Contouring is a makeup technique that has recently taken the beauty world by storm. It involves using a mixture of dark and light shades on certain areas of the face to flatter and accentuate your features. If you have a round face shape, contouring can help to slim down your cheeks and create a more angular silhouette.
Prepping Your Skin
Before you contour, you should cleanse and moisturize your skin as you usually would. Then begin applying your makeup.
- Use a primer all over your face, such as Smash Box Photo Finish Foundation Primer, as this will help control oil and keep your makeup in place all day long.
- Once your skin is primed, apply a high-quality foundation that will provide a flawless finish, like Studio Sculpt by M.A.C Cosmetics.
How to Contour a Round Face
The most important thing you need to remember when contouring your face is highlighting brings a feature forward, whereas applying a darker shade will push the feature back. Follow these steps to create a chiselled effect.
- Use concealer under your eyes to make them pop, like the Tarte Shape Tape Contour Concealer. Proceed to dot it on the high points of your face, such as the tip of the nose and in the center of the chin and forehead to brighten these areas.
- Once you've finished concealing, take a highlighter (such as YSL's Touche Eclat) and apply it right down the middle of your nose, in a V shape on your chin, in a Y shape on your forehead, and along the top of each cheekbone. You should also create two upside down triangle shapes under your eyes, fill this in with highlighter, and then proceed to blend the product using a blending sponge.
- The next step is to create angles that counter-balance the curves of your round face through contouring. Invest in a cream contour, like the Bobbi Brown Skin Foundation Stick, in a few shades darker than your actual skin tone. Almond is a popular shade choice for this specific product. Start applying this in dots at the ear and then curve the line downwards under your cheek bone until you reach your jawline. Follow the jawline back up towards where you started until you reach the ear. Repeat on the other side to lengthen your face.
- When it comes to your forehead, avoid contouring along the top as this will bring its shape down and only accentuate the roundness of your face even further. Instead, just contour the temples and the sides of your hairline. Proceed to blend these contour lines with a dome-shaped, fluffy brush.
- Afterwards, use your fingers to rub a tiny amount of your cream contour directly under your bottom lip, on either side of your nose, and around your nostrils to tone these areas down.
- An important next step for round face shapes is to highlight your cheeks in the area within your contour lines and along the top of each cheekbone. You can use the same highlighter as you used before and then blend it with an angular brush. This creates some great angles resulting in the sculpted look.
- Finally, set all your face using a translucent powder, like Charlotte Tilbury's Airbrush Flawless Finish Powder, for all-day staying power.
Finishing Off the Look
If you want to add further dimension to your contoured aesthetic, you can complete the following extra steps.
- Use bronzer on dark areas, such as the Nars Cosmetics Casino Bronzing Powder, to recede your contour lines and create a warm glow.
- Apply a touch of blusher, like Benefit's Dallas Box o' Powder, on the apples of your cheeks for a natural-looking flush.
Finding What Works
The curves of a round face can easily be angled through makeup contouring. The basic techniques are simple to implement once you know how. Experiment with different products to find the best shades for your particular skin tone. Then, you can create a sassy, sculpted look in no time.
