The contouring craze may be over but that has not stopped me from being its number one fan. If I’m wearing makeup, I have almost definitely contoured. While I know that contouring is not for everyone, I personally love the look of sculpted cheekbones on myself. Over the past few years, I have perfected my contouring techniques and I have found the products that work best for me.
Cream Contour I use a cream contour on those rare occasions when I want a Kardashian-esque bold contour. I almost never go for this look, mainly because it is very time-consuming, but every once in awhile I enjoy going the extra step. I use the contour shade from the Smashbox Step-By-Step Contour Stick Trio. I apply a thin line to every area that I want to shade and then I carefully blend it out with either a beauty blender or a dense brush. I make sure to blend it out very well in order to avoid any and all harsh lines. The contour stick has a perfect undertone for contouring and blends beautifully. Unfortunately, I don’t use the highlight and bronze shades from the trio. The highlight shade is too close to my skin tone to highlight and I’ve simply found that I prefer a powder bronzer for warming up my skin.
Powder Contour
For my day-to-day contouring, I use a contour powder. It blends a lot quicker than a cream and looks more natural, or at least as natural as a contour could possibly look. I have been using the Marc Jacobs Beauty #Instamarc Light Filtering Contour Powder in the shade Mirage Filter 40 for well over a year now and I have not found any need to try out something else. As with the stick, the contour side of the palette has the perfect undertone for shading and it blends out like a dream. I was attracted to this palette because it only has one contour and one highlight shade. Most other contour palettes have several shades in one and I did not want to buy them knowing that I would end up using less than half of the shades. The Marc Jacobs palette is undeniably pricey. Having said that, it is so big that this one palette has lasted me for over a year and a half and it is still going strong.
Quick Tip: If you do not want to use both a contour powder and a bronzer, a matte bronzer with a neutral undertone be used to provide a subtle contour while bronzing the face.
Contouring Brush
I couldn’t talk about the Marc Jacobs palette without mentioning the one amazing brush that I always use with it, the Kat Von D Shade + Light Contour Brush. I love using the angled side with the contour shade and the tapered side with the highlight shade.
Cream/Liquid Highlight (Shaping) I have found that, for me, a concealer that is slightly lighter than my skin tone works a lot better than the highlight stick from my Smashbox trio. I apply the concealer under my eyes in a triangular shape and to other high points of my face. I then blend it out with a beauty blender and set it with a loose powder. For this category, I could not choose just one favorite product. I have two that I just happen to love equally. They are the Tarte Shape Tape Contour Concealer and the Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer. Both look lovely on the skin and when properly set, stay on and don’t crease.
Powder Highlight (Shaping) Every once in awhile, I take an extra step and apply the highlight shade from my Marc Jacobs palette over the areas where I have already highlighted with a concealer and set with a loose powder. Because this is a yellow powder, it helps to brighten the skin and give it a more awake look. Honestly, this does not make a HUGE difference but, since I already have the highlight shade in my palette, I find that I might as well use it. The difference may be small, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t like the way that it looks.
Powder Highlight (Glow)
My contour routine is not complete without adding some, or A LOT of, glow to my cheeks and other high points of my face. A subtle glow is not for me. I want my highlight to be visible from miles and miles away. My favorite product for achieving my perfect glow is the Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector Pressed. It is a smooth, buttery powder that gives consistently stunning results. I have been using this product for over a year and I don’t see the repurchases stopping anytime soon.