THE DO’S AND DON’TS OF CONTOURING
Contouring has gained huge popularity in the beauty industry. Previously used as a technique for runway models, now it has become a part of many people’s daily routines. Contouring enhances your features and leaves you face looking chiseled and sculpted. Whenever I meet my friends and family, they express me that they love the idea of contouring but they don’t know how to contour. A lot people are intimidated by contouring because they think it’s hard to do. But contouring is easy once you know the do’s and don’ts of it. These tips will help you to achieve that perfect chiseled look:
FINDING THE RIGHT SHADE
D0’s:
Finding the right shade is so important for contouring. You are basically creating a shadow. You don’t want to create harsh lines on your face with any pigments that are too dark, but you also don’t want a product that is too light. For instance, if you have light skin tone you want something like Benefit Cosmetics Hoola Lite Bronzer and if you are medium skin tone you want something like Benefit Cosmetics Hoola Bronzer. I suggest getting two shades darker than your skin tone. Choose the color that is taupe, greyish cool undertone. And always look for the matte shade.
Don’ts:
Stay away from warm, orangey shade. That’s only good for bronzing the skin not contouring. And always avoid shimmery products. Contours are meant to be matte.
IDENTIFY YOUR FACE SHAPE
Do’s:
Identifying your face shape is as important as finding the right shade. For contouring, the basic rule is to find the hollow of your cheeks and draw some color in there and then add some to the sides of the forehead, temples, sides of the nose, jawline and underneath your chin. But everyone’s face is shaped differently, so the place where you need to contour might be different. For instance, if you have round face shape you need to contour from the sides of the forehead to the hollows of the cheeks and the down to the jawline. But if you have long face shape, you just need to contour the top of forehead and tip of the chin which adds the shorter effect to the face shape.
Don’ts:
You don’t want to over contour. If you have narrow forehead avoid contouring it, it will just make your forehead even shorter and if you have shorter chin or narrow jawline skip contouring that area. You want to lengthen it rather than shortening it. You need to contour the area which needs dimension and needs to be shaped. Overdoing will just reverse the effect.
CHOOSE THE RIGHT PRODUCT AND BRUSH
Do’s:
You want to pick a product that is known for blending effortlessly as well as the right tools. Pick the formula that suits your skin the most. If you are oily, you might prefer powder form like Benefit Cosmetics Hoola Matte Bronzer or Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Bronzer. If you are dry, you might prefer a cream contour like Fenty Beauty Match Stix Matte Skinstick. It depends on what finish you need. And make sure you choose the right brush to blend the product. You can apply and blend the cream products with a Angled Contour Brush but with powder you want a tapered or small angled brush.
Don’ts:
Don’t mix both cream and powder products at a same time which will mess up your look. It’s going to make you look over-contoured and muddy. And also avoid fluffy brush. Contouring isn’t a job for full, fluffy brushes. Its will just mess up the blending process.
PRODUCT QUANTITY
Do’s:
You always wan’t to start with light handed. Be it foundation, concealer, setting powder or contour, applying too much of it will only give you a cakey finish. Start with little product and build up to the desired finish.
Don’ts:
Don’t slather you face with too much product at one time.
BLEND IT AWAY
Do’s:
Another major part of contouring is making sure that you blend your product in properly. Makeup is all about blending. You need to blend the contour for a seamless finish. Always blend the contour upwards. This way you will lift the face rather than dragging it downwards. It’s basically a feathering technique which means to sweep the product lifting the brush off the face.
Don’ts:
You don’t want to look messy on top of the rest of your makeup. If you don’t blend it correctly it’s going to streak and crease throughout the day.
HIGHLIGHT
Do’s:
Highlighting is a great complement to contouring. Contouring basically darkens the areas of your face that are in shadow whereas highlighting lightens the areas that the light would naturally hit. Adding the highlighter, you can balance out the chiseled look. Taking that extra step of highlighting enhances the overall effect of contouring. To highlight, take a clean brush and apply it to the brow bone, the top of your cheekbones, the bridge of the nose, the center of your chin and the top of your cupid’s bow.
Don’ts:
Don’t use the same contour brush to highlight. After contouring, there is going to be little product left on the brush so, its always good to switch to a cleaner brush for highlighting. It will avoid you to mess up all the good work you did.
SEAL IT IN
Now that you’ve nailed down the look, it’s time to set it all in. Admit it, throughout the day it’s not going to stay the same way. Finish it off by applying a setting powder or a setting spray. You can also add some bronzer to warm up your face and blush to give you a pop pf color.
There you have it. The perfect contoured look!