Unless you've been hiding under a rock, or living in a cave in some distant land for the last year or so, you will have heard about contouring and highlighting. Now no longer reserved for models on fancy photoshoots or those who have a makeup artist at their beck and call, contouring and highlighting have fast become a major part in many girls' daily makeup routines.
If you have been living under a rock/in a cave, firstly, I'm amazed that you've managed to stumble across my teeny tiny blog, and secondly, you probably want a quick catch up on what exactly contouring and highlighting is...
Contouring is the technique of shading parts of the face or body to change the appearance of those features. Highlighting involves using brightening products on the face or body to draw attention to certain parts. Most commonly, contouring is used under the cheekbones to give the appearance of a slimmer face and more pronounced cheekbones. Contouring can also be used around the hairline and down the sides of the nose as well as along the jawline and chin. Highlighting is most commonly used under the eyes to brighten this area, as well as in the centre of the forehead, down the bridge of the nose and above the cupids bow of the top lip.
So let's get on to how you do it…
Firstly you will need to select some products to use when contouring and highlighting. There are numerous products available on the high-street, you don’t need to opt for the most expensive, high end products to try your hand at contouring and highlighting. If it’s your first time trying the technique, I’d suggest starting with a high-street product that you can pick up easily and cheaply, then when you decide if you like the effect contouring and highlighting gives, you could branch out to try high end products. Both cream and powder products are available on the high-street and contour kits can be a great product to get started with. Superdrug offer the Beauty UK Contouring Palette for only £4.99 which is made up of three cream products; a contour shade, a bronzing shade to warm the face and then a highlighting shade. If you’re looking for a cheap powder contour kit, the Barry M Chisel Cheeks Contour Kit is available from both Boots and Superdrug at £6.49 and again offers a contour shade, a bronzing powder and a highlight shade. Also priced at £6.49 is the Sleek Face Contour Kit. It comes in three different shades; Light, Medium and Dark, each offering a contour and highlight shade.
Contour shades should always be matte as they are supposed to mimic shadows. Glittery/shimmery bronzers are not suited to contouring as the shimmer in these products will reflect light, thus pulling the area of the face forward and having the opposite effect you are trying to create with the contouring.
When it comes to applying the product, your tools are quite important. You can start out by using a fluffy eyeshadow brush to first apply the product. Using an eye brush instead of a larger face brush will help you to get an accurate application of the product. It is important to blend so you don’t have any sharp lines on your face, contouring on a daily basis will need to look natural; unless you choose to rock a full Kim K makeup look on a day to day basis, then you go ahead and do what you do! If it’s your first time at contouring, then I’d suggest starting off with little product on your brush, it’s easier to add more than to take it away. Apply the product in a light sweeping motion in the desired area to be contoured, and then blend, blend, blend! You can switch to a larger face brush once you feel more confident; an angled brush is ideal to get into the hollows of your cheeks to really carve out some cheekbones! Obviously stick to a smaller, fluffy eye blending brush to apply contour down the sides of the nose, and to any smaller areas of the face, a large brush will just apply too much product in an uncontrollable way to such areas. When it comes to applying highlighter, many people apply cream highlighter with their fingers. You can apply a small amount of product in a controlled way and by using a tapping motion you can really help ease the product onto the skin to create a natural finish. You can use a brush for the application of both cream and powder highlighter; again, I would suggest a small eye brush to apply the highlighter to any areas of the face as you will have a controlled application.
There are so many videos on YouTube that demonstrate the transformation you can create with a bit of highlighting and contouring, and these are great to refer to if you want to see how it’s done or get some inspiration for products and tools to use. I think that with any makeup technique, practice makes perfect, and the only way you’ll become a pro at it is to get trying! So if you’re new to it all, I suggest giving it a go to find out what works best for you as an individual. Personally, I don’t do a full contour or highlight routine on a daily basis as it is time consuming applying and blending the products, however I use a matte bronzer to lightly sculpt my face giving the teeny tiniest hint of a contour, and by using a brightening concealer under my eyes it gives a touch of highlighting to my face.
Lastly I’d like to add that I don’t think anyone should feel pressured to contour or highlight! I think that in today’s society there is so much pressure on young people to look a certain way, to dress a certain way, and with the increasing popularity of celebrity culture, makeup blogs and YouTube videos, I think sometimes young people can potentially be influenced to feel like they have to copy the same makeup their favourite celebrity/blogger/vlogger/youtuber is wearing and use the exact same high end products to get the same results, which just isn’t the case. You should NEVER feel like you have to make yourself look different, everyone is beautiful in their own way. I think that makeup should always be fun, and that even if you don’t have the “ideal” oval face shape, you should never feel like you have to try and disguise your face shape. Makeup is there to enhance what you’ve already got, so embrace your face and never feel the need to disguise yourself!
Do you contour on a daily basis? What are your must have contouring & highlighting products? Leave your thoughts and comments below!
