Countouring & Highlighting

Good morning dolls!! Let's start today off by talking about the basics of contouring & highlighting, something I get quite a few questions about. We'll just start with contouring. It's what I do before I highlight anyway. What is contouring you ask? What can it do for you? Well, a lot. Contouring is basically a form of shading & can transform your face completely. For example, you could create a more defined jaw line, slim your nose down, make it appear straighter if maybe you had broken it in the past. It is an amazing trick of the trade. All the celebrities do it. You can create or define cheek bones. The next time you pick up a magazine, pay attention to the makeup, what's not photoshopped is makeup. So moving on let me give you some starter tips on contouring.

1.Tools- having the right brush to contour is key. If you are just starting out, the E.L.F. brand has a great angled blush brush (which works great for blush, countouring & highlighting whoop!) $3 at Walmart or Target. Also a large powder brush to blend out anything you need to like the work of a heavy hand. (Lol)  E.L.F. also makes these for $3.

2. Bronzer is amazing for contouring as long as it is a matte shade- NO SHIMMER. Use a shade a couple shades darker than your skin tone. Be careful not to get bronzer that has orange or red undertones, because they tend to make the skin look "muddy". Nobody wants that. Don't be scared if you want to experiment and not spend a ton of money to go to the powder foundations of the brand of your choice and look at the darkest colors and match one  to your skin tone. These also tend to have that true chocolate color we want when contouring. I must warn you, use a light hand until you get used to it. It's always easier to build up color than take away once it's on. In case you are wanting high end picks I will gladly give them to you. Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Bronzer (my personal favorite, smells like chocolate- enough said), Benefit Hoola Bronzer, & for all you darker complected ladies NARS Laguna & NARS Casino (which have micro fine shimmer to them, really not noticeable).

Now let's talk highlighters. What do they do? They bring light to the face & give a luminous flow if worn properly. If worn wrong it can leave u looking looking like the ice queen. Highlighters come in both powder & liquid form. Warm & cool tones, but we're starting with basics. Some tips to applying highlighters are:

1.Apply to the Cupid's Bow- the small "v" shaped area above the middle of your top lip. This will make the lip appear fuller.

2. Apply down the bridge of the nose. If you have any kind of bump on the nose this will help hide it and reflect light away from it. Kim K and Jessica Simpson are especially known for this little trick of the trade.

3. Apply to brow bones to give a lifted appearance.

4. Apply to inner corner of eyes. This will open the eyes up and make you appear more awake.

5. Apply to cheek bones above blush to make them stand out more.

There are so many highlighters on the market, if you are a beginner I recommend a drugstore brand brightenening concealer that will do the same thing. If you would like specific brand recommendations, comment or pm me on Facebook, because I know some.of you have had trouble leaving comments on here for some reason. Sorry.

I am inserting a photo to help show where to contour/highlight. I hope you all enjoyed this post please. Let me know if you have questions. XoXo