The most common misconception when it comes to contouring the face is where on the face to shade and highlight.  Most people think that you need to draw a diagonal line from your ear to the corner of your lip. The reason people think this way is because when we look at ourselves straight on, the cheekbone appears to be on a diagonal. We get the illusion of a diagonal line because we’re 3 dimensional. The best way to figure out placement is to feel for your cheekbone with your fingers. You will see that it actually runs across the face, and then turn to the side to see yourself in profile.

Before you get started you will need the following things:

1. A dark colour for shading in either a cream or powder, and it should be two to three shades darker than your skin tone but in the same undertone. If you choose to use powder it should be matte.

2. A light colour for highlighting in either a cream or powder. The colour can be considerably  lighter than your skin depending on how much you want it to show. The highlighter can be matte or shimmer depending on the effect you want to achieve.

3. An angled or medium sized blush brush. Using a angled blush brush makes shading much easier as the angle of the brush will fit perfectly under the cheekbone.

Here’s our simple step by step guide to create prominent cheekbones:

1. Using the angled part of the brush and your darkest colour, sweep under the cheekbone starting close to the ear and finishing with the brush leaving your face.(#1 in above image) Repeat until you get desired intensity.

2. Dust off the dark colour on a tissue before picking up the highlight colour.

3. Apply the highlight colour to the top of the cheekbone by gently tapping or brushing. (#2 in above image)

Anywhere you shade with a darker colour will recede and what you highlight will be brought forward. Remember to do both to beautifully contour your cheeks.