Contouring/Highlighting for Beginners

Even if you have your pictures taken by a professional, they may not look like the ones you see in magazines if you don't adjust your makeup for the camera. (If you haven't already read my posts about photo-friendly foundations, be sure to check those out.) I know many models or other women who know how to apply their makeup so it looks stunning day-to-day but only look so-so in photos. Most of the time this is because they haven't defined their featured by contouring and highlighting the planes of the face.

I myself was nervous to sculpt the face when I first started out. I didn't want to look--or make my clients look--80s or drag queenish. Even once I started trying it, I contoured and highlighted with caution--thinking it was only needed for those who wanted to slim the face. I have since had a change of heart. While I don't use these techniques in my own morning routine and consider them optional for shoots taken in natural light, I truly believe that putting on makeup at all is a waste of time if you neglect these steps in your makeup application.

My favorite how-to book on this subject is Robert Jones's Makeup Makeovers, which is an excellent manual for any woman looking to better understand how she can enhance her personal appearance with makeup. (The messiah of transforming women's faces, Kevyn Aucoin, has also written some excellent books that explain facial sculpting, but his amazing artistry skills are often more interesting than applicable for the average woman.) In this book, you will not only learn the basics of sculpting the face, you will also learn how to apply them to your own face shape (and, using these same principles, to your eyes with shadow.) I recommend this book to all my clients who want to find a good makeup manual and find it extremely helpful because it contains before and afters of ordinary women, as well as models. You can purchase a copy at http://www.amazon.com/.

While you definitely want to customize your contouring and highlighting techniques to your own unique features, let me share with you some pointers you may not find from reading Robert Jones.

• Here are the basics: The principles of highlighting and contouring are relatively simple and come from rules you probably learned in art class. If you would like to make an area come forward (highlighting), you will need to use a lighter color than the one used allover. Conversely if you would like to make an area recede (contouring), choose a darker color than both the highlight shade and the allover color. (You can also achieve this effect by using the same allover color but using different finishes that attract light differently, such as a shimmer for a highlight or a matte for a contour. While this is important to note when purchasing products, this technique is way too subtle to be used in a studio setting where the flash washes out color almost universally.)



• The general standard of beauty in our culture, which we want to emphasize in the fashion or entertainment industry, consists of the following criteria:

1. Flawless skin



2. Oval-shaped face--although certain face shapes are gaining similarly coveted status as celebrity icons become more and more diverse



3. Symmetrical features



4. Large, bright eyes



5. High cheekbones--ideally because of a slim face, not angular features



6. Full lips



7. Straight, thin nose
   


8. Defined eyebrows arched above the iris
   


9. Slight glow from a sunkissed tan or rosey flush
   

The reason these traits are worth noting is because the principles of contouring and highlighting should help you appear to have these features in photos whether you were genetically blessed with them or not. Determine for yourself whether your techniques will be accentuating the great features you were born with (that the camera can wash out) or will be corrective. The products you choose may be different depending on the effect you want to create.

Note: If your features are different from I'm not saying that your highlighting and contouring techniques have to be corrective. A picture is a two-dimensional image or a three-dimensional being. Highlighting the bridge of your nose and contouring the sides doesn't have to change the shape of your nose, but if you would like for it to look slimmer, you may want to use products that create a more dramatic change.

• Select products you can blend easily. Some people find liquids easier because they glide smoothly over the skin; some prefer powders they can buff into the skin with a brush. Just as important as how blendable a product is, you also want to avoid using any products that are too messy. If you choose a dusty loose powder with a high concentration of mica for your highlight color, for example, you may have fallout all over your contour, and your hard work hasn't paid off.



• Consider your skintone while selecting colors. If you are very light, avoid anything too intense. You'll look like a mannequin. In contrast, women with darker skins should seek out intense pigments, or a well-done contour can look like skin discoloration and a highlight can look ashy.



• Avoid anything too sparkly if you have oily skin, which will look greasy. If you have enlarged pores, follow the same advice because shimmer will highlight textured skin as well.



• Don't try to multitask by contouring and highlighting with color on the face. It will look terrible, not to mention dated. You should never use these techniques when you are wanting to brighten your complexion--especially if you're going for a rosy glow. Except for those with the most alabaster skins (who often have a hard time finding a highlight shade lighter than their complexions that don't look like chalk) avoid pink tones all together.

So enough of what not to do. I've compiled a list of the products that are user-friendly and create the beautiful results you want without costing you an arm and a leg. (Some may look expensive but last forever.) Without further ado, here are some of my favorite products for highlighting and contouring:

• Benefit Hoola: the ultimate matte bronzer

Benefit's collection of Box O' Powders pack a lot of pigment. In fact, I've never finished using a single one of them. This particular product is not only a good investment though, it is the only matte bronzer on the market--and I've tried them all--that can handle the job. A true brown with absolutely no orange, it creates the most believable shadow on most women. It's also buildable, making perfect for a variety of skintones. On women with darker skin, I still find myself turning to this product. It can blend together highlight and contour shades on skintones that have difficulty finding shades that won't look ashy or muddy. And on the very dark, I've even used it as a highlight where I was amazed that a matte powder product not only worked but didn't look fake or chalky. Another perk? The brush in the box is actually a great tool instead of another packaging afterthought.

P.S. If you fall in love with this Box O' Powder, check out 10. It contains two shades--a highlight and a contour. Why isn't this one on the list? Well, maybe it should be. I use this product a lot on both myself and clients. But I only like it on the very fair, and the pink highlight only works with certain undertones. It also has quest a bit of shimmer, which I usually can play down with a dusting of loose powder over it. And I generally try to avoid powders for highlight/contour products. A lot of them look dusty or unnatural. But you may like it. Very convenient and a great into product.

• Benefit Moon Beam: highlighter for those peaches 'n cream girls

I know, I know. I said not to use highlighters to add color to your face. I still stand by that statement! This is my one exception, and I'll tell you why. I really don't know what possessed me to buy this product because I absolutely hated High Beam, which I bought years ago at the urging of a friend who worked for Benefit.

Moon Beam and High Beam are the exact same product in different colors. High Beam is an icy pink instead of "golden pink" (which I'm pretty sure is a fancy way of saying peach.) Like I said I hated High Beam, and I tried to force myself to like it for years. It just didn't work for me. I thought the nail polish bottle packaging was stupid and couldn't figure out what I was expected to do with the flimsy brush. It was very liquidy, so I had a hard time placing it in just the right spot. And at the same time, it didn't blend very well, so I looked like I'd tried unsuccessfully to do some kind of pixie, whimsical something. (Since this experience, I've made peace with High Beam, which looks good on certain people on select occasions, so don't mind me if you love it. You're probably just one of the few women I don't hate it on.) Anyway, a lot of the reasons I hated High Beam are what makes Moon Beam so versatile. The opalescent pinky-peach color may not seem very different, but it is universally flattering on women of any undertones, since it has hints of both gold and pink. Since it isn't icy, it doesn't look harsh like High Beam, which contains a little bit of silver--a color that I've found is unflattering on almost all women when it's not jewelry or eye shadow. Though the texture is still the same, it doesn't require nearly as much effort to blend. It's close to most skintones and also blends seamlessly with almost any blush or bronzer. If you think you're too fair or too dark for this product to look natural, mix it with your liquid foundation for a foolproof perfect shade.

I recommend applying Moon Beam to the back of your hand before applying it with a foundation brush, angled blush brush, sponge, or fingertips. The brush is still stupid. I also recommend applying it after your loose powder to give the liquid something to grip on. Dusting with powder again is up to your discretion.

• Estee Lauder Spotlight: A Colorless Highlighter

If the packaging of Moon Beam annoys you or you don't want to use any color, check out this option from Estee Lauder. Like Moon Beam, you can use it alone or mixed into foundation, and it comes in a squeezable tube that will last you a long time. I'll be reviewing this soon, so stay tuned to learn more about this versatile product.

Other options include...

If the products above don't work for you, you may want to use foundation. You can use the same formula you use allover in shades one to two shades lighter for highlight and darker for contour. (I know this is quite expensive, but some people think it's worth it. If it isn't in your, maybe you can sweet talk that girl behind the counter into offering up some samples the next time you go in to replenish.) If you want to use foundations to sculpt your face, you'll probably love the convenience of a foundation stick, like Bobbi Brown's, for precise contour application. Women who can't wear it allover often love it for this purpose, and it's very easy to travel with.

Hope this was helpful! Feel free to leave me a comment or question about contouring/highlighting or makeup for photos in general. Happy picture taking!