Fashion

Why Beauty Guru Bobbi Brown Isn't About Contouring

by Alexa Tucker

November 10, 2015

Earl Gibson III/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

If you haven't jumped onboard the contouring trend, you're not alone. Beauty guru and celebrity makeup artist Bobbi Brown is not a contouring fan either, reports the New York Post. And when the woman behind one of the most beloved makeup brands on the scene doesn't endorse a beauty trend as pervasive and popular as contouring, you can bet there's a reason.

“The contouring trend is so wrong because it tells women there’s something wrong with their face,” she says. “There’s beauty in a full face, so I don’t like to paint in a cheekbone that doesn’t exist.”

Hardcore contouring can often cross the line between enhancing your features and attempting to change them, so her disapproval of the trend fits in with her brand's natural beauty approach.

“When I see contouring on people’s faces, it looks like dirt,” she says. (Ouch.) “As a beauty expert, I believe in individual beauty, and it’s just not my aesthetic. We don’t need to be contouring like the Kardashians.”

Her refusal to accept popular contouring techniques sends the message that you don't need to create imaginary features to be beautiful — it's all about embracing the shape you've got and playing up your favorite things about your face, rather than putting the focus on features that aren't really there. If you've got sky-high cheekbones, great. Own 'em. But if not? That doesn't make you any less beautiful.

Earl Gibson III/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

Instead of contouring, Brown suggests that ladies "highlight their natural cheekbones with a creamy rouge, or use a moisturizer that gives a subtle glow," according to the Post. Or, if you must contour, try a more subtle approach than the full-on painted method. Like so:

Still love the contouring look? Try saving it for special occasions or nights out (even Kim Kardashian's makeup artist thinks it's not for every day for most people.) Hey, you might even surprise yourself with how much you like playing up other features with a more natural feel, Bobbi Brown-style.