Contour Basics for Different Face Shapes

If there’s one trend that has defined the beauty industry in the last decade, it’s contouring. The likes of Kim Kardashian made it so popular that it’s almost addicting to watch women on Instagram or YouTube simply draw and blend lines on their faces.

But what exactly does contouring achieve? For those who aren’t familiar, contouring is meant to add shadows to the face — giving the illusion of a smaller forehead, slimmer nose, and more chiselled jawline.

Of course, contouring differs for each face shape; and for beauty beginners, this technique can be a little intimidating. But fret not! We've prepared a video, followed by a guide with techniques on how you can contour based on your face shape.

Round

Those with round face shapes often have a width and length of roughly the same size. There are also no major points along the jaw, chin, or hairline. Thus, the first thing we suggest is contouring the sides of your forehead and along the temples to make this area appear more narrow. Then contouring the area below the cheekbones beginning from the ears to the middle of the cheeks (but not too low!) brings out your cheekbones as well. Lastly, adding a curved line down the jawline lengthens the look of the face.

Square

Square shapes have a forehead, jawline, and cheekbone of the same width. The goal for this shape is to make it appear more oval, so we suggest adding more contour to the outer corners of the forehead and jaw, and then a subtle contour underneath the cheekbones — bringing it up to just below the temples.

Oval

Oval face shapes have no major points along the jaw, chin, and hairline. However, it differs from a round face shape in the sense that it's much longer than it is wide. Shading the hairline and sides of the forehead is meant to shorten the overall length of the face, and adding some product below the cheekbones gives it some extra definition.

Heart

Heart-shaped faces have a wide forehead and a sharp chin. You can easily create the illusion of a more oval-shaped face by contouring the outer edges of the forehead, along the temples, and under the cheekbones. Then, instead of contouring the jawline (which is already slim) add contour to the bottom of the chin to make it appear shorter and less pointed.

Now that we’ve defined four different face shapes, here are three Loose Mineral Powder shades that you can use as a contouring product:

• Macchiato for warm undertones
• Cinnamonfor cool undertones
• Toffee Mocha for olive undertones

Don't forget to set your face with theFlower Power Setting Spray to ensure your chiselled look lasts the entire day — it'll give your skin a moisture boost, too!

Now that you know how to contour according to your face shape, it's time to find out how foundation can be part of your skincare routine!