The old contour and highlighting trends were about changing your whole face to look a certain way, but now it’s about embracing your natural shape and giving yourself realistic-looking depth and dimension.” But now, she says, "Less is more, and we’re embracing natural, dewy skin. “From 2012 to 2018, contouring based on your face shape was seemingly very important,” says LA-based makeup artist Jenna Nicole. “Don’t forget to highlight! If you're pushing areas of the face back to create a contour, highlighting or bringing forward the higher areas of the face, such as cheekbones, Cupid’s bow and eyelid, will help those contoured areas appear further back.The whole point of contouring is to enhance or change the shape of your face with makeup, but its effects don't have to be all that drastic.
Use a soft small brush to apply your contour, such as MAC 109 contour brush, which has a perfectly shaped dome head that hugs cheekbones to perfection. “Look at where you want to contour - there are so many potential areas, from cheekbones to slim the face, the sides of the nose, to under the chin to softly chisel the jaw. Use the same bronzer shade to add warmth around the forehead and down each side of the nose – remember, less is definitely more!” “To finish, sweep whatever is left on the brush around the cheek to give a more lifted, blended look. Start from the top of the ear, and follow the hollows of your face. “Start by using circular motions to apply a small amount of bronzer under the cheekbones. Always remember to blend, blend, blend! If you find your contour has gone too low, use your concealer or foundation to clean up any mistakes.”Īimee Connolly, founder of Sculpted by Aimee cosmetics and Make-up Academy
“My top tip is to hold your brush lightly and don’t apply too much pressure. I like to add a little contour close to my hairline and temples to create balance you can also contour your jawline for more definition.
When contouring, always blend upwards and outwards to create a lifting effect. “Charlotte always says, follow the hollow! To start, suck in your cheeks and apply your contour following the natural hollow upwards towards the hairline.
Ready to take a shot at learning how to contour make-up? It’s a technique best explained by the experts, so I asked three make-up artists for their best contouring tips. “If highlighting with cream concealer, choose a shade that is at least one shade lighter than your base. When using powder highlighters, choose a shade you feel comfortable in, but as guidance rose gold and pearlescent tones work well for light-medium skin, and golden or peachy tones look amazing on medium-dark skin.” How to contour - by the experts “Do keep in mind your skin’s undertone too – if you are warm, you should use a shade with warm tones, and if you are fair, try tones that are cooler to complement your skin.”Īimee agrees that shade and undertone are crucial for highlighting. “Charlotte has always taught us the rule is to pick a shade that is two shades darker than your foundation,” says Kirstie. “If you suck in your cheeks, the hollow that creates is the shade you are looking for to give you the most natural-looking contour.” “Generally speaking, a contour is hollowing or pushing back an area of the face, therefore creating a shadow,” explains Carly.
Treat matching your contour product like finding a perfect foundation match, and you can avoid those muddy greyish cheekbones we've probably all spotted once or twice. Often when we see bad contouring, it comes down the using the wrong shade. How to pick the right shades for contouring Add to that the problematic nature of assuming everyone should conform to a slim-nosed European beauty ideal, and you can’t help but wonder if learning how to contour with make-up is a good idea at all?
Of course, folk like you and I didn’t have professional skills, and make-up that looks great in photos looks insane in real life.
As Instagram took off, hyperreal perfection began to present itself as reality, make-up artist tricks became accessible to all, and everyday folk like you and I decided to have a crack at contouring. The practice was adopted by make-up artists and helped create a homogenized beauty ideal well-suited to the hyperreal perfection of editorial photography.Īnd therein lies the problem. Later dark powders were used to carve sharp bone structures onto silver screen stars. Its origins are on the stage, where 16th-century theatre actors would paint facial lines to ensure their expressions reached the cheap seats at the back. Contouring is using make-up, usually the best cream bronzers and highlighting products to trick the eye and reshape the face.