Are you looking to upgrade your Instagram game face? Perhaps the very legacy of perfectly prepped selfies, contouring is the face shaping hack with magnetizing prowesswhich put simply, we can’t get enough of. And whilst a good workman never blames his tools, a worship worthy sculptured cheekbone is easier to achieve with a little help from your new friends below. It is time to strobe and structure, strictly never stripy.
![Best Mac Brushes For Contouring And Highlighting Best Mac Brushes For Contouring And Highlighting](http://www.painted-ladies.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/2-Minute-Beauty-Clinic-Brushes-For-Contouring-and-Highlighting-2.jpg)
Oval 6 Brush by MAC If you take your cue from professional makeup artists, properly polished looks are only achievable with a vast array of brushes. Yet a stroke of genius from MAC, means this multi-tasking Oval 6 Brush may be the only thing needed for heightened selfie inducing powers.
Mac 163 Contour FOUNDATION FLAT Brush. Foundation Brush: Buff on your favorite liquid For best results, apply with our new 164 Duo Fibre Curved Sculpting Brush, featuring a slightly curved, angled shape that naturally hugs the angles of your face for effortless highlighting and contour.
The dense fibres of the Oval 6 Brush stealthily stipple bronzer and blush, creating an airbrushed finish which can be used for both cheeks and eyes. The angular design allows the brush to shape-shift between the creation of chiseled cheekbones or for setting crease free eyeshadows! The brush will also flawlessly finish cream or liquid foundations!
A perfect precision instrument.we’re MAC for it! Sigma Beauty FO3 High Cheekbone Highlighter The Kimmy-K effect has caused an unprecedented make up trend, but not all have subscribed. So if you have ever raised an on fleek eyebrow at the time or effort which contouring requires, this product is for you.
The Sigma Beauty FO3 High Cheekbone Highlighter, eliminates the application of cakey layers and instead invites you to highlight what God gave you. After all, they say self-love is true love and your bone structure was designed perfectly for you! The brush boasts soft bristles which are designed to sweep highlighter or blush over the cheekbones, beautifully blending your products. The Surratt Artistique Highlight Brush A magician never reveals his secrets and if you have ever browsed the plethora of YouTube contouring tutorials, you may get the feeling you’re missing out on something. And you are, Choosing your weapons wisely when you want to execute a sharp contoured finish is paramount, to invest in the Surratt Artistique Highlight Brush. Designed by a makeup master, the brush will create an even finish when being used for base coverage, contour or to highlight.
Perfectly designed, the brush is easy to handle which aids the precise application of product. NB: Note that the brush is tapered towards the end, candle shaped if you like, this allows you to control how much blush or highlighter you are applying. Whilst misleading videos may promote large swathes of block color, a less is more mantra is preferable. Bobbi Brown Angled Face Brush “Where there is light, there must be shadow, where there is shadow, there must be light” As make up disciples, we love to spread a good news message and the Bobbi Brown Angled Face brush has definitely shown us the light Conquer coverage and control with this soft bristled brush. Cut on an angle the brush is ideal for highlighting the cheekbones, chin or forehead. What’s not to like? Now go spread the word!
This past week, I became fascinated with some of the looks created at New York Fashion Week, some of which used contouring rather than conventional blushes or bronzers. Here are some from Diane von Furstenberg: Another, same show: These were created with MAC Face & Body Sculpting Creams ($20 each). Although there are a few reviews of these online, there aren’t many so I thought I’d post a few random thoughts. Unlike some reviews you read on Cafe Makeup, this one will seem a little unfinished because I’m still learning. At the bottom at the post are a number of resources that I found helpful. MAC Sculpting Creams are a cream-to-powder finish, which means that these are creamy in the pot and dry to a powder. The lasting power is quite good, and the texture is very nice.
These act like foundations each with distinct undertones, some warm, some cool, one red-based, and one intriguing color called Coffee Walnut (which I don’t have). Like foundation, there are no detectable shimmery bits or glitter in these. All of the highlight/contour effect is done with color.
There are many alternatives to MAC’s Sculpting Creams, so I’m not necessarily recommending that you investigate these–for example, you could likely get a very similar effect by using darker shades of a full-coverage foundation. As an NC15/20 who runs warm, I tried a few shades:. Accentuate is a highlighter color (without any shimmer or shine). Naturally Defined is nearly my skin color.
When buffed into my skin, it runs from very subtle to almost invisible. Had I known how close it is to my own skintone, I would have skipped this one.
Pure Sculpture is the best “dark contour” shade for my skin tone. It runs very warm. Those with cool skin tones will find this looks quite orange on their skin. Richly Honed is a dark color with a red base. I was hoping to sheer this out, but I’m going to have to mix it with something emollient and clear. When I try to blend it out now, the product still seems too muddy and dark. MAC 163 brush is essentially a foundation brush that’s very stiff.
It’s great for placing products on my cheek. I was able to buff out the contours really well with it. However, I understand that some like using the product for placement only, and they buff it out with other brushes. Before this brush arrived, I used my, which worked remarkably well. Here are swatches of these shades: I’m still playing with these, but I’ve enjoyed the effect that these give. I don’t typically use blush with them, or maybe just a soft pink on the upper cheek.
The combination of Accentuate and Pure Sculpture has given me the best effect so far. Having said that, Pure Sculpture is quite warm even on my golden-toned skin. Pure Sculpture is in the same family as Chanel Bronze Universel in tone and color. I think that the same effect can be achieved using different tones of standard medium-to-full coverage foundations. Given that, I’m not sure you’ll want to invest in these MAC products (which I believe are limited edition).
Other products that might be fun to explore are the Tom Ford has a Shade and Illuminate palette ( by The Best Things in Beauty) that has gotten rave reviews. Helpful resources:. Goss Makeup Artist’s Contour tutorials on Youtube are and ( excellent, highly instructive, uses standard foundations). Allura Beauty’s Review of. The British Beauty Blogger’s review of. Makeup and Beauty Blog’s review of several products from. Dyno Pretty’s.
A negative review of the MAC’s 163 brush, as well as a review of the Sculpting Creams, is on Please follow us on. 15 Responses to “Sketchbook: Playing with Contouring and Highlighting”.