HIghlighting and contouring

MY favorite part of makeup is definately highlighting and contouring. I dont rememeber what I was doing prior to this. It makes such a difference by giving dimension on your face and making your better features stand out more while hiding the imperfections. Contouring can make your nose look smaller or your face look thinner while highlighting can make your cheekbones higher and your face very bold.

There are 2 ways of doing this. Creams vs Powders. Or if you have done this as much as I have then you can possible pull off doing both. I belive creams are more dramatic and have more of a glowy effect. Probably better for people with dry skin too. Powders are more natural and require more build up but are probably better for people with oily skin.

The highlight has to be 2-3 shades lighter than your current skin color. Mac has the Prep and Prime collection and seperates the highlights into 3 categories. 

1. Radiant Rose has a pink underdone for cooler skin

2. Light Boost has a yellow undertone for a warmer skin tone

3. Bright forecast is a salmon color that is preferable for people of darker skin color.

Personally I am a big fan of using concealer (light one) or a product by Maybeline called the Instant Age Rewind Concealer in the color Neutralizer. Its a very complementary color that can easily work as a highlighter for most people, PLUS its not as expensive as other brands. 

Apply the highlighter in the center of the face to bring out those features.

Then u can set with a powder that's either lighter or yellow. I love the kim kardashian look so I use Ben nye banana powder 

As for contouring. This is tricky. Chose 2 shades darker than your skin color. I said this is tricky because you dont want to end up with a color that makes your skin look ashy or muddy.  I would recommend using powder personally if your a beginner. Chose a powder WITHOUT the shimmer. It has to be matte to be natural and to hide the areas you're going to be contouring.

Apply it to the hollow of your cheek bone to make your face look slimmer. (it helps to make a fish face to find this area).

Apply it to both sides of your nose to make it slimmer. 

Apply it around your forehead and temples to make your forehead look smaller. 

And lastly apply it to the jawline and under the chin to hide a double chin and make your jawlinge more chizzeled.

A good trick is to apply a little bit of darker color under your lower lip to create a shadow and an illusion  of a bigger lower lip.  You can also highlight the cupids bow to make your lips look fuller.

After I apply my cream h & B I always set with powders. You can either start with the powders or add them at the end like me.  

* If your colors a very defined and not very blended it, you can powder your face with your regular face powder that is your shade to smooth out any harsh lines.

Hope this helps. There are a lot of youtube beauty gurus that have step by step H&C videos that have taught me everything I know.

I am not as equipped yet to do a full on tutorial but I'm working on it