Contouring became the primary technique in the world of makeup. This helped define the shape and sculpture of the face to emphasize while giving the illusion of sharper cheekbones, a narrower nose, and the overall structure of a jaw. Whether you are a professional makeup artist or a novice trying contouring for the first time, this guide will take you through all the basic steps, tips, and tricks for flawless contouring depending on your face shape. With some easy techniques and a bit of practice, you can master the art of contouring and enhance your makeup game.
Before we go into the how-to process, let's get some basics down on contouring and highlighting. Contouring makeup is basically about creating shadows and highlights on your face to draw out your natural features. You use the darker shades for the contour and the lighter shades for highlighting, which bring forward areas you want to stand out.
Techniques in highlighting are used to lighten up specific areas of the face, giving the illusion that they are more lifted and prominent. Combining contouring and highlighting techniques can change a flat face into one with depth, giving it a sculpted appearance.
Step one to beautiful contouring: Determine your face shape. Your face shape will dictate to you how and where you apply contour and highlight. Here's how to contour for different face shapes:
The oval face shape is said to be the most versatile due to its balanced proportions. If you have an oval face, you aim to enhance the natural structure.
The round face shape is defined by the full cheeks and soft jawline. The purpose of contouring for a person with a round face is to add definition and give the illusion of creating length.
The square face has angular features and a strong jawline. To give it a softened look, the contours are to soften the sharp edges which make it look more angular than rounded.
A heart-shaped face is wider at the forehead and narrower at the chin. Contouring for this face shape focuses on balancing out the proportions and defining the chin.
This face shape is narrow on the forehead and chin with a broader cheek. The aim is to soften the sharp edges as well as define the bottom half of the face.
A long face shape generally has high cheekbones with a long jawline and forehead. The aim is to create width, thereby balancing the length of the face.
Now that we know the face shapes and how to contour, let's get on to the general step-by-step contouring process which applies to all face shapes.
Begin with a clean face; moisturize the face after waking up. Use the primer to ensure your makeup endures longer and applies in smoothness. The priming will also smoothen out the texture and present a base for which contouring makeup can hook its adhesion.
Use the foundation of the right skin tone as the next step. It smoothes and evens your skin surface while blending perfectly with the contouring products. Blend into your neck and ears also to remove visible lines from the application.
Using a contour stick, powder, or cream mark all the areas you prefer to contour and highlight. Let the contour be the first among your makeup applied on the cheek's hollow sides, where there is a jawline, frontal facial sides, and the inner surfaces of the nose.
For highlighting, apply a lighter shade along the tops of your cheekbones, the center of your forehead, down the bridge of your nose, and the center of your chin. The key is to place the contour and highlight areas that will enhance your natural bone structure.
This blending process can make the contouring complete and seamless and look incredibly natural. Apply contour products and highlight products to your foundation using a makeup sponge or a contour brush, then blend all of it into the foundation while moving upward and away from the skin instead of down, as that may make the product drag, and it's also a tapping motion to get the highlight blended in.
Once everything is mixed set your makeup with a setting powder. This sets the sculpting and illuminating place and prevents creasing or washing out throughout the day. You can set the places you contoured with slightly darker setting powder if you really want to see the definition on your face.
To finish off the look, apply blush to the apples of your cheeks and blend it upwards towards your temples. Highlight the high points of your face by applying a highlighter on the tops of your cheekbones, the bridge of your nose, and Cupid's bow. This gives your face a radiant glow and makes it look more sculpted.
Contouring is one of the most important makeup techniques that can change your face, and give it definition and shape. Once you know what your face shape is and follow these easy contouring steps, you can enhance your natural beauty. Whether you're a makeup beginner or a contouring pro, these tips will help you create a flawless, sculpted look. With a little practice, contouring will be as easy as breathing for you, and you'll experiment with different techniques and come to know the one that suits you the most.
This content was created by AI