Once you have mastered the basic high definition face, you can really pump up the volume using contours. Contouring the face involves "faking" shadows and highlights in such a way to emphasize or de-emphasize specific features. A word of caution: especially with high definition, you need to make this appear natural, otherwise you can wind up looking like a drag queen straight out off a Las Vegas stage.
Even though every face is different, there is a standard way to achieve contour on your face. Obviously you will need to experiment and decide what works the best for your face. I find this diagram a great place to start:
As you can see, this chart doesn't look like a natural face, however, you can get the idea of where and what tone of makeup to apply.
Staying with the idea of creating a look that is high definition ready, you want to use high-quality foundations to create your contours. Instead of using powder for these contours, stay with the liquid and do this before you set your face. For the dark areas, I like to go two shades darker than your actual skin color (though you want to stay in the same tone - warm, neutral, or cool), and for the highlights, I like to go one to two shades lighter. Remember, we are trying to look natural, and getting too dramatic is more stylized than you are going to want for most looks. You also want to think about the shape of your face: you don't want a dark contour under already high and large cheekbones, or a wide highlight on an already wide nose.
TECHNIQUE:
Using an angled foundation brush apply a small amount of the shadow/highlight color to the face in the specified location. Using a smooth, fluid motion, blend with the existing base foundation color, making sure the shadow and highlight is exactly the same on both sides of the face. (this may take some practice!). For this look, I would actually recommend finishing with a lightweight dusting of powder to ensure that there is no chance of smudging and to even out color and create a more natural looking finish. Instead of a translucent powder as I would normally recommend, use one that is the closest match to your natural skin tone in a highly refined pigment like CARGO Blu-Ray High Definition Pressed Powder. Using a very large powder brush, swirl brush into powder, tap off excess, and gently dust/buff over face in a circular motion, being careful not to smudge the foundation.
$30 - Cargo www.cargocosmetics.com
Your results should look like this:
Stay tuned for your high definition eye makeup as HD week continues...
Even though every face is different, there is a standard way to achieve contour on your face. Obviously you will need to experiment and decide what works the best for your face. I find this diagram a great place to start:
Staying with the idea of creating a look that is high definition ready, you want to use high-quality foundations to create your contours. Instead of using powder for these contours, stay with the liquid and do this before you set your face. For the dark areas, I like to go two shades darker than your actual skin color (though you want to stay in the same tone - warm, neutral, or cool), and for the highlights, I like to go one to two shades lighter. Remember, we are trying to look natural, and getting too dramatic is more stylized than you are going to want for most looks. You also want to think about the shape of your face: you don't want a dark contour under already high and large cheekbones, or a wide highlight on an already wide nose.
TECHNIQUE:
Using an angled foundation brush apply a small amount of the shadow/highlight color to the face in the specified location. Using a smooth, fluid motion, blend with the existing base foundation color, making sure the shadow and highlight is exactly the same on both sides of the face. (this may take some practice!). For this look, I would actually recommend finishing with a lightweight dusting of powder to ensure that there is no chance of smudging and to even out color and create a more natural looking finish. Instead of a translucent powder as I would normally recommend, use one that is the closest match to your natural skin tone in a highly refined pigment like CARGO Blu-Ray High Definition Pressed Powder. Using a very large powder brush, swirl brush into powder, tap off excess, and gently dust/buff over face in a circular motion, being careful not to smudge the foundation.
$30 - Cargo www.cargocosmetics.com
Your results should look like this:
Stay tuned for your high definition eye makeup as HD week continues...
