Everyday Contour 101

Hi Cuties, 
I've missed you and blogging, i've finally settled in to my new apartment in NYC and ready to get my vanity set up and back to chit chattin' about beauty on here! 
Get your fish faces ready because today I'm breaking down a simple, everyday contour and my favorite products and brushes to use. This was requested by the lovely Cindy and I really hope it helps! 
Below is my beautiful roommate, I've labeled the areas that I contour. A light contour can really define your face and add the extra 'umph' to your already beautiful features! 

 A Few Helpful Tips on Contouring:
1. Always start with a light hand and small amount of product, you can always add more!
2. When contouring your cheeks: Make your fishy face, start at your hairline and lightly swipe your brush down and back up until you've reached your desired color. Try to use the end of your eyebrows/eyes as a guide on how far to bring the contour into your face. You're just trying to create a shadow so that the area recedes back (highlight features you want to stand out, and contour features you want to recede or define), giving the allusion of more defined cheek bones.
3. You don't have to contour your nose but it's another great secret to give the allusion of a defined/straight sniffer! Very lightly take your brush and glide it down the sides of your nose where the words 'contour' are shown in the above picture. You can even shadow a bit underneath to define the tip of your nose. 
4. Try to choose a bronzing/contour product that is more on the matte side with less shimmer so that it appears more natural. 
5. Choose a brush that is made for contouring in mind, these brushes are small and fit easily in the areas you need to contour. Making the whole process much easier! 
6. Lastly, less is more. You want it to look natural and effortless! 


Now for some of my Favorite Products & Brushes... 

Favorite Products:
1. MAC Shaping Powder in Taupe - it's a cool toned brown and great for light skin tones, MAC has other great sculpting powders without the orange tint that you often find.
2. NARS Laguna - sounds cliche because everyone loves it but i've been using it a lot lately, it's great for light to medium skin tones. I got mine at Sephora.
3. Sonia Kashuk Cream Bronzer in Warm Tan - this has a great cream to powder finish and works well on medium to darker skin tones. It can tend to look a bit orange on my light skin but in the summer works well. I found mine at Target.

Favorite Brushes:
1. Sigma Small Contour F05 - this brush is the perfect size and makes contouring fool proof! 
2. Sigma Tapered Blending E40 - this is what I like to use for contouring the sides of my nose, again a great size so that you don't end up contouring an entire half of your nose. HaHa
3. Real Techniques Contour Brush - this is also great for all over contouring cheeks, forehead, etc. The bristles are synthetic so you can use your cream and liquid products with it. I also love this brush for my under eye concealer! 

Voila! Isn't she Purrty?
Thanks liz for being my model, oh the joys of being the roommate of a beauty junkie! Oy! 
Have a wonderful weekend Y'all! 
What are your tips on contouring? Was this helpful?
Hugs and fishy faces, 

What I'm lovin'

I thought I would share some of my favorite products that I used the most during the month of February! Enjoy! 

1. It's a 10 miracle leave in product Plus Keratin - I have been using this leave in conditioner for a while now, but I just recently purchased the one with keratin in it and turns out it's even better than the first one! I spray it all over my towel dried hair and them brush it through. I have long, very thick hair and this helps with tangles, as a heat protector, and makes my hair super shiny!! I love love this product, it's much better than using 5 different products when this one can do it all.

p.s They also just came out with a lite version for those of you with thinner or short hair!

Only Con I have about it, is that it's kind of pricy. However, once you see what amazing results it brings for you hair, not eating out so much to save money will be all worth it! ( I also have to use a lot of it because I have so much darn hair!) 

 I bought mine from Ulta (which I just found out you can only get in their stores and not online) or your hair salon might carry it, I have also seen it at Walmart and CVS!

If not any of those, click here to go to the It's a 10 website and find the nearest retailer!

2. Laura Geller's Bronze N Brighten (Fair) - I used to use the Nars Laguna Bronzer, I bought it simply because I had heard amazing things about it! I have to be honest I never really understood what all the hype was about after using it. I didn't think that it blended very well on the face nor was it very pigmented. I bought this after I tried some of my step-mom's and instantly fell in love! It is a baked bronzer and has multiple colors (pinks, browns, skin tone) mixed together to create the perfect color. It has very small shimmers, which I usually wouldn't like but you really can't see them on the face unless you are in direct sunlight and even then they just make your face glow! It's blends beautifully and adds just the right about of bronze to where you don't end up looking like an oompa loompa! 

You can get it at Ulta (which has their usual $3.50 off any $10 purchase coupon) or Laura Geller's Website! ( free shipping off every order of $25 or more) 

3. Real Technique Stippling Brush - I first saw these brushes on the PixieWoo blog and didn't even realize that Samantha Chapman (one of the two sisters, and makeup artist on pixiewoo) created them! Then when I saw that my lovely roommate, Rachel, had this brush I knew I had to try it out! I had been using Sonia Kashuk's version of the beauty blender sponge to apply my foundation. Even though I still love this sponge for my concealer, I love love love my Real Techniques Stippling brush to blend my liquid foundation all over. It really does create a lovely natural, airbrush finish to your skin. Not only do they do a great job, and are of amazing quality, they are SUPER affordable!! This brush is only $9.99, which for the quality level of these brushes, is fantastic! 

I got mine at Ulta, where they also have some nice sets for $17.99 or you can order straight from the Real Techniques' website where they have awesome tutorials where Samantha Chapman herself tells you how to all the different brushes! 

4. Missha Perfect Cover Blemish Balm - I found this while researching the new hype about BB creams and what they are all about. BB creams have just become a thing in the U.S. but have been popular is Asia for a while now. They were first created by dermatologists to treat and protect skin after skin/laser surgery. Now companies like Smashbox, Estee Lauder, Clinique, and many more all have their own version of a BB cream. I love this because it's lightweight, but gives a very good amount of coverage. Because I have been breaking out a lot lately (thank you school) I have been wanting something with more coverage than a tinted moisturizer. It is also supposed to help lighten dark spots, cover redness and other discolorations in skin tone, help with acne, anti aging benefits, and finally UV protection! I got shade #21, just to warn you it does have a gray undertone to it but I don't think it stands out after oxidizing on the skin. 

I got mine from Amazon where I found it for an amazing price of $9.99, or here is the link to the Missha website where they have other formulations of BB creams. 

Thanks for reading! I know that was a mouth full!

Have you tried any of these products? Comment to let me know what you think! 

Jess