Pro Tips: How to master the art of contouring?

Who has never dreamed of one day becoming a sublime creature? If makeup can work wonders, contouring essentially performs miracles! This has been proven with American celebrities, who have made great use of this shadow and light technique. The technique is becoming notorious on social networks, where beauty addicts post photos of their ‘redrawn’ faces. Incredibly impressive, discover some of the best pictures in the gallery above.

And if you’re a complete beginner in the world of contouring,  no worries, we have Lyne Desnoyers, Senior Artist for M.A.C Cosmetics, to explain the basic rules.

CONTOURING IN 4 POINTS

What exactly is contouring?

It is a technique that allows us to work on the face’s natural areas in shadow and light. In other words, it highlights the striking points and gives more structure to the face.

What are the basic techniques we can apply to all forms of faces?

Above all, it is necessary to respect the bone structure and emphasize precise points. For example, cheekbones are defined with one shade under the bone by combining a lighter shade on the top of the cheekbone. The secret in every case is to use soft colours that blend naturally with our complexion.

For fast and effective contouring: skip the shading step by illuminating only the top of the cheekbone. Thanks to this lighting effect, the hollow of the cheek will be enhanced naturally.

What tools are required to achieve this look?

For fair skin: a taupe blush, slightly pink, is perfect as it is neither too brown nor too grey.

For more matt and darkened skin: warm brown blush will emphasize the skin tone.

Whatever the colour of the complexion, the goal is to create a natural shade; therefore, it is essential that the shade is not too dark.

For the highlighter: choose makeup that is slightly iridescent at the same colour of the skin or slightly paler.

Finally, I like using a brush that looks like the one used for blusher, but slightly bevelled. Otherwise, a blusher brush will do; however, be wary of overly bushy brushes, as they will disperse the colour over too wide a surface of the face and immediately remove the natural effect!

Can we apply some steps of contouring to our morning routine without being transformed into Kim Kardashian?

The tip is to concentrate only on the striking parts of the face by illuminating them. This is the simplest way to obtain the attractive and natural result of contouring. Another option is to use your favourite blusher and concentrate its intensity under the bone of the cheek, rather than on the cheekbone itself. This technique sculpts the face without neglecting the healthy look.

 Morgane KLEIN FOREST