Any detail and technique is important in makeup and none of them overshadows the other. Each part is responsible for a certain aspect of your looks. Contouring has its special place among these makeup essentials and it is undoubtedly one of the principal underlines. The principle of contouring actually underscores the generally used makeup techniques be that the background layers or shadows or something else. This is why it’s important to know, to maintain, and to preserve the main contour applying know-hows. Another factor that is required to pay attention to is the factor of individual differences and consequently individual-bound approach for successful results. Learn how to contour correctly to bring out your best facial features and look perfect every time you do makeup!
There are certain areas that can be treated with contour techniques. These are the cheeks, the eyes, the nose, and the jaw. Besides, you should remember the two purposes that contouring could serve, being highlighting and lowlighting.
Contouring Cheeks
Naturally, the first thing you should start with are the cheeks. They are one of the most important parts for your makeup, when thinking over the highlight requiring areas. When applying contour to cheeks, it’s important to base the general effect on the cheekbones-with-hollow contrast, on the one hand receding the hollow, thus applying the lowlighting technique here, and on the other emphasizing the cheekbones, making their makeup more explicitly put. Thus comes the time to highlight these parts. While in case of the lowlight the shades are necessary to be chosen as muted options, when highlighting they can have some glossy and vivid interpretations. So when working on the cheek contour, it’s primarily the balance of highlighting and lowlighting that are a matter of attention (Learn How to Apply Blush According to Your Face Shape).
Contouring the Nose
The next target area for contour is the nose. It’s vital not to make it too explicitly standing out, this way, basically applying the lowlighting method to this part, starting from the inner corner of brows and moving symmetrically up to the tip. The only part that can have some proportions of accent is the bridge, though this can be optional, too. The most significant tip is that the shiny looks are recommended to avoid at this stage (Learn How to Shape Nose with Makeup).
Contouring Eyes
Eyes come next, which, apart from having basic accents like eyeliner, mascara, and eye shadow, also need to have some primary background, which is again created with the help of contouring techniques. Thus, you can use a succession of lowlight plus highlight methods, making the proper background for later expansion. First, the lower eyelid areas need to be lowlighted, followed by a slight highlight right along the browbone.
Contouring the Jaw
Eventually, the final brushstroke goes to jaw, which comes the last but not the least in the makeup list. The first thing that needs to be done is lowlighting the jawline, so that the contoured line is not distinguishable. When highlighting, concentrate on the sides, at the same time avoiding the accent to the jaw outline explicitly. This can create a forged image of having the jaw oversized.
To end, the last thing that can be said about these makeup application tips and tricks is that primarily it’s you to decide what type of makeup suits you the best. After making sure about this, the next thing you should do is possess the proper skills for using the techniques correctly and efficiently, and in order to be able to do this, you should, of course, know which of the methods to apply for this or that purpose for the most successful looks. Contouring is one of the most essential background aspects underlying all the beautiful and charming looks.