#68 – Highlighting & Contouring Your Face: Nose, Cheeks, and Chins

This is a follow up to my video found on Youtube: Highlight and Contour Your Face: Nose, Cheeks, and Chin (HD)

Some people believe that highlighting and contouring is only used by people who have chubby faces. This statement is NOT true. On camera, your features tend to get washed out more. In order to define or sculpt your face, you must contour and highlight your face.

Contouring:

Contouring adds depth and dimension to your face. It also makes certain features more subtle (ie. double chin). Contouring also minimizes certain areas of the face, so the overall look is balanced.You should follow the natural shadows of your facial features.

Nose- If you can’t seem to contour your nose to look natural, or if this is your first time, use a light/lamp! Shine the light from one side of your face. Then, contour your nose along the shadows. Start from your brows and work your way along the tip of your nose. If you feel comfortable, fill in the other side of your nose by mimicking what you’ve done initially. If you’re still not comfortable, switch the lamp/light to the other side of your face, and follow the shadows as you did before. After you’ve completed both sides of your nose, make sure you smooth or blend out the edges of your contouring. The easiest and quickest way is to use your fingers and run it along the edges.
Cheeks- Using a domed-shape brush, start from the temples of your face and work your way down and across the hollows of your cheek bones. Do this in a horizontal sweeping motion. I like using a domed brush instead of an angled brush because it doesn’t create as much makeup lines, so blending won’t be so much of a problem.
Chin- You can use the domed-shape brush to contour your chin as well. If you have a bigger chin area, I suggest using a flat kabuki brush. I like to start from the middle and work my way along my jaw-line towards one ear, and then the other. I blend in front AND in back of my ears to make the contouring look more natural, even from a side-view. The key is to blend, blend, blend! If you have a larger jaw or chin area, it is okay to blend a little bit more into your face, along the jaw-line.

My favorite contouring powders are neutral brown colors- brown/gray tones. Sculpting should NOT add any color to your face, only natural shadows for dimension. If you do want the extra sun-kissed glow, you’d want something warm and/or golden with a matte finish. You don’t want colors that are too orange or red.

: Kevyn Aucoin - Sculpting Powder - $42 (Favorite)

: Smashbox - Bronze Lights - $28

: cover fx - bronzedfx - $28

: Hoola by benefit - $28

: Stila Sun Bronzing Powder - $28

: Sephora Collection - Bahamas - $16

Highlighting:

Highlighting is used to bring out certain features of your face. It is the contrast technique of contouring. The main areas you should be highlighting are the bridge of your nose, the area just above your upper lips, your chin, and your upper cheek area.

The tricky part about highlighting is your cheek area.

Your first option is to start highlighting from your brows and continue applying along the area just above the hollows of your cheeks, ending at the apples of your cheeks. This will bring out your cheek bones and your brow area.
Your second option is used to brighten your face, you can apply highlighter in the shape of an upside-down triangle to the area underneath your eyes.
Your third option is slightly different from your second option, applying highlighter in the shape of a “right triangle”. In addition to brightening, this technique also brings out your nose more. The highlighter is applied from the tear duct area of your eyes along the sides of your nose. Blend out and up towards the outter corners of your eyes.

Some of the best highlighters I’ve tried are listed below: