Contouring and Highlighting

Hello again! Today I will be talking about highlighting and contouring your beautiful face in all the right ways.

First of all, you might be asking “what is contouring and highlighting?” Well, contouring is applying makeup on your face in specific places to define your silhouette and create the appearance of a slimmer face, straight nose, slender cheeks and more prominent cheekbones. Highlighting your face gives you the opposite effect of contouring also it helps to further enhance your face. It highlights certain areas making them more prominent and pronounced.

Let’s start contouring. What you want to do is use a brown colored or tan bronzer, shadow or product to contour your face. This can be in any consistency you wish like powder, cream or liquid. Be sure to always use a brown tone because it looks most natural and gives the illusions of a healthy tan and glow. It is up to you the characteristics of the bronzer. It can be matte, shimmery, powder, cream or liquid because it is your personal preference. The most commonly used is powder bronzer or eyeshadow since it gives the smoothest look, it blends easily and you have more control over the intensity that you build it up to. You want to be generous with the bronzer but do not go too crazy because then you will have an unflattering shadowy, fake and dark finish to your skin.

Now let’s take a look at Kim K to know where we apply the bronzer.

You are first going to want to contour right under your cheekbones. When applying you will want to slightly suck in your cheeks and apply the bronzer to the hollows of your cheeks. The brush you would want to use for this is a contour brush, evidently. But you can also use an angled blush brush or a large powder brush. Begin applying with a gentle hand to not overdue it.

Next, you will contour your nose. By doing so, your nose will appear slimmer. To apply the bronzer you would use a small eyeshadow brush in a thin line blending it out carefully.

Next, you will contour your forehead and temples. Use the same brush as you did for the hollows of your cheeks. Apply the bronzer to both of your temples and blend well.

Lastly, contour your chin. This will reduce the look of a double chin. Blend the bronzer right at your chin bones and down your neck and apply more as needed. 

Let’s now move on to highlighting. So the purpose of highlighter is to pronounce certain areas of your face to further help define your features. To do so you will want to take a highlighter in any consistency you please that is lighter in color than your foundation and powder. You can use a small powder brush, an angled blush brush or even your fingers to apply your highlighter. You will want to apply it where the light would hit if you stood under a lamp. Take a look at the photo below to know where you should apply your highlighter.

Firstly, apply it down the bridge of your nose in a very thin line and blend well. Next, apply some highlighter to the very tip of your chin and blend downwards and outwards along your jaw line. Also apply it right above your cheekbones right above where you would apply your blush. Next you will highlight your upper and lower brow area. Don’t forget to blend well. And finally highlight your forehead in a triangle shape blending upwards and outwards.

Popular picks for highlighters are powder and illuminators. Liquid is also great because it gives a great finish and will really catch the light because of how the light reflects on the particles giving it a soft look.

By following these simple steps you can look absolutely fabulous for Prom! But don’t go anywhere; there are more makeup tips and tricks coming up on Prom Beauté.