Before Contouring / After Contouring (using NARS Radiant Cream Compact Foundation)

For the demonstration, I’m contouring with cream foundation, as it is an easy way to achieve seamless, blended contours and highlights as they can easily be sheered out, blended out, or layered for the perfect combination.  Cream-based products are more forgiving for anyone new to contouring, so they’re a great starting point. As liquid and cream bases dominate, cream contours work well on top without adding too much powderiness and again, they can be “erased” and dialed down in the event one overapplies!

Highlighting and contouring bring back definition and shape to the face, especially after you’ve created a beautiful, flawless blank canvas with your foundation. Because foundations are one color, and depending on the coverage, they can leave the face looking flat and shapeless.

More of us are familiar with highlighters–shimmering powders and creams patted along the high planes of the face to reflect light–but contouring can be a more difficult and daunting task. The best part about makeup, though, is freedom of choice; you can go as defined as you’d like, so you don’t have to go for a dramatic contour and highlight but something subtle that just defines and helps lift the face. I’ve tried to show a more dramatic contour (but you could go further and make it even more dramatic) so that you can clearly see the differences before and after.

Don’t be afraid if you’re new to contouring!  Uzo, NARS International Lead Stylist, recommends beginners to use cream foundations for contouring “because they are easier to blend” as “powders in an unskilled hand can make contouring look harsh and un-blended while liquids don’t give enough definition. It is not about having a stripe of darker, un-diffused color along the sides of the face but subtly blended dimension that defines the cheekbones (and jaw line).”

Generally, your highlight shade should be two to four shades lighter than your actual skin color.  Depending on how much depth and shadow you want to create, you may find going one or two shades deeper is enough to achieve a subtle, but noticeable, contouring effect, but for greater definition, you will want to select a shade that is two to four shades darker than your natural complexion and opt for a shade that has similar undertones to your skin tone or one that is more neutral.

Where to Contour & Highlight Diagram

Step-by-Step Tutorial

STEP 1: Prep and prime the face–whatever your normal pre-foundation routine is, do that prior to starting. Make sure you give your moisturizer enough time to absorb and sink into the skin, as this gives you a better texture to work with and always helps your foundation apply better.

STEP 2: With a sponge applicator or synthetic foundation brush (Uzo recommends foundation brushes with nylon), apply the foundation all over the face, blending and smoothing the coverage out to as little as you need. It’s best to apply sheer coverage all-over, and then go back and build up coverage just in the places you need it. For me, that meant light-medium coverage on cheeks, underneath the eyes, and on my chin to minimize redness, unevenness, and hide blemishes/post-acne marks. If you normally use concealer, apply it as you normally would (whether before/after foundation).

STEP 3: With a flat, firm brush, I like to pat on the highlight shade underneath my eyes in an upside-down triangle shape (see contour map below) and directly underneath my brow bone. With a fluffy eye brush, blend the highlight edges into your normal foundation to make the transition seamless.

STEP 4: Using the same flat, firm brush, pat the highlight shade just below the center of the forehead, and then lightly down the nose. You can also highlight slightly underneath the nostrils. (Keep in mind, depending on your desired shape, you may use less or more highlight/contour to get the right definition for your nose.) With a fluffy brush, blend and soften the edges so the highlight gradually fades back into your skin color.

STEP 5: To bring the mouth forward, highlight just above the cupid’s bow to make your lip shape more prominent. Lightly pat the highlight just under the lower lip around the outer corners, and then directly below the center of the bottom lip in an upside-down triangle shape. Another trick that can be used to define and shape the mouth is to use lip liner to create the shape, and then using a precise, concealer brush to very carefully apply outside to really give a crisp lip line. Use a fluffy eye brush (like the one we used in the third step) to blend the edges of the highlights with the foundation.

STEP 6: If you aren’t planning to wear eyeshadow and the like, use a tapered crease brush to lightly apply the contour shade and following the natural curve of your eye to create more depth. With the same brush, apply thin lines of contour down the sides of the nose, and then lightly swish the brush in small, tight strokes to blend the contour shade with the highlight and foundation shades. When it comes to noses, we all have our preferences, and you may be angling for a narrower or wider nose; the narrower and closer the shadow and highlight are together, the narrower the nose will appear.

STEP 7: With a firm, flat, slightly angled brush, apply short strokes of the contour shade along the hair line, temples, and jawline. For the jawline, you typically wouldn’t bring the contour shade all the way to the center of the chin; only along the sides (about one third to two-thirds across, depending on your natural face shape and preferences), so that the chin doesn’t become so prominent that it juts out. With a lightly fluffy, angled brush, blend the contour shade to transition to the foundation color. It’s important that you blend slowly and with feathery strokes, because you don’t want to blend the contour so well that it disappears or makes a larger area just ever-so-slightly darker.

STEP 8: Lastly, contour cheeks by applying the contour shade underneath the cheekbones. Though an old technique, finding the hollow of the cheekbones is still easiest when I suck in my cheeks and make the ever-glamorous “fishy face.” It’s important to use your fingertips to feel for your bone structure, and you want to make sure the contour isn’t too low on the face, so I usually use the structure as my guide and contour right below it. You’ll want to have the contour shade applied from about the ears to half-way to two-thirds down the face. Let your face and natural bone structure be your guide, and you can always soften and blend out if it is too heavy–or add more definition if it is too subtle.

STEP 9: Set all of your hard work with a loose or pressed setting powder. (I used NARS Light Reflecting Loose Setting Powder applied with a lightly fluffy, large powder brush all over the face.  To finish, apply your eyeliner, mascara, lip color, and so forth.  For lips, I went with a mix of NARS Hyde Park and Jardin des Plantes Satin Lip Pencils.)

BONUS: Apply blush and/or a shimmery highlighter to further define cheeks. (For this, I used NARS Dolce Vita to blush and Albatross to highlight the tops of cheekbones and lightly around the cupid’s bow.)

Before Contouring / After Contouring with NARS Radiant Cream Compact Foundation

Before Blush/Powder Highlighter / After Blush/Powder Highlighter with NARS Dolce Vita and Albatross

Before Contouring / After Contouring / After Blush/Powder Highlighter

After Contouring with NARS Radiant Cream Compact Foundation

After Blush/Powder Highlighter with NARS Dolce Vita and Albatross

Sam, 14, Georgia | Sam is 14-years old, lives near Atlanta, Georgia with her mom and two (of three!) older brothers. She was born and raised in Georgia, but her family originally hailed from Illinois. You will find her busy meeting new people and enjoying teen soap operas/dramas (like Vampire Diaries)–and of course, she’s madly in love with all things beauty. When she’s not playing around with makeup, you’ll find her with headphones on listening to everything; from classical to rap, pop to heavy metal, and almost everything in between (though she favors rock!).

Halloween Makeup: Leopard

Halloween Makeup Tutorial:  Leopard

I have a quick Halloween makeup tutorial for you, and I promise it’s easier than it sounds. This was my first time doing Halloween makeup! My cousin, Nicole, was crazy enough to let me experiment with my makeup on her, so she will be modeling for us today.

What You Will Need:

• Your Foundation/Skin Toned Eyeshadow
• Matte Light Brown Eyeshadow (Urban Decay’s Naked, from the Naked Palette)
• Matte Medium Brown Eyeshadow (Buck, also from the Naked Palette)
• Matte Light Taupe Eyeshadow (Velvet Revolver by Too Faced)
• Satin Grey/Brown Eyeshadow (NYX Charcoal Brown)
• Matte Black Eyeshadow (NYX Black)
• Black Eyeliner Pen (NYX Super Skinny Eye Marker)
• Creamy Brown Eyeliner Pencil (NYX Brown Slim Eye Pencil)
• Warm Light Brown Lip Liner (NYX Nutmeg Slim Lip Pencil)
• Beige/Brown Lipstick (NYX Tea Round Lipstick)

These are just the colors that worked for Nicole and her skin tone. You can use whatever works best for you!

Get the step-by-step guide & see more photos! 

Prior to her arrival, Nicole had already applied her concealer and foundation. I focused on the eyes first, but you can apply this in whatever sequence you like. I started off with an eyeshadow base, then applied Naked with a paddle brush. It’s just barely darker than Nicole’s skin tone, so again, use whatever works. After, I simply applied Velvet Revolver in the crease with an angled blending brush, winging the shape out slightly.

For the eyeliner, I first traced the shape with the black eyeshadow and an angled liner brush. At the end of her eye, I followed the curl of her lashes for the wing. In the inner corner, I followed the shape of her tear duct and contour of her nose. Take your time on this part, because the eyeliner makes all the difference! Just to make the lines look sharper, I then went over it with the eyeliner pen. Add a few coats of you’re favorite mascara and the eyes are finished!

For the spots, I mixed Buck and Naked together and applied generously. The larger spots were placed with the angled blending brush, and the smaller spots were placed with a dense smudging brush or pencil brush. On a leopard, the spots normally decrease in size as they reach the center of the face. And they don’t have to be shaped into perfect circles, so don’t worry if they aren’t exactly what you envisioned!

After you’re finished applying the base of the spots and it looks like you have broke out into a terrible rash, you’ll want to trace each spot with the eyeliner pen. Make shapes and Cs around the spots at random–just go with it! It turns out best that way. Once I was finished with the black eyeliner, I found that I wanted more definition. To do this, I used the brown eyeliner pencil and traced areas on both the inside and outside of the black circles.  Next, set it with the shimmery grey/brown eyeshadow. Now you have a leopard print on your face!

For the nose, I went straight across the top and followed the shape of Nicole’s nostrils with the black eyeshadow; have each side of your nose dip down and make a point in the cleft of your upper lip. After, fill in with the eyeliner pen for sharper edges and add some dots along your upper lip for the whisker roots. Lastly, line your lips to make the lip color last longer and apply a nude-ish/brown lipstick.

That completes the leopard look! I hope you enjoyed it and everyone has a safe and fun Halloween!

Halloween Makeup: Leopard

Halloween Makeup: Leopard

Halloween Makeup: Leopard

This tutorial will walk you through, step-by-step, on how to apply liquid foundation, powder, contour, blush, and highlighting for a semi-dewy face. You may want to peruse my red lips tutorial, as well as brow tutorial. Also, I have done a few face tutorials in the past (you can never have too many, right?): glowy cheeks, and my original face tutorial.

Do let me know what you think, and if this was helpful! (Now, back to studying!) And if you have a TeamSugar account, make sure to show us some love!

You will need:

• Products: Liquid foundation, concealer, blush of choice, contour color of choice, highlight color of choice
• Tools: concealer brush (194), buffer brush (182), stippling brush (187), angled contour brush (168), blush brush (150)
• I used: MAC Face & Body (NC30), Make Up Forever Lift undereye concealer, Afterdusk blush, Sculpt sculping powder, Tenderdusk beauty powder

Now, it is time to build the full-face with all the trimmings…

Step 1: Start with a freshly cleaned and moisturized face–free of makeup.

Step 2: Using the 194 brush (small, firm concealer brush), apply dabs of liquid foundation onto cheeks, chin, and forehead (nose, too, if you wish!).

Step 3: With your buffer brush, pull each dab of foundation out to provide even coverage of the area (e.g., chin as shown).

Step 4: Continue to pull the foundation dabs to cover your skin (e.g., cheeks as shown).

Step 5: You can use sweeping or circular motions, depending on your preference. I usually sweep the dabs out across the skin and then use circular motions to even it out.

Step 6: This is what a naturally dewy liquid foundation looks like.

Step 7: Admittedly, most people apply concealer first, and I do it sometimes as well — I haven’t found it particularly meaningful for eyes (which is the only place I use it). If you use color-correcting concealers, then it is a must to apply prior to foundation! Nonetheless, same technique can apply… Apply undereye concealer underneath lower lash line covering the dark circles life has given you, and make sure you apply enough that it goes below the area you want to conceal.

Step 8: Introduce MAC’s 187 stippling brush–a cult favorite–is great for gently brushing concealer into skin.

Step 9: Sometimes I need to close my eye to really be able to sweep the concealer to perfection.

Step 10: Bye-bye dark circles, well, kind of.

Step 11: Using the 187 stippling brush, apply a pressed powder like MAC’s Mystery Powder all over face to set the liquid foundation and help minimize shine.

Step 12: See, less shine already, yay!

Step 13: Using the 168 angled contour brush, I picked up a token amount of Sculpt sculping powder and place it just below the apples of my cheeks.

Step 14: Suck it in, ladies. Finding the right place to contour is easiest by making the “fish face.” Where your cheeks hollow out, that’s where your brush should be going.

Step 15: Gently blend the contour out–not too much–but just enough so it fades out and isn’t a harsh line.

Step 16: It’s coming along, right?

Step 17: It’s easier to see the effect of contouring from straight-on–too bad I’m a little off-center there! But you can tell on the left side (your left) that my cheek isn’t so pudgy.

Step 18: Using the 150 powder brush, pick up a little bit of Afterdusk blush.

Step 19: Smile pretty, because you want to see the apples of your cheeks, which is where the blush should be concentrated on (and blended outwards so you don’t have two circles on your face).

Step 20: Blend the blush color upwards towards your temple, but not so high as to extend past your eye area.

Step 21: Like so.

Step 22: If it’s not dark enough, go over it with another pass, utilizing the same technique.

Step 23: See, same technique!

Step 24: Back to our beloved 182 buffer brush, because we need to buff the blush color and contour color together.

Step 25: Don’t leave out any part!

Step 26: Now we have raspberry-ish cheeks.

Step 27: Subtle blush, I would say, perhaps a touch darker than subtle…

Step 28: Again, with the 150 powder brush, pick up a bit of Tenderdusk beauty powder (our highlighter).

Step 29: Apply on the top of the apples of your cheeks–essentially, we are trying to highlight the cheekbones, so if you need to, feel around your cheeks for good measure.

Step 30: Move upwards towards your temple.

Step 31: Pretty!

Step 32: Hey, if you want to utilize your highlighter, feel free to dab a touch of it on your forehead.

Step 33: Chin, too — reflecting light off your chin can accentuate features. If you really want to go all out, dust a touch along the center of your nose (best to do this last, so you use remnants of highlighter rather than a full swipe of it, so you don’t overdo it).

Step 34: Cheeky, aren’t you!

Step 35: Always fun to see it from the side-view.

Step 36: Add eyebrows (thank god for brow filling!), change shirt (love green shirts, but not with this blush!), and you look instantly more put together.

Step 37: Yes, I do believe we’ve done our skin a favor.

Step 38: Add eyeshadows and lip color for a true view of how it all comes together.

Step 39: One more view from the side, just to show off the cheeks better. Voila!

Skill Level: Moderate

Note: This tutorial is designed for more advanced users who grasp and understand the basic concepts of makeup application, blending, and other related techniques. I strongly suggest viewing some of the more detailed articles and tutorials that better describe basic techniques for less advanced users. To view a more detailed tutorial to gain a better understanding of the techniques applied here, please view this previous tutorial.

Eyes: If you’d like to compliment the cheeks, try Apricot Pink pigment (mixed with MAC’s water-based mixing medium as your base), Firespot eyeshadow (warm orange color), Cranberry eyeshadow (raspberry color), Sable Wrap eyeshadow (same as Saturnal eyeshadow, dirty dark olive green), Say Yeah (highlighter with pink undertones), Grain eyeshadow (highlighter with neutral undertones), Graphblack technakohl (black kohl liner), and black mascara.
Face: Afterdusk blush (darker pink-purple) on apples of cheeks, Astral Rays glimmershimmer (creamy white-beige) on top of cheeks and temple, and Harmony blush (brown/gray) to contour cheeks.
Lips: For matching lips, try New York Apple lipstick (deep raspberry) with face lipglass (peachy pink).

To view more pictures of the finished product, please view the original look here.

Skill Level: Beginner

Supplies: Expresso eyeshadow (use the shade that correctly matches your brows!), thick angled brush (like the 266), thin angled brush; moisturizing before with a facial cream is also a good way to help get the powder shadow to stay on longer (wait for the moisturizer to dry for the most part, though!).


Using a thick angled brush, pick up the brow color and begin filling in the thickest part of your brows (or the innermost portion) by starting at the top.

Blend outwards and upwards, make sure to repeat only starting at the bottom instead of the top.

Your results…

Using a thin angled brush, pick up the brow color and place directly under the portion of your brow that may need slight darkening. For me, it is just past the thickest part of my brow.

Move your brush along the underside of your eyebrow upwards and outwards.

Continue along the tail of your brow until you reach the end of your brow.

Repeat the process as before, only along the upperside of the brow following it until the end of the tail part of the brow.

You should get something that looks like this. This is a tad messy, and when you do your eye makeup, your highlight helps bring it altogether in the end It is also a good idea to take a clean mascara wand to help straighten out your brow hairs so they look all clean and proper!

Face Tutorial

Foundation: Apply your foundation using a fluffy brush, whether it be the 182, 187, or a blush/powder brush. This works best with liquid foundations, not powder or pressed ones. You can use either your fingers or the brush itself to pick up the liquid foundation and apply it to your face in a series of “spots” or “streaks” that will later be blended out. I usually apply a bit to each cheek, my chin, and the middle of my forehead. If you use a brush like the 187 that is not as easy to blend in circles as the 182, the best method is to stroke sideways and at an angle. I find that the 187 gives some “streakage” around corner areas like the nose and underneath the eyes, so I end up using my fingers to blend these areas at the end. The 182, however, allows you to blend in a circular motion, as well as to the sides, and it eliminates most of the need to do any last-minute finger-blending at the end.

Contouring: I only contour the hollows of my cheeks because I’m fairly happy with the thick/thinness of my nose. I do this by sucking in my cheeks and making a fish face (attractive, I know). I use an angled fluffy brush and pick up bronzer and apply my contour line a little after the hollow begins by my mouth and brush it along the emphasized hollow to your ears. If you do not plan to put any other color on your cheeks/face, you can easily blend this out using a fluffy powder brush (my favorite is the 182). Otherwise, leave the line as it is, as unblended as it appears.

Highlighting: I usually highlight using some sort of pigment (like Pink Opal), and a good brush to apply this is the 182, but also the 187. The 187 has special bristles that allow for a very light application, so you can get the highlight color to fall just over the apples of your cheeks and by your temples without much trouble. Again, smile really big, and notice the apples of your cheeks. You want to apply the highlight color just above the apples, basically just before they flatten out at the top, but before the space underneath your eye begins.

Skill Level: Beginner-Moderate

You need the following tools for contouring: a contour brush (I use MAC’s 168) and a contour color (I use MAC’s Enriched Refined Bronze). An angled powder brush can usually double as a contouring brush, just like you can make your choice in the color you want to use to contour. In general, I would assume a color that is darker than your normal skintone is ideal. Contouring adds shadows to your face to create more dimension (carving the cheeks or accenting the cheekbones, thinning out the nose, etc.).

Contouring is really pretty easy, so long as you place the contour line in the right position, and it is quite simple to find that right area. You need to make a “fishy” face, which is when you suck in your cheeks as much as you can. You can see/feel the hollow it creates below you cheeks; this is the area!


Using your contour brush, pick up your contour color, and apply in the hollow created by the fish-face. This is why makeup is done in private, usually, because this pose is not at all flattering The brush should fit nicely into the hollow of your cheeks, and you simply guide it upwards alongside the hollow/curve.

I followed my natural curve, which you can see resembles the same angle/line of my jaw.

This is what the finished product looks like, and of course, you need to blend this out if you weren’t going to use blush later on (which I will be doing). You can see that I have followed my jawline almost, only beginning in the hollow of my cheeks. For me, that means the curve ends around the middle of my ear.

You need the following tools for adding blush to your cheeks: a blush/powder brush (I use Philosophy’s blush brush) and a blush color (I’m using MAC’s Margin blush for this tutorial). Any large, fluffy powder brush will prove to be a decent blush applicator. The blush color you choose can be whatever color you want, and I usually match my blush color with the rest of my makeup. There aren’t any restrictions on the blush color just because you have contoured your cheeks previously, though.

As I have done here…

This is what it should look like at this point, and I have deliberately done my best not to blend as I go along so I don’t skip over steps someone might want to see! It is pretty clear that there is a pinkish color and a darker brown color on my cheek, and nobody wants to look like this.

I usually blend my contour color into my blush by picking up more of the blush color with my blush brush and adding some to the gap/harsh line between the two, which is just under where I originally placed the blush.

Again, I move from the inner part of my cheek towards my temple.

It’s getting better, isn’t it? You can see that it isn’t quite blended at the innermost portion, so I’m going to fix that.

I fix this by repeating the process and making sure to start lower and at the point that needs to be blended better.

At this point, it’s not a bad idea to simply make small, light-handed circles on your cheeks to facilitate in blending.

I usually move in small circles beginning at the bottom inside and move my way upwards and outwards.

Make sure you do it to the apples of your cheeks, too!

All the way up to your temple…

And just a little more. All done. You have to realize that even though it took several photos to show the process, in actuality, it takes but several seconds to do it. Mostly the photos are taken to show you the placement of the brush since this isn’t video.

You will need the following to highlight: powder brush (I use MAC’s 182 buffer brush) and a highlight color (I’m using Pink Opal pigment in this tutorial). You can continue to use your blush brush, even an angled brush, but anything that is going to be soft and nice against your skin. A highlight color is usually quite light, and my two basics are Gold Dusk and Pink Opal pigments. I know some have been using Lightscapade mineralize skinfinish lately.


When using pigments as a highlight, a little goes a long way.

Using my 182 buffer brush, I pick up the Pink Opal pigment and dust it on very lightly right below my eye and on my cheek bone (you can use the cheesy smile pose to help find your cheekbones – the cheekbone point is not the prominent part of the apple, but where it dips down to your normal face “plain” at the top; press it, you should feel something hard – bone!).

Pull the highlighter out towards your temple.

Voila. You can always blend the contour color less than I have in order to make it stand out more or give you a darker line of contour. It is important to blend between the contour line and blush line so that the two are seamless, though!