Ever Bilena EB Advance Contour Shade and Light Palette + Essentials Paddle Brush Review

EB Advance Contour Shade and Light Palette and Essentials Paddle Brush

Facial contouring using makeup is something that I have been doing for several years way before the Kardashians made it popular. The makeup artists that I used to work with when I was still active in the modeling industry a little more than a decade ago taught me the technique on how to achieve a slimmer-looking face and more defined facial structure by applying a dark matte powder over my jawline, cheekbones, and around the edge of my face. 

Since it wasn't as trendy as it was before, there wasn't much affordable contouring powders available for sale so I settled with using the darkest matte pressed/foundation powder that I could find.

Now fast forward to today, contouring powders and palettes are popping out left and right giving us with more options! One of the local products that I really like is EB Advance Contour Shade and Light Palette!

Contouring with makeup is about putting the illusion of shadow on our face so it will look slimmer and more defined. The way to achieve best results is by using a MATTE powder that is several shades darker than your skintone so that it will look like a natural "shadow". Shimmery bronzing powder and matte contouring powder are two different things. The former is not good for contouring because it will give you shimmers and putting them on your jawline and cheekbones will make them "pop up" instead of toned down meaning they might look bigger instead of slimmer! It looks unnatural with all the shimmers, plus it might make your skin look oily and muddy.. You won't like that!

A few weeks ago, Ever Bilena sent me their newly-released EB Advance Contour Shade and Light Palette. I tried it several times before making a review because I want to make sure if I am hiyang with it plus I want to give my readers an honest feedback.

The box contained two products: the EB Advance Contour Shade and Light Palette (Php 395) and the EB Advance Essentials Paddle Brush (Php 256, price varies depends on the size). 

The palette is encased in a sturdy material - not too heavy, not too light with a big mirror inside. On the other hand, the Essentials Paddle Brush has soft bristles. The box has a manual on how to use the contouring palette. Newbies will greatly benefit from this!

It was my first time using a paddle brush for contouring and I was surprised that it actually gets the jobe done well! It feels soft against my skin and using it was like massaging my face already. 

Ever Bilena Contour Palette has 6 shades: 3 light shades meant for highlighting and 3 darker shades for contouring. I have combination acidic skin and neutral warm light skintone, around NC20 in MAC, for reference. There was a plastic cover protecting the pressed contouring powders but there were no shade names included.

What I have noticed is that the 3 lighter shades are all one shade darker than the color of my face hence using them as a highlighter is a no-no. Highlighters are supposed to be atleast 1-2 shades lighter than your face so they will illuminate the area. Anyway, I find that I can use them as eyeshadow base, that way they won't go to waste.


The 3 darker shades are neutral which makes it universally flattering to people with warm AND cool undertones. Although they all look kinda similar when put over my skin, they are effective in contouring my face. The shades are not too dark so they won't get muddy against my fair skin. 

Now let's talk about the quality of the Contour Shade and Light Palette!


The pigmentation is buildable from sheer to medium which I like! It is easier to apply them via layering which is the best way to achieve a natural-looking contour. Why do I  prefer that? Well it's because when a contouring powder is heavily pigmented, I kind of struggle in blending it because I had to be extra careful in product application, or else I will look like I had mud on my face! 


Regarding longevity, it stays on my face for 3 hours before needing a retouch, given that I am staying in an air-conditioned area. However, if I am in a hot and humid place where I sweat, the contour only last on my face for 2 hours at most. Let's say I am commuting in the Metro, if I apply it before leaving the house, once I arrive at my destination after an hour or two of travel (train, bus, jeep), I will be needing a retouch. Not that I mind retouching though but the palette may be too heavy to be brought in your bag everyday if you are commuting and carrying lots of stuff.


About the color selection, given the color of my skin, it is such a waste that I couldn't use the 3 lighter shades as highlighters, it would have been really nice if they were lighter as they will be perfect! The 3 darker shades suit me well so I got no complaints about that. What I have noticed though is that these 3 darker shades look "too light" to be used for contouring by some of my morena friends.

If I can give a suggestion to Ever Bilena, maybe it will be nice to create TWO different contour palettes for morenas and light-skinned people! For morenas, their current 3 lighter shades are okay as highlighters already but they should choose darker browns for contouring shades. For light skinned people like myself, the cntouring shades are already okay BUT the colors of their highlighters should be made lighter. What do you think?

Ever Bilena and EB Advance is available in department stores nationwide. You may visit their website at http://everbilena.com.ph, their Facebook at https://m.facebook.com/everbilenacosmetics, and Instagram at www.instagram.com/ebadvance.