Contouring and Highlighting…not as scary as it seems!
Contouring and highlighting is not as hard as it sounds. Some people are afraid to take those items and go to town on their faces. If you know the correct way to do it, it should help you…not be intimidating.
Let’s start with contouring….when we contour something, we want to make something appear smaller, shaplier. This is why we use a darker color for this. Ever hear that black or a dark color outfit is slimming? Well, that’s the whole idea with contouring…it works the same way.
First thing you have to do is map or choose where you want to contour. These are the areas you want to look slimmer. Such areas include the forehead, the nose, the cheekbones and sometimes underneath your chin area.
Take your contour color and apply it with a brush, applicator, or even your fingers (clean ones, please!) I really do NOT suggest fingers, as you may be applying too much and have no control over where your contour is going….but if you’re desperate, like stuck on a remote island somewhere and feel the need to contour, go for it!
Blend….blend, blend, blend! I can’t stress this enough. Lines of dark color unblended just isn’t cute. On anyone. Unless you are a zebra. They’re kinda stuck. (But that’s their fur…we’re talking makeup here, peeps). Using a brush or a damp beauty sponge, blend it right into your skin. You don’t want to rub, you want to “push” it into your skin, using tiny circular motions. For detail blending, such as your nose, you will want to flatten the sponge so it’s area space is smaller and do the same as if you were working with a larger area. If you are using a brush made for this purpose, the shape of the brush will work perfectly for you.
I would say go onto highlighting next and explain it all, but that’ll spoil the fun of my next post.
Practice your contouring and I’ll catch ya on the next post!
xxoo,
Christine Marie