How To Contour Your Face: What Is Contouring Makeup?

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!

What is Contouring?

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!

HOW TO CONTOUR: STEP-BY-STEP EASY CONTOURING TUTORIAL

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!

How To Contour Like A Makeup Artist:

How To Contour Your Face: More FAQs

WHAT'S THE BEST MAKEUP BRUSH FOR CONTOURING?

The best makeup brush for contouring is an angled brush that intuitively follows the contours of your face. I created my Super Nudes Shapewear™ Brush as the perfect contouring brush; it has an angled end that's perfect for swiping on cream and powder contour to carve out defined-looking shapes on your face, as well as a smaller, fluffy end that effortlessly blends makeup to create seamless-looking contours.

Discover the best makeup brushes for every makeup step in my makeup brush guide

DO I CONTOUR BEFORE OR AFTER FOUNDATION?

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

IS CONTOURING STILL POPULAR IN THE 2020s?

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.

WHAT IS BRONTOURING?

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

HOW TO CONTOUR WITH BRONZER

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.

Darlings, contouring can be quick and easy! Now that you know how to contour your face, you can sculpt, shape, chisel, and lift the look of your complexion, just like that! Contouring isn’t only for makeup artists, darlings… With my 7 SCULPTING SHADES of Hollywood Contour Wand, everyone, everywhere can carve out their facial features, contouring just like a makeup artist.

Remember darlings, for your best face contour, reach for cool-toned contour products that create seamless-looking shadows, and always use the correct contour placement for your face shape!