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We asked Wright, Figueroa and celebrity and bridal makeup artist Cara Lovello for their best tips on contour and which products they recommend .
How to choose the right contour stick
Before you actually start contour, you ‘ll need to pick the correct shade for your skin shade. Figueroa and Lovello recommend staying between two and three shades darker than your actual skin tone. “ I always say [ go ] two shades blue because you can always build color, ” Figueroa told Shop TODAY. Lovello ‘s rule of finger is to by and large go three shades dark than the normal shadow, but added that she feels like most go “ quite a bit more than three shades blue. ” For everyday clothing, Lovello, Figueroa and Wright recommend opting for cool tones and flat creams. “ You would want to find a cooler tone to mimic shadows because foreground and contour is kind of like manipulating shadows, ” Lovello explained. “ so if you find one that ‘s excessively warm or has besides a lot orange in it, it ‘s not going to mimic a shadow the same way that something with a cool undertone would. ” If you want more of that sun-kissed gleam, Wright suggested that you can use a deep, bronze shade to contour .
How to contour your face
once you ‘ve chosen your color, it ‘s time to get to work. Each makeup artist shared their best tips for applying shape, even if you ‘re a founder ! While their strategies for application are alike, there is one thing they explicitly had in common : Apply contour in areas that will lift the face, not pull it down. “ As we long time, we never want to bring our faces down sol as you ‘re contouring, equitable keep that in mind : that we want to lift and we want to pop, ” Figueroa said. “ We used to do the fishy face and wanted to go in the hollows of the buttock when you ‘re contouring your boldness, but you actually want to go correctly above that hollow so you can lift the confront a little sting more, ” Wright explained. “ You want to start from the top of the ear and work your manner down to the ends of the sass, but not all the way down. You just want to go correct to your cheekbone about. ” She recommends thinking of a “ 3 ” geological formation when contouring your face. “ With contour, you should go around the hairline of your face, toss off from the top of the ear to the mouth and then back around the chin. ” similarly, Lovello applies contour directly on the cheekbone. “ I find a bunch of people apply it under their cheekbone and by the time they blend it out … you ‘re diffusing it out in that area and it could possibly bring your cheekbone even lower. Since the finish that we strive for is high lifted cheekbones, I apply it good on the cheekbone. That way, by the time I blend it out, I ‘m lifting the face, ” she said. Do n’t know where to begin contouring on your confront ? Figueroa has an easy flim-flam to help you figure it out. “ Turn off all of the lights and go by a windowpane. You can see where naturally the shading is hitting your face. I think that ‘s the best way to find your shape and highlight high points, ” she said. Her early point is to learn your face shape to help guide your contour technique. “ There ‘s no such matter as a one-size-fits-all contour, ” she told us. “ I think truly agreement and doing the research of your face shape would be the best way to do it. ”
How to contour your nose
digression from contouring the forbidden edges of your grimace like your frontal bone, impudence and jawline, Lovello besides shared tips for contouring your nose. “ The antic with contouring your nose is to get the two dark lines as close together as possible without touching because you want the lighter color in between. Wherever you put those lines is the modern width that you ‘re creating for your nose, ” she said. If you ‘re aiming for a slender nose expression, she recommends putting concealer on the sides of your nose to counteract the trace your nose casts on your face. Be careful to put the contour lines on the top of your nose and not the sides, because putting it on the sides will give it a wider look, which may not be what you ‘re going for. “ If you want it to be snatched, you want to get those two lines as conclusion together as potential with leaving barely adequate room in between for a highlight semblance, ” she said .
Best contour sticks, according to makeup artists
“ This pin is super blendable and it ‘s buildable. It besides has a in truth great applicator — you just tap it onto the clamber and blend it out with a brush, making it superintendent easy. It ‘s very whippersnapper [ and ] it ‘s good for all skin types and all ages, equally well, so it ‘s not going to dry down the skin, ” Wright previously said about Charlotte Tilbury ’ s democratic Hollywood Contour Wand.
While it ’ sulfur presently sold out, we besides love the brand ’ s top-rated highlight scepter that ’ ll give you a similarly natural freshness. wright loves this mocha contour joint. “ The color is very cool-toned, so it does n’t give you that ashy or that superintendent tan search. ” She besides loves Fenty Beauty ‘s contour stick because it has a creamy, blendable rule and dries down cursorily, making it easier to apply. Figueroa likes this contour adhere for respective reasons, but specially because it ‘s not very messy. Twisting the bottom of the stick will cause the contour skim to come out of the clear through the brush tip end, which she describes as “ about like a mini beauty blender. ” She besides likes this intersection because the brush is fine-tipped enough that it can be used on the nose. “ I ‘ve been using that [ brush ] and using my fingers to blend it in. I ‘ve been doing that a batch recently with cream shape because the warmheartedness of your fingers in truth helps melt the merchandise into your face, ” she shared. As the lead smasher conductor of the Miss New Jersey Earth pageant, she said she uses this contour stick on contestants because it looks good in person and photograph well on stagecoach. Wright called this contour stick “ excellent ” after she tried it herself. This dual-ended stick has one slope with the actual contour cream and the other with a brush to easily blend out your expression. No wonder this best seller always sells out, thanks to its dual bronze and contour function. Lovello has a different approach path to contouring. rather of buying straightforward shape sticks, she actually recommends using foundation garment sticks. “ If you buy a foundation garment stick in a contour shade, it ‘s a lot easier to blend out than a contour pin. The foundation sticks are just creamier, ” she explained. She recommends this foundation adhere from Hourglass and describes it as having “ about like a velvet-y finish. ” This is another dual-ended option from Wright who says this makes it super easy to contour. It ‘s available in 10 different shades ranging from rose-colored bronze to cool deep eggplant. The durable formula will provide a natural search to your face. besides, it will give you a naturally sun-kissed spirit. Figueroa emphasized the importance of highlighting after contouring, which is part of why she loves this dual-ended stick from NARS. Unlike the early dual-ended stick, this has highlighter on the other end of the contouring cream rather of a brush. She said it ‘s perfective for the on-the-go woman who wants to get her constitution done quickly. “ It looks truly, very pretty, in truth buttery and very natural, to the luff where people do n’t know — you ‘re looking good, you ‘re glowing — they ca n’t pinpoint what it is [ and ] I love that. You ca n’t give excessively a lot off of your secrets, ” she said. Lovello besides recommends this foundation garment stay from Bobbi Brown for contouring. She uses it in the almond nuance but notes that, of path, the tad you need will vary based on your skin tone. “ The contour sticks … stay where you put them and you truly have to work at the hide to move it. I do n’t want to apply that much atmospheric pressure because I ‘m putting the shape on exceed of a foundation, so now if I ‘m applying all of that pressure to blend out that contour, the foundation garment is moving, ” she said. She regards foundation sticks as a little more aristocratic than a liquid initiation, but not a hard to blend out as a regular contour stick. The application is the same as any other contour adhere, directly on the high points of the face.
Figueroa besides loves this flat cream bronze stick from Milk Makeup for a more sun-kissed radiance. “ It ‘s a clean contour, but it gives more of a bronze-y vibration, ” she told us. “ very J.Lo, identical aphrodisiac, very ‘I just got back from Cabo ‘ kind of vibration, which I love. ” Customers love this because it offers a natural finish. For more stories like this, check out : subscribe to our Stuff We Love and One Great Find newsletters, and download our TODAY app to discover deals, shopping tips, budget-friendly intersection recommendations and more !
