BACK TO BASICS – CONTOUR

There are many different techniques to use when applying makeup and each person has their own style. Whether you’ve had experience doing makeup in the past or you’re new to it, there’s a good chance you’ve heard of the word Contouring. For those of you who haven’t, contouring is a makeup technique that allows you to enhance your best features by shading and highlighting them. Blending also plays a major role in this technique but we’ll get into more details about this later on. 

In today’s Back To Basics tutorial, our resident Pro MUA and Creative Director, Jackie Su, will share a few tips on contouring and also provide you with a step-by-step how-to that can be applied to your daily makeup routine 😉

IDENTIFY YOUR FACE SHAPE

One of the first steps of contouring is to identify the shape of your face. There are six basic face shapes: oval, long, round, square, heart, and diamond. It’s important to know your face shape when you’re contouring because you will highlight or contour different areas of your face, depending on the shape. For example, if you have a round face, you want to highlight your cheekbones and chin, whereas with a square face, you want to focus on highlighting more around the eyes.

FIND THE RIGHT PRODUCTS –

The next step is to find the right products. When it comes to contouring, it’s easy to become overwhelmed with the number of products available. Most brands carry both liquid and powder highlight and contour, making your decision even more difficult. Essentially, it all comes down to personal preference and as you start to feel more comfortable with how you apply the highlight and contour, you may decide that you like the quality and pigmentation of liquid and cream products more.

TEST DIFFERENT COLORS & FINISHES –

Another important step to keep in mind is finding the perfect shade. Just as you choose the right color foundation for your skin tone, you also need to find the right contour and highlight shades that will compliment your skin tone and not make you look too yellow or orange. You will also have to decide between matte and shimmer products.

CONTOUR HOW-TO –

If you’re new to contouring or have very little experience, it may seem a bit intimidating at first; Especially if you’re unsure of how to place your highlighter / contour. The last thing you want is to look like this - 

Follow these easy steps and you’ll be one step close to becoming a PRO!💁‍♀️

(Side Note – depending on the look you’re trying to achieve, you will use either powder, foundation or cream-based products to highlight and contour your face — you may even use all three!)

STEP 1: Contour the perimeter of the face, forehead and bridge of the nose with a shade that is two tones darker than your normal foundation color.

STEP 2: Using a brush, sponge or beauty blender, blend all the places you’ve outlined.

The goal of contouring is to make your face look as natural as possible, which is why blending is such an important step.

If you’re looking to add a natural highlight to your look, follow along to step #3 –

STEP 3: Using a liquid concealer that is two tones lighter that your normal foundation shade, place it on the bridge of the nose, under your eyes, the middle of your forehead and your chin.

STEP 4: Blend it all out!

If you want to one-up your contour and highlight game by adding a dazzling glow, follow along to the next step. 

STEP 5: Using a powder highlighter, add and blend it to the tops of your cheekbones, on the bridge of the nose and cupid’s bow.

Finish it all off with a setting spray to add that extra protection and give your face a rejuvenated, dewy look.

And voilà! That’s it! How easy was that? Also, can we take a moment to appreciate –

THAT HIGHLIGHT THO!!!!! 🔥 🔥 🔥 🔥

With the right makeup tips and tricks, doing your makeup can be fun and rewarding🌟

One of the most difficult parts of trying new makeup routines is finding quality products that aren’t so expensive. More often than not, affordable products don’t blend well or have the pigment of some of the more expensive products. Our goal is to provide everyone with professional-quality makeup that hey can afford. Make sure to check out our contour and highlight products on our website🛒 so you can keep on practicing this technique.

Let us know how much you loved this contouring tutorial on the comments below 💛 and glow on with yo' bad self and share your look by using #profusioncosmetics for a chance to be featured on our social media channels 📸

Xo, Team Profusion