Contouring for dummies I How To I Best Contouring Products

Ok so I've deliberated doing this post for a long time, and I've put it off for a long time simply because contouring isn't straight forward not everybody's skills, budget and most importantly FACES are the same therefore there is not one right or wrong way of doing it.

So ok what is contouring? Contouring is a method which goes back to the make up practices of Drag Queens who used the art of shading and highlighting different areas of their faces to create a softer more feminine aesthetic quality to their harsher jawlines, flatter foreheads and stronger nose bridges.

And is generally used to bring a universal balance to the face.

Ok history lesson out of the way lets get into it.

Before you start worrying about products, brushes etc. look in the mirror and start working out your face shape this is the first stage in plotting out where you're going to plot your highlight and contour . Here's a little graph showing different face shapes to help you out a little. Remember contouring isn't the same for everyone and this purely depends on your face shape and features such as the nose and chin. Contouring and highlighting is all about accentuating features we want to make the more prominent and receding and shading the features we want to appear more subtle.

When we talk about contouring we are mainly focusing using a darker product to bring  in and recede the forehead, nose, jawline and chin making them appear smaller and more subtle in appearance whilst also focusing in on the the hollows of our cheeks making them  appear deeper therefore making our cheek bones above appear more dominant. 

So if you have a larger disproportionate forehead, broader nose, strong jawline, want to shorten the length of your face by shading the chin or the hallows of your cheeks are not as defined as you'd like this is where you would use contour to bring this in and make it even.

If you don't need to do it DONT DO IT thats the beauty of contouring is that its personally tailored to your face so don't waste products if you don't have to.

For highlighting were going to be focusing in on using a lighter shade down the nose bridge, up into the centre of the head, under the eye across to the top of the cheekbones and down to under the contoured hollows and chin. This is to make their areas appear more prominent and stand out far more.

Highlighting down the nose bridge will make the area appear longer and thinner, highlighting the centre of the forehead makes this appear brighter and rounder therefore for feminine, under the eyes to achieve a bright eyed look, across the top of the cheek bones for stronger definition .

We can also use highlight on the jawline to add width to a narrow face to make it appear wider and to brighten the chin area which can elongate a shorter face. 

Again stick to what you feel you need to achieve if you already have a thin or long nose bridge you then do not have to accentuate what you already have even further as this can make the face to appear disproportionate. 

You can either apply contour and highlight before or after your foundation application.

I would say if you are comfortable and well experienced in using make up then applying your contour and highlight before foundation will be far easier for you to master than if you have little makeup knowledge then doing this after foundation application will work better for you.

If you're going to contour and highlight before your foundation application you're going to need to purchase cream foundations or concealers one 2 shades lighter than your natural skin and one 2 shades darker this will work as your contour and highlight duo.

With a foundation brush you would apply in light strips the cream products against where you plan to contour or highlight and then use a buffing or stippling brush to blend and buff into the skin.

You would then apply your foundation over the top I would suggest using a liquid foundation and then going back in with a powder contour and highlight to reinforce your cream application.

I wouldn't suggest doing this one a day to day makeup application as it can take patience and time to execute correctly.

examples of some great cream products to use for contouring.

For easier contouring you can apply a powder contour and highlight using an angled powder brush here are a few examples of ready made powder contouring kits by SmashBox and Sleek.