"Working With What You Have"

Facial Contouring

Part Two: Dark Contouring

By Andrea York
Licensed Cosmetologist
© 1995 Andrea York and Transgender Forum

Now that you've had a chance to digest and hopefully work on your face shape and highlighting aspects, we will zero in on the areas that you would rather not see, or at least, tone down. To accomplish this you must use a dark brown fleshy colour powder called your contour powder.

Contour powders accomplish two tasks at the same time. They give the illusion of flattening out an area and they make adjacent areas seem to protrude or come forward. So remember, when you are trying to make an area recede, the area next to it will also be affected

While the focus here is on two kinds of faces often found in this community, anyone can benefit from the basic principles outlined below. Let's get on to specifics:

LONG FACE

Shorten: Apply your contour powder under the point of the chin and along the entire jawline. This will soften it up and make it seem like your chin is receding

Add Width: Apply highlighter to the temples following the line down and around to directly on top of your cheekbones. This will widen the face as well as bring out the cheekbones.

Define cheekbones: Apply contour powder directly underneath your cheekbone ledge. This will give the illusion that the cheekbones are prominent.

A little side note here. Please be sure to put your highlight and contour colours EXACTLY where I specify because if you apply them incorrectly, you will achieve the opposite effect of what you're trying to accomplish!

FULL FACE

Streamline: Apply dark contour from the temples all the way down the length of the face to the jaw line. Widen your stroke slightly when you reach the cheek area (see diagram). This will give the illusion of cutting the face in half as it will appear much thinner and sleeker.

One more little pointer: I can't stress enough the importance of blending your colours well. If you don't you will look like your face is dirty or shiny or just strange. So please, take the time to dust lightly with a translucent powder after applying highlighter or contour powder.

Some additional tips:

  1. Apply contour powder in the crease of the eyelid if you want to minimize puffiness or excess skin or if you want the eyes to look deepset (bedroom eyes)
  2. Apply contour powder under the end of the nose to help shorten a long nose. (Be very exact when applying this)
  3. Apply contour powder along the sides of the nostrils to slim a wide nose.
  4. Apply contour powder under the jaw following the jawline down the neck. This will help with a double chin.

Apply these colors with a very light touch otherwise you run the risk of moving them away from the area you originally placed them in.

The contouring and highlighting parts of the make-up process are two of the most difficult aspects when learning technique. Don't fret. With persistance and a good eye you will eventually get the look you desire. Trust me, after a while you will be so adept and quick at this you won't believe you ever struggled.

Next column we will be focusing on foundation and coverage. Stay tuned because "color" will be coming shortly after that!


For further information of makeup techniques read Andrea's previous columns:

Andrea York is a well-known Licensed Cosmetologist and Make-Up Artist in New York City. She is highly respected, and has made both men and women look superb for over twelve years. Andrea launched her own cosmetics line in 1986, after finding that high quality, reasonably priced products were scarce. She has helped many transgender clients achieve the exact look which they had sought but found unattainable without her expertise.

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