How to Blend Contour: 5 Tips for Blending Contour
Feb 22, 2019
When it comes to beauty, the most common questions asked are usually related to contouring: “What are the best contouring products?”, “How do I contour?”, “How do I blend my contour?”, “How do I make my contour look more natural” Here, we’re sharing 5 tips for blending contour.
Image: Nudestix x Urban Outfitters
Apply a Cream Contour Before Applying Foundation
If you’re prone to overdoing it with the contour, or find that it often just doesn’t blend over the top of your foundation, try using a cream or liquid contouring product and apply it prior to your foundation. Blend it into the skin and then apply a light layer of foundation over the top. This will help to soften the colour, give a more seamless finish and ensure that the colour better suits your skintone, removing any overly warm or overly cool tones.
Image: Benefit Cosmetics
Use a Sheer Product
Contouring creams and powders can often be very heavily pigmented and therefore very easy to make a mess of. Using a product that is sheer and easily blendable (like a gel) can be a fantastic option for beginners or those not overly confident with contouring. A sheer formula with less pigment will blend easier into the skin, ultimately looking more natural and making for much easier blending! For absolute ease choose a contour stick which can be applied directly onto the skin and then blended with a brush or your fingertips.
Try: Illamasqua Gel Sculpt in Silhouette, Benefit Hoola Contour Stick
Image: Makeup Tips Digital
Choose Your Tools
There are hundreds of different brushes and tools on the market for applying and blending makeup. When it comes to blending contour, picking the right tool to blend is essential. For the ultimate blend try a duo fibre stippling brush (which contain a mix of natural and synthetic hairs) This style of brush picks up a lot of product making it perfect for blending and softening both cream and powder contours (use a clean brush to blend and work in small circular motions for the best results) Other great options include a square, flat contouring brush (these are often wide and fluffy, and designed to sit perfectly underneath the cheekbones) a flat top kabuki brush (great for blending in cream contours) or a blending sponge (such as a beauty blender, which are likely to absorb some product so you’re less likely to go overboard!) Although there are many different brushes and tools for blending, your fingertips can often be one of the very best tools in your makeup kit! Using your fingers to blend cream, liquid, and gel contours can allow the product to better blend into the skin. The warmth of your fingertips will help to blend the product into the skin and “melt” and “mold” with the other layers of your makeup, creating a more natural look.
Image: Dior Beauty
Use your Foundation Brush
If you’ve used a brush to apply your foundation, don’t knock it straight into the brush wash pile. After applying a cream or liquid contour take the same brush you used with your foundation and use it to buff and blend the product seamlessly into the skin. The light amount of foundation left on your makeup brush will combine and melt in with the contour shade, softening the intensity and giving it a more skin like finish.
Image: Dior Beauty
Blend With a Finishing Powder
If you prefer powder contouring, you may find that blending can be a little more difficult depending on the product you are using. The brush you are using to apply the product will also play a major factor into how the product sits on the skin. If you’re finding your contour just won’t budge, no matter how hard you try, take a slightly fluffy powder brush with a small amount of sheer (or translucent) matte powder and gently buff over the contouring powder, this will help to soften any harsh lines and create a more seamless effect.
Photography by: Courtesy of: Benefit Cosmetics, Dior Beauty, Nudestix
