The main purpose of contouring is to create shadows that help shape, sculpt, and redefine your face. While many of us want a beautifully sculpted face like most Instagram stars, our absolute lack of or minimal contour skills gets in the way. So we at The Week spoke to Binita Shah, makeup artist at GlowtoGlow, The Beauty Studio in Hadigau, Kathmandu, to provide you with a basic guide to contouring. Read more to find out how an angular face is actually easy to achieve.
Indentify your face shape
“To identify your face shape, sit in front of a mirror and draw a line with your lipstick around the perimeter of your face,” says Binita Shah. A heart shaped face tends to have a wider width from temple to temple and a narrow jaw line. A round shaped face, on the other hand, is usually equally distant from forehead to chin as it is from cheek to cheek. A square shaped face has the same width from temple to temple as it has from jaw line to jaw line. And lastly, an oval shaped face tends to be longer from forehead to chin then it is from cheek to cheek.
Important tips
Highlighting is important for contouring as it brings the light back into your face. While contouring creates shadows to redefine your face, highlighting makes your face look radiant.
Always use a highlighter that is two shades lighter than your skin tone. Your contouring colour must be two to three shades darker than your skin tone.
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If you are using a powdered foundation then use a powdered contour product. If your foundation is cream based, then your contour product should also be cream based for best results.
Keep a clean brush by your side to help you blend your products.
Heart shaped face
The first step is to highlight your face. Highlight the center of your forehead, the bridge of your nose, under eye, top of the cheek, and the jaw line. Next, take a contour product and very softly shade a ‘C’ shape around the hairline on your forehead. “If you want to shorten the length of your chin then take the product and create a shadow right under the tip of your chin,” says Shah.
Most heart shaped faces have great cheek bones. So contouring your cheek is not necessary. However, if you wish, you may softly brush the contour product under your cheek bones. “Take a brush and softly drag it down from the center of your ears, making a shadow under your cheek bones,” says Shah. In the end, blend your products and make sure you do not have any harsh edges.
Oval shaped face
For an oval shape, start with highlighting the center of your forehead with the help of a brush. Move your brush upwards or make a half circle on your forehead and slide it right down your nose. Highlight your chin and the outside of your jaw as well.
For contouring, start with the hairline. “Although an oval shaped face already has a beautiful forehead, contouring along your hairline adds more color to the face,” says Shah. “You may also add some bronzer on your face if you wish to,” she adds.
The next step is to shade under your cheeks. Start from your ears and bring your brush down, beneath your cheek bones. Another great place to contour for an oval face, according to Shah, is through the temple area. “It will enhance your cheek bones and lift the eyes,” she adds. Move your brush slowly from the end of your eyes towards your temples. If you want to refine the nose, contour the sides of your nose that will make them look thinner and longer.
Round shaped face
For round shaped face, contour colours are used for lengthening your face. “The center of the face has to be highlighted to make your face seem elongated and the perimeter area has to be contoured, to make it look narrow,” says Shah. “You also need to highlight the center of your forehead, bridge of your nose, the center of your chin, under your eyes and the area above your cheek bones,” she adds.
Contouring will help you slim down any round edges. First, softly contour the hairline. “If you have a narrow forehead you may skip this part but for a high forehead, contouring is a must,” says Shah. The second step is to contour your temple area along your hairline. This will certainly make your face look less round. Then, you must contour your jaw line to narrow it down. For your cheeks, start from your ears and run your brush down. “Contouring your jaw line will help your face look long. At the end, blend your products with the help of a brush,” she adds.
Square shaped face
“For square shaped face contouring is all about cutting and softening corners. Our main goal with this face shape is to round the perimeter of the face and soften the edges,” says Shah. Highlight the center of the forehead and the chin. Connect the two highlights by drawing a small line just down the center of the nose. Use the highlighter under your eyes and the area above your cheek bones.
Now the next step is to contour your face. First, shade the temple area and then soften the jaw line curve by using the product along your jaw line. “For most square shaped face, it is not necessary to contour the cheeks. But if you wish to, you may scoop the brush underneath your cheek bones,” says Shah. To contour your nose, apply the product on your brush and run it right along the sides of your nose. Finally, blend everything together.
