How to Choose Your Contour Shade
When contouring your face, finding the right shade is an essential part of the process. You want to create an even, balanced balance of cool and warm undertones. There are different ways to contour your face. For example, you can use powder or cream. You can also use concealer or foundation sticks. Here are some tips for choosing the right shade. Also, don’t forget to use a blending tool for a more natural look.
Cream contouring
Depending on the shape of your face, contouring your face with a cream makeup product is an easy way to add shape and definition to your face. Baribeau says that you should contour your face in natural areas, such as the temple and forehead. There are a variety of tutorials online that can help you choose the best contouring method for your face.
Both powder and cream contour products are made to sculpt and enhance the shape of your face. Both have their benefits and drawbacks. The former is better if you want a dewy look while powder offers a more defined matte finish. Regardless of which method you choose, use a brush that is flat and dense.
Powder contouring
When contouring, it’s important to choose the right formula for your skin tone. A powder formula is often lightweight and gives the most natural-looking contour. Choosing the right shade depends on the texture of your skin and how sharp you want your cheekbones to appear.
It’s important to choose a shade that’s cool-toned. While you can use any brown or black powder for your face, you want to avoid ones with shimmer and red tones. These products reflect light, and you don’t want your skin to appear overly warm or dark.
Cool undertones create sharp shadows
The undertone of skin is not always readily apparent at first glance. But knowing your undertones will make color matching much easier. You can test your skin’s undertone by using a white t-shirt or a piece of white paper. A cool undertone will create sharp shadows, while a warm undertone will create softer shadows.
Undertones are different shades that are common to different skin colors. If you’re fair-skinned, your undertones will be warmer than those of a dark-skinned person. Similarly, if your skin is yellowish or orange-red, your undertone will be cooler than your skin’s.
If you have cool undertones, you can wear gray eye shadow, while a warm-toned person can wear bright, jewel-toned colors. Choose colors that blend well with your undertones and avoid colors that will turn your skin too pale. For example, a fair-skinned person should stick with soft pinks and pastel pinks, while someone with a warm undertone should avoid bright purples and burgundy.
Avoid warm undertones
To determine your contour shade, think about your skin’s undertones. Your skin can have warm or cool undertones. When determining your undertone, look for the veins beneath your skin. Veins that look green or blue are generally an indication of warm undertones. Similarly, veins on your forearm can be a sign of cool undertones.
While contouring, avoid contour shades that have warm undertones. These will make your face look muddy or orange, while those with cool undertones will look cool and chiseled. Instead, look for contour shades with cool undertones, as these will make your facial bone structure stand out and highlight your cheekbones.
Your skin tone and undertones can vary greatly. For a neutral complexion, you should select a shade one or two shades lighter than your skin tone. This will make your contour shade blend seamlessly with your skin and avoid looking too harsh.
Find the right balance of tones for a believable contour
Choosing the right contour shade is a complex process. It requires choosing a shade that has a good balance of cool and warm undertones. You may also want to purchase a highlight product to complete the look. Often, a palette will include both. When choosing a contour shade, you will also need to find the shade that compliments your skin tone.
Skin tones are incredibly varied, so it’s imperative to choose a color that complements your natural skin tone. If you have a fair complexion, try a taupe or neutral shade that leans cool. For those with a tan or olive complexion, choose a warm shade that is warmer. If your skin is darker than fair, you may want to stick with a neutral shade with the right balance of red and blue undertones.
Blending tools can enhance your look
Blending tools are an effective way to create a more natural, polished look. They can also be used to create three-dimensional effects. By using a lighter hand, you can create more subtle transitions between different colors, which will give you a more rounded overall look. Using a harder hand, however, will result in color blocks that look awkward.
You can use the Blend Modes tool to adjust the intensity of different colors and tonal effects in Photoshop. This tool is especially helpful if you’re trying to make a high contrast effect look natural. Another useful tool is the Tint tool, which will change the color of the active layer.
When you want to blend colors, you can also use the Smudge tool to create a more natural look. This tool blends colors by starting at the shadow color and blending out into the light or dark color. This is useful for blending complementary colors and analogous colors, which are opposites of each other on the color wheel. Other blending tools include the Gaussian blur tool, which blurs the entire layer, or just the part where the pencil is drawn.
Conclusion
When applying contour makeup, it’s critical to find the right shade. Whether you have fair skin or dark skin, a contour color should complement the undertone of your skin. Light shades are best for fair to medium skin, while darker colors are more forgiving. Using the same contour color on both the cheeks and face will produce different results.
If you want to make sure that your contour is perfect, choose a shade two or three shades darker than your skin tone. Remember to stay within the same undertone family, as dark contour may make your face look unnatural. If your skin is super pale, stay away from super-dark colors, which are too harsh on the skin. Instead, go for a taupe-colored contour. You can also opt for drugstore dupes like NYX Cosmetics Powder Blush in Taupe. To make sure that your contour looks seamless, use a damp Beauty Blender to blend the color into your skin.
