Difference Between Bronzing and Contouring

Hey everyone!

First off, thank you so much to everyone who entered my Skin Regime Giveaway and congrats to Kaylyn for winning! So exciting! :D I didn't think doing a giveaway would be that exciting so I'm definitely considering doing more.

Today I wanted to do a lesson/how-to type of post and explain the difference between bronzing and contouring. I've inserted pictures below to visually show you the difference between the two. 

Here is my face with no bronzing or contouring, just foundation, concealer, and powder. 

ELF's Contouring Blush and Bronzer and ELF Complexion Brush

When choosing a bronzer, go for something that will give you a glow. Bronzer with a little golden sheen or slight shimmer looks gorgeous on the skin. Especially for summer!

Face with bronzer applied

With bronzer, apply it to the top of your forehead, around the edges of your face, across your cheeks and nose, slightly on your chin, and down the neck to blend with the rest of your skin. Apply it with a light hand. You want to look sun-kissed, not like you just put Nutella all over your face.

MAC's Powder Blush in Blunt and NYX Highlight and Contour Powder. Sonia Kashuk Flat-top Sculpting Brush and Sigma's Small Contour Brush.

When choosing a contour color, ideally, choose something that is neutral (meaning not orange/red). The idea of contouring is to make your face look like it has more dimension. To create this, you want your contour color to look more like the shade of a shadow (with grayish tones). You also want your contour to be matte. This is very important because if you use a shimmery bronzer, the shimmers will actually have the opposite effect and cause your face to look muddy and accentuate the areas in which you applied it. The shimmers will reflect in light, which is the opposite of what a shadow does naturally.

In this case, I used the Sonia Kashuk brush and NYX's contour powder. I wanted to show you exactly where I applied it.

The idea of contouring is to enhance your facial features, not to really look "sun-kissed" so to speak. You want to chisel or carve out the areas with your contour you want to recede. In turn, this accentuates the areas you want to highlight. Above, you can see where I initially placed my contour- along the hairline, down the sides and tip of the nose, under the cheek bone, under the jaw line and on the temples. To really get fancy, you can extend the contour from the temples into the crease of the eye and use it as a transition color or just to add more depth to the eyes. You can also contour the collar bone area if you wanted to add more depth to your declate/chest.

Here is what the contour looks like blended. Keep in mind you want to make your contour look like it's given your face a "lift." Think upwards.

Before, Bronzed,and Contoured.

Well, that's pretty much it. I hope you found this helpful! Let me know if you have any questions. I'll be more than happy to answer them! :)

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