Posted on by Lauryn

How To Contour & Highlight Without Looking Like Lindsay Lohan Circa 2010 (video tutorial included!!)

The Skinny Confidential talks contouring.

The Skinny Confidential talks contouring.

Sooooo this was one of my favorite videos EVER to film!!!

BECAUSE CONTOURING/HIGHLIGHTING IS SOOOO FUN.

And by the way, everyone’s talking about it like it JUST happened. No, no, no, contouring has been around old Hollywood forevs. Marilyn Monroe was a HUGE fan!

Seriously though, you can do whatever the hell you want with a contour brush & 5 extra minutes.

The Skinny Confidential talks contouring.

SO.

Want a smaller nose?

Chisled cheekbones?

Smaller forehead?

Bigger lower lip?

Poutier lip?

WELL THEN, MEET MY FRIENDS, CONTOUR & HIGHLIGHT:

Products used (ALL OF THESE ARE MY FAVORITES!!):

MAC’s contour cream ( very rare!! )
Benefit’s ‘Watt’s Up’ highlighter
Retractable Kabuki brush
Favorite contour brush

Wearing: this striped top ( << also, this one looks JUST like it & it’s $8 bucks!! ) w/ this skirt

{ watch full video here }

The Skinny Confidential talks contouring.

The Skinny Confidential talks contouring.

Have a Composition notebook handy? Kidding. But here are a couple of notes:

1.} Don’t choose colors that are DRASTICALLY lighter or darker than your natural skin tone. Keep the shade in the family.

2.} This source states that “highlighting and contouring are two crafty li’l tricks that you can use to enhance your bone structure and make it look like you’re constantly under the most flattering movie lighting possible.” SO. On that note, make sure you’re highlighting your features!! Pick out your favorites on your face & highlight them! Invest in a contour brush too. It makes all the difference.

3.} Night > day. I like to contour & highlight during the night. The daytime is more of a Laura Mercier tinted moisturizer with SPF kinda thing in my opinion. But whatever floats your boat.

4.} Leave a little dew. I’m a fan of the dewey look. The whole powder look just isn’t me. I like a fresh face with a glow. That’s why I’m obsessed with this particular highlighter and a CREAM bronzer, not powder.

5.} BLEND. BLEND. BLEND. BLEND. You don’t want to look like AUBREY O’DAY CIRCA 2000. Let’s face it: bad contouring is an epidemic. Cough, cough every Teen Mom & Jersey Housewife ( sorry ).

The Skinny Confidential talks contouring.

What are your contour & highlight tips? Any Kim K. tips I’m missing? Share!!

Also, what do you guys want to see next?

HAPPY FRIDAY, lauryn xx

+ More makeup tips can be found in The Skinny Confidential Book.

++ To subscribe to TSC YouTube channel, click here.

The Skinny Confidential talks contouring.

 CONTOUR/HIGHLIGHT:

WEARING:

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58 replies to “How To Contour & Highlight Without Looking Like Lindsay Lohan Circa 2010 (video tutorial included!!)”

  3. Great video! Did you put anything on your face before the video? I definitely need concealor and foundation to even out my skin tone and not sure how this would interact with the contouring tools.

    Reply

  4. Great video, Lauryn! You actually do it quite a bit differently than I do. I always use a cream concealer in a lighter color than my skintone for a highlighter, and I always use a Beauty Blender to blend it out. It gives you more of a dewy but not glowy look, if that’s what you’re into. I think I need that Watts Up Highlighter though, it looks so pretty!

    Reply

  9. What a great video! I don’t have a clue how to do anything makeup-related, and so I don’t wear any at all. I think that many people look overdone, but in your video, you still look natural. Maybe I need to start learning. How do you do your eyes like that? That’s what I want to see next. 🙂

    Reply

  10. Lauren, you are so gorgeous! If you haven’t done a post about your skin-care routine, I would love to read one! 🙂

    Reply

  14. Thanks, loved this! Managed to find the Mac contour creme in that color new in box on eBay for about $23 total and snagged it! Your skin looks amazing! I have your book, but would love to see a skin care vid too!

    Reply

  15. Please do a tutorial on your every day skin care your skin looks amazing!! Pls products that are easily available too as many of your readers don’t live in the US (I also can’t buy from amazon but any well known other brands work) Thanks 🙂

    Reply

  17. This is a great video, I’m going to watch it as I do my makeup. I am assuming you do the contouring after you put on foundation/concealer?

    Reply

  22. Awesome tutorial! I’m going to try this and get some cream bronzer to contour with. I noticed you are wearing a really pretty bracelet, it looks like an evil eye. Where is it from?

    Reply

  23. Thanks for the tutorial Lauryn! You’re beautiful btw!

    You should do a post on how you keep your eyebrows so perfect! I get mine threaded because my skin is too sensitive for wax, but sometimes the women make them too thin! So it’s either wooly mammoth eyebrows, or caterpillars. ha.

    Reply

  24. Hi Lauryn! Love this tutorial- you may want to try the Cover FX Cream Contour palette sometime (I used it as one of my must-try beauty products for your giveaway contest)… It’s so easy to use, all the shades in one, & it’s also cruelty-free and environmentally friendly! I haven’t used Watts Up! before but it looks great. I like Nars Copacabana illuminator, too 🙂

    Reply

  26. Thanks for the video! I think I will invest in the Watt’s Up highlighter. Looks so pretty! I was wondering, could you make a video soon on your self tanning process? Your skin always looks so amazing and glowy and right now I’m paler than Edward Cullen and would love to get your tips!

    Reply

  27. I’ve been waiting for this- thanks!! I definitely needed some tips. I didn’t realize that you contoured after applying foundation, so the comments helped, too. You’re eyes look gorgeous in the video. I love the lashes! I’m guessing you just applied lashes on the outer corners? I used to do that, but have forgotten about it lately.

    Reply

  28. Hi Lauryn,
    I’ve been reading your blog for a while now, and have been meaning to comment and say THANK YOU! For all the thoughtful well rounded and bomb ass posts and videos. I seriously LOVED the conturing one (I normally ADD out on videos and watched this all the way through intently), it was so helpful and I was in need of supplies like the MAC shit! I appreciate this and will be writing a bit more to say thanksssss.
    Glad I found TSC 🙂
    Krista

    Reply

  30. Girl you absolutely killed it.

    Definitely my favourite conouring video on the web. My mom recently bought the anastasia contour kit because she heard it was a ‘must have’ but she has absolutely no idea how to use it. I will definitely forward this link to her haha.

    Also, I have super oily skin so I use a powder, but the cream looks flawless on you.

    Jules xx

    Reply

  34. That was the best contour tutorial I have ever seen! You made it so simple, efficient, and natural. Also, like some of the ladies above, I would love to hear about your skin care routine and how you keep your skin so fresh! I would love to have beautiful, acne free skin like yours. Any tips would be SO appreciated!!:)

    Reply

  35. I really want to try a creme bronzer, but I can never find any! Do you recommend any other creme bronzers other than Mac? Contouring is one of my favorite things to do!

    Reply

  36. Thanks for the post! I love this & I will definitely try it out asap! I also really love your blog! You’ve inspired me to start my own style/shopping blog in partnership with my mom :-). It’s only been about a month, but we’re already having so much fun with it! I would reeeally appreciate it if you could please check out our blog & follow us on Bloglovin’ & Twitter ;-)!
    motherdaughtershoppingduo.com
    @mdshoppingduo
    Thanks!
    Angie G from the Mother Daughter Shopping Duo

    Reply