Contour/Highlight

I had a couple people ask me to do a contour/highlight post so here it is!  This is for an every day contour/highlight; It is nothing to dramatic, and it is really not as hard as people think. I do this routine daily.
First things first, start with a blank face.  I don't have any makeup on in this picture (clearly).  I then went ahead and did my eye makeup, and applied my foundation/concealer and set it with a powder.

 

 I then start with the contour.  The first thing I do is take the product I'm using to contour (I almost always use Tarte Cosmetics Chocolate Soleil bronzer...which I just realized I have never posted about so I will get that up ASAP because I'm obsessed with it) and I put a bit of the product on my middle finger and blend it in right under my lower lip.  This gives the illusion of a fuller lower lip.

 Next, I take my MAC 168 large contour brush and really pick up a lot of product and make a line about 1 1/2 to 2 inches right under my cheek bone coming down from the top of my ear.  This isn't the greatest picture of this because I was using my cell phone and crapy bathroom lighting.  You really want to make a pretty dark line.  This will give the illusion of a more slender face and more predominant cheek bones.

You're then doing to go back and use and up and down motion to really blend that line out.  You want the line dark enough that you are getting the right illusion, but not so dark that it looks like you drew a brown line down your face.

 Next, you go in with the contour color, just picking up a little this time, and blend it in along the bottom of the jawline...

 ...into the forehead area.  Up the temples and along the hairline.

If you have a large forehead, like me, then you are going to want to go all the way across the forehead creating more dimension making the forehead look smaller.

If you have a smaller forehead, then you are only going to want to contour the outer corners, not go all the way across to really open up the face.

 You also want to apply some contour to the sides of the nose.

 Now for the highlight.  This picture sucks so I'm sorry.  I use MAC Cream Color Base in Diamonds from the RiRi collection.  Since it's a cream I just use my finger because I feel like that gives me the best results and the product is a lot easier to work with when it is warm.

I first pick some up on my pointer finger and dab it right along the top of my cheekbone.

 I then bring it right down the bridge of my nose...

 Above the outer 1/3 of my eyebrow to give it a more lifted affect...

 And on my cupids bow to make my top lip look fuller as well.

And then you're done! Piece of cake!

I hope you all enjoyed this and I hope it was easy to understand!  Contour/Highlight is not as hard and scary as it initially seems and is something that is VERY wearable and not just for a more dramatic look.  Of course the darker you make it the more dramatic it will look, so be weary of that.  As always, please subscribe here and check out my instagram page linked above as well.  Leave me posts of questions, comments, concerns, etc!