Countouring Made Easy: Clarins Graphic Expression Face and Blush Powder

Contouring has always scared the crap out of me. If you’ve seen it done badly you know what I mean. Any attempts I ever made to get me some cheekbones always resulted in a stripy nightmare.

Much like Lindsay Lohan’s masterclass in how not to contour, my efforts left a LOT to be desired.

Contouring was for the Kardashians; women with the time, weird glittery primer and on-call makeup artists a girl needs for this kind of look.

Enter Clarins Graphic Expressions Face and Blush Powder. This stuff just BEGS you to learn how to contour.

It’s got subtle nude, bronze and gold shades, striped across the palate at an angle so it’s easy to load up a smaller brush with the colour you’re after. The gold is just a top layer, and rubs away to reveal a slightly shimmery pink.

It’s buildable, so I can start with an almost invisible layer and work my way up to Kardashian level contours.

It comes in a lovely gold compact with a decent sized mirror in the lid and has its own wee little red velvet case. The whole package is enough to make a girl dig out her much neglected Real Techniques Contouring Brush and have a stab at whipping up some cheekbones out of thin air.

I consulted this fab Beaut.ie tutorial and got down to business.

• I identified my cheekbones and applied the bronze shade to the hollows underneath
• I swept the powder in a 3 shape from my brow bone down my cheek bone and finally lightly around the jaw line.
• Then I buffed away merrily for a good while. I warmed the whole effect up using the pinky shade.
• In the name of experimentation I also contoured the sides of my nose. (I discovered there's just not enough contouring in the world to tame that schnoz!)
• Finally I used the neutral peachy shade as a t-zone mattifier and I was donezo. I was pleased! The Clarins gives a pretty subtle effect but really helped to define my features.

So have you tried Clarins Graphic Expression Face and Blush Powder? And what’s your take on contouring in general?