Contour & Highlight

Contouring and Highlighting is not an ancient old tradition of make-up. Its made in to that charts through thorough advances in the Make Up Industry. Earlier, it was just a foundation, eye-liner, lipstick and its all done. Ofcourse lipstick is an exceptional case, that its been there from the day female started to live on earth. Hahaa.. But now-a-days, Foundation is not just enough. Due to the higher coverage of the foundations, the face looked almost like a 2-dimensional figure. No shadows, no shades etc. Bcos of that, the face looked completely feature-less. Then comes the 'Contouring & Highlighting part' in to the Make-Up world, where anyone can bring up the perfect features and hide the flaws. Added it reduces the puffy look of the face. So, lets see how to Contour and Highlight ur face.

Step 1: Highlight
Apply ur primer, liner, mascara and liquid foundation . Remember one strong rule: Always apply the liquid-things before, say for e.g primer, liner, mascara, liquid foundation are all liquid in texture, right! No eyeshadows or any powdered things now. since powder can create a messy paste of splotches if liquid is applied after it. 'Highlighting is all about shine, so pick your shiniest neutral products since we don’t want to go overboard trying to add color.

Since we’re starting with liquids, most of what we’re using will be highlighter. Start with something very shimmery Face Illuminator – it’s better than straight-up shine, as the glittery particles in it will catch more light. Just follow the diagram as a reference.

Using a clean lip brush, apply to the following areas (or please see the amazingly convenient diagram provided for you):

• Underside of your eyebrow (blend down and avoid brow hairs)
• The inner corners of your eyes
• The inner top edge of your eyebrows near your T-zone
• The tip of your nose (blend up the bridge)
• The top of your cheekbones to the outside of your eyes in a “C” shape
• Your Cupid’s bow (that little dip above your top lip)

The Underside of the eyebrow part is very flattering cos it makes an illusion of fuller and firmer eyebrows. The Cupid’s bow highlight is very flattering and more women should do it on a daily basis. Uld see by now that I dint say abt higlighting the apples of the cheeks. Why? I’ve got something better. Liquid blush.. that adds a hint of color and shine, and since this look would be hurt by a dark powdery cheek color, it fits perfectly. You don’t need a lot (trust me, you’ll look like a geisha); just swish the color on with a few short brush strokes on each cheek and blend with fingertips.

Step 2: Contour
Now that u r all done with Highlighting ur best feautres, its abt time to Contour some other areas. Use a liquid/creme eyeshadow for your top lid in a color between your skin color and deep brown, i. e. light brown, gold, mauve, or a blush color. For the crease, use a dark brown liquid eyeshadow – in general, powder in the crease is bad as that’s an area that tends to spread anyway. Use the drawing as a reference on shaping the color.

Now its done with the liquid, we can move on to powders. Be careful choosing and applying a finishing powder as it will reduce the young-looking shine of this look. Take one of those brushes you never use (you know, too big for eyeshadow, too small for blush?) and apply it where you need any concealer or foundation to stay, like over undereye circles or blemishes. Try to leave it alone other than that.

Finally, let’s bronze. Sweep ur favourite bronzer over your cheekbones as shown in the picture with a flexible blush brush (please don’t use a Kabuki, they cake terribly). Then get out a small eyeshadow brush (we need hair/bristles, not the little pads please) and get ready to do some real contouring. This is really dependent on the woman. If you think your face is too round, dab the bronzer at your hairline and temples with the aforementioned useless brush. Likewise, if your jawline isn’t defined enough, brush gently on the underside of your chin and along the jaw back to your ears. Use your finishing powder to blend – the shine will help to blur out any uneven color that might come from your contouring.

Finish with a very light natural pink lip color – dont go in to intense lips colors, with this look. Your skin is a star now. Marvel it!

Highlight and Contour looks amazing for any parties, but limit the usage of shimmer, if ur going for a day-time party.

Thats all Bellas..Hope u look marvelous with those shimmers.
Ciao Bellas.. ! :)