The world of contouring can be a minefield for even the best of us. Where do I make my contour start and end? What is the perfect contour shade? What applicator do I use? Is it too harsh? With the queen of makeup herself: Kim Kardashian, making everyone and their grandparents want to join this make-up craze, this revolutionary game changer doesn’t seem to be dying down anytime soon. Here are 10 easy contouring tips to help you get those killer-chiseled-cheekbones even Angeline Jolie would be jealous of.
Finding the perfect contour shade for you face is key. A common mistake for many people is choosing a shade too dark and too warm for their completion. To avoid looking like a zebra, or as if someone has slapped a pile of mud on your face, try opting for a shade two times as dark as your natural skin tone. You want to go for a more greyish undertone; nothing too warm or orange (save that for your bronzer!) and voilá, instant and natural cheekbones!
Before applying our contour it is imperative to have that perfect base. Like anything, by ensuring we begin with a fresh, cleansed and moisturised surface will make anything on top of it that extra-bit beat. For the people who feel their contouring skills are abysmal with no hope of resurrection, make sure your foundation is evenly blended into your skin beforehand. Suck in your cheeks and apply a small amount at a time and slowly build up the product. This is one of the must-do easy contouring tips!
There are many makeup products on the market that claim to be the ‘perfect contour shade’, but a lot of them have some sort of glitter or shimmer in them – don’t fall for it. When creating the illusion of sculpted cheekbones glitter is the last thing you want. We want to aim for that shadow effect our cheekbones would naturally create. Shimmer or glitter will reflect light and brightness in a place it typically naturally wouldn’t; so aim for a matte cool-toned brown shade for that perfect contour look.
Making your face beat is all about that natural contour. Rocking unblended brown marks on you face trying to pass it off as ‘contour’ isn’t a good look – trust me, I know. Your bestfriend, backbone and moral support will come from your make-up brush… but it has to be the right one. For any powdered contour product, the best applicator will be an angled contour brush. Using an angled brush will provide the work for you, it will sit perfectly in the crevasse of your cheekbone and seamlessly blend the product into your face. For you experts who prefer cream, (*gulp)* you go girl, a stipple brush or the holy-infamous beauty blender will be your knight in shining armour when trying to nail that perfect contour. This is one of the easy contouring tips that should give you a smoothed complexion.
Unfortunately contouring isn’t a walk in the park for us all, maybe not even a run or a sprint, but more of a marathon. Once you have nailed how to create those incredible faux-cheekbones, knowing how to utilise these skills for the rest of your face could make-or-break you. Thanks to our Instagram beauty guru’s and our bestfriend Youtube, we know the effects of contouring parts of our face can totally change our appearance. If you are looking to shorten the appearance of your forehead, apply contour around your hairline and blend upwards. To make your nose appear thinner apply contour sparingly to each side. For the illusion of bigger lips add a little contour under your lower-lip, but remember to blend blend blend!
Depending on the look you are after; if that is too create a subtle sculpture or a cutting-edge (literally) contour, there are ways to ensure it can be natural looking or that extra bit… well, extra. If you are striving for the natural look, use a cream contour before you have applied foundation and blend well. For a more beat contour for that sass look, apply cream contour over your foundation and set well with a darker contour powder.
Once your work of art has been created; apply a bronzer just above where you contoured, followed by a highlighter just above your bronzer to finish of the look and make your cheekbones that even more accentuated.
For those of you who aim for a subtle contour avoid this step! If you have followed all the other steps and tips but still looking for that extra pop, apply a loose-setting powder just below your contour line and let bake for 2-3 minutes. After this time, lightly brush of using a dusting brush or fan brush to reveal a lighter brighter area below the cheekbone.
Searching ‘how to contour’ results in over 2 million tutorial videos on Youtube. For many proclaimed beauty lovers, or self taught make-up artists Youtube has been, or still is, their beauty-fairy-godmother. If you are struggling with knowing where to contour, what to use or how to contour certain parts of your face – Youtube it and follow along. You can get some easy contouring tips from Youtube tutorials!
Once you have created your un-surgical transformation, make sure to set everything into place. To avoid it running halfway down your face during the day – reversing the intention of making your face appear lifted – use a face setting spray to lock your hard work into place. Psssst… nobody will ever know you’ve contoured at all! This will be the best last step you have ever taken for easy contouring tips.
This is a sponsored post. All opinions are my own.
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