How to Contour and Highlight Your Face (Makeup)

Co-authored by Melissa Jannes and Hannah Madden

Last Updated: September 16, 2021 References

In recent years, contouring and highlighting your face have become beauty industry standards. Contouring adds shadows and lines to your face while highlighting emphasizes your features. To contour and highlight your face, apply your base makeup, highlight the areas you’d like to accentuate, contour the areas you want to diminish, and make sure to blend!

Part 1

Part 1 of 3:

Highlighting Your Face with Concealer

1
Apply your primer and foundation like you normally would. Rub a primer into your skin as a base for your makeup. Let it dry before you start applying any foundation. Choose your normal shade of foundation and apply it with a foundation brush or blender.^{[1]
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- You can skip putting on foundation for a more natural look. Just be sure to blend your contour and highlight thoroughly into your skin!
2
Add concealer to your blemishes but not your under eyes. Highlighting involves putting concealer underneath your eyes. Add your normal shade of concealer to blemishes on your cheeks, forehead, and nose, but don’t cover your under eyes. Multiple layers of concealer under your eyes can look unnatural and cause creasing.^{[2]
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- Don’t go too heavy on the concealer, since you’ll be adding more later.
- Try not to mix powders and liquids. If you are using a powder contour, use a powder concealer. If you are using a liquid contour, use a liquid concealer.
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3
Use a concealer shade 2 to 3 shades lighter than your regular concealer. The concealer that you use as a highlighter should not be the same one that you use to cover blemishes. Choose a concealer that is lighter than your natural shade so that it makes certain areas of your face stand out.^{[3]
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Tip: If the concealer that you bought is too light, mix it with some of your natural concealer to darken it slightly.
4
Draw an upside-down triangle under your eyes with concealer. The area under the eyes is often darker than the rest of your face. To brighten up your eye area, apply your concealer with the applicator in an upside-down triangle shape underneath your eyes. Start the triangle right beneath your lower lash line and bring it all the way down to the top of your cheeks. Fill the triangle in completely with concealer.^{[4]
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- Highlighting your under eyes also helps to emphasize your cheeks.
5
Make a line of concealer going down the bridge of your nose. Keep this line fairly thin. Start at the top of your nose and bring the line down toward the tip. This will help to make your nose look smaller and accentuate its length.^{[5]
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6
Add a small, upside-down triangle of concealer between your eyebrows. Situate your concealer right above the bridge of your nose. Point the triangle down toward your nose and reach the sides outward toward your eyebrows. Fill the entire triangle in with concealer.^{[6]
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- This triangle helps to accentuate your brow bones.
7
Dab some concealer on the bottom part of your chin. Stick the bottom of your jaw outward so that your chin juts out. Apply a small rectangle of concealer to the bottom half of your chin. Fill the rectangle in completely.^{[7]
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- Do not add concealer on the top half of your chin, or it could make your lips look uneven.
8
Blend the concealer thoroughly with a brush or damp beauty blender. Use small, circular motions to make sure there are no harsh lines on your face. The concealer you used is much lighter than your skin, so it will leave light strips if you don’t blend it well.^{[8]
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- You can also use a blending sponge to blend in your concealer. For the most natural-looking results, dampen your sponge first.

Part 2

Part 2 of 3:

Contouring Shadows

1
Blend a darker foundation with your own to create a contour liquid. Choose a liquid foundation that is 4 to 5 shades darker than your natural shade. Mix a capful of your normal foundation with a capful of the darker foundation using a makeup brush. You can also use a contour stick or powder instead.^{[9]
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- If you are using a powder contour makeup or a bronzer, find one in a shade darker than your own.
Tip: Don’t choose a foundation that is shimmery, or your contour won’t blend as well.
2
Draw a line under your cheekbones with your contour shade. Find the hollows of your cheekbones by sucking your cheeks into your mouth. Use a small, flat makeup brush to swipe a line underneath your cheekbones from your ears to the middle of your cheek. Make sure the lines are fairly even on both sides of your face.^{[10]
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- If you are using a contour stick, apply the stick directly to your face.
3
Add contour lines from the arch of your eyebrows up to your hairline. If you have a prominent forehead, you can make it look smaller by contouring. Use a small, flat makeup brush to swipe a line above both of your eyebrows up toward your hairline. Try not to get any contour liquid on your hair.^{[11]
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- If you have a naturally small forehead, you don’t have to contour this area.
4
Make your nose look smaller by adding contour lines along the bridge. Use a small, thin makeup brush to draw 2 lines on either side of the bridge of your nose. Start from the top of your eyebrows and brush the lines down until they reach the tip of your nose. Keep these lines thin, and make sure they don’t touch each other in the middle.^{[12]
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- These contour lines elongate your nose and make it look smaller.
- If you are using a contour stick, use a brush to swipe the stick and pick up the contouring makeup.
5
Define your jaw line by drawing contour lines underneath it. Find your jawline by feeling the sharp ridges at the bottom of your face. Make contour lines from your ear to the beginning of your chin. Do not contour right beneath your chin, or it could give you a strange shadowy look. Make these lines fairly thick and prominent.^{[13]
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- If you have a naturally strong jawline, you can skip contouring your jaw.
6
Blend your contour in with a brush or damp beauty blender. The most important part of contouring is blending in your makeup. Use a stippling brush or a blending sponge to go over every line that you’ve created on your face. Blend the lines into your foundation in an upward motion until they are very faint. Do not leave any harsh lines or angles on your face.^{[14]
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- Try looking at your makeup in the sun to see if it looks natural.
EXPERT TIP

Melissa Jannes
Licensed Esthetician
Melissa Jannes is a Licensed Esthetician and the owner of Maebee's Beauty Studio in Philadelphia, a single practitioner space providing quality services with individualized attention. Melissa is also a National Educator for Universal Companies. She received her esthetics degree at The Beauty School of Middletown in 2008 and is licensed in both New York and Pennsylvania. Melissa won the "Best of Beauty" award from Allure magazine in 2012 for the quality of her bikini waxing.

Melissa Jannes
Licensed Esthetician

Use a light hand and blend your contouring well. I like to use a matte foundation that's about 5 times darker than the skin, rather than bronzer or anything shimmery. Then, I blend it out with a or a sponge, and I try to buff the actual foundation together with it. If you want to go a touch darker, you can add a little more. However, keep in mind that contouring looks beautiful on film, but it can look very heavy in person.

Part 3

Part 3 of 3:

Adding the Finishing Touches

1
Finish the rest of your makeup like you normally would. Once your face makeup is done, add eyeshadow, mascara, eyebrows, lip stick, and blush. Put on as much or as little makeup as you would like to.^{[15]
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- Contouring and highlighting goes best with a full face of makeup.
EXPERT TIP

Remember, whenever you're doing makeup, it's supposed to be fun. If you like the way something looks, go with it!

Melissa Jannes
Licensed Esthetician
Melissa Jannes is a Licensed Esthetician and the owner of Maebee's Beauty Studio in Philadelphia, a single practitioner space providing quality services with individualized attention. Melissa is also a National Educator for Universal Companies. She received her esthetics degree at The Beauty School of Middletown in 2008 and is licensed in both New York and Pennsylvania. Melissa won the "Best of Beauty" award from Allure magazine in 2012 for the quality of her bikini waxing.

Melissa Jannes
Licensed Esthetician
2
Brush bronzer into any contour areas you’d like to accentuate. Sometimes, blending out a contour line can make it disappear. If you have some areas that you want to create larger shadows for, like your jawline or your nose, use a large, fluffy brush to apply a thin layer of bronzer onto those areas. Use a thin, stiff brush to create lines on your nose and cheekbones in bronzer and then blend them out.^{[16]
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- If you are going for a more natural look, you don’t need to add bronzer.
3
Apply liquid or powder highlighter in areas you’d like to shimmer. Makeup brands often sell a product that is specifically called highlighter. This usually has some shimmer and shine to it, which makes it great for calling attention to features on your face. Apply your liquid or powder highlighter to your brow bones, the tip of your nose, and your cupid’s bow. You can also add some on top of your cheekbones to make them stand out.^{[17]
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- Highlighter comes in a few different shades, but it is usually in a light white or peach tone.
4
Use a setting powder or spray to ensure your makeup lasts. If you’re going out for the night or to an event where you don’t want to look oily, apply a setting powder to your entire face to make sure your makeup stays in place. Pat it into your under eye area, your forehead, and your cheekbones especially. Blend the powder into your face to look flawless. Or, use a setting spray and lightly spritz your face. Wait until the spray dries to go out on the town.^{[18]
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- Setting powder can cause flashback. If you’re going to have your picture taken with flash, don’t use setting powder.

Community Q&A

Question

How can corrector be used?

Community Answer

To hide blemishes, or if you smear a little mascara and you don't have time to wash it off, just dab a little on and rub in!
Question

Why is it so important to use a face primer before applying the foundation?

Community Answer

It makes your makeup last longer, as well as making your makeup look fresher.
Question

Can blush be applied with a contouring brush?

Community Answer

Yes, but it should only be applied to the apples of the cheeks, so a fat, round-tipped brush is ideal for blush.