How To Contour Your Cheekbones In 35 Seconds

It's a technique that has been used on film sets and backstage at the shows for years, but it was the Kardashians who put contouring in the public domain. With a seemingly simple sweep of a brush, contouring can give you defined bone structure, whether you were born with it or not. For the average person, achieving a natural finish on yourself, without ending up with obvious stripes down your cheeks, is an almost impossible task.

Enter, Bazaar's speedy how-to video to provide you with all the necessary skill you need to create sculpted cheekbones. Watch the make-up artist Molly Nicholas in action below…

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Step-by-step guide...

• 1, Use your fingers to feel for your cheekbones. The starting point for the darker powder should be at the top of your cheekbone, closest to your ear.

• 2. Sweep the powder down your face, using your cheekbone as a guide. Don't go too close to your mouth or lower than your ear lobe to avoid the finish looking unnatural.

• 3. Use a lightweight finishing powder to set the contour.

• 4. Add the lightest powder along the top of your cheekbone, using your eye socket as a guide.

• 5. Finish by gently buffing the powder into skin with a blending brush for a seamless, natural-look.

The essential kit...

The contouring palette: With three shades to sculpt and highlight, Smashbox Step-by-step Contour Kit, 35.50, is as simple as it gets. Plus, the shades also double up as eyeshadow.

The brush: My Kit Co.brushes are unrivalled in terms of their quality and finish. The My Defining Contour brush, £20, is perfectly curved to hug your natural bone structure, including both cheek and brow bones. The natural bristles can be used to blend powder or cream textures.

The finishing powder: Don't let the weightlessness of Laura Mercier's Loose Setting Powder, £29, fool you, this powder fixes your make-up in place, while feeling like a second skin.

Video by Jay McClaughlin; hair by Shelley Brook at Hershesons; make-up by Molly Nicholas; model: Daisy Boote at PRM Agency.

From: Harper's BAZAAR UK