Contouring - 7 Steps for Beginners & Full Face

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Contouring is something that I can not live without makeup, even if I only cover a few pimples on my face, I immediately want to add a little contouring to feel "whole" haha. Now I was going to show you a contouring guide today. A tutorial for beginners and for the whole face with clear step by step descriptions! :)

And by contouring, I do not mean as it has looked in the US in recent years, where you first have lots of streaks all over your face and then become a completely different person after blending everything.

I prefer to do contouring with a powder palette and soft brushes for a slightly more natural result that emphasizes the facial features and removes the flat feeling in the face that you get if you have a full-coverage base throughout the face. And this is now called "non-touring" in the US haha. Non-touring is simply a cross between contouring (sculpting the face a lot) and strobing (highlighter only). Quite simply, what I have called contouring all along.

All these new fancy pancy words then… :)

You will find several different contouring products and palettes e.g. HERE (link)

Here's how I do contouring:

makeup makeup palette

Here you see a contouring trio palette (link). These are often available in different shades, one a little lighter and one a little darker. I who have quite light skin still use it darker because I like when there is a lot of effect.

contouring step by step

A quick overview before you read on and see my contouring tutorial:

Brighten up the high parts of the face that you want to "pop". Darken the deep parts of the face that you want to deepen even more.

You can vary what you want to lighten up and darken down, everyone may not want more protruding nostrils or sharp cheekbones, you do exactly what you want :)

contouring beginners

All shadows in the contouring palette are matte, but the light highlighter contains tiny, tiny luster (not so much as glow-highlighters) which makes it very natural on the skin as it does not give a "powder matte" surface as many matte highlighters can do .

Make highlighter step by step:

highligter-tutorial contouring

  1. Light up under the eyes and down towards the nostrils. Conjures away darkness and cheers up. Many people who want to conjure away darkness under the eyes but do not really need a covering concealer can manage with only highlighter and can skip concealer completely.
  2. Light up under the brow and in the middle of the eyelid (skip the crease line). Makes the eyes brighter.
  3. Light up in the middle of the forehead…
  4. … And down along the bridge of the nose.
  5. Lighten up the cupid's bow, or as I usually do, lighten up the two "stripes" below between the nose and the lip, so the lips look fuller.
  6. And in the middle of the chin, the chin looks more pointed.

contouring children

7. Then I take a larger brush and lighten it up in the middle of the cheekbone to make them look sharper.

I have used Nanshy Blush Brush here, available to buy separately when we launch the new webshop on November 25, until further notice it is in the Nanshy Masterful Collection.

Contouring step by step:

contouring step by step tutorial

  1. Darken down with an oblique brush under the cheekbone with the long side lying
  2. Turn the brush and fade out with the wide side.
  3. Darken down the temple and along the hairline
  4. Darken the sides of the chin
  5. Darken down under the jawbones (you can do on the jawbones too, then you get a rounder face, I like when the jawbones are more defined)
  6. Darken the sides of the nose, darken further in if you want the nose to look narrower.
  7. Darken down along the globe line also if you do not want eye shadows.

Contouring before and after:

contouring before and after

contouring before and after

Big difference but still natural!

put make up on

The brushes are from Nanshy Masterful Collection and Nanshy Blending Brush. As soon as we open the new webshop on November 25, all brushes are available to buy individually.

Do you like the lipstick in the picture as well can be found here (link), do not remember exact brand & shade.

Shout out if you have questions about contouring or something else! ♥

Also read:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2 COMMENTS

  1. Very nice! Love natural contouring !! And quite easy when you practice a little! So I will practice more according to this post to get even better. Have a nice weekend and hugs!

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