Contouring is the New Photoshop! #NoFilter

Because you can't always walk into a room with Photoshop, there are many things you can do to make sure you always look picture perfect! Sculpting your face without surgery, is simple to do if you understand how and what products to use. You literally can transform your face with this magical illusion.

Until recently this maneuver was reserved for A listers who could afford celebrity makeup artists who have long understood the purpose of doing so, but there's no reason that the rest of us need be kept in the dark. I wrote about how to DIY in my book by using your face shape as a guide with a specific tutorial. If you want to fine tune your skills as per your face shape check out Chapter 6 of Face This: Real Advice from Real Models available for only $7.99 {HERE}, not to mention all the  great photo and posing tricks you will learn.

But basically the concept is simple. An oval face shape is what you are trying to emulate, so you want to contour areas outside of a centered oval. Contouring will make areas recede. So, if you have a square jaw you will want to contour your jaw line more, if you have a high forehead you will want to contour the top of your hairline more.

You don't need to go out and buy any special product to highlight, anything that is 1-2 shades lighter than your foundation will work, for example Loreal's true match makeup works and concealer is great too which you usually buy lighter than your foundation, but my favorite product is YSL's Touche Eclat. Anything that is light, sheer and shimmery will do the job! 

For contouring, anything darker than your normal skin tone is perfect whether it be a bronzing powder or cream/liquid. But for contour be sure it is not shimmery - you are trying to create shadows here and not draw attract the light. The biggest secret to getting it right - BLEND, BLEND, BLEND!

For your nose: If you have a wide nose, contour the sides. Highlight down the center of your nose - the slimmer the line the more narrow your nose will look. If it's long, contour the tip. 

For cheeks: Apply your blush beginning at the apple of your cheek and sweep upward toward your temples. Highlight above and contour below in the hollow - underneath your cheek bone. Make the fish face to know exactly where this is.

Highlighting the center of your face brings out that ideal oval shape . 

Always contour your neck. This will give you a stronger jaw line, which becomes more critical as you age because skin sags here first. 

My favorite place to highlight that most people forget is the clavicle! The product I find easiest to use here is the same one I use on top of my cheekbones to brighten underneath my eyes:  Smashbox Photo-op.  Makeup artists use this to bring life to model's eyes when the call time is 5am!