How To Contour Your Face With Makeup Step By Step

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In recent years, contouring and highlighting your confront accept go beauty industry standards. Contouring adds shadows and lines to your confront while highlighting emphasizes your features. To contour and highlight your face, apply your base makeup, highlight the areas yous'd similar to accentuate, contour the areas you lot want to diminish, and brand sure to blend!

one
Use your primer and foundation like y'all normally would. Rub a primer into your pare as a base of operations for your makeup. Let it dry out before you lot starting time applying whatever foundation. Choose your normal shade of foundation and apply information technology with a foundation brush or blender.^[i]
- You tin skip putting on foundation for a more natural expect. Just be certain to blend your contour and highlight thoroughly into your skin!
2
Add concealer to your blemishes but not your under eyes. Highlighting involves putting concealer underneath your eyes. Add your normal shade of concealer to blemishes on your cheeks, forehead, and nose, but don't cover your under eyes. Multiple layers of concealer under your eyes tin can look unnatural and cause creasing.^[ii]
- Don't go also heavy on the concealer, since yous'll be adding more later.
- Try not to mix powders and liquids. If you lot are using a powder contour, apply a powder concealer. If you are using a liquid profile, use a liquid concealer.
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3

Use a concealer shade ii to 3 shades lighter than your regular concealer. The concealer that yous use every bit a highlighter should not be the same i that you lot utilize to cover blemishes. Choose a concealer that is lighter than your natural shade so that it makes certain areas of your face up stand out.^[three]

Tip: If the concealer that yous bought is too light, mix it with some of your natural concealer to darken it slightly.
4
Draw an upside-down triangle under your eyes with concealer. The expanse under the eyes is often darker than the residue of your face. To brighten upwardly your eye expanse, apply your concealer with the applicator in an upside-down triangle shape underneath your eyes. Start the triangle right beneath your lower lash line and bring information technology all the way down to the pinnacle of your cheeks. Fill up the triangle in completely with concealer.^[4]
- Highlighting your under eyes besides helps to emphasize your cheeks.
five

Brand a line of concealer going down the span of your nose. Keep this line adequately sparse. Start at the peak of your nose and bring the line down toward the tip. This will help to make your nose await smaller and accentuate its length.^[5]
6
Add a pocket-size, upside-down triangle of concealer between your eyebrows. Situate your concealer right above the bridge of your olfactory organ. Point the triangle downwards toward your nose and reach the sides outward toward your eyebrows. Fill up the unabridged triangle in with concealer.^[vi]
- This triangle helps to accentuate your brow bones.
7
Dab some concealer on the bottom part of your mentum. Stick the bottom of your jaw outward and so that your chin juts out. Apply a pocket-size rectangle of concealer to the bottom one-half of your mentum. Fill the rectangle in completely.^[7]
- Do non add concealer on the top half of your chin, or information technology could make your lips look uneven.
8
Alloy the concealer thoroughly with a brush or damp beauty blender. Use small, circular motions to brand sure there are no harsh lines on your confront. The concealer you used is much lighter than your skin, and then it will get out calorie-free strips if you don't blend information technology well.^[viii]
- Y'all tin can also use a blending sponge to blend in your concealer. For the virtually natural-looking results, dampen your sponge get-go.

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1
Blend a darker foundation with your own to create a contour liquid. Choose a liquid foundation that is iv to 5 shades darker than your natural shade. Mix a capful of your normal foundation with a capful of the darker foundation using a makeup brush. You lot tin can also use a contour stick or powder instead.^[nine]
- If you lot are using a pulverisation contour makeup or a bronzer, find one in a shade darker than your own.
Tip: Don't choose a foundation that is shimmery, or your contour won't blend as well.
2
Draw a line under your cheekbones with your profile shade. Find the hollows of your cheekbones by sucking your cheeks into your mouth. Apply a pocket-size, apartment makeup castor to swipe a line underneath your cheekbones from your ears to the middle of your cheek. Brand sure the lines are fairly even on both sides of your face.^[10]
- If you are using a contour stick, employ the stick directly to your face.
3
Add profile lines from the curvation of your eyebrows up to your hairline. If you take a prominent forehead, you lot tin can make it look smaller by contouring. Use a modest, flat makeup brush to swipe a line to a higher place both of your eyebrows up toward your hairline. Try not to get any contour liquid on your hair.^[11]
- If you have a naturally small brow, you don't accept to contour this area.
4
Make your nose expect smaller by adding contour lines along the span. Use a small, sparse makeup brush to describe ii lines on either side of the bridge of your olfactory organ. Get-go from the top of your eyebrows and brush the lines down until they accomplish the tip of your nose. Keep these lines thin, and make certain they don't affect each other in the heart.^[12]
- These contour lines elongate your nose and brand it await smaller.
- If you are using a contour stick, use a brush to swipe the stick and pick up the contouring makeup.
five
Ascertain your jaw line by drawing contour lines underneath it. Find your jawline by feeling the sharp ridges at the bottom of your face. Brand profile lines from your ear to the commencement of your mentum. Do not contour right beneath your chin, or information technology could give you a foreign shadowy look. Brand these lines fairly thick and prominent.^[13]
- If you have a naturally strong jawline, y'all can skip contouring your jaw.
half-dozen
Alloy your contour in with a brush or damp beauty blender. The about of import function of contouring is blending in your makeup. Employ a stippling brush or a blending sponge to become over every line that you've created on your face. Alloy the lines into your foundation in an upward motion until they are very faint. Do not leave whatever harsh lines or angles on your face.^[fourteen]
- Endeavour looking at your makeup in the sun to see if it looks natural.
EXPERT TIP

Melissa Jannes is a Licensed Esthetician and the owner of Maebee's Beauty Studio in Philadelphia, a single practitioner space providing quality services with individualized attention. Melissa is likewise a National Educator for Universal Companies. She received her esthetics degree at The Beauty Schoolhouse of Middletown in 2008 and is licensed in both New York and Pennsylvania. Melissa won the "All-time of Beauty" honour from Attraction magazine in 2012 for the quality of her bikini waxing.

Melissa Jannes
Licensed Esthetician

Utilize a low-cal mitt and blend your contouring well. I similar to use a matte foundation that's about five times darker than the skin, rather than bronzer or anything shimmery. Then, I blend it out with a or a sponge, and I try to buff the bodily foundation together with it. If you want to become a touch on darker, you lot can add a little more. However, keep in mind that contouring looks beautiful on film, but information technology can expect very heavy in person.

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1
Finish the rest of your makeup similar yous normally would. Once your face makeup is done, add eyeshadow, mascara, eyebrows, lip stick, and blush. Put on as much or as picayune makeup as y'all would similar to.^[fifteen]
- Contouring and highlighting goes best with a full confront of makeup.
EXPERT TIP

Think, whenever yous're doing makeup, information technology's supposed to be fun. If you like the way something looks, go with it!

Melissa Jannes

Licensed Esthetician

Melissa Jannes is a Licensed Esthetician and the owner of Maebee's Beauty Studio in Philadelphia, a single practitioner space providing quality services with individualized attention. Melissa is besides a National Educator for Universal Companies. She received her esthetics degree at The Beauty School of Middletown in 2008 and is licensed in both New York and Pennsylvania. Melissa won the "Best of Beauty" award from Allure mag in 2012 for the quality of her bikini waxing.

Melissa Jannes
Licensed Esthetician
two
Brush bronzer into whatsoever contour areas you lot'd like to accentuate. Sometimes, blending out a contour line can arrive disappear. If you take some areas that you desire to create larger shadows for, like your jawline or your nose, employ a large, fluffy castor to employ a sparse layer of bronzer onto those areas. Apply a thin, potent brush to create lines on your olfactory organ and cheekbones in bronzer and and so blend them out.^[16]
- If you lot are going for a more natural wait, you lot don't need to add together bronzer.
three
Apply liquid or powder highlighter in areas you'd like to shimmer. Makeup brands frequently sell a product that is specifically called highlighter. This usually has some shimmer and smoothen to it, which makes it bully for calling attention to features on your face up. Apply your liquid or powder highlighter to your brow bones, the tip of your nose, and your cupid'south bow. You tin as well add some on top of your cheekbones to make them stand out.^[17]
- Highlighter comes in a few different shades, simply it is usually in a light white or peach tone.
4
Apply a setting pulverisation or spray to ensure your makeup lasts. If you lot're going out for the night or to an event where you don't want to look oily, employ a setting powder to your entire face up to make sure your makeup stays in place. Pat it into your under eye area, your forehead, and your cheekbones especially. Blend the powder into your face up to look flawless. Or, use a setting spray and lightly spritz your face. Wait until the spray dries to go out on the town.^[18]
- Setting powder can cause flashback. If you lot're going to have your motion-picture show taken with flash, don't use setting pulverization.

Add New Question

Question

How tin can corrector be used?

To hibernate blemishes, or if you smear a little mascara and you don't take time to wash information technology off, just dab a little on and rub in!
Question

Why is it so important to utilize a face primer before applying the foundation?

It makes your makeup final longer, as well as making your makeup look fresher.
Question

Can blush exist applied with a contouring brush?

Yes, but information technology should just be practical to the apples of the cheeks, and so a fat, round-tipped castor is ideal for blush.
Question

Is one contouring ideal for all noses?

Reena Valecha

Community Respond

No, because all noses have different shapes and sizes. Follow the general guideline of using darkness to cut down mass and lite to add mass or attention to your nose..
Question

Is there an culling to contouring?

Yes! Y'all tin can effort but highlighting.
Question

Is there a substitute for blush?

Yous tin can dab lipstick on your cheeks and blend it with your fingers, which is like to applying foam blush. Simply make sure to ready it with some powder or a setting spray so that information technology lasts longer.
Question

Can I apply any contouring and highlighting palette?

Yes, you can employ whatsoever brand of contouring and highlighting palette, as they all are intended to practise the same thing. However, brand sure you choose a palette that suits your skin tone and so that your contour looks more than real.

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Things You'll Need

Concealer 2 to 3 shades lighter than your own
Contouring liquid
Stippling brush or blending sponge
Bronzer (optional)
Liquid or pulverization highlighter (optional)
Setting powder (optional)

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Article Summary X

Using makeup is a great way to contour and highlight your face to create the look you want. First, y'all'll need to assemble some bones supplies, like makeup brushes, a foundation, a highlighter, and a concealer. Apply your foundation and concealer to go rid of whatever imperfections. And then, kickoff contouring with a slightly darker foundation or a contour stick. You can emphasize your cheek bones by making a straight line across the hollows of your cheekbones and blending it in. Or hide your double chin with a line across your bottom jaw line, and alloy information technology in. You should also use a highlighting concealer that's slightly lighter than your foundation. With this, you can highlight the area underneath your eyes, the middle of your nose, and your cheekbones. If y'all're struggling to become your platonic look, endeavour following makeup videos online to get some styling tips as you work. For tips from our Dazzler co-author on how to make your nose wait smaller, proceed reading!

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