The Contour

Contouring is all the rage, but did you know pretty much all of the posts on instagram and pinterest you are following are wrong?

There are different kinds of contouring, the ones that are most popular on the internet is the 3-4 step contour… this is not meant for daily ware.. not even for evening ware… its meant for stage performers and drag queens. Lights on stage are bright and will flatten out your face shape, for different looks for different performers you will want to have a different look. This involves building up lighter and darker features on your face, setting the foundations and concealers so they don’t sweat off or melt off with all the lights.

This type of contouring where you are painting on with different shades of concealer, is for photoshoots and weddings.

This photo is from behind the scenes at a photoshoot.

Daytime contouring is very easy and I bet you don’t even realize you are doing it!

Blush, powder highlighter and bronzer.

Thats it. Pretty easy eh? We use the highlighter to brighten up our eyes, blush to make us look more awake and alive.. and bronzer to lightly contour cheekbones, chins and foreheads.

For special occasions, like  a big date night or parties and weddings, you can do a bit more and this is usually when you start using more concealer than just powders.

Different concealers are used for different areas:

2 shades lighter foundation or concealer packs for places you want to highlight: like under eyes, on top of cheek bones and your cupid’s bow(above your lips)

You can use brow pencils and filler to reshape brows, and lip liners to correct thin or uneven lips.

Green takes out red: good for rosecea marks, pimples, and scratches.

Yellow takes out dark browns and purples: liver or age spots, bruises, dark under eyes.

1-2 shades darker concealer or foundation for or bronzer: hiding a bigger chin, under neck(or double chin), in cheek bone hollows, and to hide a larger forehead.

Now for high fashion, bright photo shoots, artistic recreations and drag/stage performers this is where you can really transform your face.

This is when you definitely need a contour concealer palette.

This is where all those pictures of Kim Kardasian are from.

You can give yourself a smaller, thinner nose. Or totally reshape your face.

Having a makeup lesson and having a contouring map of your face is always fun, it can show you where you need to focus on with the different colours. The whole point of contouring is to even the shape of your face into a oval, keeping center focus.