Radiant, glowy skin is definitely in, but there are a few guidelines you should pay attention to when wearing shimmery highlighters.
DO use highlighter in spots that catch light, and enhance your natural features: on cheekbones and temples, down the bridge of your nose, under brows, the inner corners of eyes, and above the cupid's bow.
DO keep your other makeup like foundation, blush and bronzer softly matte and shimmer free.
DO blend out highlighter with your fingers, a fan brush, or a damp makeup sponge after you've applied it. To avoid blobs of product and obvious makeup lines, make sure you blend any harsh edges of highlighter so it fades into the rest of your skin.
DON'T dust or blend highlighter all over your face. This is more E.T. than chic.
We all hear so much about the sculpting, enhancing, all-around transformative magic of contouring. Here's how to do it:
Step 1: Apply foundation all over your face to create a natural looking but seamless "canvas" for the contour.
Step 2: Start with the darker concealer shade at the top of your cheekbone and draw a line right to the apple of your cheek. Tip: Always apply your darker contour shade first and your highlighter/concealer shade second. It will give a more "lifted" and awake effect.
Step 3: Using that same concealer shade, draw a line along the jawline, starting from the top of your ear.
Step 4: Add depth and dimension to the forehead by outlining the forehead along the hairline, and connecting that line to the cheekbone. For an extra bronzed look, add a bit more color to the temples.
Step 5: Blend all of the contour lines into your skin with a beauty blender, making sure you PAT in color, as opposed to swiping it, to keep that opacity!
Step 6: Gently define the nose by drawing a line of contour on both sides, going all the way from the top of the bridge, close to the brow, down the tip. Gently pat in color with a beauty blender.
Step 7: Now use a lighter concealer shade to conceal dark circles and brighten the face. Add "lift" by drawing slightly upward tilted lines at the ends of the eyes, in between brows, down the bridge of the nose, and along the mid cheek. Add a pop of brightness on the outer corners of the nose, and a dot on the center chin. Then, blend!