Highlight & Shade - Contouring

Contouring 

"The term 'corrective make-up' also includes the use of highlight & shading perhaps the most important skill in the make-up artist repertoire" 1

Highlighting is using a shade lighter then the base to bring out an area to make the feature being highlighted stand out. For example bringing out dark eyes that appear sunken in or to be used on the apple of the cheek to create a higher bone structure.

Shading is the opposite to highlighting which means blending a shade darker then the base in order to 'diminish'2 a feature. For example a large chin could be made to appear smaller by shading the area Or shading the temples will make the face appear smaller. 

Essentially highlighting and shading can be used to change the structure of the face. This process of contouring can enhance a bone structure or give the appearance that the model has a good bone structure. 

      

Kim Kardashian - Pre Blended Contour 3

I think I can easily label Kim Kardashian the Queen of Contouring! Here she has posted on her Instagram sharing how she achieves such a well structured look. I think this really kicked started the contouring craze that is all around us at the moment making the principle of highlight & shading even more essential to know!  

In Kims post you can see the areas clearly that are to be highlighted whilst nearly all of the rest of her face has been shaded in a dark brown much darker then her natural base. Her face in this post appears extremely small and well defined. Its also important for me to point out that although she is using shades that are far lighter and far darker to contour they are both still in the same shade!  This is important to keep it looking natural and healthy. 

In Todays session I have used the principle of Highlighting & Shading to achieve a well defined look on my model. 

Before 

My Pre Blended Shading 

To begin with I created the base using Le Maquillage Light Foundation Palette  This was enough to tone down the redness and blemishes without having to use a concealer. Also because I was aiming to achieve a relatively light coverage. This pallet worked really well I feel it gave a great coverage but because its slightly heavy I did use a mixing medium to loosen up the foundation to help me achieve the lighter coverage that I intended for this look. My model had some darkness under her eyes, I used pink to counteract these grey shadows. Using D32 from the Kryolan - Derma Colour Camouflage Palette. 

After applying the base I started the contour by creating the darker colour for the shading. To keep the colour within the same skin tone as my model I added a dark brown from the medium Le Maquillage Medium Foundation Palette making sure the brown was of the same cool skin tone as my model I tested this on the back of my hand against the other dark brown just to make sure I was picking the cool brown. I find this the best way to identify the right colour as you can see the tone a lot more clearly then when its in the pallet. 

On the back of my hand I mixed the brown with the base to make it slightly lighter the shade I created is shown in the pre blended example photo. I think this was a great match for my model and the colours I chose were all harmonious. 

Before applying the shading I spent some time assessing my models face in the mirror. I think it really helps me to identify the areas that are already naturally shaded. 

I used a angle brush to apply my pre blended lines. I did have some difficulty getting both sides exactly accurate and on one side the shading under the cheekbone towards the end became too high. I was able to brush this mistake off using a clean brush and toning down with the base from then on I used the mirror a lot to help me match up. I realised how important it is to stand back and keep looking at the models face. 

To blend in the shading I used a rounded eye shadow brush and then went over with my foundation brush to tone down and perfect the shape of any shading I applied.  I have slimmed the nose, defined the cheek bones and shaded the chin and the temple area to create a smaller face. 

Highlight & Shaded

For the highlight I added pure white from my Kryolan Super Colour Palette to my base on the back of my hand. I choose this to create my highlight colour because my models skin was very porcelain and the highlighters I had to choose from were slightly to warm for my model. I think adding the white worked perfectly fine. I have highlighted the cheeks and under eye, the front of the nose for a slimming effect. I have also highlighted the top lip so they appear slightly bigger. 

To complete the look I have applied some eye shadow all though this was not in our brief. 

Bibliography 

1.Delamar, P. (2003). The complete make-up artist. Evanston, Ill.: Northwestern University Press. page 39

2.  Delamar, P. (2003). The complete make-up artist. Evanston, Ill.: Northwestern University Press.

3. Mail Online, (2014). Video tutorials show amazing transformations using contouring makeup. [online] Available at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2591602/From-plain-Jane-glamazon-Video-tutorials-amazing-transformations-using-just-contouring-end-looking-like-Kim-Kardashian.html