Hi loves!
So, you have just applied your foundation and set your face makeup. Have you noticed something? Your face looks flat and you lose the natural definition of your facial features. Well, worry no more. I will help you bring it back and make it look even better.
This week's makeup tip is something a little more complex yet once mastered will create a big difference in your looks. I am going to be sharing with you my tips on how to contour and highlight your facial features to create a slimmer face and to bring out your facial assets.
So, what is contouring? Contouring is literally like shading or creating a shadow on your face to recede a certain part of your face. With that being said, when choosing a contour shade it is best to choose a cool tone bronzer or just even a press powder that is two to three shades darker than your natural skin color. Never use a bronzer that is warm-tone or orangey because when contouring you are mimicking a shadow and shadows don't look orangey at all. In the photo below the first color on the left is a perfect contour shade, cool-toned with greyish undertone, compared to the other two.
What about highlighting? Highlighting is use side-by-side with contouring in order to create a seamless look. It's purpose is to bring forward some of your facial features. When choosing a highlighter, consider your undertone. I suggest a highlighter with hints of pink if you are cool tone, whereas if you are warm tone, a highlight with golden finish will suit you better. If you are not sure about your undertone, a champagne highlighter is the safest choice. Also, make sure you don't use highlighter with big flakes of shimmer because you want to make it more natural and flakey shimmers will make you look like a disco ball instead. ^^ Banana powder (yellow powder) will also work well for highlighting if you have a medium/tan skin.
Ok let's begin... Below is an infographic I created on basic contouring, highlighting and blushing.
Contour the following parts of your face:
- Outer perimeter of your face- your hairline and along your chin
- Forehead (outer sections)
- Along the sides of your nose (parallel sides)
- Hollows of your cheeks - draw an imaginary line from the top of your ears to the tail of your brows. Tip: Do not take it all the way down near your mouth or else you will look like you have a beard. lol
- Below your lower lips - Tip: This will create a fuller lower lip.
- Crease of your eyes
- Along your neck (draw parallel lines)
- Above and below your collar bones - Tip: This will instantly give you a model-like shoulders.
Highlight the following parts of your face:
- Bridge of your nose to the center of your forehead
- Above your cheekbone - Draw a C- shape from your cheekbone to the top of your eyebrow. Tip: This will give an illusion that you have a nice round cheekbones.
- Under your eyes - Draw a triangle following the tip of your nose to the edge of your eyes.
- Brow bone
- Cupid Bows (the arch on your upper lips) - Tip: This will create a fuller upper lip.
- Below the hollows of your cheek (only do this if you are using a banana powder not the shimmery highlighter) - This will clean up your cheek contour and make it more define.
- On top of your collar bone - This goes well if you contour below and above it.
Finally, I love to use two different kinds of blushes (totally optional). The first blush is what I consider a transition blush. I use a brownish blush (somewhat similar to my skin color) as a transition color between my contour shade and my ordinary blush. This helps create a gradient look. Then, I use my ordinary blush on the apples of my cheeks. Tips: There are different ways to place your blush depending on your face shape. Refer to the photo below:
Still fuzzy about the whole thing? You can also watch me in action.
If you are afraid on trying out this tip, all I can suggest is to practice doing it before you wash off your makeup at night so you don't have to worry going out with crazy face (if it doesn't turn out well). The key to it is having the right tools, practicing, blending and practicing again... Don't be scared to experiment!
I hope this helps. Let me know what you think.
Keep Dolling Up,
Gelie (Jelai) xoxo
