We did a ton of videos on contouring and the comments we get from our viewers are very interesting. Younger girls usually say that the contours are barely visible as they are used to amazing transformations they constantly see on social media, whereas older girls send us hearts and kisses saying we changed their lives and how great it is to see us doing sophisticated, Hollywood style makeup.
It must be really hard for the younger generation as they are exposed to retouched and filtered images all the time. Back in the day, companies got sued for over photoshopping their adverts, whereas nowadays each girl has access to beautifying tools at her fingertips and the amount of unreal beauty we see on Instagram is insane.
Each year models who come in our studio have more and more insecurities and self doubt and there is not much they can do. Even if one understands the illusion of production and is aware that almost everything nowadays is photoshopped, such an intense exposure to carefully altered images blurs your rational judgement.
But we’re here to stand for natural beauty, supporting one’s individuality, therefore our makeup tutorials will never be teaching you how to change your face. In fact, if you’re hoping to change your appearance, you’re in the wrong place, because the only one who can help you with that is a plastic surgeon. Our whole community has been built on the idea of being yourself, so we welcome you to stick with us as we love you all just the way you are. So let’s fight against makeup clones and ridiculous makeup trends together.
Most of the time the light touching our face falls from above and it first hits our hair, then forehead and then gradually fades as it travels down the face. That’s why the best contour is the natural shadow created by your hairstyle. The right haircut makes a big difference in the appearance of your forehead, therefore we advise you to find an expert who will shape your face by placing strings of hair where they most flatter your looks. If your hair grows in a direction that completely opens your forehead and there are not many hairstyles you can wear, here are a couple of contouring tips that will help you achieve an illusion of a natural shadow.
It’s easy to make a wide forehead look more narrow with hair falling down the sides of your face and the same can be achieved with contouring. Place the contouring product on both sides of the forehead, blending it towards the centre of the forehead so that you get a nice gradient.
If your forehead is exposed at the hairline (this usually happens when the hairs grow towards the back of the head), use a cream contouring product like a dark concealer, foundation or a proper contouring stick, because it is easier to blend it into the hairline.
Powder contours on the other hand will stick to the greasy skin around the hairs and create muddy looking patches or won’t even stick at all. You can minimise that by washing your scalp with a shampoo for a greasy scalp or by using a more precise brush that will push the contouring powder close to the hairs. Because you will need to blend the product into the hair with a circling motion, flicking the hairs all around, do your hairstyle after you’ve applied all your makeup.