Hi, all. AnnaRose here again. I’m sure you all have seen the dramatic Instagram befores and afters of highlighting and contouring with concealers à la Kim Kardashian, and it seems pretty intense and intimidating. I wanted to show you guys a way to contour your face in a similar, but simpler, way.
For this technique you will need three concealers. I love the ones by NYX; they are affordable and come in a great variety of colors. You will need one that is your color, one slightly darker, and one slightly lighter (I usually try to go one or two shades in either direction, but not much more then that). 
1. Apply your base as you usually do (this could be tinted moisturizer, BB cream, or a light foundation).
2. Conceal any problem areas, like dark circles or blemishes. 
3. Find your cheekbone with your fingers, and apply three dots of the darker shade directly underneath. Do NOT make the fish face to find them; this will result in improper placement of the product (too low and too close to your mouth; this is a good rule of thumb no matter what contouring product you’re using). You can also dot it along your jawline and the top of your forehead for more sculpting. These places aren’t needed on everyone but if you feel like you want to define your jawline or make your forehead appear a little smaller, this is a great trick for that! 
4. Blend!! You can use your fingers or a brush; just blend, blend, blend! 
5. Dot the highlight color onto cheekbones, inner corners of eyes, bridge of nose, and cupid's bow. 
6. Blend!! Same as last time; just make sure you clean your fingers or brush off first so that you don’t muddy the colors. 
7. Check in some good light to make sure that everything is smoothly blended, and then set with a translucent powder. 
8. Finish with some blush to warm up the face; this step is the icing on the cake! 
I hope that broke it down enough for you guys. I love to do this to my face when I know I’m going to be photographed, because it really adds dimension. It does take a little bit of practice to get it down, but it's really simple once you get the hang of it. Always start light and build from there! Good luck! xo. AnnaRoseCredits// Author: AnnaRose Kern. Photography: Sarah Rhodes. Photos edited with A Beautiful Mess actions. If you use AnnaRosa's styling tips, feel free to tag her on Instagram or Twitter @theannarose.
74 Comments
Love this! Thank you for making the photos so easy to follow. I’ve watched video tutorials before, but they always lose me when it comes to how much of each color to put on. This is great!
Thanks for the tutorial! Laura-you have amazing natural beauty! Gorgeous without and with makeup!
I love this!
It looks so natural yet pretty!
http://fashionarababy.blogspot.com.es/
Can’t wait to try this out! So natural.
http://www.imaniqbal.blogspot.com
I’ve been wanting to try contouring, but never knew where to start. This is great; thanks!
Great tutorial, I’ll try out the concealers!
Jenna || Jennafifi.co.uk
Beautiful! So subtle, yet striking. Most of the tutorials out there are a little intense and intimidating, but your technique is great!
Question! What real techniques brush did you use for the concealer?
loooove this! And thank you for recommending products that are wallet friendly 🙂 especially if we need three shades of concealer haha.
This looks like real life photoshop! Amazing
x
Mieke
Check out my new post: http://nancy-mulhouse.blogspot.be/
This really does look very natural. I would love to know about the rest of Laura’s makeup, the blush and lip color are so pretty!
you look gorgeous! and I actually really needed this..I am always a little unsure about my placement so it was so good to have you clarify! thanks for sharing!
love, arielle
a simple elegance
I love contouring also! I usually do it with foundation, but I’ll have to give concealer a shot.
Ah, this is super pretty! Here’s hoping I can find something lighter though as I’m super pale, otherwise I’ll just use my regular highlighter if not. Thanks for this!
Gotta love a good contour! Great post! xxx Thou Shalt Not Covet
That looks really pretty! Great post, I loved reading it!
Thanks for the easy to follow instructions! I’ve tried contouring with concealers before…and now I want to try those nyx concealers 😉
http://everydayingrace.blogspot.ca/
you seem to be nice also without makeup
Wow you look so beautiful!
Fashion latte with vanilla
I was just thinking about this process this morning when I was putting my makeup on before work. This is AWESOME! It made it look so easy! I can’t wait to try.
Such an easy guide to follow! Can’t wait to try this simple technique. Thank you!
xx
battleskn.blogspot.com
Wow you make it look so easy. I’ve been trying to do this for so long but all the other how tos never actually tell you what to do. They just assume you can. I will be trying this as soon as I can.
http://lilhm.blogspot.co.uk
I have tried this before but now I realise I was using far too much (especially of the darker color). I will have to try with dots!
Thank you for sharing such a helpful makeup tutorial. Would you mind sharing specifically what shades/colors you used for the concealer, highlighter and blush?
Thank you kindly.
Amazing! I can’t wait to try this!
makeup is such art, it’s kind of crazy. i really need to learn how to do all this stuff, makes a gal look so polished (although i’m also a huge huge HUGE fan of the bare face).
You posted this at the most perfect time! I’ve been very curious as to how to do this correctly! Thanks soooo much for sharing!
This is SO great. Such a great step-by-step. And you look lovely!! Before AND After! 🙂
http://sometimesgracefully.com
This is extremely helpful! Thanks for a great tutorial, I always wondered how to correctly contour!
thank you so much for this tutorial! I am basically clueless and this helped a lot! 🙂
Oh the power of makeup! I love contouring! Thanks for the tips 🙂
Thanks for the tip! I may have to go check out the NYX concealers, I love that brand!
-Rae
raesayshey.blogspot.com
Laura is truly beautiful with or without makeup! 🙂 Thanks for those tips AnnaRose!!!! This type of contouring looks sok natural and great!
What a great tutorial! I wonder if you could talk about the advantages of contouring with concealer vs. powder bronzer and highlighter?
This is great and looks pretty easy! every other tutorial i’ve seen looks too caked with makeup!
Thank you definitely need all the help I can get with make up!
Great tutorial! I have similar coloring to model in this post. Can you please tell me what NYX shades you used to contour? Thanks!
This steps look easy, and affordable too…can’t wait to try!
xo
I feel like someone just told me I walk out of the house with toilet paper on my shoe… every. day.
I’m totally going to do this.
So stoked to try this! NYX is my absolute fave….better make a trip to Ulta!
Going to have to give this a try! Thanks doll!
xxx Laura
http://livingforthenow.com
You girls are all so gorgeous, you don’t need to put all that paint on your faces at your age. That stuff is so bad for your young skin!
great tips!
xxoo,
nikki
http://www.dream-in-neon.com
What color blush it that?
Hey! this was an amazing blog post and was really helpful! If you are looking for beauty/fitness/fashion/ advice or are a college student my Youtube Channel Redefining Reality might interest you.
It covers various topics to college for makeup, chats about life, all the way to general favorites of the month.
I just started and would love for to check it out if it sounds up your alley. :):)
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I love this tutorial! It would have been super helpful this past weekend for my sister’s wedding, but we managed. This is great for another time though!
xoxo
Taylor
Great tutorial! I haven’t gotten too into makeup, but this makes me want to start experimenting.
Warm regards,
Alexandra
http://www.littlewildheart.com
So pretty and helpful! I may or may not have thought you were supposed to use the fish face when contouring…
this is so silly, but whenever i’ve seen contouring tutorials on pinterest i’ve always wondered what to use — foundation? but concealer is so much less expensive to buy in a few colors. thanks!
Ah I really don’t like seeing the kim kardashian attempts at contouring… it’s like a mask. This is much more appealing for a natural look. thanks for sharing!
http://www.ohheyblog.com
You are lovely without make up!
Do you recommend doing this on a regular day? Or just for photoshoots? I love it and I’m just wondering if it’s just too heavy on the face. Like some products, such as MAC, their products are too heavy for an everyday use. Anyways, would love an input =)
the darker shade doesn’t look “slightly darker”…it looks drastically darker than her natural skin. i’m still scared to try it!
Really inspiring…! Thank you so much…!
It makes such a difference, what great tips!
I love simple makeup tricks! I need quick, simple ideas to up my look that I can accomplish before heading in to work and some tutorials on the web look like they would take me hours! Cannot wait to try this!
Love this. So easy and simple to follow!
Thank you for showing this in an easy to follow tutorial.
Beautiful
You look wonderful, before and after!
http://thebluerevolt.blogspot.co.uk
http://thebluerevolt.blogspot.co.uk
http://thebluerevolt.blogspot.co.uk
Looks good! x
http://www.thoughtsinstyle.com/
Great tips and absolutely beautiful!
Oh I’ll have to try this. I just can’t get contouring down.
I also love that she’s using affordable products that I can find at my local drug store! 🙂
x Sara from awildroseblog.com
What colors did you use of NYX? I have similar coloring to you and feel like I never buy the right shades to contour.
such a subtle difference, looks amazing. Im going to try this, I generally use powder for my contouring but im going to try doing it with liquid!
thanks
x
jess
http://www.mossandmink.com
Great tips I thought you had to buy all sorts of expensive make up for contouring!
Lauren
livinginaboxx
Love this! I’ve been trying this technique, but it always seems so complicated! I’ll have to try with the 3 dots for sure!
I love how natural and beautiful this contouring looks! I tend to contour with bronzing powder but I think I’ll have to try contouring with concealer now xxx
So beautiful! I also would love to know the lip color.
I’ve never before bothered with contouring but this makes it seem lazy-proof. Will definitely be giving it a go!
Really great! I’ll never do the fishface again for contouring. I’m absolutely IN LOVE with the result and need to try this.
best tips about contouring that i’ve found! much more natural!!
So pretty! What brand and shade of blush did you use?
I like this… not too much makeup. But clean
great tutorial! i’m pretty fair in skin tone similar to here – do you know which nyx colors were used ?