HOW TO: Contouring + favorite products to contour with

Hello Beautiful People,

I mostly wanted to get this article up so I can share with you some of my all time favorite contouring cosmetics. But I figured why not give you guys tips and a quick guide on how to contour -- for those who haven't mastered it yet.

The concept of contouring is amazing but can be be hard if you're new at it.
I want to go over some fundamental tips everyone should keep in mind before they even start contouring.
TIPS:

1. First and foremost, we should all understand the goal of contouring -- the appearance of slimming the face, nose and enhancing the cheekbones. Therefore contouring will darken.
2. The second most important thing to contouring is -- knowing YOUR face shape! Most videos on Youtube leave this crucial step out.
• I'll display some face charts to help you guys in this step


3. The third most important thing to countering is -- using the RIGHT tool. If you have everything down but don't have the right tool, this can mess the entire look
• My favorite brush for contouring is from coastal scents -- (angle brush) 
• Other great contour brushes are:
• NARS Ita Brush
• MAC 163 Flat Contour Brush
• Sephora Pro Contour Brush #74
• Remember it's all about trial and error, use what works for you. 
• You don't want a brush that is to airy but you don't want a brush that's compact either.
4. Use primer before applying anything on your face, I really can't stress that enough
5. Use foundation and concealer to cover blemishes as normal, prior to contouring. 
6. What's your preference? Are you a powder or creme person? Whatever you are, both works. 
• Just stay away from anything shimmery.
• For contouring, you want to stick to something MATTE.
7. Purchasing the right bronzer shade is super important! There are seriously so many bronzers out there and most are orange, so be very careful. (Orange under-toned bronzers are not the best for contouring) You want to purchase a bronzer that has a grayish undertone to it and of course it has to be matte. 
• Instead of using a bronzer you can try a foundation powder that is 2 shades darker than your skin tone. You can take this approach if you already have a favorite product. 
8. And I'll leave off with something very crucial.... Blend, Blend, BLEEEEEND! 

I could definitely continue and give you written instructions on how to contour properly but I'll just add some of my all time favorite videos from Youtube that helped me learn how to contour.

Practice LADIES!

I hope these videos were super helpful. Everyone has there preference on products they use for contouring I will share with you my ALL-TIME favorite contouring products: 

* Most of these products are a duo and I

prefer to buy it this way because I'm technically buying

two things in one. 

1. TANTalizer Highlighter and Matte Bronzer Duo by LORAC

(Travel Size) $12 (Click To View)

2. Disregard this product, I have no idea why I put it on here 

3. Blush/Bronzer Duo (In the shade: Orgasm & Laguna)

 by NARS $42 (Click To View)

4. Endless Summer Bronzer by Too Faced $30 (Click To View)

5. Smooth Skin Bronzing Face Powder by N.Y.C.

(In the shade Sunny) $2.79 (Click To View)

6. Contouring Blush and Bronzing Powder by E.L.F.

(In the shade St. Lucia) $3 (Click To View)

Yours truly,

Top 10 Favorite Drugstore Makeup!

Hi Guys!

As some of you can see I added so more things to my website, it's all been a work in progress but I can say all the hard work is officially over. I will now be focused on presenting my viewers great content with my blog entries. 

I remember when I was barely getting into makeup I would mainly stick to drug store makeup because that's all I could really afford back then. But in all honesty I think that if you want to broaden your horizons with makeup and experiment lean more towards drug store makeup anyways. It's all about trial and error in the beginning so why not be a smart shopper? But to be completely honest with you, they're is A LOT of drug store makeup that is just as good, or even better, than some of the more high end products. And there's some drug store makeup that completely sucks... Luckily for you this post will talk about some of my favorite drug store makeup products that are just as good as high end, great quality, and most importantly.. cheap! (not all my favorite drug store products are discussed in this post. i have talked about some in previous blog entries and didn't want to repeat myself).

"Voluminous Miss Manga Mascara" by L'Oreal $7.99 

I prefer drug store mascara over high end mascara any day of the week. It's all about preferences but I just don't think buying a $20-$30 mascara is worth it. Especially because mascara is one of those beauty products that run out fast (and dry out fast). 

I have my wide selection of top favorite mascaras. Maybe I'll blog about it one day. But so far this is the mascara that I've been raving about. This mascara has a 360 degree flexor brush to build volume. What I really love about this brush is that it's flexible (it bends) that really catches those hard to reach lashes. I have a toooooon of lashes, especially towards the outer end of my top lash line, and this brush really separates them and gives them an even coat of product. 

"Baby Skin Instant Pore Eraser Primer" by Maybelline $6.99

I've talked about this primer I few times before but I really couldn't leave this one out. Primer is an important beauty item to have around and if you don't want to spend a lot on one, I recommend this one. Most of my noticeable pores are on my nose and cheeks and it does a great job of blurring them before I put on foundation.

"Instant Age Rewind Eraser Dark Circle Treatment Concealer" by Maybelline $8.99

So this is a concealer but I use it as a highlighter for under my eyes so I will talk about it as a highlighter. I purchased this in the "fair" shade, which is 2 tones lighter than my skin color, for it to work as a highlighter. I can see why it's a concealer because it has great coverage but the creaminess makes it great for highlighting. This is my favorite highlighter. I don't really use any other one so I definitely recommend this. Oh and it also has a sponge applicator on the top for easy application on the face! This product was the winner of the "Beauty Insider's Award" (fun fact). 

"True Match: Super-Blendable Crayon Concealer" by L'Oreal $8.95

My holy grail concealer. It does the trick in covering some of my blemishes and minor discoloring. I love how it's a stick applicator and not in a pot like other concealers. This makes it easy to just dab some on the problem areas of your face. The one I use is in the shade light/medium W4-5. 

"True Match: Super-Blendable Blush" by L'Oreal $9.99

So these blushes come in 12 different shades and the one I absolutely adore on my skin color is "spiced plum C7-8".  These drug store blushes have great pigment and last hours on your face. I have repurchased this blush endless of times. I also want to talk about the powders of true match as well. They have the same packaging it's just that they're powders instead of blushes. These are great as powder foundations and if you purchase a powder that is 3-4 shades darker than your skin color you can also use it for contouring. 

"Smooth Skin Bronzing Face Powder" by NYC $2.99 

Can we say cheap? This bronzer is one of my go-to's for contouring my cheekbones. It has amazing pigmentation and a matt finish that is very hard to find in drug stores for bronzers. 

"Matte Lipstick" by NYX Cosmetics $6.00

I have a few drugstore lipsticks I absolutely adore with great formulas but I wanted to focus on this one in particular. I am so glad NYX is finally available in most drug stores, they deserved too, they have amazing prices. This lipstick is pigmented, didn't bleed or flake off during the day. I know the butter glosses from NYX are amazing but the matte lipsticks is where it's at. I definitely recommend. The one I have above is in the shade "Hippie Chic" (a beautiful coral color). 

"Colorsensational Lip Liner" by Maybelline New York $6.00

The one I have is in the shade Red 50. Ladies, putting on red lipstick can be hassle. Especially when it's a bright pigmented one. It is important to use lipliner when applying a red lipstick so your lip color doesn't bleed. This is a great drugstore lipliner. This one works really well with MAC's Ruby Woo. 

"Show Off Lip Lacquer" by Rimmel London US $5.00

I have a ton of these (guilty). But they're SOOO good. The pigmentation on these lip glosses are amazing, they can really be pulled off as a lipstick. If you're not a fan of lip glosses, please, I urge you to try these out so you can change your mind. This product won the "Fall Makeup O-Wards" in the Oprah Magazine (fun fact). The shade I have above is "Apocaliptic". 

"Stay Matte Long Lasting Pressed Powder" By Rimmel London $3.99

And last but not least, I had to recommend a pressed powder. I use this on a daily! It gives me up to 5 hours of shine control and a little more foundation coverage. The shade I have is in "nude beige".

So that's it guys! I hope you all enjoyed my recommendations. 

If you have any questions about the products I mentioned please

feel free to comment down below or in my "Contact Page"! 

Stay Connected With Me! 

Yours truly,