Double Duty: contour

When I am really trying to put together a face for the camera, I am not just looking at what colors or shades are best on a client, I am also looking at where to put them. Taking facial structure into account is CRUCIAL in makeup application. As someone who someday dreams of having cheekbones, therefore, I am a big fan of contouring.

Anyone who has read one of Kevyn Aucoin's books (or seen J. Lo's face) is already a little familiar with how using darker or brighter shades on the face can highlight or recede certain shapes. But not everyone has 45 different foundations or the time to apply them. Nor does contour need to be drag-queen-y or only look right in a photo, head on, with proper lighting.

This being said, no one wants to take a highlighter and sharpie to their face to create/enhance/deflect certain shapes. In my career I have always been on the prowl to find the ideal contouring shades. Bronzers are great to finish a face but often they have too much orange, red, brown, or shimmer to act as a proper contour. My fave unisex (that's right fellas, we know you want a little square jaw action) shade is WEDGE, by MAC. A neutral taupe, its great for fair to medium skin tones because it isn't too brown and it isn't too gray. Use a tapered brush to create a subtle crease in your lid or an angled blush brush at the base of your jaw to give the illusion of shadow there. It can even be used to shade the tip or bridge of a nose.

Some products that give good cheekbone (my dream!) are NARS NINOTCHKA and ZEN and BENEFIT HOOLA. All three have a quality that seems like a deeper level of real skin tone. And all of them are flat - meaning no shimmer. Ninotchka for the fairer, Zen more medium, and Hoola for a deeper or olive complexion. (If you have a deeper complexion that that, using highlighter, rather than a dark contour is a better bet. More on this later) Just use that same angled blush brush (Chanel makes a beauty) and sweep down your cheeks UNDER the area you would place your blush and blend down and out. Stop before you hit the apples of your cheeks.

Well, isn't your face shapely!