GIGILAMODE: Redefining your Face - Contours and Highlights

The art of Highlighting and Contouring: Jennifer Lopez

Hey beauties, happy midweek. Here's a lil makeup trick, that may come in handy for your weekend ;).

As you know, celebrities are markers in setting "standards" and they also keep us abreast of trends apart from what is being translated by the runways.

But...have you ever wondered how do they remain so flawless? The trick is all in the wrist of their makeup artist (for some), and one of them is called Contouring and Highlighting. With this method you could bring out your best features and minimize your not-so-best ones. This is one of the oldest technique in makeup, and with much practice you can easily use your makeup to reshape your face while subtly hiding flaws. The key with this trick is being able to not look overdone; as this technique is very advanced, you have to handle with care. Each face shape has it own instructions for reshaping, so understanding the plane of your face is also very important, as this will enable you how to apply the technique - dark shading recedes (contour), light shading makes facial features more prominent (highlight) .

What facial sculpting does:

Slim down a nose.
Define cheekbones
Make lips appear fuller/smaller
Lift sagging eyes
Minimize receding hairline and can also make forehead appear smaller
Thin down neck/double chin .

You will need the following:

Your foundation (shade that matches your skin exactly)
Highlighting colour (a shade that is 1 to 2 shades lighter than your foundation with the same undertone)
Contouring colour (a shade that is 2 shades darker than your foundation with the same undertone)
Large - medium round makeup brush

Now imagine your face as a blank canvas and then determine what shape is your face, by simply touching your face and feeling the structure.

Guidelines:

Everything with a shimmer in it will make the area pop out so always contour with a matte finish powder/cream.
Whether you use cream or powder, always start with the creams first.

Below I have added some visual representations and added imagery as to guide you.

Oval shaped faces are deemed symmetrical and are considered the perfect face length so you need not contour. Persons with oval faces can experiment alot, as this shape can support most makeup trends and even hairstyles.


Rihanna: Oval shaped face

Characteristics:

Hairline to eyebrows are equal in distance and also from eyebrows to tip of nose and from nose to chin.
The forehead and the jaw are the same width.
High/Prominent cheekbones.

Techniques for the oval face

Diamond shaped faces: The goal is to balance forehead and jaw line, so they appear wider.

Nicole Ritchie: Diamond shaped face

Characteristics:

Forehead and cheekbones are narrow.
Wide jawline.

Techniques for the diamond shaped face

Tip: Your cheekbones are your best asset, so be sure to make them pop.

Rectangle/Square shaped faces: The goal is to soften and angle forehead and make jaw line narrower.

Demi Moore: Rectangle/Square shaped face

Characteristics:

Prominent Jawline
Width of jaw line, cheeks and forehead are similar
Angular features, slightly masculine in overall appearance

Techniques for the rectangular shaped face

Heart shaped faces: The aim is to balance the face, by making the forehead appear more narrow and the lower half of the face wider. Marilyn Monroe also had this shape face.

Beyonce: Heart shaped face

Characteristics:

Cheeks tapers down to chin, then narrows down to a sometimes pointed chin.
Jawlines are not prominent.
Widest area is across the forehead.

Techniques for the heart shaped face

Oblong shaped faces: A long shaped should never be highlighted too much, as this will make the face appear longer. Concentrate on contouring across the lower section of your chin to shorten your face length. In essence, face length must appear shorter and the lower half of the face wider.