There’s nothing really new about contouring, but if you’ve never tried it before, it’s a nifty way to refine your face-shape and even slim a sagging jaw.
As it looks best at night and in photos, but can appear a tad harsh in daylight, save it for special occasions. Or for when you’re meeting Kanye West.
Here’s what you should know…
* Get the colour right. If the shade you’re using is too dark, it’ll just look dirty, which isn’t the plan. Also, avoid glitter. Contour is meant to look like natural shadows under high, elegant cheekbones, not flecked like the kitchen granite. For shade advice, counter-hop around a few department store brands to see what’s available and refine the advice to suit your colouring. The perfect shade will be matte and only slightly darker than your foundation. Your loved ones should not see you wearing tiger stripes unless you’re going to a fancy dress party.
* Apply it over a like-for-like texture. If you’re using powder contour, it needs to go over face powder. If you put it straight onto bare skin or foundation, any moisture will make the powder particles clump into patches. Cream contour, however, should go over a cream, unpowdered surface.
* Use the right tool for the job. Face powder brushes are too large for colour targeting, so use a blusher or specialist contour brush. However, the ones that come in blusher compacts are too small. They concentrate the colour, creating sharper edges and making ‘striping’ much more likely.
* Start with a meagre amount of colour and build it gradually. To control the ‘dosage’, pick up some pigment on the bristles, then – like the professionals – whisk it onto the back of your hand until you feel you have a controllable Goldilocks amount.
* Find your cheekbones by sucking in your cheeks, place the brush underneath them, roughly below the outer corner of your eye, then brush the colour outwards towards your hairline in a slightly upward diagonal, following the line of your bone. This is where the most concentrated amount of colour should be. As you reach the hairline, curve the brush upwards in a C-shape around the outside of your eye, finishing at the upper corners of your temples.
* Buff the colour to a barely-there natural-looking shadow, working it backwards, forwards and in tiny circles until you can no longer see where it starts and ends. If it’s still too visible, whisk off the excess with a clean brush or cotton pad, and use ordinary face powder to soften it further. When it looks like the merest hint of shadow, that’s the effect you want.
* Finish there, or add extra oomph to those newly-impressive cheekbones with a little strobing. (That’s highlighter to you and me.) Stroke a small amount directly over and above your cheekbone, then blend well. While you’re at it, highlight your browbones, too. By drawing attention to the high planes of your face, you’re creating a slight lifting effect. Blusher, by the way, which goes on the apples of your cheeks, is applied last.
* Play down a softening jawline or jowls with a similar shading technique. It won’t make sagging disappear, but helps the jaw appear sharper. Simply apply contour directly along the bone from your chin to below your ear and, if your face shape has become squarer and heavier over the years, try adding a little extra contour to ‘shade away’ the outer corners of your jaw. You can slim a double chin the same way, blending it seamlessly down the throat. Buff the shading to a mere hint, then, when you’re not sure if you’ve taken off too much and need to add a bit more, that’s the moment to stop.
Have you given contouring or strobing a go? Tell us how it went below…
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