What is contouring? Learn everything you need to know about contouring and discover how to contour like a makeup artist with my easy sculpting tips and tricks.
8 minute read
Darlings, contouring is a beauty trick that can transform the look of your face! Knowing how to contour with makeup gives you the tools to shape, sculpt, and chisel the look of your facial features.
What is contouring? Whether you want to make your cheekbones appear lifted; your nose to appear slimmer; or your jawline to look more snatched, you can use contour makeup to alter and define the appearance of your face shape.
In this guide, discover how to contour with my legendary Hollywood Contour Wands and learn how to get the sculpted contour look of the stars!
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In makeup, contouring is all about light and shade. Makeup artists have been contouring for decades, using makeup to create the appearance of natural-looking shadows on areas of the face such as around the forehead, on the hollows of the cheeks, and along the sides of the nose and jaw. Contour works in the opposite way to highlight; while highlighter brings features forwards and makes them pop, contouring helps features to appear pulled backwards to create a lifting and sculpting effect. The goal with contouring is to enhance the look of your bone structure to make your face appear more chiselled and sculpted. Creating carefully placed, cool-toned shadows forms an optical illusion with makeup where features can appear reshaped and resized. When you know how to contour like a makeup artist, darling, you can cheat the appearance of Hollywood bone structure!
Contouring doesn’t have to be difficult, darlings! One of the most common questions I get from beauties in my makeup chair is how do I contour? They often worry about overdoing it, looking ashy, or not knowing the correct placement to get the sculpting effect they are looking for. I created my legendary Hollywood Contour Wands as an easy liquid contour that blends like a dream and looks so natural – there are 7 SCULPTING SHADES to choose from, making contouring easy for everyone! Discover how to contour with my Hollywood Contour Wands and create sculpted-looking Hollywood makeup in seconds!
Tilbury Tip: Every face is different, darlings! When contouring, always think about your own beautiful, unique features and the makeup placements that will make them pop! Discover my guide on how to contour every face shape and learn the most flattering contouring tips for your face!
To contour your cheekbones, take your perfect shade of Hollywood Contour Wand and swipe along the hollows of your cheeks towards your hairline. To reveal the hollow of your cheek, suck in your cheeks and notice the natural indent. You only need a small amount of product to chisel the look of your cheeks; use a light hand and swipe along the underside of the cheekbone, angling towards the top of your ear for a lifting effect. When you are ready to blend, take the larger, flat end of my Hollywood Complexion Brush and blend your contour with upward motions; this will help to enhance the subtle lift effect you have created with your contour.
Tilbury Tip: Dragging your contour downwards will alter its placement and disrupt the illusion. Aim to keep your contour situated on your cheekbone and if any migrates underneath, use a light shade of concealer underneath your contour for a carving effect that reestablishes your contour.
Your nose is the central point of your face, so perfecting your nose contour can be particularly transformative for your look. For the perfect nose contour, create two vertical lines down either side of the bridge of your nose, then apply underneath the tip of your nose for a shading effect. This will help your nose to appear shorter, slimmer, and more sculpted. You will want your nose contour to look undetectable, so be sure to blend well using the small, tapered end of my Hollywood Complexion Brush to remove any harsh lines.
Tilbury Tip: Adding highlighter to the tip of your nose is one of my favourite glow tricks! A small dot of my Beauty Light Wand or Hollywood Glow Glide Face Architect Highlighter can instantly lift the look of your nose.
Sometimes referred to as the beige rainbow, contouring your forehead builds depth and dimension in your makeup and helps to sculpt the look of your face shape. To contour your forehead, dot your Hollywood Contour Wand onto your temples and close to your hairline, then use the larger end of my Hollywood Complexion Brush to buff it into your skin and blend it seamlessly with your foundation. This will help to shorten the appearance of a larger forehead as well as sculpting the look of your face shape.
Tilbury Tip: To emphasise the lift effect you have created with contour, try meeting the edge of your contour on your temples with the outer corner of your eyeshadow to create even greater dimension.
You can sculpt the look of your jawline with contour; just swipe your Hollywood Contour Wand along your jaw to create a natural-looking shadow. Shading your jawline will create the illusion of a sharper, more angular jaw, helping to recede the appearance of a double chin and making your bone structure appear stronger and more sculpted. To get a seamless blend with your jaw contour, use the larger end of my Hollywood Complexion Brush to buff into your jawline.
Tilbury Tip: When contouring your jaw, I recommend applying foundation onto your neck to avoid any harsh gradient from your contour shade into your blank skin tone.
Did you know that you can apply the same logic to contouring your eye shape? Taking your Hollywood Contour Wand and applying it in the same way you would apply a cream eyeshadow can help to create the appearance of a deeper, more sculpted-looking socket. Dot my contour wand onto the crease of your eyelid, then use the smaller end of my Hollywood Complexion Brush to diffuse your liquid contour with back-and-forth motions. This beauty trick allows your eye shape to look more defined and sets beautiful groundwork for your eyeshadow application.
Tilbury Tip: After applying Hollywood Contour Wands to the crease of your eye, set it into place using the neutral shades in my Super Nudes Easy Eye Palette.
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Contouring generally comes after foundation, allowing you to perfect the look of your complexion with foundation and concealer before sculpting and chiselling with cream contour. However, some makeup artists prefer to contour before foundation to enhance the look of bone structure and set the framework for their makeup look – this technique is known as underpainting. For makeup beginners, I would suggest contouring after foundation then cleaning up any makeup mistakes with concealer. The choice is yours, darlings!
Discover the correct order of makeup steps
Yes – Contouring reached a fever pitch in the 2010s, taking over social media and becoming a driving force in makeup virality! Images of makeup lovers with lines and dots over their faces circulated far and wide, and everyone was talking about the new makeup technique on the scene. The truth is though, darlings, contouring has been a part of makeup artistry for decades! It continues to be a timeless trick for sculpting and shaping the look of every face from red carpets to fashion editorials. While the contouring craze of the 2010s has taken a backseat in the 2020s, contouring continues to be a key aspect of makeup artistry and always has a time and place.
Brontouring is a makeup technique where bronzer is applied in the same areas you would apply a classic contour. There is a difference between bronzer and contour, darlings, but bronzer can be used as a substitute when a look doesn’t call for the transformative effects of contouring. The purpose of contouring is to sculpt the look of your face, whereas bronzer is designed to add warmth; some people gravitate towards bronzer instead of contour because of the lifting, sunshine that it has. The finish of a bronzer is brighter than a contour and creates a less convincing shadow effect, however, this can be preferable for those that want a softer makeup look and are looking to add a little more dimension by brontouring.
Learn more about the differences between bronzer and contour
Sculpt and bronze in one step by applying bronzer in the same manner you would contour. Choose your perfect shade of Beautiful Skin Sun-Kissed Glow Bronzer or AIRbrush Bronzer, then apply to the cheekbones, nose, forehead, jawline, and crease to softly sculpt the look of your complexion. To brontour, you should apply bronzer more strategically; rather than bronzing wherever the sun would naturally hit, keep in mind the areas of your bone structure that you are looking to shade.
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With over 30 years experience, Charlotte Tilbury MBE is the world's number 1 makeup artist and British beauty entrepreneur. Charlotte established Charlotte Tilbury Beauty in 2013, which is now a record-breaking beauty brand that has won over 400 awards.
