Highlight & Contouring

When you see pictures of highlight and contouring mapping, it's usually specific to one face shape but everyone's face shape is different so there are different ways to enhance the features depending on how you want to appear. The way to determine where to highlight and where to contour is basically simple. The areas of your face you want to appear smaller and more defined you need to contour and the areas you want to pop more and create an illusion of something there, you need to highlight.

First thing I did was applied Illamasqua's Hydra Veil onto my skin, this is a must have product if you have dry skin, you can use it as a moisturiser or a primer. I applied a small amount of the Illamasqua Skin Base foundation in shade 09 onto my face and the Skin Base Lift concealer in the shade Medium 1 under my eyes.

I used the LA Girl Cosmetics Pro HD Conceal in the shade 'Creamy Beige' as a highlighter. As this is an American brand you can't purchase this from any UK stores but it's available from the following website: http://beautybcosmetics.com/la-girl-usa-cosmetics-pro-concealer-correct-highlight-contour-longwear.html and they're so cheap, only £5. I applied the product onto my hand first as if you squeeze the product directly onto your skin, then you may get more on than you require. I drew a line starting from the corner of my inner eye area, going towards the corner of my mouth and then towards the end corner of my eye area, basically like a triangle shape. To give your eye a lift, take the highlight shade slightly higher from the under-eye area. To make them appear more open and wide apart, highlight around the tear duct area.

Then I applied the highlighter on the bridge of my nose and on the centre of my forehead. If you have a small forehead then highlight more on your forehead to make it appear long, if you have a large forehead then highlight less on the centre and do more contouring around your hairline. If there's any other features you want to pop out, highlight those areas, hence I applied a small amount on my chin, my cupids bow and the corner of my mouth. I used the Morphe brush M436 to stipple the concealer onto my skin. This method is best when you're applying one product over another for a soft finish. For the smaller areas, I used the Sigma F65 brush to push in the concealer onto my skin.

To get those chiselled cheekbones, I used the shade in 'Beautiful Bronze' from LA Girl Cosmetics Pro HD Conceal. I started from where the top of my ear is and drew a diagonal line and faded it into the corner of my mouth. An easy way to find the exact position of where to apply is to squeeze your cheeks in (the famous fish face).

Then I applied a small amount on the temples to create a '3D' effect and along the hairline. As I mentioned earlier, depending on the size of your forehead, you can bring this line more onto your forehead, if you have a large forehead.

To create a defined jaw line, I drew a line beginning from where my ear lobe is and followed it to near the chin area. If you have a double chin then contour just under the chin area. If you have a large chin then you need to contour that area and vice versa.

To create an illusion of a straight nose, draw two lines on the side of your nose and connect it at the tip. I added an extra line to add a visual break so that the nose appears smaller than it is. If you have a small nose do not add the extra line. If you have a wide nose then shade more on the sides of your nose for it to appear more slim. If you have a crooked nose then you just ignore the side it bends towards and just draw two straight lines to create the illusion of the nose being straight.

To pout the lips, I drew a small line just under the lip area so that they appear more fuller and on the cupids bow. You can add highlight after applying lipstick to make them look even more bigger.

After blending, you need to set those areas with powder. I used 3 different setting products. The Light shade from MAC Studio Careblend was used to set the highlighted zones, the Betty-Lou Manizer from The Balm for the contoured zones and the MAC Loose Powder in the shade NC20 for the in between zones where I didn't apply any of the concealers.

Then I used the Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Kit as my final step. I used the shade 'Banana' over the highlighted areas, and the shade 'Fawn' over the contoured areas. For an everyday look, you can skip the cream products and go straight to using the highlight and contour kit. The blushers I applied are from MAC in the shade 'Fleur Power' using the MAC 163 brush and Benefits Rockateur blusher on the apple of my cheeks.

Finally I applied the 'Mary-Lou Manizer' as a shimmer in the areas which I wanted to glow. Ensure that you don't use a cream highlighter/shimmer product over powder as it will make it look muddy. Also if you have oily skin then skip the shimmer. You can view the video tutorial on my YouTube channel, here is the direct link for the tutorial: http://youtu.be/tSeWF_wG_XA

Additional products I used:

EYES: 

Smashbox FAQ's Eye Shadow Palette: 'Cream' shade for brow bone

Urban Decay, Naked 2 Palette: 'Tease' for socket, 'Busted' for outer 'V' and 'YDK' for centre of lid

MUA Trio Eye-shadow, Innocence: 'Highlighter' shade for inner corner of eye.

LA Girl Fine Line, fine tip liquid eyeliner

Illamasqua eye pencil, SOPHIE: for inside the water line and outer corner of eye area

Tarte Cosmetics: Lights, Camera, Lashes mascara

i-Envy by Kiss lashes: KPE11

EYEBROWS: 

Anastasia Beverly Hills Dip Pomade: 'Chocolate' shade

LIPS:

Illamasqua lip crayon: 'Fantasy'

Illamasqua, lipstick: 'Obey'

If you have any questions, feel free to comment below!