Highlighting and Contouring, So You Can Have Glowing Skin All Year Long-

     During Fall & Winter months it's easy to neglect our skin, which can cause dullness. One way to work around having "dull" skin all winter long is by highlighting and contouring. This is a quick and effective way to have glowing skin all winter long! All you need is:

Highlight areas like cheekbones, cupids bow,
bridge of nose, brow bone and inner corner
the eye. Contour areas around the nose,
under cheekbones, around hairline
and chin.

• Eyeshadow or highlighter one shade lighter than your skin, I used Petal Essence Illumination Single Eye Color by Aveda
• Bronzer or warm brown eyeshadow 1-2 shades darker than your skin, I used Brazilian Sun Uruku Bronzer by Aveda
• Medium sized blending brush, I used this one from Sephora
• Kabuki brush, here's the one I used from Aveda

We'll start with a simple guide of where to highlight and where to contour. This can change depending on your face and eye shape, bone structure and skin type. So take into consideration what highlighting and contouring do first. Anywhere you apply your highlight is going to bring the area out and enhance raised areas on the face where light naturally hits (tops of cheeks, cupids bow, bridge of nose, etc.) Contouring is using a darker color or bronzer to further darken natural shadows giving a more angular defined appearance, think you don't have cheekbones? Think again.

This is me with my base foundation, eyebrows filled in & ONLY a highlight applied.

You can see my cheekbones, cupids bow, brow bone, the bridge of my nose and forehead are catching and reflecting more light than the rest of my face. 

Now I've gone through and added my contour under my cheekbones and around my nose and chin. You can see what a dramatic effect it gives. Blending and working in small areas is key in contouring, that's why I recommend using an eyeshadow blending brush for working in small areas like around the nose.

Some different lighting so you can see the difference
natural vs. artificial lighting makes.

Highlighting and contouring can be your secret to glowing skin all Winter long, and it's a lot easier than you may have thought! You don't have to have Kim Kardashians makeup artist to highlight and contour, as a matter of fact I bet you have everything you need in your makeup bag right now! So don't be intimidated by this simple technique, give it a go!

xo.