Hightlighting or accenting the high plains of your face is usually done with a product a couple of shades lighter than your skin tone. While a contour is just the opposite using a product a couple of shades darker than your skin tone; you want to mimic the color of YOUR natural shadow. You can achieve this under foundation, on top of your foundation or without using foundation as your base at all. There are several products out right now that add a highlight or a contour to your face. But I love MAC mineralized skin finishes for all skin types; its a light powder that lays natural on the skin. It comes in several shades and some collections feature additional colors with a little glow or shimmer and these powders can be buffed in (use a MAC #188 or #190 brush). Try soft and gentle for a soft pearl glow or gold deposit for a bronze golden hue. Keep in mind YOUR skin tone. If your skin is the color of a Hershey kiss and you try to add something of a light base with pearl you don’t get a black pearl. It will appear a bit ashy meaning grey, drab or lack lustre. Other options are cream color base by MAC, or the highlighter pens also a MAC product.
The MSFN in deeper tones are nice to add dimension to your face. If you are very fair (think Anne Hathaway) buff a little medium in the hollow parts of your cheek or around your hairline; this frames your face perfectly. Remember the ideal face shape is oval so all this buffing should be done to achieve that shape. More of a medium skin tone (think Sanna Lathan to Eva Longoria) can use dark or deep dark. If you are a darker skin tone add a little Sun Power to contour however a deeper skin tone can usually just benefit from a highlight only. Deeper skin tones (think India Arie), usually have a natural contour. Lets say you wanted to contour or change the shape of a woman of a deeper skin tone nose. You could use a darker color concealer or powder or liquid foundation. Base your choice on the skin type. Just use a tone mimicking a shadow. On a sunny day standing outside what color is a shadow? Not red or orange, it’s a cooler tone grey or charcoal. Some celebrity’s who you can see a prominent highlight and or contour are Megan Good, Lala Anthony Kim K and Lauren Conrad. Good luck dolls. Let me see some results!