Contouring!
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A professional makeup artist’s ( no I do not just do makeup in my bedroom and call myself a makeup artist ) perspective.
For the professional MUA, contouring knowledge is a must. Stars, actors, actresses and models expect to feel comfortable and confident in front of the camera, and they rely on your skills to minimize their less-favorite of features and really bring forth their best ones!
There is no “set”, “fool-proof” way to do contouring, and I hate the tutorials that explain it in that form. It’s so much more, and when you understand the process and how it works for EVERY kind of face you’ll understand highlighting and shadowing in makeup more overall, which will help your eyeshadow application skills, lip application skills, blush application and really every other aspect of cosmetic application! A great contour is the basis for a great, professional makeup! Even in “natural” cosmetic looks there is almost always a countour applied unless it’s done with lighting instead via a professional photographer.
EVERY face is different! If you contour a square face like Angelina Jolie’s in the way you would contour an Oval face shape like Adriana Lima’s it’s going to look like shit! You need to understand what products to use, where to use them and why.
A lot of aspiring MUA’s or novice artists will apply contours to themselves and end up looking like they’ve used a fuck ton of bronzer. If you’re going for that look, cool, but if you’re trying to contour and end up looking tan in the face, darker, or even lighter than you are you’re doing it wrong. It needs to look realistic, believable, and not like you had a bad spray tan on your forhead.
So, now I’ll stop bitching and tell you how!
PREPARTION!
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❶ Clean your skin! Never put makeup on dirty skin, it’s bad for your skin and I like to relate it to painting a wall. Yes, I am relating your face to a wall. If you paint over a dirty, grungy, peeling wall your new layer of paint, no matter how beautiful the shade or the quality of the product, is going to look like shit. In your skin’s situation, you will also make it easier for breakouts to occur. So clean your face! I am an organic freak and do not like to use products that have shit I can’t understand in them if I can avoid it. I have normal/combination skin, and I like to use Meyer Lemon Creamy Cleanser. Like contouring, no face is the same, so find a cleanser that matches your skin’s needs.
Stimulating Lemon meets creamy emollients, rich in enzymes and antioxidants. A gentle, velvety lather lifts away impurities and supports improved skin tone and texture. Made with no parabens, sulfates, phthalates or synthetic preservatives. Best for normal skin.
❷ Moisturize! Use a moisturizer fit for your skin type! Moisturizing your skin helps to fight aging, fine lines, spots, breakouts, and UV damage. I always do this after cleansing. I like Dr.Hauschka’s Moisturizing Day Cream. For dry and normal skin, this light and activating moisturizer regulates and balances the moisture content of the skin. It gives alittle glow to the skin and is absorbed quickly without leaving an oily film.
❸ Prime! Use a primer fit for your skin type! Priming your skin after cleansing and moisturizing allows for a healthy and smooth base for your makeup. It will make your makeup last, and of course we all know makeup has harmful chemicals in it. A healthy primer will allow you to apply your makeup with almost a small, unseen barrier between your skin and the product. Lessens breakout chances, fine lines, UV damage, shine in camera shots, imperfectons and more depending on the primer you use! I like Inika Pure Primer. A certified organic blend that offers protection and hydration for the skin prior to makeup application. It contains delectable ingredients such as macadamia oil, shea butter, avocado and apricot, Pure Primer calms and soothes the skin, providing an even canvas for foundation application and improves the staying power of your makeup.
❹ Foundation! Now it’s time for your foundation application. I like to conceal and perfect any issues in my skin at this time too, usually just with my foundation. If I have a major pimple or issue, I’ll neutralize the beast with a neutralizing palette. I’ll explain one of those in another post, but if you have questions feel free to ask. Anyway, with a makeup sponge or foundation makeup brush apply a foundation that matches your face with clean even strokes downward. Stroking makeup upward can reveal the hair we all have on our faces called “vellous” hair, it’s usually translucent, but close up and in camera it can look like you’re a little fuzzy if you put on your foundation in upward strokes. Use downward strokes to prevent this hairy situation, it also just makes the makeup more even. I would suggesst Vapour Organic Beauty Atmopshere Luminous Foundation.
Atmosphere Luminous is designed for normal, dry, mature and sensitive skin. It gives a luminous, glowing, natural finish and comes in a slim precision stick for maximum control. With Vapour’s Light Reflective Technology the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles and pores are diminished. Skin becomes instantly smoother, softer and more even. Nourishes with Vapour’s face specific infusion of anti-inflammatory Frankincense, antioxidant Tulsi and moisturizing and calming Lotus flowers.
❺And now…CONTOUR!
GET CONTOURING!
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❶ WHAT you need. Now you’ll contour your face. You’re going to need a few things. A highlighter 1-3 shades lighter than your face’s natural tone, a shadower 1-5 shades lighter than your face’s natural shade, a flat foundation/concealer brush and a good eye. Yes, girl ( or boy <3 ) you need to take a good look at yo beautiful face. What do you like? What don’t you like? In the makeup world, and hair world as well, there are “face shapes”. Within these face shapes there are traits seen as socially “desirable” and others that aren’t. But that doesn’t matter. What do you like about your face and what do you want to diminish. Focus on that, and that’s what we’ll do! I’ll go over the face shapes so you can get the basis for what “looks best” on each, but what matters is how YOU want to see yourself.
My skintone is “holy shit I’m albino”: 
So for my highlight I’m using a very/white
/glowy/vanilla tone by Ben Nye called MediaPro Cream highlight. It’s about 1-2 shades lighter than my natural skin.
For my shadower I’m using Ben Nye cream Neautral Shadower from my Ben Nye contour wheel. It’s most likely 5 shades darker than my natural, maybe even more, but after I blend it significantly it gives me the look I dig, and a realistic “shadow”.
Pick the highlight and shadow you’d like to use and let’s go to step 2!
I love Ben Nye because it’s MADE for film, tv and HD cameras which means it’s made to hide EVERY flaw and when applied correctly, looks realistic ( not bronzy or like an obvious contour )
❷ What you should KNOW! Before you do this, you should know two things, what your face shape is, and WHY you’re contouring.
No, you are not just drawing lines all over your face!
If you’ve ever taken an art class, you know that natural light and shadow defines how we see the world. It defines how we recognize form. This is exactly what we’re doing with makeup. You are tricking the eyes by brightening the areas of your face you love and yes, that are proven to make you more attractive if you choose, and darkening areas you want to be less apparent. You are even chiseling out features, like cheekbones, to make them more apparent to the eye. The purpose is to draw the eye to your best features.
It’s also proven than humans, scientifically atleast, find contrast and symmetry attractive. This also gives you that effect.
❸ What’s my face shape! There are 8 basic face shapes, and of course mixes and matches of each one. OVAL, SQUARE, TRIANGLE/PEAR, DIAMOND, RECTANGLE, HEART, ROUND, OBLONG.
Check out below to find the face shape you closely resemble and where your basic highlight/contour map is!
OVAL FACES:
You do not need to contour as your face shape is already symmetrical. You can experiment as oval faces can support most make up trends. Just remember that light shades appear more prominent and darker shades decrease the size of the area.
DIAMOND FACES:
Contour at the cheeks to minimize width.
Highlight your forehead, under your eyes and your chin to draw attention to the centre of your face.
RECTANGLE FACES:
Contour on the corners of either side of your forehead and across th hairline.
Contour on either side of your jaw blending up to the bottom of your ear.
Highlight your forehead,under your eyes and your chin to draw attention to the centre of your face.
OBLONG FACES:
Contour across the lower section of your chin to shorten your face length. Apply Blush to the apples of your cheek to widen your face.
HEART FACES:
Contour at the temples and cheeks to diminish the width of your upper face.
Highlight your forehead, under your eyes and your chin to draw attention to the centre of your face.
TRIANGLE FACES:
Contour on the jawline and cheeks to minimize the width.
Highlight your forehead, under your eyes and your chin to draw attention to the centre of your face.
SQUARE FACES:
Contour on the corners of either side of your forehead
Contour on either side of your jaw blending up to the bottom
of your ear
Highlight your forehead, under your eyes and your chin to draw attention to the centre of your face.
ROUND FACES:
Contour to your temples, cheeks and jawline to create the illusion of an oval.
Highlight your forehead,under your eyes and your chin to draw attention to the centre of your face.
❹ Have at it!
Now that you’ve got the basics down experiment until you get the perfect look for you. Remember to BLEND BLEND BLEND your contour and highlights. Add some blush, some eyehadow, some lipstick and define those brows if you wish for a complete look!
I hope this basic intro to contouring helps you out! Have fun!
