Last week, we taught you how to apply highlighter, so this week is all about learning how to contour. Contouring is a deepening of the skin to create a shadow and bring out what is next to it, so it is generally applied alongside highlighting techniques. Highlighter is applied to the areas you want to bring attention to and contour is applied to the spots you want to lessen the focus on. Blending highlighting and contouring will give you the most natural look possible.
When choosing a contour shade, try to use a bronzer, foundation or concealer that is a shade darker than your skin tone. It should be a matte product because they absorb more light, creating shadows, as opposed to a shimmer product that reflects light like a highlighter. For the most natural look, remember that warm skin tones look best in products with yellow undertones and cool skin tones look best with pink undertone products.
Below are jane iredale products we use to contour:
- Any darker mineral powder foundation, Glow Time Full Coverage BB Cream or Active Light Under-eye Concealer that is a shade or two lighter than your skin tone.
- So-Bronze Bronzing Powder.
- Matte PurePressed Eye Shadows such as Taupe, Cappuccino, Dark Suede and Shady Lady.
When highlighting and contouring, the goal is to work toward a more oval-looking face; this is thought to be the ideal face shape. Using the below techniques, you’ll learn how to change the appearance of the face, be it shortening or slimming your jawline, rounding off a square hairline, or emphasizing your cheekbones. Before we get into the makeup application, you will need to know your face shape so you know what attributes to emphasize and where to contour.
Find Your Face Shape
To find your face shape, stand in front of a mirror with your hair pulled back. Then, carefully outline your face on the mirror with a bar of soap (you could use lipstick, but soap is easier to wash off). Now, look at the outline and compare it to the nine face-shape descriptions below.
If Your Face is…
OVAL
LONG
ROUND
SQUARE
RECTANGLE/OBLONG
TRIANGLE
DIAMOND
INVERTED TRIANGLE
HEART-SHAPED
Practice Makes Perfect
Show us how you’ve perfected contouring and highlighting! Post pictures on Instagram of your best looks and tag us using @janeiredale and #friendfavorite for your chance to be featured on our page.
