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.”
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 🙂
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 🙂
This post and its comments contains affiliate links. All opinions are my own.
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??
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!
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 ♥
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 🙂 Instead focus on blending out the harsh lines while trying to keep the color contained to a certain area to get that shadowed effect.
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!
Ooh I haven’t tried it but I totally need to!! Thanks for the suggestion!
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!!
Fun!! I think the general placement could totally work for your drag makeup 🙂 If anything it will be a great stepping stone to help you figure out what works best for you.
In the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder, what color do you recommend?
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.
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!
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 🙂 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.
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
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
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.
I am IN LOVE with the It Cosmetics Hello Light cream highlighter. It’s stunning! I’ve got a review here >> 🙂
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…
You know, I don’t have a post on that but it’s a great idea! Definitely adding it to my list 🙂
do you blend each color as you apply them? Ex. Contour 1st, then ….
Thanx
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 🙂
thank you very much
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
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!
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
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!
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.