Creating youthful contours with makeup

Makeup contouring is all the rage right now, for good reason. Highlighting certain areas of the face with the right shades of concealer can bring out your best contours, creating youthful-looking volume in all the right places.

The first step is sweeping a good quality foundation that is darker than your skin tone along the jawline, underneath the cheekbones, and across the hairline of your forehead. Next, use concealer that’s somewhat lighter than your natural skintone to highlight the Cupid’s bow of your lips, the outside of your nostrils, the length of your nose, and above and in between your brows.

Highlighting your bone structure draws the eye to your best features and downplays flaws.

To play up the bone structure around your eyes—and downplay signs of aging—apply a concealer that is slightly lighter than your skin in a wide V shape under each eye, going from the outer side of your eye, to the top of your cheekbone, to the inner side of your eye.

Finally, make sure you thoroughly blend in all of your contouring work with a brush to avoid pesky lines. There are plenty of contouring tutorials available online; find one you like—and remember that practice makes perfect!

Like the contoured look? Here are ways to make it last

If you like the more lifted look makeup contouring provides but want it to last, consider injectable fillers or a facelift. Fillers, such as Restylane® Lyft, can be used to add the volume that makeup contouring imitates, with results lasting anywhere from 6 to 18 months. Combining fillers to get a more youthful look works so well that it is often referred to as a “liquid facelift”.

If sagging cheek and neck skin are more than fillers can help, a facelift may be your best option for looking about 10 years younger, with or without makeup. Need both added volume and skin lifting? Fillers can be used in conjunction with a facelift to maximize your results.

When you’re ready, talk to a professional

The best way to understand your options is through a personalized consultation with an experienced cosmetic surgeon. Here at our Atlanta cosmetic surgery practice, we specialize in anti-aging procedures to enhance your natural beauty and help you restore a youthful look for years to come. To learn more about our procedures, costs, and to begin visualizing your own results, contact us today. We can’t wait to help you look and feel you best!
To read the full Oprah.com article on makeup tricks, click here.