Extreme Contouring

The photo of 'extreme contouring' that we were shown in class.

Contouring is for the dark areas of your face, namely where it concaves and where shadows are present, which is shown by the brown areas in the photo on the left. Highlighting is used on areas such as the forehead, the bridge of the nose and under the eyes. This is because these are the areas that you wish to have more focus on and accentuate features gently.








Where does contouring come from?

Contouring comes from the anatomy of the skull. When looking at a skull, the shadowy areas are more prominent and it becomes apparent which places need to be contoured and which areas need to be highlighted. Under the cheekbones and under the jaw is always where shadows are created.




Unrealistic contouring

Here are examples of extreme, unrealistic contouring used in everyday life. This is a misunderstanding about what contouring should do to the face and is horrendously exaggerated as it does not look natural. It is supposed to be subtle and enhance the face rather than completely transform it.

Demo

During our 'extreme contouring' lesson, Kat gave us a demo on how to create an extreme look meant more for editorials, not for everyday looks.

• Firstly, she applied the Illamasqua matte primer to prep the skin and make sure the base goes on without shine. 
• Next, she applied Kryolan's 'Supracolour' in the shade 'Tv White' using a flat topped stippling brush.
• Following this, she used an Illamasqua powder infused with pink to mattify the skin even more. 
• She then used dark, matte eyeshadows in brown and black by Screenface to create shadows under the cheekbone, below the eyebrow and across from the end of the eye. 
• To highlight, Kat used a pure pigment by Illamasqua on the top of the cheekbone, on the jawline, on the forehead, the nose and the chin. 
• You can blot and set the skin with powder before you contour if you want to contour with powders, but if you do not wish to do that and would like to contour with creams, after applying the white base do not powder the face. 
• Do not push the product into the skin with the end of the brush as it can get into the pores and give the model a skin infection, so press with the side of the brush. 

Extreme contouring by myself

 To create this look, I followed the steps that Kat showed us. However I also contoured the top of the forehead because I find that on some foreheads there are shadows to the sides, going down to the eyebrow. I also used different products as I only had what was available in my kit:

For this look I used:

• Illamasqua matte primer applied with Kryolan foundation brush
• Illamasqua skin base in 01 applied with Kryolan foundation brush
• Illamasqua translucent powder with Kryolan powder brush
• Kryolan Colour Medley- shadows in the shades 'Anis', 'Black Pepper' and 'Caraway' for darker areas, and 'Fennel' for the white areas using Kryolan powder brush
• Illamasqua Sculpting Powder Duo using highlighting shade 'Lumos' with Kryolan powder brush.

I particularly enjoyed creating this look because of the accentuated features it gives the face; it makes one look closer to the image of a skull, and gives a gothic and rugged image. It uses conventional methods such as darkening underneath the cheekbone, but with non-stereotypical colours that create an abstract illustration.

After this lesson I cleaned the brushes that I used with Kryolan brush cleaner so that they are hygienic and ready for the next use with no danger of contamination.