How To Donate

Contouring – what does it do for you? As a makeup artist, I’ve never really bought into the trend as such as massively as expected. I think it’s a wonderful feature to create on the face but it caters to each individual and their face shape differently. For those that are new to the term, contouring is where the shadows meet the high points of your face. For example, from the hollows of your cheeks to the cheek bone itself. When you contour, you help slim down the face, structure your features more prominently and create definition.

As a partner to contouring, highlighting – (otherwise known as strobing) plays a big part – it offsets contouring by accentuating areas of your face that naturally catch the light with concealer or highlighter. This technique is not new and in fact dates back to the 16th Century Elizabethan era where stage actors and actresses used to use chalk and soot to create a similar effect to what has been modernised today. Contouring is not only used for the face but for the body too – take celebrities who contouring surgically and also using make up to enhance body parts such as the décolletage and more commonly, the breasts.

The mass market now offers an array of products to help with this technique and can range from drug store style products and prices (from £2) to the more glamourous high end products which can set you back anything up to £60-70 (if not more). It’s not about how much you spend – it’s how you can get the product, no matter the cost, to work best for you. For me, I prefer the mid-range products mixed with the drug store collections as I’ve found they work best for me. You don’t have to spend a fortune to perfect your contouring technique.