How To Contour: Basics for Each Face Shape
Contour is a critical step in any makeup guru’s beauty routine — but if you’re new to this art form, it can feel pretty intimidating! After all, there are several different types of contour products, and the way they should be used can vary depending on your skin tone, face shape, and more.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed, don’t sweat it. We’ve got you covered with everything you need to know to contour like a pro.
What Is Contour?
If you’ve ever seen one of those viral makeup transformation TikToks, then you’ve seen the power of contour. Contour products are both lighter and darker than your natural skin tone and can be used together to create the illusion of an entirely different face shape.
For instance, if you have a wide, cherubic face, you can use contour to create angles and a bit more structure. If you want to make your forehead appear smaller, you can use contour to create more symmetry. And that’s what contour is for, really – creating just a bit more balance in your face so that you can strut through your day feeling like your best, baddest self.
How To Contour By Face Shape
So, how do you contour, exactly? In our humble opinion, it all starts with your face shape.
The basic principle is to contour the places that you’d like to be more angular and defined (the hollows under your cheekbones, for instance, or perhaps your jawline) and highlight places that you’d like to stand out (such as the tops of your cheekbones).
To really rock your makeup, we recommend taking a good long look in the mirror and figuring out your face shape.
Once you know whether your face is round, boxy, or anything in between, you can customize your contouring to be the most flattering on your own face. That’s where contouring levels up from an art form to practically magic.
Contour for Round Faces
If you have a round face shape and want to give yourself a bit more structure, here’s how.
Start off with a super-blendable, high-quality contour just a shade darker than your natural skin tone. We recommend our Sun Sculpt Liquid Contour because it comes in 14 different shades, making it easy to find the right tone for your face. This formula is also long-lasting, meaning you won’t have to worry about refreshing it throughout the day. Win-win!
Using a light hand, dot the contour all around your face, from just under your jawline to the sides of your temples and very top of your forehead. Use an angled soft-bristled brush to blend the contour into your skin as much as possible.
Then, dot an even smaller amount under your cheekbones, and blend that contour up into the product you’ve already applied to your temples. Voila – your face has even more shape!
If you feel like the contour doesn’t look super natural on your skin, blend it out even more with some light powder bronzer to create a consistent all-over glow.
Contour for Square or Boxy Faces
If you have a square-shaped face and want to create just a bit more symmetry, focus on applying product to your jawline and forehead.
Using the same technique as before (dotting contour onto the top of your forehead and underneath your jawline) blend out the product until you’ve created the illusion of shadows around the top and bottom of your face.
From here, you can further play with contour products to create a more oval shape. Once you’ve created the initial shape you want, you can do more sculpting with a contour pen, such as our Fine Line 2-in-1 Nose Contour & Highlight Pen.
We love this pen because it allows you to highlight and contour, even if you’re on-the-go — one side is perfect for highlighting places such as the bridge of your nose or the tops of your cheekbones, while the other side is great for creating the illusion of shadows under your jawline, on the sides of your nose, or on your temples.
Don’t be afraid to play around with products and techniques until you figure out the makeup routine that works best for you!
Contour for Diamond or Pointed Faces
If you have a diamond-shaped face (recognizable by a sharp, pointed chin and jawline), you’ll want to adjust your contour technique to create more balance in your face. Start by finding the right contour product — if a super glowy, liquid look isn’t for you, you can try out a powder or cream formula, such as our Silk Haze Cream Bronzer.
Just like the Sun Sculpt Liquid Bronzer, this formula comes in many different shades, so you’re sure to find one that looks the most natural on your skin tone.
Once you’ve found the right product, apply it in small dots to the outer corners of your forehead and just under your cheekbones before blending it out. Your goal is to mimic the sharpness of your jawline on other parts of your face in order to balance out your overall bone structure.
Start off with a minimal amount of product, and then build up until you’ve reached an ideal level of contouring. Because you’re using less product than with other face shapes, it may be easier to use a high-quality beauty blender, smaller brush, or even your fingertips to blend.
Contour for Oval Faces
Last but not least is oval, one of the most naturally-balanced face shapes (and therefore easiest to contour!). If you have an oval face shape, the best strategy is to highlight your existing bone structure.
Apply contour to all the usual places: Under your jawline, the hollows of your cheeks, your temples, and the top of your forehead. Per usual, start off with a light hand and blend well, and slowly building up product until you’ve achieved the right amount of coverage.
What Are Some Contouring Tips and Tricks?
When it comes to creating a show-stopping makeup look, contour is only half the battle. Strategic use of highlighter and concealer can also go a long way towards turning heads. While contour should be a shade or two darker than your natural skin tone, concealer should be just a tad lighter (and highlighter, of course, is always brighter and lighter).
That’s because where contour emphasizes the natural shadows on your face, concealer and highlighter emphasize the high points where the sun hits your skin.
If you’re a newbie to these products and don’t know where to start, try giving our Multi-Glam Face Pen a whirl — it has everything you need to get started with contouring without breaking the bank. The super-smooth formulation glides onto skin easily, making it a breeze to blend out and fit your contour seamlessly onto your face.
Plus, like most of our products, it’s vegan and cruelty-free — no animals were harmed in the making of your newest makeup obsession.
A Lower-Maintenance Look: Powder Bronzer
Want to give your face some shape, but don’t have time for a full beat? Powder bronzer is your new best friend.
A luxurious powder formulation, like our Sunside Bronzer, provides a sun-kissed glow without too much fuss or effort. Simply grab your favorite fan-shaped brush and sweep the product over your cheekbones, temples, jawline, and the sides of your nose for an all-over glow that looks completely natural.
Pair the bronzer with a powder or cream blush (such as the cutest blush palette we’ve ever seen from our Powder Puff collection) to maximize your just-woke-up, natural flush.
Add Some Dimension With Faux Freckles
Despite what you may have been told growing up, freckles are in… and now even those of us who weren’t genetically blessed can get in on the freckle game, thanks to freckle tints. Simply choose from one of our three shades and dot them onto your face for the cutest faux freckles, no beach day required.
Be Your Best Self
When it comes to contouring, it doesn’t really matter how angular or round your natural face shape is — with these products, it’s easier than ever to be your best, most confident self. And here at SHEGLAM, we believe everyone deserves to feel like their best self, all the time.
That confidence boost on top of smooth formulations, buildable coverage, and cruelty-free manufacturing methods? All at an affordable price point? Don’t pinch us – we don’t want to wake up.