Hey Friends, I am sure you have all heard the term “sculpting” or “contouring” in the context of makeup, and perhaps you even know of a few tricks for this technique. However, today, I want to break it down for you. I have seen A LOT of makeup videos on Youtube. And many of the ladies have great talent. But some of them add certain steps to the makeup process without really knowing why-- or at least without properly explaining why. These steps usually have to do with the subject we are covering today. There’s a big difference between becoming a Makeup Maven and just being a Makeup Maiden, and it’s knowledge that makes you one or the other. As someone who has been into makeup since before I was ten, I can honestly tell you that intuition can only take you so far. After completing a nine month makeup course, I still feel there is much to learn, mostly because every case and every face is so unique. So let’s get into it. The purpose of “contouring” is to play with lights and shadows, to create the illusion of various levels of depth to the face, thereby changing the appearance of the face’s shape. Why do this? As I have discussed in my previous posts, there is a theoretical, ideal face shape, just like with the eyes and lips, and that is oval. Once again, pay attention to different face shapes around you and you will notice a few basic shapes: heart, diamond, round, square, and, of course, oval. Study your face shape for a few moments today, from chin, to ears, to hairline, and try to determine which one you’ve got. Next, create an imaginary oval that connects all of the inner-most points of the face shape. Anything that goes outside of that oval, lightly brush on a powder, or blend in a light layer of foundation, that is a few shades darker than your skin tone. That is step one to contouring. Another fairly well-known technique is darkening the hollows of the cheeks. This is to further create the illusion of an oval-face. Keep in mind, though, that if you have very pronounced cheek bones, you may want to reconsider doing this, as over-emphasizing this area will tip you over to a diamond-shape. How is this done? Tilt your head at an angle to one side, and your face in slightly downwards, so that you can really see the cheek bone and the hollow. If you are using a contouring powder, lightly dab your big contouring brush into the powder, dab off the excess onto your palm, and slowly brush on a line that begins at the base of the ear, towards the corner of your lips. Take care to not go past the area that is underneath the outer-corner of the eye, which can be determined by holding your brush at the corner of your eye, pointing directly downwards. Anything from that point and inward is reserved for highlighting. Remember that cheek bones are off-limits as well. I have seen ladies go outside the limits of contouring for what seems to be the purpose of creating a tanned-look. Puh-leeze keep these steps separate. Keep the light brown shimmers for the sun-kissed look (I hope to discuss that in another post), and the skin-toned matte ones for contouring. You will save the undercover makeup artists out there a lot of cringing. The last contouring technique for today is the nose. I have seen a lot of videos where ladies do contouring on the nose without truly explaining why. From what I learned in my course, it is completely unnecessary unless you are planning to be photographed—that is when the technique is most effective, as it is simply not visible to the naked eye (unless you did it wrong). Otherwise, skip it, and lessen the risk of anything funky happening to your look. On those occasions that you will be photographed, take advantage of this technique to create the appearance of a straight, medium sized, rounded nose. Again, lightly colour in anything that goes outside of that shape with your contouring powder or foundation. Enjoy!
Posted on: Sun, 23 Nov 2014 10:33:51 +0000
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