Makeup is a very prevalent aspect of our society, no matter what way you look at it. It's to the point where people confuse wearing natural, minimal makeup with wearing none. As a current makeup wearer (by no means am at all accomplished in the task) I can say that I enjoy wearing it. However, wearing moisturizer and lipstick constitutes a full face of makeup for me. Foundation is pretty expensive, so I have to be going somewhere pretty fantastic to leave with a full face of makeup. That doesn't mean that I don't appreciate a well done smokey eye or matte lip. This is why, at first, contouring seemed intriguing. Would this really be the next big thing?
For those who don't know, contouring is essentially using different colors of foundation and bronzer to give your face a slimmer, sharper look. The lighter foundation is applied to where the light naturally hits your face and the bronzer enhances the natural shadows. It promises to be a full coverage technique that is supposed to make you look like this.
The only catch is that, up until the very end, you look like this.
That is the crazy part of contouring. Applying crazy concentrated amounts of product to the same area of your face before blending somehow creates a face transforming affect. This is way beyond my makeup expertise, but others have turned contouring into a beautiful art form. Case in point: the clown contour.
Just like the name promises, she painted her face like a clown, but, as she blends it all perfectly, it all becomes a marvelously smooth complexion. There are countless video tutorials on different kinds of makeup contouring where people make crazy patterns and shapes on their faces and turn them into beautiful masterpieces like shown.
However, the issue lies with how far is too far? Contouring has grown into more than just playing with how the light hits your face. Now, you are able to change the look of your entire body with it, from contouring your stomach to have abs to putting makeup on the back of your neck to make it seem thinner and longer. Being someone who gets excited when my eyeliner wings match, all that I can say is that this makes me overwhelmed.
I've always seen makeup as empowering. When I wear my dark plum lipstick, I feel like I completely have the confidence to accomplish whatever I want. Granted, it's probably the only trace of makeup on my face when I wear it and it probably looks a little out of place, but it doesn't change how I feel when I wear it.
Makeup can be the best and worst thing in regards to your self-esteem, especially when you feel like you are incapable of tackling the task. As far as contouring goes, if it makes you feel like you could take on the world, do it! Turn it into art and rock the heck out of it. Just know that your body is your beautiful temple and that it doesn't need the contouring. If your natural face and freckles makes you happy, work that too.
Don't let all of those professional makeup tutorials and contouring videos skew your view of what is expected. Do whatever makes you confident.
