5 Tips on How to Contour Your Makeup
If you don’t know how to contour, can you even consider yourself a makeup pro?
Would it be safe to say you know how to contour your makeup properly if your look doesn’t rival contour queen’s Kim Kardashian-West? While it seems like she invented it, KKW did not invent contouring. This age-old technique is a type of magic that has been around since the 1800s! What you need to know about contouring is that it completely transforms your face and creates an illusion of being fresh out the surgeon’s office.
We admit, contouring isn’t for everybody and should probably be left to the the likes of Kim Kardashian-West and her sisters. However, if you want to take your makeup game up several notches, this is something worth trying. If you’re still in research mode, follow these five tips, watch a gazillion makeup tutorials, and practice often before you go outside looking like a clown!
Contour without using makeup
Hear us out… we learned this from our very own Sir John, so you can trust that it’s legit. If you’re heading on a tropical vacation or just planning on being in the sun, you can use sunscreen to contour naturally. First, apply an SPF 15 moisturizer all over your face. Then, take a heavier sunscreen (SPF 40+) and apply it to the areas of your face that you’d usually highlight, i.e. around your eyes, lips and down the very center of your nose. Be sure to use a waterproof formula so you don’t sweat it off. This technique will leave you with a subtle highlight that looks natural and flattering.
Placement is key
As we said, contouring is all about harnessing the power of light and shadows to define your facial structure. That being said, if you contour the wrong places you will be extremely unhappy with the results. Contouring under your jaw line can easily hide a double chin. But, if you bring it up too high on your jawline, it will end up looking like a 5 o’clock shadow.
Use the right shades
The basic rule of thumb for contouring is this: your contouring product should be two shades darker than your skin tone, while your highlighting product should be two shades lighter than your skin tone. To get the most natural looking contour possible, use cream contour and highlight products, so that they blend seamlessly. Powder contours tend to photograph better, but you could end up looking like a cake-face in person.
Be careful with setting powder
You need to put setting powder in specific places to get that effortlessly dewy, natural look. Apply setting powder to the contoured areas of your face, but hold off on putting any powder over your highlighted areas. Instead, use a setting spray to lock everything in place. Putting a powder over your cream highlight product will mattify it and take away that gorgeous, natural-looking sheen.
Blend it out
We all know that blending is the name of the makeup game. Seriously, you need to blend, blend, and blend some more. There’s truly nothing worse (or more unnatural looking) than harsh lines between your highlight and contour. Once you think you’ve blended to perfection, go ahead and blend a little more, just in case.
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