Contouring Focus the complete makeup guide

A beauty secret of the stars (particularly that of the undisputed queen of Instagram and her host of followers and relatives), makeup addicts everywhere are using it more and more: we’re talking about contouring, now considered the "king" of makeup techniques. How does it work? Essentially, face contouring is the use of an optical effect known as the chiaroscuro effect to reshape the face and enhancing facial features. More specifically, it plays on contrasts between shaded areas (created by applying a bronzer or contour products) and highlighted areas (achieved by a highlighter), to create a perfect base for any type of makeup, from the simplest to the most attention-grabbing. Complicated? Of course contouring can’t be improvised, but with the right tools and a little practice you’re sure to get excellent results. Learn how to perfectly contour your face shape!

Well, well, you may have noticed that contouring is still definitely not going out of style just yet. Actually, if possible, it is becoming more and more appreciated and used by many! You probably have looked at many tutorials already and have also tried to reproduce the strokes to contour your own face, but the results were not quite the same. One of the reasons why this may happen is that you are not contouring your face according to its shape. While there are a few basic tips that work for everybody, contouring is not a one-size-fits-all practice. To make the most of your makeup application, you want to enhance your own unique features, understand what you want to accentuate and which part you want to minimise or even hide. Contouring allows you to highlight your bone structure, but, for the perfect result, you have to understand what type of shape you have. There are four main categories of face shape: round, oval, heart, and square. To understand which shape is your face, you can take a selfie of yourself with your hair pulled back to focus on forehead, cheekbone and jawline. But what is the whole point of contouring? The aim is to enhance features you like and minimise others by creating a natural look, that is, following your natural bone structure and blending well to avoid harsh edges. In this guide we want to focus on just one shape, the round one. Let us find out together how to contour round faces!

Contouring for a long face: the best tool to re-establish proportions On the other hand, if the shape of your face is an elongated oval, the chiaroscuro contouring effect can help you to optically shorten your face and to widen the central area, acting on the top and bottom of the face. Follow our step-by-step guide:

Prepare the skin by cleansing thoroughly, moisturising and applying a primer
Apply an even layer of foundation
Apply bronzer with a horizontal stroke to the lower chin and to the hairline
Highlight the area around the temples, the upper part of the cheekbones, the bridge of the nose, the area around the jaw and Cupid’s bow using a slightly lighter highlighter than your complexion, in powder or cream, as preferred.
Apply a touch of blush to give your cheeks colour

The right contouring tools Ready to try contouring? Study your face and try to reshape it with the chiaroscuro effect (not too heavy if you want to avoid an exaggerated and unnatural effect): the results will surprise you!

But which products should be used for this technique? It’s important that the bronzer used for the shaded areas id light and matte, fairly cold in colour and not orange, and obviously for it to match your complexion. Then choose a face highlighter. The essential tools are the brushes: for best results, choose medium sized brushes. KIKO offers you everything you need for state-of-the-art contouring, starting with a handy palette: choose the right colours for your skin and practice our tips!

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