best cream contour or bronzer for summer

Best cream contour or bronzer for summer how to#
Best cream contour or bronzer for summer skin#

“Add contour along your forehead, cheekbones, and down each side of the jaw. Where, exactly? “The areas you want to define,” says Sara. Its creamy, blendable formula comes in four cool-toned shades and is super easy to apply. With that in mind, start with a cream contouring product like our new Sculpt Stick. “This helps create the shape of your face and informs the best placement for bronzer, blush, and highlighter-in that order.” The first rule to remember: “Sculpt always comes first,” says Sara.

Best cream contour or bronzer for summer how to#

However, you can (and should) learn how to use them together-they work great as a pair. “Use bronzer to create warmth in the skin, and use contour to create shadows and sculpt,” Sara says. That’s not a good idea, since bronzer and contour do two different things. Can you use a bronzer to contour (and vice versa)?

“For a defined cheek, place it under your cheekbone-follow an imaginary line that runs from the corner of your mouth to your ear.” She also recommends applying your contour along the underside of your jawline, bringing it all the way to the ear, and blending it well to make the area look sharper.

With your Sculpt Stick, “draw a line around your hairline, and buff out towards your hair,” Sara says. Where do I apply contour?Ĭontour goes anywhere you have a natural shadow. She also recommends smoothing any extra onto your neck and chest for all-over, just-got-back-from-the-beach color. Since you’re replicating a sunkissed look with bronzer, apply it “wherever the sun naturally hits your face: on your forehead, on the tops of cheekbones, and above your jawline,” says Sara. And with the three (!) new additions to our Matte Bronzer lineup, there are now five warm-toned shades of this creamy, shimmer-free formula.

Best cream contour or bronzer for summer skin#

(Check out our guide to our best contour stick for more deets.)įor bronzer, on the other hand, think of your skin tone when you’ve been out in the sun (Sara recommends pulling up a vacation pic on your phone) and use it as your guide for your “sunkissed” shade. Since you’re blending it into the shadows-which tend to have a cooler tone-your contour shades should have a cool tone, too, as is the case with our new Sculpt Stick. “The best trick is to suck in your cheeks, see the shade of the shadow that’s created in the hollows, and find the shade closest to that.” To find the right contour shade, look for “a cream or liquid-based product that isn’t too dark or too warm,” says Sara. In other words, contour enhances shape while bronzer adds warmth to skin. “Bronzer is used to cultivate a warm, sunkissed look, whereas contouring and sculpting are meant to mimic the natural shadows found in your face that help shape your bone structure,” says Sara. bronzer debate, we’ve got an easy way to remember the difference. If you’re still stuck on the whole contour vs. What's the difference between contour shades and bronzer shades? Read on, then hit up our step-by-step guide on how to contour, the natural way.

With that in mind, here's the difference between bronzer and contour sticks-and how to wield them to sculpt your face like a pro.

Nailing the technique comes down to the actual formula you’re using these days, instead of bronzers and contour powders, you can find cream formulas that are pigmented, easy to blend, and inclusive across skin tones. You can think of sculpting as a low-key take on contouring. “Sculpting enhances your features rather than trying to totally change the shape of your face.” “Sculpting is basically the same as contouring, but it's done a bit more natural for a softer, more real-life effect suitable for daily wear,” Sara explains. Since then, the idea of contouring has gotten a bit of a makeover in its own right, contributing to a riff on the OG called sculpting. And then there’s figuring out how to use them.Īlthough it only just gained mainstream popularity in the mid-2010s, “contouring is a technique that adds dimension to your face and has been used for years ,” says Sara Wren, our Director of Artistry. For many, trying to determine between contour vs. bronzer can be the first point of confusion-they do, after all, look really similar. Contouring is one of those trends that’s easier said (or demonstrated on TikTok) than done IRL.