Before you say contouring is too much work – hear me out! I know contouring seems a bit intimidating, but don’t freak out just yet. I’m not talking about the new rage of contouring that has some women trying to drastically change the look of their face. I’m talking about beautifully blended lines that add just a touch of shadow OR a touch of highlight to catch the light when you turn your head a certain way. That’s my version of highlight & contour!
Together, this dream team can take your everyday makeup look from average to very sophisticated and glamorous. It’s like icing on a cake right? Everybody likes a little, but use too much and YUCK!
Contouring Introduction
Even if you decide not to contour every time you do your makeup, it’s still extremely nice to use the techniques for special occasions. Contouring can really make big difference, especially if you’re going to be photographed.
Specifically, contouring helps large areas look smaller and long faces look shorter. It also accentuates that gorgeous bone structure (or lack of) and gives you much more shape and definition. So let’s go for it!
Here are some good tips to help you choose the right contour and highlight products for you.
Choosing Your Contour/Highlight Products
If you use powder foundation, then choose a pressed powder contour and highlight. Likewise, if you use mainly liquid foundation, choose a cream contour and highlight. However, there is flexibility with choosing these products. If you use a liquid foundation and want to use powder highlighter and contour, just powder your face first with some loose or pressed powder and you’re good to go!
For women with more mature skin, it is great to use a liquid or cream highlighter so it looks dewy and doesn’t sit on top of the skin or accentuate any fine lines and wrinkles. Also, when is comes to highlighters, you can find some great formulas that are like concealers but they’re very sheer and do more light reflecting, like illuminating from within. This is always a great option for anyone at any age.
Choosing Your Contour Shade
A good rule of thumb when choosing a contour color is to stay within 2-3 shades of your natural skin tone. Staying with a matte, neutral shade that mimics the look of a shadow on your face is best. When I say neutral, I just mean don’t choose a warm shade that has too much orange, like many bronzers do. You may have the most luck looking into pressed foundation powders that are a couple shades darker than what you usually use, or a matte eye shadow color.
Highlighting products usually have many color options also, so if you’re fair-skinned, you might want to choose something with a whitish pearl tone or a pale pinkish pearl tone. Whereas those with medium skin tones would benefit from a more warm golden tone. Dark skin tones would need more of a rose gold or bronze tone. Just try them out and you will be able to see which ones suit your skin tone best. If you have any questions about matching a shade to your skin tone, please reach out to me!
Application
Apply your highlighter once you’ve finished your foundation and concealer. Start with a small amount because you can always add more. Remember, you want it to look natural, so you shouldn’t have to apply a thick coat.
The same goes with your contour color – start with a little (especially for daytime) and put the color where you want it first. Then, blend in circular motions with a light hand and a small directional brush. If you’re getting ready for an evening look, you can use a little bit more. Once you have the right amount of color in place – blend, blend, blend! You really can’t blend too much.
If you feel like you’ve put too much product on, you can use some foundation powder on your brush and blend with that or take a dry cotton ball and buff the excess away.
REMEMBER! It is best to look straight ahead in the mirror when you’re contouring and blending 🙂
Alright, everybody! These are some general guidelines to getting a natural highlight and contour. In terms of where you should contour and highlight, it really depends on your specific features and face shape. For instance, if you have a very thin face, I would not recommend contouring your cheeks, but rather use a highlighter and pop of blush to bring them out a bit.
To see these tips in action – check out my Highlighting & Contouring video by clicking here!
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xoxo ~ Megan