Let’s talk about contouring. Contouring is a makeup technique that is often used to highlight a person’s natural bone structure. I love contouring because it makes me feel like a bad b*tch. A little bit of makeup in the perfect places can go a long way.
In my last article, I wrote about the products I use and I use those same products when I contour – I just use them a bit differently. The main reason I contour is to make my cheekbones stand out. I feel super fierce when I look more angular, so if you’re into that look follow these easy steps.
- Once your base foundation and concealers are applied – STOP. Do not apply bronzer like you normally would. This is where things get fun. I like to start with the darks. Everyone knows the classic fish-face (if you don’t, see here). While making your fish-face, fill the indents made by sucking in your cheeks with a dark bronzer using a makeup brush. Don’t worry about blending for now; you’ll do that later.
After you fill in your cheek caves, trace your hairline with the same bronzer. Remember: go from ear-to-ear along your hairline.
Then, take a smaller brush (if you don’t have one, use your finger) and put a little bit of the same bronzer on either side of your nose. I like to put my index finger on laying on the bridge of my nose, and on either side of my finger is where I place the bronzer.
Put bronzer along your jaw line (from earlobe-to-earlobe) and a dab on your chin and you’re done with darks!
2. Now it’s time for lights. I use a white or light beige colored eye shadow with a little bit of shimmer for this step. Place the highlight above the caves you filled in on your cheeks. The light should go from your apples of your cheeks to about right next to your eye.
Then, place highlight on the bridge of your nose from the tip all the way to between your eyebrows, and even a little onto your forehead.
The next highlight gets placed directly below your eyebrow, at the point where your eyebrow is the farthest from your eye.
Place a little highlight above each eyebrow (along the entire thing) and a dab right above and a dab on your upper lip. Highlights are done!
3. BLEND. Take your hands (make sure they have no residual makeup on them) and gently make circles over your entire face. There should be no hard lines between light and dark. Proceed to apply your usual makeup routine.
Kim Kardashian uses a slightly different version, but here’s a picture of her contouring method:
I’ll go into eye shadow/eyes in my next article, so stay tuned!
Leave questions/comments below or feel free to email me at bgrief@tulane.edu.
–B.