Fashion magazines often dispense beauty advice as if all women's faces are made from the same mold. Fortunately, they're not. When applying makeup, you should learn to compliment the exact shape of your face - whether it be round, oval, rectangular, square, diamond or pear. These techniques will help to enhance your best features for your unique face shape.
Simply find below that best match for the shape of your face. If you are unsure what your exact face shape is, stand facing a wall mirror within arm's reach and carefully trace the refelcted outline of your face directly onto the surface of the mirror using a bar of soap. Then evaluate the shape of the outline on the mirror to determine your face shape to match below advice.
Makeup Techniques - ROUND Face Shape
With the basic round face, there aren't really any dominant facial features. The overall impression is one of fullness through the jaw and forehead. The mission is to apply cosmetics to counteract this roundness by creating the opposite-shaped face, an elongated one. To make the face appear longer, use makeup to create lightness from the lower lip to the chin and from the brows to the hairline. It is also essential to minimize the fullness in the lower cheeks and temples.
The first step of makeup application involves using a concealer to remove any discolorations in skin tone. Using a sponge, dab the cream under the eyes. Blend it in up on the sides of the nose and out to the upper cheeks. This placement helps to bring out the cheekbones while minimizing the jaw line. Concealer should also be used on the forehead and the chin to help highlight the center portions of your face.
The use of foundation will help to redefine the round appearance of the face. This technique requires two different shades of foundation, one dark and one light. Place the darker foundation, which should be just one shade deeper than your skin tone, in the fullness at your temples, as well as in the fullness of your jaw line. Keep the chin clear – this helps to make the face look longer. Smooth the liquid into the skin using a sponge. If you find that you have fullness under your chin and your neck, apply the darker foundation down in that area. Blend the lighter foundation into the same central areas that you placed the concealer - under the eyes, on the nose, chin and forehead. Use a translucent powder to lightly cover the area.
After the face shape has been corrected with foundation, apply a contour powder and blush. Place the contour powder on the fullness of the temples with a makeup brush. Using your nose as a guideline, draw the brush straight out towards the ears and place the powder right under the cheekbone. Continue to blend the powder down along the fullness of the jaw, keeping the chin clear. You can bring it up and under into the neckline. Finally, apply blush directly onto the cheekbones, again using your nose as a guide.
Makeup Techniques - OVAL Face Shape
The oval face is considered the most aesthetically balanced face. Accentuate your best features by applying makeup that will bring out the center part of your face.
Begin by applying a cream concealer with a cosmetic sponge, covering the area from underneath the eyes to the outer cheekbones. Use a bit in the center of the forehead as well. Concealer can also be used to disguise blemishes.
For the oval face, you will need to apply first a dark and then a light shade of foundation to the skin with a sponge. Apply the darker foundation to the temples. Use the bottom of your nose as a guideline to draw an imaginary line out to the back of your jaw. Move the sponge downward and apply more of the makeup along the outer cheek and jaw line, being sure to include the chin. It is almost as if you are framing the face with foundation. Blend the cosmetic evenly into the skin. Next, get your lighter foundation and place that in the center of the face, including the areas around the eyes, nose, lower forehead and upper lip. This will help to accentuate the cheekbones. Your makeup should all blend together, creating a very natural look.
Apply a translucent powder with a sponge to the same central areas that you targeted for the lighter foundation – the eyes, cheekbones, nose, middle of forehead. Powder may also be sparingly applied to lower cheeks.
Contour powder is to be applied with a makeup brush to the fullness of the forehead. Using the nose again as a guideline, draw your brush outward. Starting from the back of the bone, blend the powder into the area below the cheekbones and down the jaw line. Imagine a line running downward from the outer corner of your eye - do not cross it. A little bit of powder can be placed on the chin. This step is similar to the application of the darker foundation. Frame the face with the powder.
Once again, use the nose as a guideline to draw your makeup brush to the outer cheekbones. Apply blush to the cheekbones, moving the brush forward. Then apply a lighter shade to the entire cheek, starting at the back of the cheekbone and sweeping the blush a bit closer to the center of the eye. This process will help to give a glow to your skin.
Makeup Techniques - RECTANGULAR Face Shape
A rectangular face is longer than it is wide. The basic cosmetic principle lies in accentuating the cheekbones and bringing out the middle third of the face. Through the use of makeup, it is possible to minimize the look of fullness in the forehead, jaw and chin. Creating a triangle of lightness with the lips, eyes and cheekbones really emphasizes that area. Further makeup application will warm the rest of the face.
Using a cosmetic sponge, apply a cream concealer under the eyes, blending it all the way out to the cheekbones. A sponge requires the use of a lot less makeup, and the cream blends into your skin much better than if you were to use your fingers. You can also place a bit of concealer in the middle of your forehead, across your nose and above your lip.
After highlighting the central area of your face with concealer, apply foundation to help create some facial dimension. Dot the makeup on the skin with a sponge, covering the temples, the jaw line and the chin. The coverage on the lower portion of the face is similar to the placement of a man’s beard. Shade the area away. Blend the foundation into the sides of the forehead and the frontal bone of the eye.
Continue to correct the face shape by using a makeup brush to apply contour powder on the temples and forehead. Powder can be used with or in the place of foundation to create warmth in this area. Using the bottom of the nose as a guideline, bring the brush out towards the ears and apply powder below the cheekbone, including the jawbone and the chin. This helps to soften the look of fullness in the face. You may also bring the powder right under the neck.
Again using the nose as a guide, apply blush from the back of the cheekbone forward. Stop at the outer corner of the eye. Get a lighter color blush and loosely brush the makeup a little closer into the apple of the cheeks. You should not see a definite line of cosmetic coverage. This step provides a lovely glow to the cheeks.
Makeup Techniques - SQUARE Face Shape
A square-shaped face has very little emphasis on the cheekbones because the temples and the jaw line are the strongest features. Softening these two areas allows interest to focus in closer to the eyes, nose and mouth area. Proper makeup application can elongate the appearance of the face by bringing lightness to the cheekbones, the center of the forehead and the chin.
You can create that look by applying concealer, which can also minimize any kind of puffiness, discoloration or other blemishes that you don't want to see. If you do have puffiness under the eyes, don't put concealer over the entire area - that will accentuate the condition. You want to place the cover up only over the area where the shadow is most predominant. Next, apply the concealer to the top of the forehead, the chin and on any kind of lines that you want to minimize. Get your cosmetic sponge and blend the makeup into the face. The cover up should extend from under the eyes all the way up into the temples, especially if the facial structure recedes in that area.
The next step involves shaping the face using two different color foundations. The deeper shade will go in the areas that you want to minimize. Using a cosmetic sponge, place the makeup on the square parts of the forehead and square parts of the jaw line. Blend the makeup into the skin, avoiding the chin. You may wish to bring a bit under the neck as well. Darker foundation prevents light from reflecting off of your skin - so the eye is not drawn to this area.
Apply the lighter foundation to the same spots that you used the concealer - chin, forehead and cheekbones. As the liquid foundation is not as light as the cover up, you can go over the concealer and up near the eye shape. It's almost as if you are making a diamond of lightness that extends from forehead to chin and widens at the cheekbones.
Apply translucent powder to all areas of the face with a cosmetic sponge. Then, using a sable-haired makeup brush, apply contour powder to the same areas as you placed the warmer foundation. Cover the square areas of the temples, keeping the center light. Draw an imaginary line from the bottom of your nose out towards your ear. You will need to apply the powder below the cheekbones and bring it forward right along the square jaw.
To determine where to place the blush, again draw an imaginary line from the nose to the ears. Using a makeup brush, apply the powder to the cheekbones from the ear to the outer corner of the eye. Don’t bring the blush too high - you’ll draw attention to the square features of the face and negate the emphasis you just created for the cheekbones. Brush a second, softer color over the cheekbones and apple of the cheeks to create more of a glow.
Makeup Techniques - DIAMOND Face Shape
The diamond-shaped face is difficult to manage because there are so many points that fight for attention. The chiseled features, the points of the chin, the cheeks and the forehead all need special care. Applying cosmetics can help to bring the facial features forward. You will also need to use makeup to minimize the jaw line and perhaps the temples slightly.
The first cosmetic you’ll apply is a cream concealer, which can make discolorations, redness, brownness and more disappear. Use a cosmetic sponge to apply the cream - when you use your fingers, you bring the oil from your hands up to your face. This transfer of oil could easily cause a breakout of blemishes, so it's best to keep it sanitary.
Working the concealer into the center of the face will create a look of lightness. Bring the makeup in the center of the forehead, under the eyes and on the sides of the nose. Whenever you use any kind of cover up below your eyes, blend it all the way from the socket down to the cheekbones so you cannot tell where the makeup begins or ends. This prevents those “raccoon circles" of lightness that you sometimes see on people. You can also use some concealer over the chin, on top of any skin discolorations and to minimize the appearance of blemishes.
Using two differing colors of water-based foundation, one dark and one light, creates more of a natural appearance than using just one. One foundation almost has a feel of a mask since the color is uniform. In real life, everybody's face is actually made up of many different shades. Using two colors looks more natural, and therefore better.
Using a cosmetic sponge, apply a color that is one shade warmer than your skin tone to the areas that you want to minimize, such as the temples and the jaw line. Keep the center area where you applied the concealer clear. You can also put this makeup on the frontal bones of the eyes if you want to de-emphasize or set back this feature. You don't want this bone to look as if it protrudes too far forward of your face. Blend the foundation into the bone and stroke it upwards into the temple.
Next, choose a lighter shade of foundation, one that is very close to your natural color. Put it on the same areas that you used the concealer - under the eyes, across the nose, forehead and chin. There may be days when you don't want to use cover up - in that case, just apply this foundation. Blend thoroughly. You shouldn't be able to distinguish where the light or dark foundation was applied - the two should blend together on the skin.
Next, use a sponge to apply a translucent powder, preferably one that doesn't have a color. If you apply this makeup with a brush rather than a sponge, the powder tends to lay on the surface and can appear kind of flaky and artificial. So use the sponge to gently press the makeup into the skin. Apply evenly all over the face, blending the powder all the way down to the neck area. Use a makeup brush to buff away any excess powder.
After correcting the face shape with foundations, brush contour powder onto the jaw line to help provide some facial definition. If you feel that your chin, temples or frontal bone protrude, you can cover those areas with some contour powder. This step adds some warmth to your skin tone. If you don't care to wear foundation, you could create the same highlights and shading of the face by using just the powder itself.
To add color to your face, apply some blush with a sable makeup brush. Use your nose as a guideline to determine where your cheekbone starts. Simply draw an imaginary line from the bottom of the nose straight back towards the ears. Starting from the back of the bone, blend the blush forward. Imagine a line extending downward from the outer corner of the eye - do not cross it with your blush. You never want to start your blush in the center of the face and work backwards - this over-accentuates your blush lines, making it too obvious you're wearing blush.
Makeup Techniques - PEAR Face Shape
For a pear-shaped face, the wide jaw line is the major point of focus. Thin temples just add to this effect. Through the use of contouring and softening makeup, you can bring the look of this face into balance. Cosmetic application can counteract the bottom-heavy shape and bring the appearance of fullness into the upper cheekbones.
Since concealer reflects light, use of this cosmetic is very beneficial in helping to shift the focal point on a pear-shaped face. Place some cream concealer on a cosmetic sponge and apply it around the eye, on the nose and in the center of the forehead. Stay away from any where in the jaw area.
You will need two shades of foundation, one dark and one light. Using a cosmetic sponge, dot the darker foundation along your full jaw line (including the chin) and in the upper portion of the forehead. Blend. Take the lighter foundation and apply it to the same areas that you covered with concealer – under the eye out to the cheekbones, over the nose, across the temples. You can even put this makeup inside the crease of the eye. Blend.
Using a makeup brush, apply contour powder below the cheekbones down to the jaw and across the chin. This will help to further minimize the full jaw line. Also apply a little bit of the makeup to the top of the forehead.
Applying blush can be a bit tricky on this shape of face. If you bring the blush too high on the cheeks, then you will actually accentuate the fullness rather than minimize it. Use the bottom of your nose as a guide and draw your makeup brush straight back towards the ears. Apply blush to the cheekbones. By dividing the face in half in this manner, the emphasis remains on the cheekbones.
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