What You Need To Know About Contouring

You might be wondering what all the contouring hype is about. What is contouring? Why should we bother? Well, we're here to tell you that even if you've never heard of contouring, it could quite literally change your life (and your face). It involves using blusher, bronzer, highlighter and concealer to highlight the parts of your face that you want to show off, to minimize the parts that you don't like, to create hollows and shadows where there aren't any and to work your angles, whether you have a round face or a chiselled jawbone. Learn everything you need to know about contouring with this guide.

The Kit

You'll need various bits and pieces to achieve the look, but chances are, you'll already have most of them in your makeup bag which means that you won't have to buy anything. You'll need a set of decent makeup brushes, a liquid foundation in your usual shade, a liquid concealer in your usual shade, bronzer or a foundation/concealer slightly darker than your natural skin tone, blusher (a cream formula will be easier to blend), and a highlighter.

Don't forget the setting powder either, to keep everything in place once you're all done.

The Base

Before you even attempt to contour your face, you'll need to apply a base of foundation and primer so that you have something to work from. Clean skin (with a makeup wipe or you can do the job properly with cleanser and toner.) Moisturize skin and then let it thoroughly sink in, before applying a primer. Look for a formula that either hides pores or that minimizes their appearance, smoothing the appearance of skin and evening out tone and texture. Once set, use a foundation brush to apply foundation in any areas that need extra coverage and concealer to any spots that might need to be concealed. 

See Also: Do You Have A Beauty Routine?

The Bronzer

You might have seen photos of Kim Kardashian (we know we keep mentioning her but she's a great example!), with stripes of dark concealer, highlighter and blusher across her face - this is how the contouring looks before it's all blended together. The first thing you need to do is apply the bronzer (or the darker concealer or foundation) using a brush for extra precision. You need to apply it to any areas that you want to minimize - if you have a high forehead, just under your hairline, if you want to minimize your nose, brush along either side of the nose, if you want to make your cheekbones pop brush into the hollows of cheeks, and if you really want to show off that chiselled jawbone, brush along the edge of the jaw and just under the chin. It might look a bit odd now, but we'll blend it all a little bit later!

The Blush For Lovely Cheeks

For lovely rosy cheeks, add a cream blush just above the line of bronzer under your cheekbones. You don't want the blush to be too obvious, simply because the best features of your face are already being highlighted with the contouring - and adding too much blusher will just make it more difficult to blend. Just a slick will do - all you need is the very merest hint of blush. 

The Highlighter

Probably the most important bit of kit in your entire makeup bag is the highlighter. Opt for a cream formula so that it's easily blended into your skin and be sparing with it - too much and you'll end up looking shiny, too little and you won't notice it at all. Just dab it on at first and you can always add more later. Apply down the bridge of your nose to hide crooks, bumps or lumps, across the top of your cheekbones, add a tiny little dab to your cupid's bow and just under your bottom lip to make them appear fuller and plumper, along the browbones to make your brows stand out and for extra sheen, over the top of your blusher once everything has been blended together. 

Blending

Once you've applied everything, use a clean brush to blend, blend and blend a little bit more, or until there are no noticeable lines anywhere on your skin. You may need to incorporate a dab or two of your foundation just to smooth everything else, but if you've chosen smooth and creamy formulas, you should just be able to blend everything together with very little effort. 

The Setting Powder

Once you're all done, dust a setting powder over the surface of the skin to keep all of your hard work in place.

Contouring on the Go

You're not always going to have time to do a "full" contour look - after all, it takes a little while and it can look a little bit heavy for daytime. However, you can take aspects of the look, as well as some products, to give your face a sculpted appearance. Use a little bit of highlighter across the cheekbones, browbones, down the nose and across the apples of the cheeks.

See Also: Face Creams - Which One Really Works?

 Another idea is to use concealer underneath your eyes, around the sides of your nose, in the hollows of your cheeks and just about anywhere that might need a little bit of extra cover. Top tip: concealer works really well as a primer, particularly on eyelids - just dab it onto eyelids and into the corners of your eyes and blend. You could also take a concealer very slightly darker than your skintone to highlight cheekbones and your jawline.