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Contouring 101
Contouring promises to ‘reshape’ as well as define your facial features. want your cheekbones to look more prominent, your forehead to look less square, or your round face to seem longer? Some beauty experts will tell you that facial contouring is your answer.
Contouring works its magic by using darker shapes of make-up to highlight or de-demphasize your features. Typically, if you are contouring, you are likewise highlighting, or using lighter make-up to mimic an “under the lights” look on the top of your nose, chin as well as above your cheekbones.
Have you heard of painted-on abs? Well, facial contouring is like that, however for your face.
The promise of Contouring after 40
The concept of chiseled, refined facial features is compelling, especially for the older women. After all, we 40-somethings (and up) are coping with the natural loss of facial meaning that happens with age. We are presented with many solutions for aging — from surgical treatment to serums — however contouring is one of few that’s both instant as well as temporary.
Contouring Gone Wrong
Even so, facial contouring is controversial. Bobbi brown says no to contouring at any type of age, as well as she makes two solid points. For one, most of us aren’t as skilled in makeup application as the professionals. So chances are, our contouring efforts aren’t going to come off that great.
Even celebrities, who have their own glam teams, can experience big contouring fails. just take a look at StyleBlazer’s hilarious collection of contouring mishaps.
Brown’s second anti-contouring point is even more compelling: There’s nothing wrong with the shape of your face, so why try to modification it with make-up? heavy stuff, I know. I mean, who decided that prominent cheekbones are the basic of beauty anyway?
My Contouring Experiment
I’ve never tried contouring, mainly since I’ve been indifferent about it. I don’t *love* for the look of contouring. The other-wordly glow as well as sunken cheeks are perhaps stunning under the right lights, however outside, in the sunshine? Not my thing.
I’m likewise quite low-maintenance about beauty. If it takes as well long, requires as well many tools or any type of specialized skills, I’m just not doing it.
For the benefit of experience, though, I decided to provide contouring a try. reality is, I discovered an Ellen Tracy contouring kit at TJMaxx for $3.99. The kit included five shades of makeup, plus brushes as well as even instructions on what to do. perfect for a first-timer experiment!
The Process
I applied the light contour to my forehead, near the temples. I followed that up with the medium tone (second from the top in the tray above) underneath my cheekbones. The dark color went to the sides of my jaw as well as the sides of my nose. Then, came highlighter, which I applied to the top of my nose, the middle of my chin, underneath my eyebrow arches as well as above my cheekbones.
The tray looks a little roughed up, which sometimes happens when you buy things at TJMaxx. however it was still at offer at $3.99.
Lastly, there was a great deal of blending involved. I blended up until I didn’t have stripes as well as circles on my face anymore.
The Result
Can you see the difference?
Budget Fashionista with as well as without contouring.
It’s subtle, for sure. If you look for it, you can see the line of highlighter I applied down the center of my nose, as well as the shading beneath the cheekbones. Besides that, the biggest difference is my expression — I look decidedly uncomfortable in the second photo! perhaps the expectations of facial perfection got to me.
My take? I’m still indifferent. To me, I’d rather just apply some blush as well as call it a day.
If You try Contouring
If you do want to provide contouring a try, right here are some tips to set you up for success:
Look for a low-cost kit with whatever included. It doesn’t have to be high-quality make-up. utilize it to experiment with different contouring patterns as well as get a feel for exactly how much color is needed for the desired effect.
Don’t buy a fancy blending sponge. The generic foam cosmetic sponges from Target will work up until you choose you’ll make a way of life out of contouring.
Avoid products that are glittery. The shimmer look mainly doesn’t work on older women.
Walk outside with a mirror as well as check your makeup in the sun.
Ask an honest buddy for feedback. It’s easier to see poor make-up on somebody else than on ourselves.
Once you have the contouring application down, then upgrade to much better applicators as well as products.
I’m interested to hear from our over-40 readers: what’s your take on contouring?
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