REVIEW HOW TO CONTOUR AND HIGHLIGHT WITH MAKEUP

Makeup contouring has been around the makeup community for a long time. But recently, celebrities like J.Lo and the Kardashians have really brought it into the mainstream, and now everyone and their mom wants to know how to get that perfectly ‘snatched’ makeup look.

The purpose of contouring and highlighting is to give the face a more sculpted appearance by creating contrast. Contrast is achieved by shading the outer perimeters and lower points of the face with a dark contouring product, and then accentuating the high points of the face like the tip of the nose and cheekbones with a bright highlighting product.

Read on for a step-by-step makeup contouring and highlighting tutorial and watch my video to see the steps in action. I’ve also included a list of all the products I used at the end of the post.

STEP 1: CLEANSE, MOISTURIZE, PRIME AND APPLY FOUNDATION.

As always, you want to start with a clean prepped face. Use a good cleanser, moisturizer and primer. Then apply your foundation all over as you normally would.

STEP 2: APPLY CONCEALER UNDER THE EYES.

Concealer can be used to highlight because it brightens up areas of the face that are discolored or hyper-pigmented. Choose a concealer shade that’s 2-3 shades lighter than your natural skin tone and apply under the eyes in the shape of upside down triangles. Then blend out evenly with a damp blending sponge.

STEP 3: APPLY CONCEALER TO BRIDGE OF NOSE, CENTER OF FOREHEAD, ABOVE UPPER LIP AND CENTER OF CHIN.

Concealer also helps draw attention to certain areas of the face that we want to accentuate. Apply more concealer to the center of forehead, down bridge of the nose, above upper lip (a.k.a cupid’s bow) and the center of the chin. Blend out evenly with a damp blending sponge.

Using your blending sponge, apply a layer of translucent loose setting powder to all the areas you’ve put concealer on. This is to set the concealer in place and further brighten these areas.

STEP 4: DRAW CONTOUR LINES.

When choosing a contour shade, there are two things to consider. First, you want to decide on a warm or cool shade. This will depend on what works for your skin’s undertone and what type of look you’re going for. For this look, I chose a warm contour.

Second, the contour shade you choose should be 2-3 shades darker than your foundation.

Using your cream contour stick, outline the perimeters of the forehead, face and jawline and under the tip of the nose. Also draw diagonal lines starting from the little nub of the ear (called the tragus) and follow along the bottom hollow of the cheekbone until you’re about halfway down the cheek. Finally draw two thin lines down the bridge of the nose.

STEP 5: BLEND OUT THE CONTOUR.

Use a blending brush to blend out the contour lines. When blending the cheekbone contour, use an upward motion to prevent the contour from smudging too far down the cheek and looking like a muddy mess.

Use a small precision brush to blend out the nose contour, making sure to avoid the center area where you previously applied concealer.

Then with a blending sponge and some translucent setting powder, sweep a diagonal line under the cheek contour to clean it up a bit.

STEP 6: APPLY BRONZER OVER THE CREAM CONTOUR.

Use a powder brush to gently apply a bronzer of your choice over the cream contour. For this look, I first used a matte bronzer and then a slightly shimmery one for that extra warm glow. The powder bronzer helps to further enhance the contour and sets it in place.

STEP 7: APPLY BLUSH. (OPTIONAL)

Blush is considered a contour product but I made it optional for this tutorial. You can skip out on it if you’re happy with just the brownish tone of your contour. Personally, I love that little pop of color and life that a good blush gives.

With the same powder brush you used for bronzer, apply the blush over your cheek contour in light sweeping-up motions. Use a setting spray to set everything in place before the next step.

STEP 8: APPLY HIGHLIGHTER.

Highlighters really polish off any look and give that golden glow effect. They come in cream or powder form and it’s a matter of personal preference which one you pick. I went with a beautiful baked powder highlighter from Laura Geller for this look.

Apply highlighter in soft wispy strokes with a small blending brush to the high points of the cheeks, just above the contour and blush. Also apply a small amount right above the eyebrow, down the bridge of the nose, above the lip and the center of the chin.

STEP 9: FINISH OFF WITH LIP COLOR AND EYES.

Finish off the look with the perfect show-stopping lip color and some eyeliner and mascara and boom! You’ve got yourself a gorgeous chiseled look!