I'm sure most of you have already heard about contouring and highlighting. It has taken all over social media for the past two years or so. So whether you are familiar with this technique or not, I really hope that you'll learn something new from this post. I personally don't contour and highlight on daily basis, but I have learned many tips about it and I thought that it would be useful to share them with you all.
What is contouring and highlighting ?
Contouring is basically shaping certain areas of the face. It creates the illusion of a contoured facial structure. So in simple terms, contouring is creating a shadow. While highlighting is basically used to brighten areas that light naturally hits. So as the term suggests, highlighting just brings out the features that you want to be highlighted.
What products can be used to Contour and Highlight ?
Fortunately nowadays, there are so many contouring and highlighting products in the market, whether they are drugstore or high end products. They also come in either cream or powder form. I personally prefer creamy contour products because they are easier to blend and build up. They also look extra natural (if they are blended well). Powdered contour shades can be a little bit trickier to use, especially for beginners. Since powdered contour products can be slightly harder to blend, I recommend using a very light hand when applying them. It is preferable to use a contour shade that is two shades darker than your skin tone. Also, I would always recommend to use a matte cool toned contour colour. This is mainly because with contouring we need to create the illusion of a shadow. So a cool toned and matte shade can do that perfectly well. However, if you contour with your bronzer or a shimmery shade, you most probably won't create that natural shadow look. Blending is also key! I always try my best to blend my contour very well to avoid any harsh contour lines. You can do so by either using a brush or a sponge.
For highlighting, I also prefer using cream products. I like highlighting my face using a highlighter that is at least 1 shade lighter than my skin tone. My personal favourite way to highlight is by using a concealer. I apply the concealer on all the areas that I want to highlight, and then I blend it well using a damp sponge. I then set the concealed areas with a setting powder to avoid any creasing.
Where should I contour and highlight?
There are several common areas to contour and highlight. For contouring, these are, but not limited to: the temples, sides of your forehead, cheek bones, nose and jawline. Whereas, the common areas to highlight are: forehead, brow bone, bridge of the nose, under the eyes, cupids bow, and the chin. These definitely are the most common areas, but that doesn't mean that you have to contour and highlight ALL of those areas! The key is to learn what looks good on your face and what facial features you'd like to stand out. For e.g. I don't personally contour my nose cause I have a relatively small nose to begin with, so when I once tried to contour it, it just looked out of proportion with my face. Also, if you have a very small forehead, then it wouldn't be ideal to further contour it cause it'll just make it appear smaller and might not end up looking the best. So the key here is to experiment and try to find what suits you best! There is no universal rule to contouring and highlighting that you'll have to stick to.
Now I'll share with you how I personally contour and highlight:
Step 1: Many people wear their foundation and then contour and highlight. I skip the foundation part and start by adding the Rimmel Match Perfection concealer on all the areas that I want to highlight. I apply it under my eyes in an inverted triangle shape, and I also add some on my forehead, chin, and cupids bow. I then use my damp sponge to blend all the concealer properly.
Step 2: I then apply the contour shade from the NYX Wonder Stick under my cheekbones, on my temples, and under my lower lip, I also blend that in using my damp sponge.
Tip: blend the contour in the direction that you want that area to appear in. For e.g. the cheekbone contour is usually blended upwards to create that high cheekbone appearance. Whereas, for the jawline, you'd want to blend the contour downwards to shadow or hide the appearance of a double chin.
Step 3: I finally set the concealed areas with a setting powder to avoid any creasing.
And voila! I end up with a subtle contour and highlight that doesn't look over done.
So that is it for today's post. Thank you so much for reading. These were my tips for contouring and highlighting. I hope that they were useful to those of you that want to experiment in that field. Don't forget to comment below if you've got any questions.
What is contouring and highlighting ?
Contouring is basically shaping certain areas of the face. It creates the illusion of a contoured facial structure. So in simple terms, contouring is creating a shadow. While highlighting is basically used to brighten areas that light naturally hits. So as the term suggests, highlighting just brings out the features that you want to be highlighted.
What products can be used to Contour and Highlight ?
Fortunately nowadays, there are so many contouring and highlighting products in the market, whether they are drugstore or high end products. They also come in either cream or powder form. I personally prefer creamy contour products because they are easier to blend and build up. They also look extra natural (if they are blended well). Powdered contour shades can be a little bit trickier to use, especially for beginners. Since powdered contour products can be slightly harder to blend, I recommend using a very light hand when applying them. It is preferable to use a contour shade that is two shades darker than your skin tone. Also, I would always recommend to use a matte cool toned contour colour. This is mainly because with contouring we need to create the illusion of a shadow. So a cool toned and matte shade can do that perfectly well. However, if you contour with your bronzer or a shimmery shade, you most probably won't create that natural shadow look. Blending is also key! I always try my best to blend my contour very well to avoid any harsh contour lines. You can do so by either using a brush or a sponge.
For highlighting, I also prefer using cream products. I like highlighting my face using a highlighter that is at least 1 shade lighter than my skin tone. My personal favourite way to highlight is by using a concealer. I apply the concealer on all the areas that I want to highlight, and then I blend it well using a damp sponge. I then set the concealed areas with a setting powder to avoid any creasing.
Where should I contour and highlight?
There are several common areas to contour and highlight. For contouring, these are, but not limited to: the temples, sides of your forehead, cheek bones, nose and jawline. Whereas, the common areas to highlight are: forehead, brow bone, bridge of the nose, under the eyes, cupids bow, and the chin. These definitely are the most common areas, but that doesn't mean that you have to contour and highlight ALL of those areas! The key is to learn what looks good on your face and what facial features you'd like to stand out. For e.g. I don't personally contour my nose cause I have a relatively small nose to begin with, so when I once tried to contour it, it just looked out of proportion with my face. Also, if you have a very small forehead, then it wouldn't be ideal to further contour it cause it'll just make it appear smaller and might not end up looking the best. So the key here is to experiment and try to find what suits you best! There is no universal rule to contouring and highlighting that you'll have to stick to.
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| Areas commonly used to highlight |
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| Areas commonly used to contour |
Now I'll share with you how I personally contour and highlight:
Step 1: Many people wear their foundation and then contour and highlight. I skip the foundation part and start by adding the Rimmel Match Perfection concealer on all the areas that I want to highlight. I apply it under my eyes in an inverted triangle shape, and I also add some on my forehead, chin, and cupids bow. I then use my damp sponge to blend all the concealer properly.
Step 2: I then apply the contour shade from the NYX Wonder Stick under my cheekbones, on my temples, and under my lower lip, I also blend that in using my damp sponge.
Tip: blend the contour in the direction that you want that area to appear in. For e.g. the cheekbone contour is usually blended upwards to create that high cheekbone appearance. Whereas, for the jawline, you'd want to blend the contour downwards to shadow or hide the appearance of a double chin.
Step 3: I finally set the concealed areas with a setting powder to avoid any creasing.
And voila! I end up with a subtle contour and highlight that doesn't look over done.
So that is it for today's post. Thank you so much for reading. These were my tips for contouring and highlighting. I hope that they were useful to those of you that want to experiment in that field. Don't forget to comment below if you've got any questions.
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