Contouring After 40 — Yea or Nay?

Contouring after 40 — should you do it?

Contouring 101

Contouring claims to’reshape’ and define your own features. Want your own curved face to seem longer, your forehead to look less square, or your cheekbones to look more notable? Some beauty specialists will tell you the facial contouring is your answer.

By using darker shapes of make-up de-demphasize or to emphasize your attributes, contouring works its magic. Normally, if you are contouring, you’re also highlighting, or utilizing milder make-up to mimic an”under the lights” appear on the top of your nose, chin and over your cheekbones.

Have you ever heard of abs? Well contouring is like that, but for your face.

The Promise of Contouring after 40

The notion of, refined facial features that are chiseled is compelling for the girls. In the end, we 40-somethings (and up) are dealing with the natural loss of facial definition which happens with age. We’re presented with options for aging from surgery to serums — but contouring is one of few that temporary and instant.

Contouring Gone Wrong

Even so design is contentious.  Bobbi Brown says to contouring at any age, no, and she makes two points that are strong. For one, most of us are proficient in makeup application as the professionals. So chances are, our efforts aren’t likely to come that great off.

Even celebrities, that have their glam teams, can experience substantial contouring fails. Have a peek at the hilarious collection of mishaps of StyleBlazer.

The second stage that is anti-contouring of brown is much more compelling: There is nothing wrong with your face’s contour, so why try to change it? Heavy stuff, I understand. I mean, who determined that prominent cheekbones are the standard of beauty?

My Contouring Experiment

I have never tried contouring, mostly because I’ve been indifferent.  I don’t *love. The glow and cheeks are stunning under the right lights, but outdoors, in the sunshine? Not my thing.

I am also pretty low-maintenance concerning attractiveness. I am just not doing this if it takes too long, requires many tools or any specialized skills.

For the sake of expertise I chose to give contouring an attempt. Truth is, I discovered an Ellen Tracy contouring kit at TJMaxx for $3.99. The kit comprised five colors of makeup, also brushes and even instructions. Fantastic for a first-timer experimentation!

The Process

I applied the contour that was light to my forehead, near the temples. I followed up with the moderate tone (second from the top in the tray over ) underneath my cheekbones. The dark color went to the sides of the nose and the sides of my jaw. Then, came highlighter, which I applied to the very top of my nose, the middle of my chin, underneath my eyebrow arches and over my cheekbones.

The tray seems a little which sometimes occurs when you purchase things at TJMaxx. Nevertheless, it was at bargain at $3.99.

Lastly, there was a lot of blending included. Till I didn’t have circles and stripes in my face 14, I blended.

The Result

Can you find the difference?

Budget Fashionista without contouring and with.

It’s subtle, for sure. Should you look for this, you may see the line of highlighter I applied the middle of my nose, and the shading beneath the cheekbones down. Besides that, the difference is my expression — I seem uncomfortable at the picture! Maybe the expectations of perfection that was facial obtained to me.

My take? I undecided. To mepersonally, Icall it a day and’d rather apply some blush.

If You Attempt Contouring

Here Are a Few Tips to put you up for success if you do want to provide contouring an attempt:

• Try to find a low-cost kit with everything included. It does not have to be. Use it to experiment with different contouring patterns and get a sense of just how much colour is necessary for the desired result.
• Don’t purchase a fancy blending sponge. Until you determine you’ll make a lifestyle out of 20, the generic foam cosmetic sponges from Goal will work.
• Avoid products which are glittery. The shimmer look mostly doesn’t work on older girls.
• Walk out with a mirror and check your makeup from the sun.
• Request an honest friend for comments. It’s more easy to see bad make-up on someone else than ourselves.
• Once you’ve got the contouring application down, then upgrade to better applicators and products.

I am curious to hear from our over-40 readers?