Happy belated Thanksgiving, Bombshells! Hope your holiday was grand and if you don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, I hope your Thursday rocked your socks :)
If you chowed down like me with sides like macaroni pie and candied yams, you just might have carb face. Not a technical term, but it’s what I call when you get a little puffy from eating foods high in carbohydrates. Luckily you can do a quick makeup trick to play down the appearance of carb face: contouring the cheeks.
Here’s how:
1. After you’ve done your face makeup (and eyes if you want or you can do them after—it’s up to you), grab a cheek color (bright peaches and pinks look lovely on all shades of brown skin), a highlighter (doesn’t necessarily have to be blush—it can be any makeup product that is about 2-3 shades lighter than your skin color), and a contour shade (again, it doesn’t have to be blush, it can be a bronzer, foundation stick, an eyeshadow, or concealer but make sure it’s 2-3 shades darker than your skin color).
2. Think of your cheeks as if they were divided into three sections: the top of the cheekbones, the cheeks, and the hollows of the cheeks. Apply your blush color on the middle portion of the cheeks. I love a color like Illamasqua Powder Blusher in Tweak because it’s universally flattering on all shades of brown–you can amp up the color by using a heavy hand or tone it down with a loose powder.
3. Next apply your contour shade. While you can use any piece of makeup, try using a bronzer at least once. Covergirl Queen Collection bronzers are a favorite of celebrity makeup artist Sam Fine and even has one of the deepest bronzer shades I’ve ever seen so they make for really great contours. To apply, “hollow in” your cheeks by making a fish face and then gently apply your contour shade along this area.
4. Apply your highlight. I love to use a stick like NARS Multiple in St. Barts for cool toned skin and South Beach for warm tones. Smile to help locate your cheekbones. Apply your highlight shade in a diagonal along the tops of your cheekbones.
To avoid super obvious contour lines, take a blush brush and gently blend where two different colors meet. You want a smooth blend but be careful not to overblend and “muddy” the colors.
Tools of the Trade:
And that’s that. Do you normally contour cheeks? If not, would you try now?
November 26, 2010 12:36 pm
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November 26, 2010 12:45 pm
i am getting into trying to contour more. I need to find a great dark powder because the liquid dark foundation that I have needs more work to get it right
November 26, 2010 2:21 pm
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November 26, 2010 2:59 pm
I love this blog and log onto here at least twice daily. Danielle I love all of your posts, but what would be interesting to see are either pictures or youtube videos of you showing how to do the makeup looks, or even both. It would be interesting to see a woman of color demonstrating makeup tips and ideas since their are not that many on youtube or blogs. Either way the blog is amazing! keep up the great work and awesome posts guys :)
November 26, 2010 4:34 pm
Love this post, MAC has a great contour blush in the color Blunt. I am a NC50 and its a perfect shade for me, a little goes a long way. Great post especially distinguishing the difference between contouring, blush and highlight.
November 26, 2010 5:27 pm
I have high cheek bones already but I want to try this for that extra umph!
That first pic(the b&w) is the *bomb.com!
November 26, 2010 6:18 pm
I just started wearing blush this year but contouring is one thing I cannot seem to master. I just can’t get it right but I’m gonna keep practicing. Great post
November 26, 2010 7:53 pm
I contour daily! this is not to be taken lightly. it changes my entire look!
November 26, 2010 8:13 pm
Umm…Sess looks SO fly in that first pic! I love it!
November 26, 2010 8:38 pm
Thanks, ladies!
@Lala I’ve been meaning to get more “interactive” with my posts but I’m a bit clueless with pic taking and even moreso with video…lol. Once I get it together you can definitely see more of those type of tutorials :)
November 28, 2010 12:54 am
my girl loves this website and she took the advice! she said thanks!@
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