October 11, 2011

Top 5 Tuesday - Contour Products

I'm a huge fan of contouring the face. With the right products you can reduce the size of your features (e.g. nose) and create the illusion of depth (e.g cheekbones) or even change the shape of your face entirely.

Where to contour
Before I start showing you my favourite contour products, first lets look at where you're supposed to contour. Using Jennifer Lopez as an example, I've highlighted where I think her face has been contoured - cheeks, under the chin, nose, temples, eye socket.
Original image Source. Collage and markings my own.

The key to good contouring is to use matte products, as matte shades make the area recede which is exactly what you want to achieve with contouring. You can use bronzers, blushes or eyeshadows to contour with, as long as they are matte and about 2 shades darker than your skin tone.

Contour products
I contour my face every single day, it's become a habit with me, and here are my 5 favourite products.


Illamasqua Cream Colour Pigment - Hollow
This is the only cream contour product I own. I use it mainly in summer when I go for more of a dewy skin and matte powders look too harsh. With cream contour products, you need to put them on after your foundation but before any powder or blush.
(I'd received this one as a gift from Illamasqua a while back).


Urban Decay Naked e/s and MAC Moleskin e/s
I use these two to contour my eye area to give my hooded eyelids more depth. They are also great for blending out darker shadows in a smokey eye. Moleskin is a LE colour, but MAC Wedge is pretty similar if you can't find Moleskin. These colours are also good to contour the sides of the nose with, to slim it down.

Illamasqua Disobey and Benefit Hoola
I've owned Hoola since the beginning of the year and have been using it on an almost daily basis, that is, if I haven't been using the other products mentioned here. Disobey is a recent addition to my collection, but it's fast become a favourite. It is slightly warmer in tone than Hoola, which makes it look more natural with a bit of a tan. Hoola is marketed as a bronzer, whereas Disobey is a blush.

Swatches
The picture below is with flash. Without flash it was really hard to see the shades on my skintone, as they blended almost seamlessly into my skin. And that's what you want with your contour product, you want them to look so natural that they are invisible to an untrained eye.

I am yet to find a budget bronzer that's good to contour with, as most drugstore bronzers have too much shimmer in them. Contouring with a shimmer bronzer will just make your face look dirty and muddy.

A good cheaper alternative I've found is W7 Matte Bronzer in Honolulu, which I've reviewed and compared to Hoola HERE,  but it didn't make it into my top 5 as the colour is a bit dark for me currently. If you can't find a good matte bronzer to contour with, you can always just use a normal face powder 2 shades darker than your skintone.

Perfectly contoured
So what does a perfectly contoured face look like? In my opinion J Lo is one of those celebrities that always gets it right. In this photo of her below from the video clip On The Floor, she looks stunning and with clever contouring her features all just stand out that little bit more.
Image Source


Do you contour your face? What are some of your favourite products to contour with?


20 comments :

  1. Models Prefer make a matte bronzer thats really good for contouring. I dont have disobey but from your swatch the Models Prefer looks like it could be a dupe... but I wont swear to that as Im just going by your picture :P

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  2. Thanks for the tip Ve, I'll have to check it out. Models Prefer do make some great products out there!

    Lilit
    xo

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  3. Thank you! Your "Where to Contour" picture was really helpful. I'm still a novice, so I'm learning. :) Btw, did your Naked Palette come with a double pencil? The Naked Palettes I've seen so far come with a brush. Which site did you buy it from? Or did you get it in the USA? Sorry about the questions. I'm getting a Naked Palette myself real soon and I'm just doing a bit of research first.

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  4. Hi Lilit,

    My favourite at the moment is probably E.L.F blush and contour kit - it's awesome, and really dark so you hardly need any on your brush. Thin Lizzy Bronzer also makes for a nice contour, though you need to use more than the E.L.F to build up the shadow you need.

    Sometimes i'll use foundations that are too dark for my skin tone (i.e summer foundations in winter).

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  5. Ty - I'm glad the picture helped, give contouring a try, it's definitely effective. Re NP, I bought it from Sephora in France last year. I think last year's makes came with the pencil, but the newer releases come with a brush. I've heard the brush is pretty good quality, so you don't lose there.

    Australian Beauty - I've actually never tried Thin Lizzy, though I've swatched it at Priceline a dozen times. I really need to get on the ELF bandwagon, I've been hearing so many good things about them and only tried a few of their products. Thanks for the tips .

    Lilit
    xo

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  6. Ooh I picked up Disobey at IMATS, can't wait to play around with contouring. I'm still very much a novice at it though so thanks for this very informative post!

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  7. I made the mistake of contouring with a bronzer that was too dark worst.makeup.moment.ever. That picture has really helped, I think I am gonna have to invest in hoola
    Grace xx

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  8. Love this post! Hollow looks great, I contour with MAC Harmony blush at the moment :) xx

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  9. This post was so helpful, I've written down all of the products you've mentioned and I'm gonna swatch them asap! I have huge problems with contouring, I'm just so bad at it! Hopefully I'll get better with practice :) Just discovered your blog and I'm loving it <3

    http://thedollhousediary.blogspot.com/

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  10. Awesome post Lilit! Very informative and helpful. :) I don't contour often, but when I do it'll be with my bronzer which is the Too Faced Chocolate Soleil.

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  11. Megan - yeah, I hope you like it. That was such a great bargain at IMATS. $15!

    Grace - the trick is to only go a couple of shades darker than your skin otherwise it will look fake. Hope you find something that works for you.

    Lauren Rose - Thanks hun, I've seen Harmony on your blog before, looks like a good contour colour for sure.

    Summer - welcome to my blog, hope you like it. And hope you find something that works for you.

    Lilit
    xo

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  12. I have a hard time finding something dark enough to contour with. Most bronzers match my skintone as it is. ; _ ; Yeah...more weird skin issues. ~sob~

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  13. I love to contour my face! If you are looking for a really light bronzer, Korres does an amazing one that I have been using when I havnt tanned. I love the Honolulu bronzer! I always have to contour, its just an immediate reaction now! :p x

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  14. Eden Eden Eden, I don't know what we're going to do with your weird skin issues! LOL. Seriously though babe, I'm sure there are bronzers dark enough for you... surely?!

    Nikki - glad someone else contours every day! It just becomes a habit, you don't even think about it.

    Lilit
    xo

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  15. Only my cheeks but I love the look of Hollow.. I may get it and experiment more!!

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  16. Thanks for letting me know with regards to the NP! :)

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  17. Such an informative post! Thanks so much!

    I also use Naked and Moleskin on my eyes, or my Tarte Mineral Bronzer in my crease if I want to warm up an eye look. I don't do much face contouring though, might have to go do some swatching...

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  18. What could be another good try for fair skinned people ( I myself am NC10-15): NYX Taupe Blush. Seems a little bit like MAC Moleskin.

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  19. I stumbled across your blog while looking for help contouring, with products I could find in Australia (Melbourne girl here!). I'm also pretty pale like She-Lynx above me (MAC NW15-20), can you recommend anything for us paler skinned girls?

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    Replies
    1. Hi Kate,

      Natio makes a pretty good matte bronzer that's fairly light and good for contouring. It's this one http://natio.com.au/makeup-blushers-and-bronzers/terracotta-rose-bronzer so maybe have a try at Priceline and see if the colour is right for you. It's too light for me (NC25) so maybe for NW15/20 it would work.

      From memory SAX Cosmetics also make matte bronzers in a couple of shades but I don't know how widely they're available.

      Alternately why don't you use a pressed face powder that's a few shades darker than your skintone. That way you're guaranteed to get a powder that's matte!

      Hope that helps!

      Lilit

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