My clients are savvy and well-educated when it comes to beauty. Many of them watch YouTube makeup tutorials, where the artist transforms their face with contour and highlighting. But when it comes to their own faces, most women have a lot of questions about how to it correctly. They may have already invested in expensive makeup palettes which come with diagrams about where to place the darker versus lighter shades. Yet, even when they follow the instructions, something still doesn’t look right.
As a makeup artist who works on photo shoots, I can fake chiseled cheekbones, a thinner nose, and tight jaw with contouring and highlighting. But in real life, a heavily contoured face just looks like you are wearing too much makeup. When you start to add layers of product, any kind of skin issues, such as lines, wrinkles, or textured skin, are going to be magnified.
That being said, there are more subtle ways to add definition to your face. Still using the concept of shadow and light, it’s more about bringing balance to your features. Here are some tips that can help you define your features in a way that looks good in person.
Be strategic about where you contour your face. You may not need to define your nose if it is already narrow. If your cheeks aren’t full, contouring them might make you look gaunt and unhealthy.
Be realistic. Unless you are doing a heavy and made up look, you probably won’t be able to mimic the effects of a cosmetic procedure. Lightly shading and highlighting will be more flattering.
Look in the mirror and observe the color of the natural shadows of your face. Are they more warm (tan/brown) or cool (purple/taupe) This will help you choose the right contour shade.
Contouring looks best when you use foundation or concealer first, to hide skin discoloration. If your skin doesn’t need much coverage, try a lighter weight foundation/tinted moisturizer.
Spot conceal any areas where you see redness, brown spots etc. Use the smallest brush to apply the concealer on the spot only.
When contouring with powder, you will want to make sure the foundation and concealer are not wet or sticky. Remove excess moisture by blotting the face with a tissue. Use a small amount of translucent powder on the area where you will be applying the contour.
Choose the right brush for your area of contour: My favorite type of brush to use for powder contouring is a natural hair, very soft eye crease brush because it picks up a small amount of pigment at a time. This helps prevent depositing too much color and ending up with hard to blend streaks.
Defining the cheekbones: Press on the cheekbone to feel where it is. Start your contour at the highest point (just below the ear canal) and sweep the powder to the midpoint of the cheekbone. Don’t bring the shadow down too low towards the mouth, or it will look unnatural. Take a clean soft eye crease brush to blend any hard lines. If you want to add more dimension you can dust a highlighting powder on the tops of the cheeks.
Narrowing the nose: Using a very small flat brush to pick up the contour powder, start your first brushstroke just below the inner corners of the eyes, down to where the button of the nose begins. Repeat this step on the other side of the nose. Use the lightest hand possible to prevent this from looking artificial. Go over your shading with a clean brush to make sure that the contour lines are completely blended.
Defining the jawline: I like to use a matte bronzer and a large fan brush to sweep the color on the jawline and underneath the chin. This is where you really need to make sure that you don’t see any telltale lines of contour on the jaw. Take a clean brush and blend the color down the neck until it fades completely into the skin.
The final step: Take your mirror to a window with direct sunlight and check to make sure that everything looks blended and balanced. See below for some of the products that I like to use.
Wet & Wild Photo Focus Dewy Foundation ($6.49)
Kevyn Aucoin The Sculpting Contour Powder ($44.00)
Hourglass Cosmetics Ambient Strobe Lighting Powder ($40.00)
Sephora Collection Pro Contour Brush #79 ($30.00)
As always, thanks for reading. I look forward to reading your comments and hearing your thoughts!