This is a good thing: contouring has come back. Not what you remember. There is no need to look very far on TikTok to see that contouring has come back from the dead.
In the early 2000s, people didn’t like the way their hair was sculpted and drawn on. Now it’s back. Strobing: (Do you remember that?) Baking) It has come back after a pandemic in which many people said they would never wear makeup again, but now it has come back. But the look isn’t what you think it is.
Makeup artists are now putting bronzer, blush, and highlighters on top of their foundation. This is called “under painting.” It’s been used by makeup artists for a long time to make people look “natural.” It starts with the color, and the foundation acts like a veil to make it look less bright. It can be called “soft sculpting” when it looks this way. You should choose lighter formulas, use less, and blend more.
With new contouring in mind, companies like Glossier and Undone Beauty have come up with water-light, creamy formulas that are easy to blend. Some examples Solar Paint, a textured bronzer from Glossier, is described as “almost whipped gel crème.” It can be applied with the fingertips. This is a good example. Undone’s Water Bronzer is a stick that is water-based and can be used to create a soft contour that blends in seamlessly.
After all, a lot of young women who may have seen heavy contouring in the past now try it for the first time.
At 26 years old, Madison Baber is a brand activation manager in San Antonio. Three months ago, she started contouring her face, and she says it looks great. He or she was influenced by people on TikTok, like Kylie Larson and Kensy Tillo. When they saw her For You page, they thought contouring looked “so easy and natural.”
This is what Ms. Baber said: “I saw how it could change your face but not make you look cakey.”
Fabiana Meléndez Ruiz, who is 26 years old, is also a novice. People who work in marketing say that “I’ve been contouring since September.” In 2015 and 2016, there was a lot of YouTube chaos about extreme contouring. I had never done it before.
Savanna Scott, who is the editor of the beauty review app Supergreat, said that seeing Madison Beer’s Vogue Beauty Secrets video changed her life. “She talks about how Charlotte Tilbury’s contour wand changed her life,” said Ms. Scott, 28, who is an influencer and a singer. It made me think, “I can do this.”
People who contour their faces can look very different, says Ms. Scott.
Kim Kardashian’s longtime make-up artist, Mario Dedivanovic, is on board with the once-unheard-of photo shoot method.
Mr. Dedivanovic said that “contour has changed to a more soft look.” A lot of people who are trying it out for the first time want it to be soft, easy to put on, and not as formal as possible.
He said the more scary contour looks of the past were meant for social media, YouTube, and bright lights.
The new trend of contouring has a lot to do with how much people love the 1990s right now. The OG supermodels of that time had well-defined cheekbones and strong jaw lines, but their look was more natural and less obvious than that of the early aughts, which was more obvious.
“Now that all the ’90s trends are making a comeback, the contour esthetic from that time is no exception,” Mr. Dedivanovic said. “But we’re seeing it more pared down for everyday use.”
Charlotte Tilbury is so in love with the contour look from the ’90s that she made a whole contour palette for it called the Nudegasm Face Palette.
Mrs. Tilbury said, “I started my career in the 1990s, where I was surrounded by goddesses and supers who knew that tone-on-tone color layering could make them more beautiful.” All the way from Cindy to Naomi and Kate to Linda, it was all about magic matte formulas that made the contour soft and blurred. That was the beauty philosophy of the ’90s, she said. You could play with light and shade to make your own features look better.
Some make-up artists say that the new trend of contouring came about because people were tired of the way social media images were filtered and altered.
“We’re moving away from using bronzers and highlighters to shape the angles of the face,” said Terri Bryant, a makeup artist and the founder of Guide Beauty, a line of makeup products designed for people who have trouble getting their hands on certain types of makeup. “I’m a big fan of getting back to makeup that’s all about celebrating and enhancing our features rather than changing them.”
For anyone who wants to get in on the trend, the new, lighter products are a good place to start. But how you use them is also important. Instead of bronzers, Ms. Bryant likes to use cream blushes in different shades to make her face look more symmetrical.
With the cheeks, she said. It’s a bigger space to work with and a good place to improve your blending skills. You can make your cheekbones stand out by adding a lighter, more colorful shade that draws in the light. It’s like shining a spotlight right on the thing. Using a matte color that is no more than one or two shades darker than your natural skin tone, apply it to the hollow area just below your cheekbone.
The darker shading makes that area look farther away, which makes the cheekbone above it look better.
Ms. Tilbury also tells people to think simply. Think of contouring as picking the parts of your body that you want to show off thru the use of light and shade, she said.
She says new products are to blame for the new look of contouring. Because of how formulas and looks have changed, “contouring has become less harsh and more modern.” Now, it’s all about a flattering contour. Finely milled powders that don’t get stuck in your lines and pores and creamy, lightweight formulas that make it easy to blend. ”
She told us to follow the hollow of the cheek, suck in our cheeks, nestle the brush into the hollow, and brush backward and forward.
Tilbury said, “Always remember to blend, blend, blend.”
