Beauty
"Contrast Makeup" Is TikTok's Secret For Emphasizing Your Features
Time to upgrade your glam game, girlies.
Have you ever tried to recreate a gorgeous glam look from one of your fave celebs — like Selena Gomez, Margot Robbie, or Megan Thee Stallion — and thought: why doesn’t this makeup look right on me?
Well, Aliénor, a France-based makeup artist currently going viral on TikTok, might have the answer with her viral “contrast makeup” theory. To curate a signature makeup look, you only need to use her custom filter on the buzzy platform and figure out your personal contrast level. The rest should fall into place.
The “Contrast Makeup” Theory
If you’re a mainstay on BeautyTok, you’ve likely seen the latest black and white “what’s your contrast” filter (or different makeup looks inspired by contrast levels) while scrolling. That is all Aliénor’s doing.
By using the genius filter in natural lighting without any makeup on your face, it’ll match your skin tone level first — light, medium, or deep — and then determine if you have low, medium, or high contrast features.
As for the filter’s main goal? To achieve more harmony with your makeup, to complement your features, and as Aliénor describes it, “to appear more ethereal and natural — to appear more unified and less harsh.”
Once you figure out your contrast level — what does that mean for your makeup routine? Here’s what to know.
Glam Tips For Your Contrast Level
The ultimate goal in finding your contrast level is to discover near-perfect harmony between your natural features and your makeup. And while there is quite a bit of nuance, here are a few tips Aliénor has shared for each one, no matter your skin tone level.
Low Contrast
If you so happen to be low contrast, where all of your features are within a similar tone (like blonde hair and fair skin, for one), low-key glam moments are an effortlessly natural vibe.
“If you want to look very natural, you can do the ‘no makeup’ makeup look,” says Aliénor. “You can put a very nude lip, a little bit of blush — you don’t have to do much if you want to stay low contrast. Gigi Hadid is a low contrast and this kind of makeup suits her very, very well.”
While “less is more” is likely your motto — you can wear more intense makeup, though it won’t have the same softness as a more understated beat.
Medium Contrast
As for the medium girlies, whose features may be different compared to their skin tone level, adding a bit of intensity to your makeup routine creates a sense of harmony.
“[Emma Watson] looks so unified. She has some blush action, some intensity on the lips, but it’s not too much, some kind of a smoky eye,” says Aliénor. “There is a little bit of intensity everywhere to make it look more unified and less harsh. Having a very good lipstick in the right intensity can be very good for medium contrast. You can add some blush in the same kind of color.”
Hello, monochromatic latte makeup moments aplenty.
High Contrast
Whether you have deep skin with platinum tresses or ultra-fair skin with jet-black hair (like Anne Hathaway, for one) — high contrast means there is a major difference between your skin tone and features.
“You have to add intensity, and there are several ways to do this,” says Aliénor. “You can do very dark and intense lips — reds can be incredibly beautiful on a high contrast. Red is your best friend. Smoky eyes also look great on you, but you can do this in a much softer way with less precision in your application.”
In other words: applying a red lip stain for a blurred pout vibe can feel a bit softer than sharply-lined lips in a deep scarlet hue.
