Seems, equally to portray, contouring is all about location—the place you place coloration is equally as essential as which coloration you’re really working with. Should you’re a gifted sufficient painter (or make-up artist) precisely the place to position sure shades to intensify shadows, angles, or sure options of an object, that are essential expertise for successfully shaping the face. However what for those who don’t dabble in a type of two careers and nonetheless need to discover ways to contour?
This was the dilemma I confronted final week as I sat in entrance of my mirror, un-contoured and three minutes away from being late for a pleasant dinner. Whereas I’d usually use a swipe or two of bronzer the place I believed it ought to go, I had by no means tried to totally snatch my face… And now wasn’t the time to begin. I wished to stage up my make-up for the evening, however I clearly didn’t have time to do a lot. I didn’t want my cheekbones to appear like they may minimize glass— I simply wished one thing foolproof and fast.
My salvation got here, because it typically does, within the type of a Tiktok. I appeared up ‘contour hack’ and in 13 seconds flat, make-up theorist Megan Lavallie bestowed upon me such nice contouring data that I wished to scream it from the rooftops. “There’s this one spot in your cheek that for those who poked a gap by it, it will contact your tooth. Should you softly mix it out [after adding contour], it can create probably the most soft-looking, excessive cheekbones for individuals who need to look good from the aspect and the entrance.” And so, with my remaining two and a half minutes, all I needed to do was discover the spot on my cheek the place I might really feel my tooth, add a single dot of contour, and mix flippantly. That was it!
I grabbed a contour brush and my contour-that-isn’t-contour, Glossier’s Cloud Paint in Nightfall, and started working. I utilized one dot on every cheek, and as Lavallie instructed, softly blended out. Instantly, my face gained extra dimension whereas nonetheless trying extremely pure. The outcome was seamless, type of like I someway managed to tan simply the hollows of my cheeks. Fancy dinner or not, I knew this trick had me in a chokehold from the second I noticed my newly sculpted face.
Lavallie’s tip—which has 7.5 million views, by the best way—modified the best way I take into consideration contouring. I noticed that for magnificence novices and lovers of No Make-up Make-up, contour doesn’t must be an intimidating occasion stuffed with a number of lotions, powders, and brushes. I used to suppose it was Kim Kardashian-style or bust, resulting in extra nightmares about attempting the ‘3’ form on my spherical face than I might care to confess. Seems, you possibly can nonetheless get a implausible look from a simplified methodology. As a substitute of doing traces or dots of product all around the face à la Instagram tutorials, the naked necessity of contouring is only a single dot! Not so intimidating now, is it?
However Hannah, I can hear you saying, I’m nonetheless scared I’m going to screw it up. Honest! Contour is simple to screw up if you don’t know what you’re doing. However I’ve religion that you simply do know what you’re doing since you’ve gotten this far within the article, and when (not if) you get contouring proper, you’ll completely elevate your look in only a few minutes. Apart from, this tip makes it nearly foolproof, no matter whether or not you’re utilizing a cream or powder contour. Would possibly as properly strive it! It’s not going to get any simpler than this.
All images taken by Elliot Duprey
