Contouring and highlighting my face has to be my favourite part of my make-up routine; from concealing to dusting some highlighter on the highest points of my face and curving out my cheekbones. All those steps take your whole make-up look to another level, structuring your face and enhancing your features - because that's what it is all supposed to be about, enhancing what you already have, your favorite particularities. Of course no one's perfect (except that model on the cover maybe?) no face is perfectly symmetrical or perfectly curved and even if that's the beauty of it all, we as human tend to see what we don't have instead of what we do have, don't we? I think balance is key, as for everything. Yes, to some extents make-up can help us be the best version of ourselves, mostly by boosting our confidence - but make-up is supposed to be fun before being anything else. So go ahead and experiment, try yourself at contouring if you haven't already, give yourself a nose job by doing so if you want to, but never forget that it is just make-up and that your best ally is your own face, use it ! Now, I could ramble about contouring and its many techniques for days but today I wanted to introduce you to some of my favourite products.
Many people like to contour with their bronzer; to me, bronzer is mainly a product to - as the name suggests - bronze up the face, warming it up and adding back some of the color that foundation sometimes takes away. For medium to dark skin tones it's fairly easy to get away with contouring with a bronzer. However I find that for fair to light skin tones, especially cooler complexions, using a bronzer may look a bit too orange. Contouring is about sketching some shadows on your face to accentuate the curve of some of your features. To do so, the product used should mimic as much as possible a natural shadow, which is why it is usually recommended to use a cooler toned cream or powder. If you find yourself struggling at contouring with your bronzer, maybe it's because it is slightly too warm. The two products on the picture above, M.A.C Harmony blusher and Benefit Hoola bronzer are what I consider to be hybrids; they can be used to both bronze and contour, without being too orange nor too ashy. They're the perfect in-between shade that will suit most skin tones out there, even the lighter ones. If you're after an easy introduction to contouring and can't be bothered to use to different products - a bronzer and a contour shade - they I'd recommend trying out one of those two.
I do occasionally like a stronger contour, especially on nights out when the light is dimmer and more forgiving than the daylight. The next few products are definitely meant to be used for contouring, as they're much cooler in tone that the previous ones. To start with two budget-friendly products, I like to use N.Y.X blush in Taupe and Catrice eyeshadow in 350 Starlight expresso. They're both extremely pigmented and mimic a shadow incredibly well. They can however look too ashy and muddy on some people, so one thing you can do (and should do anyway) is to use your bronzer as a transition shade, like you would use a transition shade in the crease of your eye to blend any eyeshadow. That way, not only will the transition be smoother and more natural, but also you can balance out the grey tones if you need to. Next comes Illamasqua cream pigment in Hollow. This is a shade that I think would suit most skin tones, again very pigmented and easy to use because of its cream form; you can even use your fingers, say to contour your nose. The one thing I'll add is that it tends to get messy quickly - a consequence of digging your brush in it is that you'll get bristles in your products, so try to use your (clean!) fingers over brushes if you can. Last but not least, my favourite of them all; the oh-so-famous Sculpting powder from the genius behind the invention of contouring, Kevyn Aucoin. I'm sorry to say it's the most expensive one out of the bunch, but that's for a reason; it is the most universal and flattering contouring powder ever. I've never met anyone who used it and didn't like it. Even I am head over heels for this compact, and knowing how fair I am, it says a lot. It's an investment, but if you're ready to step up your contouring game, this one is an absolute winner.
I may write a post about what and how to contour and will definitely write one about highlighting so stay tuned for those ! What are your contouring powders recommendations ?
xxx
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