Face sculpting is an impressive technique that allows you to make absolutely any girl a model from the cover of a fashion magazine. Contouring, or contouring, as this technique is also called, is the latest trend in daily makeup. Now you can make a Hollywood make-up yourself at home. You just need to purchase tools and materials separately or a ready-made face sculpting kit and practice a little.
Determination of the shape of the face
Proper sculpting of the face begins with the definition of the initial data. Depending on the shape of the face, different schemes and techniques are used. By the way, if you decide on the shape of your face, it will be easier not only to apply great makeup, but also to choose the right clothes, jewelry, the perfect eyebrow shape and hairstyle. The face can be round, oval (this is considered stylisticallyuniversal, contouring schemes for all other types tend precisely to the visual formation of an oval), square, elongated, heart-shaped or triangular.
To determine the shape of the face, you will need a large mirror and a marker that is well washed off its surface, or lipstick. Put your hair in a ponytail and go to the mirror, straighten your back and straighten your shoulders, try not to express any emotions, your face should be relaxed. Looking straight ahead, trace the contour of your face as accurately as possible in the mirror. Ears and hair volume do not need to be taken into account. It is necessary to try not to move so that the contour is not smeared. Now move away from the mirror and evaluate the result.
Another way is more "mathematical", there is no need to determine the shape by eye. It is necessary to measure with a centimeter tape the width of the forehead, jaw and cheekbones in the widest part, as well as the vertical distance from the chin to the forehead. Compare indicators. Which line is the widest and which is narrow, how much longer the face is vertically than horizontally. Now you need to check the results with descriptions of face types:
- face width equals length - round or square;
- face height > width 1.5 times or more - elongated (such a face is also called rectangular);
- the width of the forehead, cheekbones and chin are equal - square or elongated (rectangular) face;
- forehead height > width less than 1.5 times - oval or heart-shaped;
- the width of the forehead and cheekbones is greater than the width of the chin - a triangular or heart-shaped face;
- cheekbones wider than forehead and chin - oval, round or diamond;
- The width of the chin is greater than the width of the cheekbones and forehead - a pear-shaped face or an inverted triangle (this is a very rare form).
For another method, only two measurements are needed: the height of the face divided by three (value A), and the distance from the tip of the chin to the base of the nose (value B). If A equals B, then you have an oval or, if the chin is sharp, heart-shaped face, if A is less than B, then it is a circle, triangle or rhombus, and if A is greater than B, then you have a square or elongated rectangular face.
Parameters may not fit into any of the above descriptions, and this is normal. All people are individual, and a face that is ideally suited to a certain shape is very rare. More often come across variants of the main types. You just need to decide which form is closest to yours and, perhaps, follow the recommendations selectively.
Makeup selection
Means for sculpting the face can be of various shapes and textures. Hard sticks are suitable for compact cosmetic bags: everything you need for full-fledged contouring is placed in a convenient double-sided pencil. Cream powder will give you a weightless coverage and will blend well, but will take longer to apply than a stick. In ready-made palettes, products are usually creamy, but thicker, so the foundation. For those who are still “on you” with makeup, it is better to choose powdery textures, and when you get used to it,you can go to cream.
You can buy a face sculpting palette, not several products separately. The ready-made kits contain all the necessary cosmetic products. Pay attention to these palettes:
- Eight NYX contouring shades in a powdery cream texture. It lasts for about 8 hours, and then it begins to gradually disappear without leaving streaks and dirty spots. Cost - 900 rubles.
- Powder-sculptor from "Loreal Paris". Suitable for beginners - the kit comes with instructions and a step-by-step description of the process of applying makeup. It stays on the skin for 4-5 hours. Cost - 1015 rubles.
- Pupa palette in matte and radiant textures is suitable for applying daily and evening make-up. The price of the palette is 1000 rubles.
- Shape your face palette saves space in your makeup bag, it's a blush, bronzer and highlighter at the same time. The products seem very bright, but they are not very pigmented, so they will be barely visible on the skin in one or two layers. Cost - 399 rubles.
- Palette from Sleek MakeUp for 710 rubles. Bronzing powder and highlighter are applied with a large angled brush. In some cases (depending on the natural color), products can even replace eyebrow shadows.
- Prime and fine two-tone palette by Ctrice. It is easy to apply and blend, there is a step-by-step instruction in pictures on the back of the package. The cost of the palette is 335 rubles.
- Eight shades from Makeup Revolution. Can't find your shade in this paletteimpossible. Brown-red is suitable for swarthy girls, pale pink perfectly hides wrinkles under the eyes, gray-brown perfectly highlights the cheekbones. Price - 940 rubles.
- Economical palette from Just Make Up. A small palette will last at least 6 months. In addition, the products are very persistent, they stay on the skin for up to 8 hours. Cost - 880 rubles.
- Manly Pro Palette. Only two universal shades will quickly mask all skin imperfections. Such a wonderful tool can be purchased for 1080 rubles.
- Correction Palette CoverAll. Green, purple, pale blue and orange correctors will help to “erase” traces of fatigue, brighten the skin, correct the oval of the face, and emphasize the cheekbones. The tool costs only 285 rubles.
Bronzer and highlighter shade
The right choice of shade is half the battle. When choosing a sculptor, you need to test the products only on your skin. The light shade should be one to two shades lighter than the foundation you normally use. To create a shadow, you need a shade one or two darker. When contouring the cheekbone area, the color of your own shadow is used, as when choosing a shade, you need to focus on the shadow areas of the face.
Owners of pale skin should not use products with an orange undertone or too dark sculptors, gray-brown is suitable as a dark shade. Dark skin needs a copper-bronze highlighter.
Face Sculpting Brush
To work with variousapplication techniques and textures require different tools. Sculpting the face is not complete without a fluffy brush with a beveled cut, which is used to apply blush and emphasize the cheekbones, evenly shade the product. Straight cut kabuki is used for blending cream or liquid cosmetic products, the use of such a brush will make contouring smooth, very expressive and long-lasting. A fan brush is useful for applying highlighter, for the same purpose, you should purchase a flat eyeshadow brush with a slightly pointed cut.
Contouring scheme
How to do face sculpting? The standard scheme is simple. It consists in highlighting some areas and darkening others. Before contouring, it is advisable to apply a make-up base, which will immediately improve the condition of the skin and increase the durability of the make-up. Contouring can be dry or oily. Dry sculpting of the face can become a stage of daily makeup, only dry products will be used in the process, that is, blush, shadows, powder. For oily creams, tonal foundations, highlighters and bronzers are used. This technique requires accuracy, skill, thorough shading and more time for application. The main rule of contouring is not to overdo it. Makeup should not be visible from afar, because the main goal is to create soft and refined, as natural facial contours as possible.
Work should start with the nose, then proceed to the cheekbones and forehead, last darken the lower part of the chin. A dark shade also darkens the septum between the nostrils, the area on the sides of the nose, the linecheekbones from the corner of the lips to the ear just under the bone, areas on the sides of the forehead and along the hairline. The back of the nose, the “tick” above the upper lip, the area under the eyebrows and the lower part of the cheekbones need a light pigment. The final stage is shading. You need to start with light areas, gradually moving towards dark ones. This face sculpting scheme is universal, but when applying makeup, it is better to rely on your own form, since each has its own characteristics.
Simulation of a round face
Sculpting the face (the shape of the face should already be clarified by this point, because the diagrams below are given with it in mind) the round shape requires the use of more dark shade on the cheekbones than in other cases. Bronzer should darken the sides of the cheeks, slightly narrowing the face, do not apply it on the chin and forehead.
With a highlighter, you need to highlight the bridge of the nose and the middle of the nose with a straight line to draw attention to the center of the face. Also make a triangle on the chin and highlight the inside of the cheeks. This will give a round face a more balanced, slightly elongated and aesthetic look.
Chubby girls should use blush very sparingly, there is a risk of overdoing it. It is enough to slightly highlight the cheeks just above the cheekbones. Blush should be applied in the form of a drop. You can generally refrain from applying them. Sculpting a round face doesn't always require blush.
Girls with this face shape will suit loose straight hair, asymmetrical haircut and side parting, and fromexcess volume and bouffant is better to refuse altogether. Eyebrows will look best short, with a high rise, and long ones will only add width.
Square face contouring
Sculpting a square-shaped face aims to soften the jawline and darken hard lines. A dark shade should be applied at the temples, along the hairline, to align and lengthen the nose. The chin does not need to be darkened, but on the cheekbones it is enough to draw light lines from the middle of the ear.
With the help of a highlighter, you can highlight the chin, forehead, area under the eyes, which will make the look open and clear. But it should be remembered that a square face requires a minimum amount of light shade when contouring. You need to highlight areas with extreme care to avoid the effect of the mask and maintain naturalness.
Blush should be applied from the edge of the cheekbones down to the intersection with the central point of the eye. This will soften the square shape of the face, but keep the natural proportions.
Square faces will benefit from long straight hair, soft bangs with asymmetry, rounded curls and curls on the sides of the face, hairstyles with soft lines and color transitions. Eyebrows should be rounded.
Sculpting an oval face
Any contouring tends to visually create an oval face, as this is a stylistically ideal shape with balanced proportions. Happy owners of an oval face can use the standard sculpting scheme. You just need to avoidvisual lengthening when highlighting the line of the cheekbones with a dark shade.
Reviews of oval-shaped face sculpting confirm that such girls mastered the technique the fastest. They do not need to independently think about which areas are best to lighten and which need to be darkened. It is enough to use the standard scheme to achieve the perfect result.
Girls with an oval face can experiment with make-up, clothes (unless, of course, the figure allows) and hairdo. But of course, you need to do all this within reason.
Heart-shaped face
A heart-shaped face naturally has more cheekbones, so cheekbones shouldn't be too prominent. You just need a little bronzer from about the middle of the ear and not reaching the corner of the mouth, it is desirable to highlight the whiskey with a dark shade. It is important to maintain a visual balance between the temples and cheekbones. Dark lines in the lower part of the face are generally best avoided. You can darken the corners of the nose and a small area under its tip.
Highlighter should highlight the area under the eyes, chin and the center line of the nose. On the forehead, it must be used with caution, otherwise you can weigh down the upper part of the face. Blush is applied to a heart-shaped face along the line of the bronzer, at an angle to the chin.
Triangular face contouring
Sculpting a triangular shaped face requires applying more dark tint on the chin. You need to balance it with the rest of the face. The line at the hair growth should also be darkened.and wings of the nose. But you need to highlight the nose very carefully. A light shade is best applied above the eyebrows, under the eyes and only slightly extend the line under the nose.
By the way, the owners of a triangular face usually have expressive eyes. Eyebrows fit arched rounded, so they will distract attention from the chin.
The blush on a triangular face should be light, blush should be applied in the most straight lines towards the nose. The main thing to remember is that the blush application lines should never repeat the triangle, as this will only overload the face.
As for hairstyles, the same ones as girls with a heart-shaped face will do. These are oblique or straight bangs, an asymmetrical bob, hair of any length, but rounded to the chin, hairstyles with volume below the cheekbones (and ideally at the level of the chin).
Elongated face modeling
Step-by-step sculpting of a rectangular (elongated) face:
- Darken the bottom of the chin to reduce length.
- For the same purpose, apply the bronzer with a wider line along the hair growth from temple to temple.
- Slightly highlight the cheekbones with horizontal lines.
- Darken the nose, but only up to half the bridge of the nose.
- Highlighter highlight the area under the eyes, just lightly touch the space between the eyebrows and the bridge of the nose.
- On the chin, highlight the line under the lip, stretch it wide.
- Apply blush with straight, wide lines towards the nose.
Curls will fit along the contour of the face, which is a littlesoften sharp features, thick bangs to the eyebrows, curls around the cheekbones. It is better to give the eyebrows a horizontal shape.
The face before and after sculpting is very different. Look only at the photos that are presented in the article. This technique is definitely worth learning, especially since contouring is not as difficult as it seems. You just need to follow the schemes, take into account the individual characteristics of the face and choose the right shades of makeup.
