Face Contour Technique of All Times

The facial contour is a makeup design that all girls know how to apply, and we all actually apply it daily, even if it is not as classic as it used to be. Sometimes we skip the highlighter or we skip the contouring color, just because we learned how to improvise with the highlighting and contouring makeup technique. Which, I think, is a good thing, because it means that we had mastered this makeup technique. All these thoughts about the facial contour made me a little bit nostalgic, that’s why I decided to show you one of the very firsts contouring designs. Let’s see where it all starts:
The contouring, or the concept of this makeup trend, starts in the early 1500-1600s, when the stage actors in England apply chalk and soot to their faces in order to make it easier for the audience to see their faces and to read their expressions.

Since then, the contouring and highlighting technique become more and more perfect as the years pass by. The Max Factor school in 1934 had a separate class for contouring in order to teach the future makeup artists to shape the face in order to prevent “flat” look of the actors’ faces. In fact, the classes were showing the technique step-by-step, just like the modern tutorials we see everyday all over the Internet.
And in 2010, it all went wild, when Kim Kardashian uploaded a Before&After picture of her face when covered in the makeup products and then smudged into a finished version.
The rules are still the same: darker color for the contouring part and lighter color for the highlighting part. The difference must be two or three shades darker or lighter than your skin complexion.
The darker color must be applied on the perimeter of the face and the highlighter must be applied on the facial spots that catch the light – the highest peaks.
Then, merge the colors with a blending brush and finish the look with lid makeup and lip color.
Voila! All done!