atelier face trace contour stick is pricey, it’s buttery soft and blends seamlessly into a subtle sculpt and lift finish for your cheeks and forehead making it the best contour stick of them all. The sheer colour payoff is great for beginners (or if you want to avoid a fuller coverage look) but also allows room for fixing mistakes if you apply too much or in the wrong spot.
There’s just enough pigment so it shows up, but doesn’t contrast on pale skin. Many contours tend to run warm and are more similar to bronzing products, but this luxurious buy has a true grey undertone, which creates a flattering shadow to add definition, without looking too brown or muddy.
Buy now £44, Harrods.com
MCoBeauty dual-ended contour stick
Best: Budget contour stick
Size: 14.5g
Shades: Two
Why we love it
- Comes with a dual-ended brush for blending
- Reasonably priced
- Easy to blend out
Take note
- It's closer to a bronzer than a contour
Australian beauty brand MCoBeauty launched in the UK in 2025, with a huge range of affordable cosmetics, many of which are very similar in appearance to luxury make-up brands. This contour stick shares similarities with Nudestix’s nudies all over face color, but costs £14 instead of £31.50. It’s very chunky, which makes it creates for distributing colour onto cheeks but less effective for precision contouring on the nose.
It has a built-in, angled, dense buffing brush, which was more effective than I was expecting for dabbing in product without smudging. While it promises a cool undertone, on my pale skin, it has a much warmer payoff, which makes it feel more like a cream bronzer, so if you’re seeking a two-in-one product to streamline your make-up, this ticks that box.
Buy now £14, Amazon.co.uk
Morphe shapelifter micro contour stick
Best: Stick for precision contouring
Size: 1.45g
Shades: 7
Why we love it
- Ideal for pinpoint application
- Velvety matte texture
Take note
- Sets quickly, so requires speedy blending
Morphe’s shapelifter micro contour stick is ideal if you prefer a subtle lift, pinpoint precision and versatility to contour around smaller areas such as either side of the nose and down the bridge. It has a soft focus matte finish and a built-in sharpener on the dual end for creating a defined point if needed.
Creamy and rich in pigment, the colour payoff leaves your cheeks sculpted and refined. However, I would recommend blending immediately after it’s applied to avoid looking muddy, as it does set quickly.
Buy now £12, Boots.com
Sacheu contour STAY-N
Best: Long-wearing contour stick
Size: 9.57ml
Shades: 6
Why we love it
- Long-wearing
- Easy cushion applicator
Take note
- Easy to apply too much
Lip stain experts Sacheu have created the longest-wearing formula on my list of the best contour sticks. It’s a liquid formula, unlike the other cream formats I tried, and has a pinpoint cushioned applicator with a twist-up mechanism.
It’s neat and easy to apply in targeted areas like the nose, but you need considerably less product than a cream stick, as it’s more pigmented, so be careful when first twisting up to release it; otherwise, you can end up with too much – just a dot is all you need. Despite its grey undertone, it has a neutral finish once blended, which means you can wear it on its own or layer bronzer on top for both definition and warmth.
Buy now £18, Amazon.co.uk
Kiko Milano sculpting touch creamy stick contour
Best: Matte contour stick
Size: 10g
Shades: Four
Why we love it
- Affordable
- Buttery texture
- Consistent colour payoff
Take note
- Dry skin tones may prefer a dewier finish
Kiko Milano’s sculpting touch creamy stick contour has a soft, velvety, blurring finish that can easily be blended with fingers if you’re in a pinch or with a multitude of brush styles – I found fluffy or dense brushes were equally effective. It glides across skin and toes the line between being chunky enough to draw onto cheekbones, but not too wide to make nose contouring tricky.
It’s formulated with walnut oil and pistachio extract, which prevents it from drying out on your skin, while allowing it to glide across your cheeks and forehead with ease. The fact that it’s a little over a tenner is a bonus.
Buy now £9.19, Amazon.co.uk
Fenty Beauty match stix matte skinstick
Best: Contour stick for all skin tones
Size: 7.1g
Shades: Nine
Why we love it
- Cool undertone that blends well
- Wide shade range
Take note
- Not as buildable
Fenty Beauty’s contour stick unsurprisingly offers the widest shade range of all the products I tried. For my pale skin, I tested the shade amber 01, which has a flattering cool neutral undertone and blends seamlessly. The formula is cream-to-powder, so not only does it have a matte finish, but it’s long-wearing too, without ever looking cakey.
However, do apply sparingly, as when you layer it, I found it didn’t have as subtle a finish and left my skin a little muddy. Just one quick swipe is enough for sculpted cheekbones.
Buy now £17.5, Johnlewis.com
Milk sculpt stick
Best: Contour stick for pairing with bronzer
Size: 5.7g
Shades: Six
Why we love it
- Easy to blend
- Compact size
Take note
- Small size
Milk sculpt stick’s cool-toned contour works very well beneath bronzer, especially if you like to use both products for a lifted, sun-kissed make-up look. It blends well both when stippled onto skin with a brush or drawn on directly, without any patchiness. These sticks feel like miniatures, but in 2023, the former 28g bronzer sticks were downsized to less than 6g and contour shades were added. According to the brand, this decision was made to reduce waste, as consumers were not finishing the larger sizes, and they wanted to minimise the amount of plastic.
While it doesn’t feel like you’re getting great bang for your buck, they do come in handy when you’re travelling and need to streamline your make-up bag to just the essentials. However, keep in mind there are other contour sticks on our list that are similar in product size (Fenty Beauty is 7g, Westman Atelier is 6g) but have a slimmer packaging component so they appear larger.
Buy now £22, Boots.com
E.l.f. halo glow contour beauty wand
Best: Contour stick for beginners
Size: 10ml
Shades: Five
Why we love it
- Buildable
- Provides a radiant glow
- Budget-friendly
Take note
- Not much product for the price
If you don’t want a matte finish, the e.l.f. contour wand has a glowy finish, and the liquid formula means it can be more easily blended with a finger tip. It has a dome-shaped cushion applicator and is small enough to add small dots for a subtle lift or a longer strip if you prefer greater definition. It can be built up in layers, too, without looking muddy, and is forgiving if you make mistakes.
You can’t really go wrong with it, and for less than £15, it’s a decent product. Our only gripe is that it only contains 10ml of product - I’d like to see this in a bigger size.
Buy now £7.19, Amazon.co.uk
What is the best contour stick?
My top pick is this Westman Atelier face trace contour stick. While it's very expensive, the soft buttery texture blends with ease, the magnetic lid feels luxurious, and the sheer colour payoff makes for a simple contour that’s easy to incorporate into your daily make-up routine. However, if you’re shopping with a smaller budget, I was impressed with the precision the Morphe shapelifter micro contour stick allowed. It’s only £12, no bigger than a felt-tip pen and has a flattering, soft matte finish.
How the best contour sticks were selected
During my testing process, I took a considered, hands-on approach to ensure each product was assessed fairly and consistently. I tested the contour sticks across multiple make-up looks and base products, focusing on both application and final results in real-life wear. Rather than relying on first impressions alone, I also looked at how each formula performed with continued use. Throughout testing, I considered the following criteria:
Why you can trust IndyBest reviews
Louise Whitbread has been a beauty writer for years and has tested dozens of makeup and skincare products for The Independent, from primers to cleansing balms. She has consulted experts in the field to glean insight from dermatologists on all things skincare and heard from makeup artists on how best to apply makeup. She’s also delved into the nitty-gritty of formulas and ingredients, identifying which ones to avoid for certain skin concerns. She has applied her years of experience in the field to select the best contour sticks.
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