3 simple contouring tips for the everyday gal

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The contouring trend has become something of a phenomenon. Before the plethora of social media tutorials, it was a secret trick used by trained makeup artists, but now everyone knows about it and is trying it out to create the cheekbones of their dreams.

And if you haven't started yet, here is your chance to get up to full contouring speed.

Now, it's not always as easy as it looks so I'm here to show you my top three tips on contouring like a pro for the everyday girl.

• Tip 1: Choose the right shade

Knowing your skin tone is the most important step for not only choosing your foundation but also for choosing your contour colour.

When choosing your contour colour, make sure that you are matching it to your skin tone. For example, if you have a cool tone skin, you need to make sure to choose a cool tone in your contour colour and vice versa if you have a warm skin tone. In addition, this shade should be two shades darker than your natural skin tone to get the best and most natural result.

• Tip 2: Contour in the right place

One of the biggest mistakes that you can make when contouring is trying to contour in the wrong place.

Contouring is meant to emphasise your features, not to create new ones. The best places to contour are your cheekbones and jawline.

To make sure that you are shading the correct area tilt your head right back as this will help you identify your jawline clearly. Follow your jawline with your product, making sure to blend in right down the neck.

To emphasise your cheek bones, tilt your chin towards your chest, and starting from the ear, apply your product just under the cheekbone towards the lip. Make sure to keep the product soft by circling the product in a clockwise and anti-clockwise direction.

• Tip 3: Remember to blend well

When contouring, a lot of new starters tend to end up looking like their face is covered in lines. This is not the look to go for and can put people off trying again. Really focus of buffing in the product you use; the movement should come from your wrist, not your hand. Think about the movement you with use when beating an egg. When blending, always work in a clockwise, and then anti-clockwise direction. This will leave more of an airbrushed effect.

I hope you will try and give it a go at home.

What do you find most challenging about contouring?

If you were lucky enough to nab tickets to the fabulous but SOLD OUT Benefit Reader Event at The Odeon on 23rd March, where you can learn all the top tips on contouring from the experts, we're so looking forward to seeing you there. If you missed the chance, this time, keep an eye out for future events.