Contouring, Contouring, Contouring!! Oh we've all heard of this makeup technique by now and, of course, thank you Kim Kardashian and Mario Dedivanovic for bringing this glorious style of makeup to the masses. In our opinion, as professional makeup artists, there is no step more important than contouring to make your makeup look stand out from the rest! It is one of the most essential makeup steps you can bring to take your looks to the level of Pros!
Contouring is basically the method of applying a darker color than your natural skin color to the areas of your face that you would like to define or reshape. Then you apply a lighter color than your natural skin tone to the areas of your face that you want to bring out to the forefront.
Darker colors are usually applied to the temples, jawline, chin, hollows of the cheeks, sides of the nose. This helps those areas look more angular and defined.
Lighter colors are applied to the bridge of the nose, under eyes, area above the eyebrows, and beneath the hollows of the cheeks to help those areas stand out and also enables the darker contour to appear even more defined.
Products you can use for contouring are cream or liquid concealers, contour/concealer sticks, and powders. At Blush and Glow we prefer contouring with powders and the powders should be in the warmer range rather than cool tones, which can create a muddy/grayish effect. Contouring with powders is also ideal for the majority of women who are not professional makeup artists or You Tube creators since it is easier to blend and build powders. Let's face it, no one wants a dark creamy blob on their face that is very hard to wipe away!
HOW WE CONTOUR TO CREATE FLAWLESS MAKEUP LOOKS
Tools and Makeup Needed:
- Universal Powder Contour Kit
1) Using the Universal Powder Contour Kit and the Large Blender Brush we first apply one of the dark colors in the palette in small circular motions to the hollows of the cheeks starting from above the ear and working down, the jawline working down towards the neck, and the hairline above the forehead into the temples. For Medium to Deep skin tones we recommend the darkest color on the Right side of the palette. For Olive Tones to Lighter skin tones we recommend the middle contour color in the palette.
2) Then you BLEND! Clean off the Large Blender Brush with a dry tissue and blend out the dark contour powder so it looks like it seamlessly blends into the skin (but don't make the mistake of over-blending the powder away!).
3) Next we use the Small Angle Brush to draw two parallel lines of the contour color of your choosing down the sides of the nose with a small gap in between where the bridge of the nose is. The closer the lines the more narrow your nose will appear.
4) With a clean Small Angle Brush press down on the edges of the nose contour lines and slide the color down and out to blend it.
5) Last step in contouring is to apply the matte highlighter color from the Universal Powder Contour Kit with the Powder Brush to the bride of the nose, area in between the cheek and jawline contour, under the eyes, and above the eyebrows.
And you are done!! Follow these steps for simple,easy contouring and you're going to look like a pro using these steps and easy products.
You can also view some of our tutorials here to see how our Master Artist contours her own face.
We hope you enjoyed this quick blog on Contouring 101!
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