Posted September 21, 2012 by Suzanne Jackson in Beauty

Reader(s) Question: “What Are The Best Contouring Products”?

At the beginning of the week, I posted a picture (below) of a plain looking girl who had been transformed into a chiseled god all thanks to the power of highlighting and shading = contouring! We also only discussed contouring very recently on the blog after Kim Kardashian posted pictures of her contouring routine to her Twitter page and we all know how FAB she looks! (Read HERE)

For those of you who missed the photo or article, you can give your face a mini makeover without resorting to plastic surgery. Using the right contouring makeup tricks you can create the illusion of a slender nose, sleeker jawline, all-over slimmer face and even BOOBS!

A lot of you guys asked me under the photo what products I would recommend for contouring. But to give you the best possible answer, I caught up with leading make-up artist (and one of my fav’s) Tara O’Farrell to ask her what budget friendly products she thought you guys would be able to get your hands on to help achieve that chiseled look Kim Kardashian does so well!!

Tara

Well first off, face and body contouring is a simple and easy way to make your face look slimmer. It enhances your features and adds radiance and dimension to the face.

Lets get started:

The first step to contouring is shading!

For this I use Inglot AMC Bronzing Powder ’74‘ with a fantail brush.
Your bronzer should be two shades darker then your foundation in order to look natural.
It is really important that the bronzer you use is matte and has no shimmer at all.

4 Application Steps:

1. Start Under the apple of your cheek bone diagonally or parallel to your jaw line to make your cheekbones look more defined.

2. On the sides of your nose from the bridge coming straight down. This will make it look longer and thinner. BLENDING IS ESSENTIAL HERE!

3. On your jaw line and under your chin will make a round face look more elongated and who doesn’t want that?!

4. To enhance cleavage lightly Blend the bronzer upward and outward, creating a V-shape and along the natural curve of the breast.

The main thing with bronzer is to blend and use sparingly!!!!!!

The second step is highlighting

For this I use an Urban Decay eye-shadow called ‘sin’
When the highlighter catches the light, your face appears subtly chiseled and more defined!
It also gives you that gorgeous celebrity glow.

4 Application Steps

1. Add a touch of highlighter to the tops of the cheek bones, your chin and the temples

2. Dab a small amount on the cupids bow.

3. Lightly dust down the bridge of your nose with a fantail brush

4. Use under the eyebrow and to brighten the eyes dab a small amount in the inner corner of the eyes.