Photo: Collected
Many people think that contouring means plumping the cheeks, narrowing the nose, plumping up the muzzle and jawline. Actually not at all.
Face contouring is a popular makeup technique to accentuate facial structure. Contouring is basically the conversion of any face shape into an oval or flattering shape using makeup shades.
Why is contouring done?
Many people think that contouring means plumping the cheeks, narrowing the nose, plumping up the muzzle and jawline. Actually not at all. Contouring is basically like adding light and shade to the face. It is the function of covering the incongruous prominent parts with dark shades and bringing out the beautiful parts in the light. It basically accentuates the facial structure, giving a sharp look to the face shape.
This technique is now a part of many people’s daily makeup routine. There are certain rules to properly contour the face. If not contoured according to the rules, the hit is reversed. So it is very important to know how to contour in any face shape.
Usually the forehead, cheekbones, j-line and nose are contoured. After applying moisturizer, primer, foundation on the face comes the contour part. This can be done with both cream and powder products. For those who are new, powder contouring is easy. Professional artists usually do cream contouring in most cases.
Everything you need to contour
A proper brush is very important for contouring. Any brush other than the contour brush will not blend the product perfectly into the skin. And dark chocolate or brown or bronze color shade will be required, with which the contour will be done. Choose a shade two or three shades darker than your skin tone. There are many good quality skin contouring products available in the market now.
How to contour
As mentioned earlier, the best method for those who are new to contouring is to contour with a powder product. In this case, you can only contour three places. This is a general rule for all looks.
* Contour from the hairline and gently blend the product from the temple to about 1/3 of the forehead.
* Once the contour around your hairline is evenly blended, move down towards the cheekbones. Then turn the brush and keep it away from the face center. Finish by contouring just below the j from behind the ear to the chin point after blending the contour along the cheek bone.
* Now contour the nose. Highlight the middle of the nose and contour with two lines on either side and blend until smooth. It will make the nose look narrower.
Contouring according to face shape
First of all, you need to understand the shape of the face. To understand that, pull your hair back and put it in a ponytail and stand in front of the mirror. Draw an outline on the mirror according to the appearance. The shape of the face can be understood only by comparing it.
Oval shape
If your face is oval shaped then contour from the hairline. H line should also be done. The nose should also be contoured.
Long shape
If the face shape is long or elongated, contour under the hairline, temples and chin. The nose can be lightly contoured. This will make the face look slightly rounded.
Square shape
It looks good if you can create a triangular shape by contouring a square shape or a square shape. So in square shape face contouring should be done at the two corners of the hair line and at the corner of the j line. The nose should also be contoured.
Heart shape
For those with a heart-shaped face, they will contour in the middle of the temple and chin.
Diamond shape
If the face is diamond shaped then contour from the middle of the forehead towards the hairline and chin. The nose should also be lightly contoured.
It is possible to present the shape of the face more beautifully by following the above rules. But in that case, besides the contour, we can’t forget to highlight according to the rules.