How To Contour for Your Features & Face Shape

Contouring is a big topic and has been for quite awhile. However, I’ve found that most people are just doing whatever they saw on Pinterest or maybe even copying their favorite Youtuber.But have you ever followed contouring instructions only to look in the mirror and feel like you look older? Or your face somehow looks longer? Rounder? Or something just seems “off“?

​Well, placement is everything. And it isn’t a one-size-fits all.

The reason? You’re trying to fit yourself to makeup instead of getting the makeup to fit you. If it doesn’t work with the features you have then of course things may not look exactly the way you hoped they would, or more importantly, the way they could.

When you know why you’re doing what you’re doing & how the principles of makeup work you’re going to get a result that enhances what you’ve got.

​You have to do what your features and face shape needs. So let’s learn how to do this!

I know that we’ve talked about color theory a few times before, but we’re going to keep going back to color theory because makeup application uses a lot of the same basic concepts that art does.

And what we need to understand is how the value of color can create visual illusions or effects. The value that you choose (aka the level of lightness or darkness) makes your eye see things in a very specific way. In general, darker values make things look smaller, retracted, sunk, etc. While lighter values make things appear larger, prominent, more forward, etc.

Contouring is basically adding/enhancing shadows on your face. These shadows can create the illusion of structure, and they can help create or minimize length/width. While highlighting is creating/enhancing the light or high points on your face which also creates structure and can create the illusion of length/width.

Ultimately, it’s a matter of understanding how those two congruently work together.

You will get a “softer” effect if you only use one. If you use both, the shadow and highlight will be bolder, or more dramatic.
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It’s also important to note that in addition to value of colors there’s also a scale of intensity (aka opacity). If you choose products that have some translucency to them then obviously the results will be less intense vs. using full coverage (opaque) products.

The bottom line is that there are softer versions (only using either a contour or highlight, or more translucent products) and stronger versions (using values that are on opposite ends of the spectrum; or using more opaque products).

Obviously, softer versions are going to give you a more natural look while stronger versions will really sculpt your face — even to the point of looking like someone completely different (just like how the amazing YUYA MIKA does). That’s the beauty of makeup artistry, it’s totally up to you!

​But you know I’m all about enhancing your natural beauty & keeping the focus on YOU not the makeup, so that’s what we’re going to cover here.

Alright, now that we know contour means adding shadow, while highlighting is adding light, we can start to talk about the placement of these two.

When it comes to placement there’s two things that you must pay attention to: your facial features and your face shape.

If you have a round face shape, but the feature of a tiny forehead, contouring the forehead area is going to make it look even smaller. Which, could make your face look really unbalanced because there would be a lot more emphasis on the width of the lower part of your face.

Therefore, you should always contour for features and use your face shape as a general map.

If you truly don’t have any features that need “special attention”, and you really fit the face shape dimensions nicely,  then you probably can just follow what that face shape needs when it comes to contouring and highlighting (we’ll cover that after we go over features).

When you have a transition face shape, any features that you need to draw attention to or away from, or even a pretty asymmetrical face then you really should just contour for your features.

I think that it would take forever to list out all the different sorts of “feature scenarios”, so let’s just go over the most common ones:

1. Enhance your cheekbones
2. Enhance or minimize jawline
3. Enhance or correct for your forehead
4. Enhance or correct the length of your face (aka create length / decrease length)
5. Enhance or correct the width of your face (aka create width / decrease width)

It’s important to note that no matter the highlight or contour, it is imperative that you blend really well! So while we may only be discussing placement & basic principles in this post don’t forget that pulling off a stronger contour or even contouring/highlighting a larger area really requires good blending.

As I mentioned earlier, when you use both contouring and highlighting together you are going to get a more dramatic effect because the contrast principle is coming into play. If you want a much softer look, you can either skip one or use colors that are closer in value.

If you’re fairer to medium in your complexion, you could skip highlighting and use a “shimmer” highlight product instead (FYI placement for that type of product is slightly different from the highlight placement I’m discussing in this post). If you have a deep complexion then skip the contour and go for the highlighting.

Highlight: The highlight needs to sit on the highest point of your cheekbone. For some people this area is small, for others it is a little larger. So be sure that you are paying attention to your own bone structure. You’ll also want to leave a small gap between the highlight and the contour. This is what I call the “blending zone”, where the two colors will merge together. As far as how far in you need to bring the highlight, refer to the face shape that you have (which is in the sections below). Also, you do not typically want to bring this all the way up to your eye as it can cause “raccoon eyes”; so leave some space there.

Contour: if you need to/ want to make your cheekbones appear a little higher you need to pay attention to the angle of your contour as well as the vertical placement.

If you “suck in your cheeks” to place your contour you are going to drop your cheekbones.
However, if you place it right where it begins to curve then you will be creating the visual effect of your cheekbones sitting higher.

Where the contour line typically stops is at the outer edge of the iris. Meaning, if you were to draw a vertical line from the outside of your iris down to your jawline, then this would indicate where you should stop when bringing that contour line inwards.

The angle that the contour is at is also important. Where you should “aim” is dependent on your face shape (check those out below). You essentially have three options: the bottom of the nose, in-between the bottom of the nose and your upper lip (pictured above), or the outer corner of the lip.

When it comes to your jawline you may want to enhance it (make it look stronger/more pronounced) or you may want to minimize it.

For Enhancing: Use highlighter to emphasize the back area of your jaw. Taper that highlight in towards your chin. It will typically need to stop at about the outside corner of your lips. Then use contour under your entire jawline and blend down into your neck.

For Minimizing: Use contour from your earlobe and taper down towards your chin. It will typically stop at about the outside corner of your lips. You essentially want the the back part of your jaw to be shaded. Skip highlighting this area, and instead use a highlight in the center of your chin to draw the eye to the middle of your face.

Foreheads can need quite the variety of enhancement or correction. So you may need to make a combo application in order to tackle what you personally need.

If you need to lengthen your forehead, you can do this by creating vertical lines that draw the eyes upwards. Place highlighter at the top of your forehead, as well as in the center. Keep these highlighted areas only as wide as the inner edge of your iris or maybe the center of your pupils (if you need a little bit of width as well). For the contour, keep it right on the side of your forehead. I realize that hairlines are typically curved, however, do what you can to keep the contour along more of a vertical line. Taper upwards (meaning the thickest part of the contour will be down by your temples).

When you need to shorten your forehead, add contour to the very top of your forehead and taper out towards the tail of your eyebrows. The further down (to the center of your forehead) that you bring this contour the shorter your forehead will appear.

If you need to widen your forehead, add highlight to the area just above the center of your eyebrows. Taper it out to about the outer edge of your iris. If you need more width go further. When creating the illusion of width you want to follow horizontal lines, or in other words, have the product occupy more horizontal space. Be careful about going too high, as this will create length. I typically recommend taking the highlight up to about the center of your forehead.

When you need to make your forehead more narrow, use contour on the sides of the forehead and only use the slimmest amount at the top of your forehead (skip altogether if you really need more height). The further in that you bring the contour on the sides, the more narrow the forehead will appear.

Much like you’ll see in the oblong face shape contour & highlight guidelines there are some basic principles to lengthen or shorten your face. If the top half of your face is balanced then you can use the highlight or contour only on the bottom half; or vice-versa.

When you want to make your face appear longer, you need to add a highlight to the very top of your hairline and the chin. Taper both outwards towards the outer edge of your iris. This will cause the eye to be drawn across the center of the face in a vertical way. In other words, it creates the illusion of length.

If you need to make your face appear shorter, then yes, you’ll do opposite! Add contour to the top of the forehead and the chin. Taper both outwards towards the outer edge of your iris. The shadow that the contour creates make the eye drawn to the area between the eyebrows (aka more in the center of the face); thus, the illusion of a shorter face.

If you’ve been following along you’ve probably noticed that we keep using the same principles over and over. And when it comes to the width of your face, the same basic concepts apply — it’s all about horizontal and vertical planes.

To Widen Your Face:
You’re looking for places that you can create horizontal lines with both your contour and/or your highlight. You really need to pay attention though because if you already have a wide forehead and then you place highlight in a way to also widen that area, the results will probably not be what you want. If you refer to the picture above, you can see that the contour across the forehead, the cheeks, and even the jaw line are more horizontally placed vs. vertically placed.

To Make Your Face Narrow:
Look for places that you can create vertical lines with both your contour and/or your highlight. You’ll want to keep the highlight confined to the center of your face, and the contour along the edges/sides of your face. The further in that you bring the contour, the slimmer your face will appear.

In a previous blog post we went over how to find your face shape, so we aren’t covering that part here. (So if you haven’t read that post yet, definitely go check it out first so you know which section will work best for you.)

As mentioned in the section above, maybe you don’t really have any features that need “special attention” in which case you’re a good candidate for following the basic guidelines of highlighting & contouring for your face shape.

I have to mention that there are multiple ways to contour a face shape. Some ways may try to make your face more “oval”. I don’t personally like to contour this way. I like to bring balance to the face shape, not try to make it something it’s not.

But again, it’s totally up to you with how you want to do it. You can still apply the principles from the sections above to make your face shape the way you like it.

Let’s go through each face shape…
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The main objective for your face shape is to minimize width and increase length.

Depending on your personal features you may also want to add a little more structure to your cheek bones to bring some “sharpness” to your naturally soft features. Remember, creating contrast is how you create balance.

Instructions:
​Keep your contour shade on the outer edges of your face. Stay away from the top of your forehead & your chin. For the lower part of your face, start at your hairline by your ear and bring the contour line either down towards your lip line OR down towards the chin for even more length (as pictured above). If you “aim” towards the lip line, I recommend that you stop at the point where a straight line down from the outer corner of the iris would fall.

But play with both and see which you prefer. I find that going all the way to the lip line can make some people look a little older than they are.

When it comes to highlighting, don’t extend it past your eyebrows. You want the light to be concentrated in the center of the face. On your forehead keep it in a triangle-ish shape. This will help create an illusion of the face being a little longer since the eye will be drawn upwards.

This face shape is typically pretty balanced. So the main objective is to contour for features. Do you need to minimize something? Enhance it? Want a squarer jaw? It’s all up to you. But most oval faces can use that basic “3” contour shape.

Instructions:
Contour the edges of your hairline, underneath your cheek bone, and under your jawline. The one thing you definitely need to be careful about is “sucking” in your cheeks to make your cheekbone contour. When you do this the shadow ends up being too low, which can really drop your cheekbones. So you want to place the contour shade right at the bottom of your cheekbone, just before the bone disappears (aka right above where that natural hollow is). Which means you will most likely need to place it higher than you think you should.

I recommend that you stop with the contour at about the point where a straight line down from the outer corner of the iris would fall — meaning don’t bring that darkness all the way to the corner of your lip.

Give it a try and see how it looks.

​When it comes to highlighting your face, be careful of creating a visual effect of vertical highlights as this will lengthen your face. So keep a soft highlight in the center of your forehead without bringing it up too high. On your cheeks, you can extend the highlight out to your temples and down to the corners of your nose. Add highlight to your chin and jawline to enhance both.

The main objective for this face shape is to minimize length and increase width.
You can do this by creating horizontal lines vs. vertical lines (for both your highlighter & contouring shades).

Instructions:
Contour at the top of your forehead and on the tip of your chin. This will make the face appear a little shorter. You can also contour on your cheek bones. Try to “aim” for the invisible line right below or at your nostrils (vs. aiming for the corner of your lips); and stop that line at the point where it would meet an invisible vertical line from the outside of your iris. This will create a horizontal-type of line and will help create an illusion of width.

When it comes to highlighting, you do want to keep the light in the center of your face. You can bring the highlight out further than most face shapes on your forehead. Keeping it lower and longer will again help bring width to your face. Along the top of your cheeks keep that highlight above your nostrils and elongated. Also add highlight to the back area where your jaw line starts but do not extend that past the outer corner of your eye. In other words, you want that highlight to bring the back part of your jaw forward to help create the illusion of width. And you can highlight your chin, but be careful not to go too low as we don’t want to interrupt the contour that is there; you may want to skip it all together.
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For the square face shape the main objective is to minimize width and increase length. Since you naturally have a more structured face you may want to be careful about making your face appear more angular. You can achieve this by “rounding” your contours & highlights, or more simply, keeping them soft and not using so much product so that you don’t end up with stark lines.

Instructions:
​​Keep your contour shade on the outer edges of your face. Stay away from the top of your forehead & your chin. Angle your cheek contour towards the invisible line between your nose and upper lip. OR angle it towards the corners of your mouth as this will help create the illusion of length. You will have to gauge how far in you can bring that line. The typical stopping point is at about the outside edge of your iris.

If you want to de-emphasize your jaw, trade out the highlight on the jaw for contour shade instead. Otherwise, you can add a soft highlight to the back area of your jawline to enhance the square shape.

Highlight the center of the forehead with a triangle-ish shape to draw the eye upwards. For the cheeks, try to keep the highlight concentrated in the center of your face. Do not extend it past the outside edge of your eyebrows. You can bring it down to the corners of your nose or even underneath your nose to create more vertical lines (meaning the highlight is taking up more vertical space vs. horizontal space). Add highlight to the chin to also create more length.

This face shape is typically pretty balanced. So the main objective is to contour for features. Do you need to minimize something? Enhance it? Want a slimmer jaw? It’s up to you to decide.

Instructions:
Keep the contour to the edges/sides of the face. The contour can be a little thicker on the sides of your forehead to help minimize width.

Contour the cheekbones but “aim” for the line between your nose and top lip (vs. the corners of your mouth); stop that contour line at about the outside edge of your iris. That way you do not make your face appear longer.
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Use contour to deemphasize your jaw by applying it on the back area of your jawline. It typically starts at the hairline by your ear and taper it towards your chin; stop at about the corner of your lips. If your jaw is not as square and prominent as Olivia’s then you can skip deemphasizing it.

For the highlight on your forehead be careful about bringing it too high (as that will also make your face appear longer). Keep it relatively center, and I like to use a “rounder” shape to add softness. Use highlighter across the tops of your cheeks but don’t bring it down past your nostrils, and you can extend it out to the end of your eyebrows or a little bit past that. I also like to add a little to the chin to help create a balance with the light in the face.

​The main objective for this face shape is to minimize length and increase width.
You can do this by creating horizontal lines vs. vertical lines (for both your highlighter & contouring shades).

Instructions:
Contour at the top of your forehead and on the tip of your chin. This will make the face appear a little shorter. You can also contour on your cheek bones to help bring a little more structure to your face. Try to “aim” for the invisible line right below or at your nostrils (vs. aiming for the corner of your lips); and stop that line at the point where it would meet an invisible vertical line from the outside of your iris. This will create a horizontal-type of line and will help create an illusion of width.

When it comes to highlighting, you do want to keep the light “low” in the center of your face while taking up more horizontal space. So, you can bring the highlight out further than most face shapes on your forehead. Keeping it lower and longer will again help bring width to your face.

​Along the top of your cheeks keep that highlight above your nostrils and extend it out towards your temples. Also add highlight to the back area where your jaw line starts but do not extend that past the outer corner of your eye. In other words, you want that highlight to bring forward the back part of your jaw to help create the illusion of width. And you can highlight your chin, use a sideways oval shape to add more horizontal lines.

This face shape is generally balanced. You may need to minimize a little height in your forehead and minimize the length of your chin. But you really need to pay attention to your individual features.

Instructions:
Contour the top of your hairline to help balance the natural taper from your cheek bones. Add the contour shade right at the bottom your cheekbone, just before the bone disappears (aka right above where that natural hollow is). Do not “suck in your cheeks” to place it. This will drop your cheekbones. In other words, the contour starts at the hairline, angles down towards the end of your nose, but stops at the outer edge of your iris. Keep it higher than the hollow, it will blend into it vs. blending down onto your jaw.

I also like to add contour under the jawline to enhance it. But if you don’t want a stronger jawline skip that.

For the highlight, really keep it to the center of your face. On your forehead do not go too high, nor is it a good idea to bring it past the inner corner of your iris. On your cheeks, keep the highlight “high & tight” so that you don’t make the apple of your cheeks look big. Only extend the highlight to the edge of your eyebrows and bring down to about the top of your nostrils.

Additionally, you can add highlight to the back part of your jaw to help create the illusion of a little more width in that area.

When it comes to the heart shape face, the main objective is to minimize the width of the forehead. You may also need to minimize the length of your defined chin.

Instructions:
​Contour across the top of the forehead, but particularly the sides of the forehead to help minimize the width. If you have a widows peak but not a “large” forehead, keep the contour on the side edges of the forehead and where the top of the hairline is curved, do not bring it down below the widow’s peak.

Use contour for your cheek bones, but do not “suck in your cheeks” this causes the shadow to be too low. You need to place the shade right on the lower part of the cheek bone, and “aim” for the invisible line between the bottom of your nose and your upper lip. Stop the contour at about the outer corner of your iris.

You can add a little bit of contour under your jaw to enhance it more. Also, place contour on the tip of your chin (be careful not to put too much on the front of your chin, you want to place it more on the tip).

When it comes to highlighting, on your forehead keep it centered just above your brows and do not extend it past the inner part of your iris. Use a rounded triangle shape.

For the highlight across your cheeks, you can extend it out towards the edges of your eyebrows. But be careful about bringing that highlight down past your nostrils, as this can make the apple’s of your cheeks appear fuller.

I like to add a sideways oval shape of highlight on the chin, and a little bit of highlight on the back part of the jaw to create an illusion of little more width in the lower part of the face.

Just like the heart shaped face, the main objective for the inverted triangle is to minimize the width of the forehead. You may also need to minimize the length of your defined chin. (It will depend on your individual features).

Instructions:
For the contour, add it to the sides of your forehead. If your forehead is shorter like Jessica Szhor, then do not apply the contour at the top center of your forehead. This will help keep height in the forehead while minimizing the width.

Contour your cheekbones by keeping the contour right on the bottom of your cheekbone. DO NOT “suck in” your cheeks to add it in the hallow. This can drop your cheekbones and make your face look a little gaunt. Instead, find right where the bone starts to curve and add it to the bottom of the bone. The contour should typically start from your hairline (by your ear) and bring it down towards the end of your nose, but stop the line at about the outside of your iris.

​If your chin is a bit long add a little contour to the very tip.

For your highlighting on your forehead keep it centered just above your brows and do not extend it past the inner edge of your iris. Use a rounded triangle shape.

When adding highlight across your cheeks, you can extend it out towards the edges of your eyebrows. But be careful about bringing that highlight down past your nostrils, as this can make your face appear slimmer and longer.

Add a round shape of highlight on the chin, and a little bit of highlight on the back part of the jaw to create an illusion of little more width in the lower part of the face.

​The main objective for the pear face shape is to minimize width in the jaw & fullness in the lower part of the face.

​Instructions:
Since your forehead is typically in balance there is no need to add any contouring to it. If you have fairer skin, you can add a bronzer for a sun-kissed look, but be very careful; it needs to be closer to the value of your foundation color. That way it adds a tan vs. a contour. 

Where you really want to add a contour is starting at your hairline, right on the bottom of your cheek bone, and bring it down towards your jawline, while also moving towards your chin.

The cheek bone contour should stop at about the outer corner of your iris and you’ll be angling towards the corner of your lips OR  the invisible line between the bottom of your nose and your upper lip.

For the contour that is filling in the fullness below your cheekbones, you’ll want to make sure that stops at about the outer corner of your lips. So if you drew an imaginary vertical line from the corner of your lips down to your jawline, that would be the stopping point.

When it comes to adding a highlight to your forehead you’ll want to keep it confined to the above center of your eyebrows. Do not extend it out past the inside corner of your iris, nor do you want to bring it too high. It probably could reach up to about the middle of your forehead.

For the highlight across your cheeks, you’ll want to keep this sort of “high & tight”. If you bring it down on the apple’s of your cheeks you will create more fullness. So instead, keep a sharper shape that sits on the high point of your cheeks, extends out towards your temples, but stops just above the curve of your nostrils.

​I like to add a little bit of highlight to the cupids bow as well as the chin to draw the eye to the center of the face.
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Much like the pear shape face, the main objective for the triangle face shape is to minimize width in the jaw & fullness in the lower part of the face. Since this face shape typically also has a defined chin the contouring is going to be a little different from the pear shaped face.

​Instructions:
Your forehead typically does not need any contouring as it is likely already balanced. If you have fairer skin, you can add a bronzer for a sun-kissed look, but be very careful that it is closer to the value of your foundation color. That way it adds a tan vs. a contour. 

Where you really want to add a contour is starting at your hairline, right on the bottom of your cheek bone, and bring it down & back towards your jaw bone. So you sort of end up with a sideways-triangle-shaped contour.

The cheek bone contour should stop at about the outer corner of your iris and you’ll be angling towards the invisible line which would be drawn horizontally from the bottom of your nose. From that point (aka the top of the sideways triangle), bring that contour back and down towards your jaw.

If you do have a defined or pointed chin add a little bit of contour to the very tip.

When it comes to adding a highlight to your forehead you’ll want to keep it confined to the above center of your eyebrows. Do not extend it out past the inside corner of your iris, nor do you want to bring it too high; only bring it up to about the middle of your forehead.

For the highlight across your cheeks, you’ll want to keep this concentrated in the center of your face. Highlight the area of your cheeks close to your nose and bring it down to the end of your nostrils. Taper this highlight out towards the outside edge of your brows, making the line thinner the further it extends.

​I like to add a little bit of highlight to the cupids bow as well as the center of the chin, to also help draw the eye to the center of the face. If your jawline tapers in to a more defined/pointed chin then you may want to add a little bit of highlight to the jawline area that starts at the outer corner of your iris and ends at the outer corner of your lips. This will help balance the “slender” illusion that is naturally occurring in that area.

I want to encourage you to “play” with your makeup. Test out the different placements to see which effect will serve you and your features best.

Remember, dark colors will make things appear retracted, whereas light colors make things appear more drawn out. We can use the contrast principle, and place light and dark next to each other to really create a dramatic effect.

Contouring is essentially adding shadows onto your face, while highlighting is adding light.

Since we’re all pretty unique, it’s always best to contour & highlight for your features and use your face shape as a general guideline.

Now, I’d love to hear from you: what was your biggest takeaway for your highlight and contour game? Answer in the comments below!

stay lovely,
xoxo

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