Contouring and Highlighting

Contouring has become a massive thing in the makeup world over the last few years and there are hundreds of tutorials about it all over the internet. Having watched probably more than 3 days worth of footage all about contouring and highlighting, I had still never managed to get it right and it doesn’t help that I’m majorly lacking in the cheekbone department :/ But from every video I’ve watched about it and every blog post I’ve read, I’ve managed to pick up some tips and tricks, put them all together and (for me) come up with the best way of contouring and highlighting my face. (Grab some snacks because I'm guessing that it'll be a long one)

Before reading this, it'd probably be a good idea to find out what contouring and highlighting is if your not sure :)

Contouring

I used to think that contouring was just impossible unless you were already blessed with perfect, Angelina Jolie like cheekbones because having tried quite a few contouring products before, they always made me look like an orange mess and never came out right no matter what. I couldn’t see what I was doing wrong; I would follow every video on YouTube exactly how they said and I got VERY frustrated when it didn’t look good. So I figured that I was using the wrong shade for my face. Looking at people who naturally had sculpted cheekbones, I noticed that the ‘contour’ wasn’t really like the brown coloured shades that I’d been using, but more a cool grey tone. Thinking I would have to splurge out for another contouring kit, I decided to leave it be as I hardly EVER do contour. So I was more than glad when I came across the Delicious Eyeshadow by Makeup Revolution from Kaushal Beauty’s channel, and it’s only £1! Using that made me get the hang of this whole contouring business and I feel like it’s a great shade for most people (if not you could always add a more bronzed powder on top). I’m guessing that the Hoola Bronzer is a great colour if your skin is more pale because it’s a cool brown shade, so isn’t too harsh on your face.

Now to actually contour your face, there are many contouring brushes out there. Again the brush that comes with the Hoola Bronzer seems great, but since I don't have it, the one I use is the Real Techniques Contour Brush as it has a useful, pointed end so the contour goes exactly where you need it to. For your cheekbones, start at the top of your ear, underneath where your cheekbone is, working your way down towards your mouth, but don't go all the way. It's best to take it no where past your pupil in my opinion, or it could easily look unnatural. If you're unsure where to put this, use a brush and roll it down your cheeks until you find the hollows. Then continue adding the colour to your jawline, temples, sides of your forehead, and nose (if you want to make it look slimmer). Make sure you really blend it in well and you're done with contouring! No need to go super intense and cover your whole face in loads of products!

Highlighting

Moving onto highlighting, I like to use a concealer that's not too thick as otherwise it can look very unnatural. Put this under your eyes in a triangle as shown ^^ because this will not only highlight you face, but also extenuate your cheekbones. Continue adding this anywhere on your face that you want to bring out like the bridge of your nose, under your eye brows to make them look lifted and also under where you put the contour for your cheekbones. The concealer I like to use is the L'Oreal True Match Touche Magique as it's lightweight and not too thick.

I then also like to finish the highlighting by using a highlighting powder just on my cheekbones to make them look more prominent and also add some life back to my face. I love the MUA Undress Your Skin and again, it's very affordable.

So finish off by powdering under your eyes and your done! Hope this helps and let me know your fav contouring and highlighting products in the comments!

~ Alissa x