Hi Beauties,

Another Tuesday, another brush and today we are talking contouring! I have watched countless YouTube tutorials where MUA's use a range of brushes to contour their faces. I think in the time I have taken to makeup, I've learned the brush can be chosen because 1. the shape of the person's face and 2. the amount of 'contouring' you want to do...

It always looks so simple when those stunning ladies do it and I questioned if their cameras were all just magic and you always looked lovely but then when I started on my lessons quest and met loads of brilliant MUA's I discovered it's a talent and if you're lucky enough to be good at it, you're sorted!!!

Contouring is so popular now, people want to 'look like Kim K' and they want a 'totally different face shape' but it's tough work, there's been times when I looked like I smudged a brown crayon in the 'hollow' of my cheek of growing some sort of weird shadow jawline beard because I put to much product on that area, it's all very gross.

Contouring terrifies me, I'm never that brave and it's something I would love to master (just like the dreaded gel liner) but it doesn't matter how many people tell me... a little product, blend loads, slowly add more, always blend ... It never feel rights on me.

I have gone out and bought a rake of brushes and products which an MUA will have used on me, I'll love it and then when I try to do it myself, it just never looks nice enough.

In my quest to practice and finally master the dreaded contouring, I have discovered three brushes which are different in their own ways but seem to be used a lot in the makeup world.

The first brush I got to contour is the Real Techniques 'Contour' Brush. 

I got it as part of the Core Collection set and I think I paid around €25 on Cloud 10 Beauty. This brush has a slightly domed head to help work into the hollow areas with a lot of hairs, I can sometimes add too much product but the brush really only needs a tiny amount and then you 'build' the colour. I still go to this brush when I use a lighter colour contour for the day look but it scares me a little when it comes to darker shades because I am too heavy handed.

I then went to a fabulous masterclass in the Inglot Pro Store on South Anne street in March which was the 1st one Joanne Larby was hosting. It was an amazing experience, I am a huge Joanne fan so it was brilliant to meet her again, it was actually from a one to one lesson with Joanne that I picked up some tips on using the RT contour brush but on the Inglot day I noticed she was using one of their brushes (of course) the slanted 3P brush. 



This brush can be used of course for blusher but Joanne used the angle to work in the contour product. After the class, I had a good look (and feel) of the brush and it felt really soft so I invested in it, in the hope that the softer brush would create a softer contour finish. I was right... just not perfect. I do like this brush, I tend to use it in a lot of my makeup applications but I have found using it for blusher now more common than my contour.

The last brush and my latest to add to my collection is of course a Blank Canvas Cosmetics brush and this is the F42 brush... 


it looks massive but the tip is so so soft I really like using this now as my contour brush. I actually bought a smaller brush called the F40 and it's still wrapped up in the packaging so we'll see if in the future I chose that one also. To be totally fair to Blank Canvas, they have such a range of brushes you could have at least 4 contour and highlight brushes which any makeup lover like me loves. I think the F42 will be perfect for the more dramatic contour looks for a night out and maybe the F40 for my day looks, only time will tell ;)



Ladies I really hope you liked tonight's post, as I said it can be really difficult to learn how to contour properly and it may just mean investing in a couple of different shape brushes, really learning the shape of your face and of course starting with a little product and building up to a beautiful glow... if you have any questions or comments I'd love to hear from you on my Facebook page HERE