I Had A Makeup Artist Teach Me To Contour

Contouring is all about highlighting your best features while hiding your so-called flaws. Easier said than done, right? When attempting to learn how to contour for the first time, you'll find no shortage of advice. The web is inundated with contouring tutorials; however, it just always seems as though these professionals are better at applying their makeup than teaching others how to. It's one thing to know you're supposed to "choose the right color" and "blend well with a fluffy brush;" it's another thing entirely to actually pull that off.

I purchased the Anastasia Beverly Hills contour palette a while back and have been using it casually on special occasions, but never really knew exactly which shade was supposed to go where. I mean, there are six shades on that thing! I was pretty sure I only needed a highlight and lowlight, so what the heck was the yellow for? Did I mix that with the pink, or were they for two separate uses entirely? I figured it was about time to learn how to really use it, so I asked a makeup artist friend of mine to show me exactly what to do so that I could pass her tips and tricks along to all of you.

Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Cream Kit, $40, Sephora

Here, a sped up version of her surprisingly simple walkthrough.

Nicole Grittani, Toronto makeup artist extraordinaire, started the contouring process by cleansing my skin and then prepping it with a moisturizer and a primer on my T-zone area and on the apples of my cheeks.

Then, she applied a thin layer of foundation that matched my skin all over my face and neck and added a light cream base to my eyes.

Now for the actual contouring! Nicole started with a wet contour, taking a foundation that was two shades darker than my skin and applied a super minimal amount under my cheekbone area. She then added this wet contour along my forehead and temples and blended all of this in. I know that wet contour can be intimidating, but once you get the hang of it, it becomes second nature.

Next, Nicole used the Anastasia Beverly Hills contour kit that I mentioned earlier to deepen the contour my forehead, cheekbones, and jawline. She even used the contour kit on my eyes by adding the banana colour to the lids and the taupe and bronze tones to my crease.

For highlight, Nicole used a salmon colour under my eyes and a yellow and green corrector to tackle any redness I had. She also used a bit of concealer under the eyes, along the bridge of the nose, and on my forehead. To set this, she dusted a translucent powder all over my face.

To finish, Nicole added a bit of blush to the apples of my cheeks and popped a gloss onto my lips. Honestly, when I looked at myself in the mirror, I was floored. My face looked perfectly contoured, but not overdone — and she did it all in about 15 minutes!

The real test would come when I had to try this technique on myself. Here's how I did:

Because I was heading out that night, I added a bit more shadow to my eyes and popped a pink lip gloss onto my lips. I found that the trickiest bit to do was the contouring on my nose. I wouldn't say I'm a contour professional just yet, but practice makes perfect, right?

Trust me, if I can do it, you can too!

Images: Krystal D'Souza