Makeup Tricks: How to Contour and Highlight Your Face

Perhaps you weren’t born with a perfect bone structure and complexion, but with subtle shading and highlighting, you can transform your natural contours into much more.  Cathy Morrison models the technique for this tutorial.

Before you begin, study your face: you want to find and enhance what you already have rather than creating different structures. Remember that dark parts absorb light and seem smaller, while paler areas catch the light and appear larger. You can do your whole face over or focus on just one element.

Cheeks


Dip an angle brush onto the contour powder, tap off the excess. Here we used a Sigma 168 brush with MAC Sculpting powder in 'Sculpt'. You can also try Make Up For Ever's Sculpting Kit.


Place angle brush near your temple and drag down to the hollows of your cheeks. Use a light hand and repeat until you achieve desired effect, blending well. Swipe any leftover powder on the sides of forehead to create more depth.


Highlight your brow and cheekbones with a light shimmer champagne powder like Lise Watier 'Nuits Magiques' Illuminating Face Powder or a cream highlighter like Giorgio Armani Fluid Sheer in #2. Start from your brow bones and in a “C” motion, work your way to your cheekbones. This will emphasize your bones, brighten up the eye area and create a youthful glow.

Jaw and Chin


Swipe contour powder across your jaw line and chin for a more defined look that also has a slimming effect.  The dark color creates the illusion that it’s receding.

Nose


Using a small flat brush like Annabelle Large Shader Brush, apply a bone shade that has minimum shimmer, like MAC Shaping Powder in 'Emphasize' to the bridge of your nose. Next, dip a small angled brush with contour powder to shade both sides of your nose. Start near the inner end of the eyebrow and lightly drag down. Taper off inward towards the center when you reach bridge of your nose. Repeat on the other side. Take a clean fluffy brush and swipe your nose up and down to soften any harsh lines. 

Eyes


You can brighten tired-looking eyes with a dusting of light pink-beige powder like MAC Shaping Powder in 'Accentuate' on the inner corner of your undereye area.
Voila!

Have you used these techniques before?