Friday, July 27, 2012

A lesson on contouring


"Oh it's so elusive, so technical, so way above my skill level."

If you've ever had similar thoughts about contouring, your mind is about to be changed. If you've never bothered to try this makeup artist staple because you thought it was too time-consuming or complicated, you're truly missing out! For me, I don't do full-faced makeup on a daily basis. I wear a few must-have basics like mascara, concealer, and lip gloss to my casual desk job. But, if the hubby is taking me out for a night on the town, yeah I'm gonna step it up a notch (or two, or three ...). Enter my BFF: Contouring.

Contouring has the power to sculpt and shape your face, without going under the knife or needle. It brings out your features, defines, slims, warms, and gives life to your previously dull complexion. Say hello radiance.

I pulled this photo (above) from Pinterest, courtesy of Birchbox.

1. Use an angled brush, and apply bronzer where the brown lines on the diagram above indicate: Along your jaw line, in a diagonal line beneath the apples of your cheeks, and on the outside of your nose. Blend, blend, blend.

2. Apply blush in an upward motion on the apples of your cheeks, above the bronzer (they can overlap -- be sure to blend so the contouring is not too obvious).

3. Finally, apply a highlighter above the blush toward the tops of your cheeks, beneath your brow bones (a great trick for looking younger -- hello instant brow lift), above and below your lips to bring out the fullness of them, and just a swipe down the center of your nose!

See? It's easy as one, two, three. Try it out and let me know what you think! Could you see yourself doing this regularly? Did you notice a difference? How about in photos?


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