It can either be applied in the hollows of the cheeks to contour or along the cheekbones as a blush. Tarte Exposed - Link!This is a matte nude shade with a brown cool slight grey undertone, making it ideal to use a a subtle contour/blush shade. This blush is perfect to wear along the cheekbones to add a warm dusty rose glow. This blush is really pigmented and has a very soft slightly powdery texture, however as long as you tap the excess off the brush before you apply, it isn't an issue. I like to use Nars Doucer along the cheekbones to warm the look up a little after I've contoured with this shade.īenefit Dallas - Link! This is a dusty rose blush with a brown undertone, it has sliver micro shimmer through it. This is an ideal blush for contouring as its cool tone helps to create shadows on the face.
It has a tiny amount glitter in the pan, however the glitter doesn't transfer to the skin when applied.
NYX Taupe- Link!This is a very subtle cool toned mauve blush. Check out my Instagram here to see what this blush looks like when applied. I like to wear this along my cheekbones as the gold sheen in the blush provides a beautiful highlight. This shade is slightly more pigmented than Doucer - it again wears evenly and lasts about 9 hours. when applied it leaves a golden sheen on the skin. Nars Sin- Link!This is a plum toned blush with tiny finely milled micro-glitter through it. Sadly I've heard it's being discontinued so I'd grab it while you still can! Check out my previous post here where I created a look using this blush.
It has decent pigmentation and is very buildable, applies evenly and is long wearing (it lasts about 9 hours on me). You can see the shimmer in the pan - however it doesn't seem to transfer to the face when applied, making it ideal to use as a very subtle contour. Nars Doucer - Link!This blush is probably my favourite out of the bunch, it has a brown undertone with a subtle pink hue as well as a very small amount of shimmer through it. They provide a subtle amount colour while at the same time giving some subtle definition to my face. You will see a running theme in this post as they are all earthy shades with either brown/tan or grey/mauve undertones.
I have been using them all for years now, They are definitely all firm favourites. I have chosen eight shades in total.They range from budget friendly to high end options. Bottom left: Benefit Dallas, Nars SinĪt this time of year I love to wear dusty, earth toned blushes.
Middle left: Nars Doucer, MAC Blush Baby, We've rounded up the very best contour kits, so you can sculpt, chisel and shape to your heart's content.From top left: NYX Taupe, MAC Tenderling, MAC Harmony. So, which are worth investing in? Let us fill you in. Her top tip is to always find the right shade (using the wrong one is a common mistake), and to get to know your face by studying its angles, 'applying the contour where the natural shadow falls under your cheekbone.'įrom creams to powders, there's a contour product in almost every beauty collection these days – but some are inevitably better than others. Lori Woodhouse, Education Director at Tom Ford Beauty perfectly sums up why a good contour kit makes such a big difference: 'Contouring amplifies your natural beauty and helps to enhance the bone structure, finding balance and symmetry.' Recent years might have brought a backlash over the paint-by-numbers nature of the Instagram Face, but there's still a way to contour that flatters (rather than changes) your individual features. Today, it seems no make-up bag is complete without the right contour kit to create those killer cheekbones. Contouring – the art of using light and shade to strategically shift the angles of your face – is a technique coined by the drag scene and brought into the mainstream by the likes of make-up artists Mario Dedivanovic and Charlotte Tilbury (not to mention a certain Kardashian).