How to Contour & Highlight for Your Face Shape Like a Pro
Introduction
Contouring and highlighting can elevate your makeup game, but to achieve a professional look, it’s essential to customize these techniques for your unique face shape. Whether you’re seeking a chiseled jawline or radiant glow, mastering contour and highlight techniques tailored to your features can make all the difference. Here, Team Mirabella guides you through pro tips for contouring and highlighting different face shapes for a flawless finish.
1. What is Contouring?
Define Your Features with Precision
Contouring is a technique used to create shadows and enhance your natural bone structure. Here’s how you can use contouring to define your features:
- Purpose: Contouring adds dimension to your face, helping to define cheekbones, slim the nose, and create a more sculpted jawline.
- Technique: Apply a contour product (a shade darker than your skin tone) to the areas where you want to create shadows. This typically includes the sides of your nose, beneath your cheekbones, and along your jawline. Blend thoroughly to avoid harsh lines.
- Tools: Use a contour brush or sponge for precise application and blending.
2. What is Highlighting?
Achieve a Luminous, Glowing Finish
Highlighting is the art of accentuating the high points of your face to create a radiant glow. Here’s how to highlight effectively:
- Purpose: Highlighting emphasizes the high points of your face, such as the cheekbones, brow bones, and the bridge of the nose, giving you a dewy, youthful appearance.
- Technique: Apply a highlighter to areas that naturally catch the light. Choose a highlighter formula that complements your skin tone and blend it seamlessly for a glowing finish.
- Tools: A fan brush or highlighter brush is ideal for applying and blending highlighter.
Contouring & Highlighting for Different Face Shapes
ROUND FACE
Characteristics: Full cheeks, equally wide and long, jaw and chin are rounded and lack angles.
Contouring/highlighting goal: Slenderize the sides of the face and jawline to create the illusion of length and add a more angular appearance to face while drawing eye inward to distract from a full face.
Sweep contouring shade onto temples and under cheekbones back toward the ears, down the sides of the face next to the ears, along jawline, and under chin. Contouring right at the hairline can also be used for balance if needed. Highlight the browbones, center of the nose and tops of cheekbones, avoiding highlighting the temples, which will help draw the eye to the center of the face taking emphasis off the width and fullness of the face.
OBLONG/RECTANGULAR FACE
Characteristics: Face is approximately 1.5 times long as it is wide, forehead, cheeks and jaw are all the same width, jawline can be rounded or angled.
Contouring/highlighting goal: Take emphasis away from a long chin or tall forehead, shortening the appearance of the face and softening angles of the jawline if needed while enhancing the width of the face when possible.
Apply contouring shade to hairline, around sides of forehead toward temples, to the point of and under chin, and onto jawline. Highlight cheekbones, bridge of nose, and temples to draw eye horizontally across the face creating the illusion of width and taking emphasis away from facial length.
SQUARE FACE
Characteristics: Equally wide and long, sides of the face are straight, width of jawline and hairline are equal.
Contouring/highlighting goal: Diminish the appearance of corners/defined angles around the forehead and jawline, softening facial structure and guiding eye inward toward center of face.
Sweep contour shade onto the far right and far left parts of the hairline and jawline to soften the angles of the face, and under the cheekbones to help give the face lift. Highlight the center of the forehead, top of cheekbones, and center of chin for balance and to bring focus away from corners of face.
OVAL FACE
Characteristics: Rounded jawline, chin, and forehead, width is approximately 3/4 its length, often described as a soft, upside down egg shape
Contouring/highlighting goal: Create dimension on the face by gently accentuating features, altering overall facial structure may not be needed.
Apply contouring shade under the cheekbones to give the face a lift and add dimension. Can also contour forehead at hairline and under chin if desired. Highlighting options include browbones, cheekbones, and down center of nose.
HEART/INVERTED TRIANGLE FACE
Characteristics: Forehead and cheekbones may be the same width, jawline is soft and angled ending in pointed chin, can have a widow's peak or not
Contouring/highlighting goal: Minimize wide forehead and cheekbones to bring them more in line with the jaw, softening the point of the chin only if very prominent, creating balanced facial structure.
Use contouring color to shade around the top and sides of the forehead, sweeping down to temples and under cheekbones, as well as under and onto point of chin to soften if prominent. Apply highlighting color to the center of the forehead, down center on nose, and top of chin under lower lip to bring focus to center of face. Can also highlight jawline to help create balance with wide forehead.
PEAR/TRIANGLE FACE
Characteristics: Narrow forehead and wide jawline, jawline can be rounded or angled.
Contouring/highlighting goal: Balance a narrow forehead and wide jaw, lessening the width difference between the two features while emphasizing cheekbones to create a lifted look.
Concentrating contouring to the jawline, particularly the corners and below the ears will help balance the smaller forehead of this face shape. Applying contour color under cheekbones will help lift the cheeks and take focus off the wide jawline. Highlighting the temples and forehead will create the illusion of width, bringing it in balance with the jawline. Highlighting the chin and nose help draw the eye toward the center of the face.
DIAMOND-SHAPED FACE
Characteristics: Narrow and tapered forehead and jawline, widest part of face is at temples or cheekbones
Contouring/highlighting goal: Reduce high points of forehead and point of chin to create balance and minimize width through cheekbones, creating more curvature within the face and drawing eye inward toward center of face.
Sweep contouring shade along top of forehead at hairline, under cheekbones and back slightly onto temples, and under and onto the point of the chin to diminish angles of the face. Use highlighter to draw attention to the center of the face by applying to center of forehead, down center of nose, and inner cheeks.
Blend Seamlessly
Blending is crucial for a flawless finish. Use a damp sponge or blending brush to ensure there are no harsh lines and that the contour and highlight blend seamlessly with your foundation.
Experiment and Adjust
Everyone’s face shape is unique. Don’t be afraid to experiment with different techniques and products to find what works best for you. Practice regularly to perfect your contouring and highlighting skills.
Conclusion
Contouring and highlighting can transform your look when done correctly. By understanding your face shape and using the right techniques and products, you can achieve a professional, polished appearance. Explore Mirabella's range of contouring and highlighting products to enhance your beauty routine and achieve a flawless finish every time.
Discover Mirabella’s collection of high-quality contouring and highlighting products and take your makeup skills to the next level. Embrace these techniques and enjoy a perfectly sculpted and glowing complexion!
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