Makeup 101: Blush, Bronzer & Highlighter

Contouring the face can be as simple as adding some color or as complicated as faking plastic surgery. Here are some simple contouring techniques.

Contouring is the process of controlling the lighting on your face. By manipulating the highlights and shadows you can change your face shape and add depth for photography. The first step is locating these areas on your face.

Image from blog.birchbox.com

In the diagram above the different areas are marked using the type of coloring you would use in that area, for example the shadow areas are marked with brown for bronzer, the highlight areas are marked with white for highlighter, and the cheekbones are marked with pink for blush. The circles represent other areas to highlight but I will come back and explain that in a moment.  This is a simple diagram for contouring but you could go full-on Kim Kardashian style if you want to.

• Brown = Bronzer
• White & Circles = Highlighter
• Pink = Blush

Find the High and Low points of your face

To find these areas on your face walk outside into a sunny area with a mirror and look at your face. Notice where the light hits your face because that is where you want to concentrate your highlighter and the shadows are where you want to concentrate your bronzer. Typically these areas correspond to the diagram above but may be at different angles because everyone is different and it is important to know your own face shape. Some people have more prominent cheekbones so the planes of their face will look more angular while others have soft round faces with little definition.  Find the low points of your cheeks by sucking in your cheeks making a fish face.  The sunken in part is the low point of your cheek.  You want to apply bronzer there and to your jawline to give your cheeks more definition.  Highlighter goes on the very top of your cheekbones making your cheeks appear higher which makes you look more youthful and awake.  By finding the highlights and shadows of your face you will know where to concentrate the colors for more or less definition.

Locate your cheekbones

Next you want to locate your cheekbones. Take your fingers and feel for the hard bones under your eyes; These are your cheekbones.  Smile to locate the apples of your cheeks.  The fatty part of your cheeks that lift up to make a rounded area next to your nose are the apples of your cheeks.  You want to apply blush over the lower part of the cheek bones but not on the apples of the cheeks.  It used to be said that to apply blush you would smile and apply it on the apples of your cheeks;  Well, when you stop smiling your face drops and so does the area where you applied your blush dragging your face down.  The apples of the cheeks is also an area where large pores tend to be and applying color attracts the eye to that area which is not what we want people to be focusing on.  It is best not to apply color past the midpoint of the eye.  If you look at the diagram above and draw an imaginary line down from her pupils, that is the midpoint and you don't want to go past that point because then you would be applying color on the apples of the cheeks.

Know your products

Bronzer

The best type of bronzer for contouring is a matte powder that is one to two shades darker than your skin tone.  Bronzer enhances the low points of the face by darkening them making them appear farther away from the eye creating a deepening effect.

Highlighter

There are all kinds of highlighters that come in many different colors dependent on your needs.  Highlighter enhances the high points of the face by lightening them making them appear closer to the eye and more noticeable.

So, you would use bronzer to slim down parts of your face and you would use highlighter to make other areas wider or longer.  One of my favorite drugstore blush and bronzer duo is the e.l.f. Contouring Blush & Bronzing Powder duo in St. Lucia which is a dupe for the NARS blush and bronzer duo in Orgasm & Laguna.

Blush

There are all kinds of blushes in every color imaginable dependent on your needs.  Blush adds life into your face making you appear healthy because when we exercise blood rushes to the face giving us that coveted glow which many of us who do not exercise on the regular try to mimic with contouring.  Also, as we get older our skin tone becomes more dull and blush helps us look more youthful.  One of my favorite drugstore blushes is the NYX Cream Blush in Natural;  It gives a nice healthy flush.

Application

Using all of this information it is time to apply.  

Step One: apply your bronzer using an angled powder brush which is made for contouring on the areas in the diagram above marked for bronzer (except for the nose, I will explain that in a minute.)  Apply it all the way up to the hair line.

Step Two: Next apply your blush using the same brush or a stippling brush.  Stippling brushes have duo fibers for easy blending and are good for both powder and cream blushes.  My favorite stippling brush is the Real Techniques Stippling Brush.  You can also apply cream blush with your fingers, but that can stain so I like to use a beauty sponge instead.  The SOHO Beauty Sponge is a good drugstore dupe for the Beauty Blender.  Hold the sponge under running water then squeeze out the excess moisture.  Make sure it is just damp and not sopping wet.  Tap it into your cream blush and then bounce it along your cheekbones to apply.  This will only work with non-water resistant blushes.  Apply it all the way up to the hair line.  A trick to make blush last longer is to apply a cream blush over a powder blush but don't use the beauty sponge for this or you will remove your powder.

Step Three: use your powder brush or stippling brush to blend the blush and bronzer together in a circular motion so that you don't end up with 80s streaks across your face.

Step Four: apply highlighter on the tops of your cheekbones to the outer corners of the eye area in a c shape.  If you are using a liquid highlighter make three or four dots over this area and blend into skin with your fingers.  If you are using a powder or cream highlighter take either a fan brush or use your fingers to lightly apply and blend.

Step Five:  If you feel that you want to make your nose appear more slender or shorter, longer, etc. you can contour it using bronzer or a brown eyeshadow along the sides of the nose as shown in the diagram with an eyeshadow brush.  Use a light hand and layer because you don't want to look like you have a dirty nose just more slender.  Highlight down the center of the nose where you want peoples eyes to hit.  You can also apply the bronzer just under the tip of nose to make it look more slender and less bulbous.

Extra definition

In the diagram are circles that represent other areas of the face that you can highlight.  For these areas I like to use a concealer with built in highlighter such as Maybelline Dream Lumi Touch Concealer.

Browbone:  highlighting this area will open up the eye area making your eyes appear larger.  However, if you have hooded eyes you will want to avoid this because it will only make things worse.  I will talk about this more in the eye contouring post.

Nose:  I'm not sure why they have the apples of the cheeks circled because this is not an area you want to highlight so we will fudge it and say it is the nose area.  If you have redness around your nose you can use a highlighting concealer to neutralize the area.  You can also use a foundation formulated for those with Rosacea and apply it to your nose area.

Lips: To make your lips appear more full apply highlighter to the bow area and just underneath the center.