Seems, equally to portray, contouring is all about location—the place you place colour is equally as essential as which colour you’re really working with. For those who’re a proficient sufficient painter (or make-up artist) you already know precisely the place to put sure shades to intensify shadows, angles, or sure options of an object, that are essential expertise for successfully shaping the face. However what if you happen to don’t dabble in a kind of two careers and nonetheless need to discover ways to contour?
This was the dilemma I confronted final week as I sat in entrance of my mirror, un-contoured and three minutes away from being late for a pleasant dinner. Whereas I’d usually use a swipe or two of bronzer the place I believed it ought to go, I had by no means tried to completely snatch my face… And now wasn’t the time to begin. I wished to stage up my make-up for the night time, however I clearly didn’t have time to do a lot. I didn’t want my cheekbones to appear to be they may minimize glass— I simply wished one thing foolproof and fast.
My salvation got here, because it usually does, within the type of a Tiktok. I seemed up ‘contour hack’ and in 13 seconds flat, make-up theorist Megan Lavallie bestowed upon me such nice contouring information that I wished to scream it from the rooftops. “There’s this one spot in your cheek that if you happen to poked a gap via it, it might contact your enamel. For those who softly mix it out [after adding contour], it is going to create essentially the most soft-looking, excessive cheekbones for many who need to look good from the facet and the entrance.” And so, with my remaining two and a half minutes, all I needed to do was discover the spot on my cheek the place I might really feel my enamel, add a single dot of contour, and mix flippantly. That was it!
I grabbed a contour brush and my contour-that-isn’t-contour, Glossier’s Cloud Paint in Nightfall, and set to work. I utilized one dot on every cheek, and as Lavallie instructed, softly blended out. Right away, my face gained extra dimension whereas nonetheless trying extremely pure. The outcome was seamless, form of like I someway managed to tan simply the hollows of my cheeks. Fancy dinner or not, I knew this trick had me in a chokehold from the second I noticed my newly sculpted face.
Lavallie’s tip—which has 7.5 million views, by the way in which—modified the way in which I take into consideration contouring. I spotted that for magnificence learners and lovers of No Make-up Make-up, contour doesn’t should be an intimidating occasion stuffed with a number of lotions, powders, and brushes. I used to suppose it was Kim Kardashian-style or bust, resulting in extra nightmares about making an attempt the ‘3’ form on my spherical face than I might care to confess. Seems, you possibly can nonetheless get a unbelievable look from a simplified methodology. As a substitute of doing strains or dots of product everywhere in the face à la Instagram tutorials, the naked necessity of contouring is only a single dot! Not so intimidating now, is it?
However Hannah, I can hear you saying, I’m nonetheless scared I’m going to screw it up. Honest! Contour is straightforward to screw up once you don’t know what you’re doing. However I’ve religion that you just do know what you’re doing since you’ve gotten this far within the article, and when (not if) you get contouring proper, you’ll completely elevate your look in only a few minutes. Moreover, this tip makes it virtually foolproof, no matter whether or not you’re utilizing a cream or powder contour. Would possibly as properly strive it! It’s not going to get any simpler than this.
All images taken by Elliot Duprey
