Glam Slam: Contour Like The Pros In 3 Easy Steps

I look at beautiful stars like Jennifer Lopez, Olivia Wilde and Gabrielle Union and I think, ‘Why can’t I have cheekbones like that?!’

While we might not all be so naturally blessed, it is possible to fake it with makeup.

Petra Strand, Pixi Creator and makeup artist, reveals how you can create the look of a contoured, thinner, and more sculpted face in three easy steps that work for all skin tones.

Step 1: Highlight

Apply color corrector or concealer in a shade lighter than your natural skin tone to brighten your face in the following areas: in an upside-down triangle shape underneath your eyes, along the bridge of your nose, and above the cupid’s bow of your mouth. This highlights, helping the natural light bounce off of those areas, and making them more prominent. For an added hint of luminosity, gently pat brightening highlighter onto the ridge of the cheekbones and brow bones; this helps to create a more dewy, radiant look.

Step 2: Contour

Select a bronzer a shade or two deeper than your skin tone (matte shades work best for this), and sweep this into the hollows of the cheeks (try sucking in the cheeks to make this step easier). Also sweep bronzer across the jaw line, under chin and along the hairline – this helps the area appear more defined and chiseled. To make your nose appear more narrow, you can dust a small amount of bronzer down the sides of your nose and underneath the tip of the nose to make it appear shorter.

Step 3: Blush

After all the face makeup is blended (foundation, colour corrector / concealer, and bronzer), use pinky peach or rose blush, sweeping the colour onto that apples of the cheeks in a circular motion.

— Ryan Patterson