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How to Highlight and Contour: The Ultimate Guide

January 6, 2014 by Casey 26 Comments

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Lets talk about highlighting and contouring, shall we? It’s something that a lot of people are nervous about tackling but I’ve got news for you – EVERYONE needs to be incorporating highlight & contour techniques into their makeup routine. Even if we don’t all do heavy contour a-la Kim Kardashian a well placed highlight and contour can help your face look defined, glowing, and could even help you “shed a few pounds” through the optical illusions that it creates. I’ve been getting a lot of questions about this so I thought that it was time that I finally put together my answer to the age old question of “How to Highlight and Contour.”

The EASIEST and most comprehensive contouring and highlighting guide on the internet! #beauty #makeup

I’m personally a very visual person so I put together a little cheat sheet for your reference (as pictured above). Of course there are dozens of different contour techniques, placements, etc so I just added the most basic and well known placements for your reference ๐Ÿ™‚

Highlighting and contouring is the placement of light and dark colors on the face to mimic shadows and light reflection. It’s a lot easier than it sounds, don’t worry!

Think of contouring as adding shadows to your face to diminish certain spots while helping other points to stand out. Take the cheekbones for example: By placing a contour in the hollows of the cheeks you can help to mimic a natural shadow and give the appearance of a more prominent cheekbone. You can also use a contour down the sides of your nose if you want to visually decrease its width or if you have a square face (like yours truly) you can place a bit of bronzer on the outer corners of your forehead and jawbone to help soften your face shape.

Highlighting is the opposite of contouring and if we were taking the SAT the word association would be a little something like this – Contour is to Shadow as Highlight is to Brighten. You can utilize highlighting to help certain features stand out and give your complexion a gorgeous glow. If you’re contouring underneath the cheekbones (the most common contour) you should definitely be highlighting above your contour to brighten the face and help your cheekbones stand out. The same thing goes for your nose; if you’re contouring the sides of your nose to slim it place a small bit of highlighter down the center of your nose to draw attention there and further add to the optical illusion. I also like to highlight between my eyebrows and on my chin to help minimize my square facial shape.

Even though blush isn’t *technically* part of a highlight & contour routine I wanted to talk about it for a quick second. When it comes to blush I always recommend for people to apply blush in an upward motion kind of between the highlight & contour. Applying blush upward towards your temple helps to lift your face and give a more youthful appearance. If you struggle with where to start your blush you can smile, find the apples of your cheeks, and then sweep up from there.

Check out my favorite products for highlighting & contouring below!

How do you like to highlight & contour? Comment below and let me know!

Until next time ๐Ÿ™‚

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This post and its comments contains affiliate links. All opinions are my own.

Filed Under: Tutorial Tagged With: Best of Beauty, Highlight & Contour

Comments

  1. Merry Pendleton says

    January 11, 2014 at 9:04 am

    Are you supposed to do this before foundation or after you apply foundation? I’ve tried both and it seems to disappear – and what is the best products??

    Reply
    • Casey says

      January 11, 2014 at 7:03 pm

      If you are using cream products to contour you should do it after foundation but before setting powder. If you’re choosing to use powders you should do it after foundation and setting powder. I linked a ton of my favorite products in the post – I’d consider those to be the best. Check them out!

      Reply
  2. Suzie says

    January 25, 2014 at 2:20 am

    Salutations
    Love the pictures, my question is what is the best way to combine the dark with the light.
    Circular action
    Dabbing it
    Brush or sponge?
    Thanks โ™ฅ

    Reply
    • Casey says

      January 25, 2014 at 10:31 pm

      It depends on what type of product you’re using! I like to use a brush and apply it to the areas where I’m contouring and then blend out the edges. You don’t want to blend too much because that will just distribute the color everywhere and that will defeat the purpose ๐Ÿ™‚ Instead focus on blending out the harsh lines while trying to keep the color contained to a certain area to get that shadowed effect.

      Reply
  3. Haley says

    March 5, 2014 at 9:51 pm

    I am OBSESSED with my Too Faced Milk Chocolate Soleil bronzer for contouring. It doesn’t give me an orange cast on my skin like a lot of bronzers do because I’m a little fair. Also if you haven’t tried the Watts Up?! cream highlighter from Benefit you should, it changed my life. Awesome post!

    Reply
    • Casey says

      March 5, 2014 at 9:57 pm

      Ooh I haven’t tried it but I totally need to!! Thanks for the suggestion!

      Reply
  4. levi says

    April 1, 2014 at 11:07 am

    Hi! I would like to be a drag queen in the near future and was wondering if this cheat sheet would work for drag as well? If not I would love to have some tips!!

    Reply
    • Casey says

      April 1, 2014 at 11:28 am

      Fun!! I think the general placement could totally work for your drag makeup ๐Ÿ™‚ If anything it will be a great stepping stone to help you figure out what works best for you.

      Reply
  5. Brittay McLean says

    April 28, 2014 at 11:03 am

    In the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder, what color do you recommend?

    Reply
    • Casey says

      April 28, 2014 at 11:19 am

      Ooh I love them all!! I really love luminous light for a cheekbone highlighter. It’s a gorgeous champagne color that looks good on everyone! I use Dim Light as an all over setting powder since it’s not shimmery and just gives a soft glow all over the face. And I also really like Ethereal Light as a highlighter since it’s slightly yellow based. You can’t go wrong!

      Hourglass also just re-released their Ambient Lighting Powder Palette which has a few different shades and is a great way to try them all.

      Reply
  6. Lizz says

    September 23, 2014 at 7:04 pm

    What advice do you have for someone who doesnt like to wear foundation? Should I just use powder products or will I not get the same effect?
    Also, what Bronner is best to use on fair skin? Any help will be greatly appreciated!

    Reply
    • Casey says

      September 24, 2014 at 1:27 pm

      You can definitely use powder products! What you use will have no effect on the outcome at all. If you want more of a natural finish and aren’t planning on wearing any other powder products I’d almost suggest maybe trying a cream bronzer since it will melt into your skin and give a natural finish that doesn’t look too artificial.

      I like Too Faced Milk Chocolate Soleil for a bronzer on light skin. It’s not orange in the slightest and is light enough to where it doesn’t look crazy ๐Ÿ™‚ It is a powder but it’s not too chalky or anything so you should be good to go! Sonia Kashuk also makes some great cream bronzers if you want to try that route.

      Reply
  7. Lyndsay says

    November 9, 2014 at 2:07 pm

    I am a contouring/highlighting newbie and would love to know what products to buy to get me started. I go to the store and look but end up overwhelmed and leave empty handed. What should I buy?! Lol

    Reply
    • Casey says

      November 12, 2014 at 8:33 pm

      Try the Smashbox Contour Kit!! You can buy it at Sephora and it’s absolutely perfect! It also has a really handy tutorial included in the compact so you’ve always got the directions right in front of you. I’ll have a review of it up soon but here’s the link just in case >> Smashbox Step-By-Step Contour Kit

      Reply
  8. SK says

    December 1, 2014 at 2:52 pm

    Thanks for the cheat sheet. It’s very helpful as I am a newbie. Interested in cream products. Started using Benefit’s Watts Up highlighter stick ( champagne ?) Hooked and looking for more shades in cream format in highlighter contour. Suggestions in cream helpful.

    Reply
    • Casey says

      December 1, 2014 at 10:33 pm

      I am IN LOVE with the It Cosmetics Hello Light cream highlighter. It’s stunning! I’ve got a review here >> ๐Ÿ™‚

      Reply
  9. Sana Nurani says

    April 1, 2015 at 8:49 pm

    Great photo tutorial! Do you have any recommendations on how to apply blush for different face shapes? I tend to use the same technique for all faces, but I am curious what other people are doing…

    Reply
    • Casey says

      April 10, 2015 at 4:32 pm

      You know, I don’t have a post on that but it’s a great idea! Definitely adding it to my list ๐Ÿ™‚

      Reply
  10. Dawn says

    April 3, 2015 at 9:05 am

    do you blend each color as you apply them? Ex. Contour 1st, then ….
    Thanx

    Reply
    • Casey says

      April 10, 2015 at 4:31 pm

      It depends on how you’re doing it and which products you’re using. If you’re doing a cream contour it helps to apply everything first and then blend it all together for a seamless finish. When I’m powder contouring (which I do about 99% of the time) I blend each individually. But you can do whatever works for you, there’s no right or wrong way ๐Ÿ™‚

      Reply
  11. Porselen says

    April 5, 2015 at 2:52 pm

    thank you very much

    Reply
  12. Charlene says

    May 3, 2015 at 5:30 am

    I have an off topic question. I have large pores on my face. I use a gel foundation, studio sculpt by Mac. I’m noticing that after I use powder,it looks like the powder tries to cake in my pores. Any suggestions for me?

    Thanks

    Reply
    • Casey says

      May 3, 2015 at 11:12 pm

      I’m not super familiar with that foundation so I can’t recommend anything on that end but are you using a primer underneath your foundation? Try one like Smashbox Photo Finish that helps to smooth out skin and minimize pores!

      Reply
  13. ashley says

    May 3, 2015 at 10:31 am

    i tried contouring and i just cant seem to get it. i always end up looking the same shade all around. maybe im not doing it right or not using the right stuff

    Reply
    • Casey says

      May 3, 2015 at 11:13 pm

      It’s definitely something that you need to practice! Make sure you’re placing the color exactly where you need it and are using a brush that isn’t too big. If you use a standard powder brush or blush brush you’ll disperse too much product on the face. I prefer a pointed face brush that allows me to put the powder exactly where I need it to go. Much easier!

      Reply
  14. Keri says

    July 25, 2016 at 12:00 am

    Hi! I have a contour stick by physicians formula.. it has a highlighter, a light goldish color, & a bronzer..its also cream. When i use it whats the best way to blend it without leaving the lines or it just putting a big shimmery brown blotch on my face?? Its a cream.

    Reply

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