The Lazy Girl's Way to Contouring
One of the latest makeup trends hitting the social media scene is contouring. Popular amongst many female celebrities and makeup artists it can be a great way to enhance and give shape to your face. Contouring can be daunting at first if you have never tired this makeup trick before. But what exactly is contouring? And should you invest time and money in trying to perfect this makeup technique? So many questions!!
It is hard to walk past a makeup counter now days without seeing a range of highlighting and contouring products on display. It can become so overwhelming that you may not even bother with the makeup trick to begin with.
But first, what is contouring? Contouring aims to achieve the following:
Strobing, the latest IT word, is designed to highlight areas of the face. Just above the checks, underneath the eyes, the Cupid's bow on your lips, centre of the forehead and anywhere the natural light falls can be enhanced with Strobing.
Contouring draws in areas of the face to make them look more defined, thinner and smaller, such as just under than the cheek bones, the sides of your nose, your forehead and your jaw line.
These techniques give you a more defined face, however, this look can take time to perfect and there is an array of products currently flooding the market. The products we are loving at Fox and Sage are:
Cream Based
Anastasia Beverly Hills is a 'go to' salon for celebrities. It first opened in 1997 and they have been sculpting the perfect eyebrows on clients for almost twenty years! Her makeup range comes highly recommended by makeup artists and bloggers and contains one of the best contouring kits on the market. The kit contains six shades, three contouring and three highlighting. It has a flawless formula which creates definition for your face with a very lovely sheen.
{Image Via - Sephora}
This limited edition contour stick was first seen at the Paris Autumn/Fall Fashion Week in February this year! It has just arrived on the market and be sure to quickly snap this one up. This stick is doubled ended and perfectly sculpts the face in the simplest of steps. The creamy texture is easily bended with your fingers or beauty blender (another MUST have product in your makeup kit) and gives the most subtle glow to your face. The beauty of this product is that you do not require a brush to apply the product to your face; therefore, it is the perfect product to have in your back when are on the go.
{Image Via - Dior}
Powder
This contouring palette is sworn by makeup artists as a great contouring powder. It is a silky duo of contouring powders to help sculpt, define, and highlight the face. These powders seamlessly blend with the skin for natural coverage that you can build upon. With three colour combinations available, Hi-Fi, Dream and Mirage, if you want to try contouring try this product!
{Image Via - Sephora}
Sticks
If you're not into powders, but still want to try contouring then the Smashbox Stick Trio is for you. This trio is made up of three shades that are said to mimic perfect lighting.
The trio contains:
Contour: A darker shade that sculpts by creating shadows
Highlight: A lighter shade that pulls features forward
Bronze: A transition shade that eliminates harsh lines by blending the contour and highlight shades
A feature of this product is that it can be used dry for buildable sculpting or wet for a sheer contour. It has a creamy texture that is easily bendable with either your fingers or beauty blender.
{Image Via: Smashbox}
Ones to look out for....
Maybelline has recently released (in the USA, Australia release TBA) a new contour product that looks very promising. It has a highlighter on one side and a bronzer on the other all within the one stick. For beginners at contouring this is an ideal product.
{Image Via - Maybelline}
L'Oréal has released this easy step by step guide on how to contour using this product (however it can be applied with any product)
How to video can be viewed here.
This simple technique demonstrates how to create a simple yet effect makeup up appearance, without your makeup looking caked on..
{Image Via - L'Oréal}
And if you would rather spend that extra ten minutes in bed than putting a face of makeup on, then this tip is for you.
Pro Tip: When applying your contouring product always use it after your foundation but before you use setting powder, blush or bronzer. So go forth a contour!
