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What it is · How to use it

Contour

Contour is painted shadow. If it reads as a brown stripe, the colour was wrong or the placement was.

How do you contour without it looking obvious?


Two things make contour convincing: the shade must be cool, and the edges must be gone. A warm brown in a hollow looks like bronzer applied in the wrong place, because real shadows have no orange in them.

Placement follows bone, not fashion. Feel for the cheekbone and work underneath it; do not draw a line where a tutorial said to.

How to use it, step by step


  1. Choose a shade one to two levels deeper than the skin, cool-toned, fully matte.
  2. Tap the brush out before it touches the face. The first pass is the hardest to undo.
  3. Place under the cheekbone, along the jaw, at the temples, down the sides of the nose if needed.
  4. Blend upward toward the ear, never downward into the cheek.
  5. Add blush afterwards to reintroduce life, or the face reads flat and severe.

The mistakes that cost you


  • Contouring with a warm bronzer.
  • Placing it too low, which drags the face down.
  • Contouring a face that did not need it — round and soft faces often look better with bronzer and blush alone.

In Morocco specifically

Under Moroccan wedding lighting — heavy warm gold, often with video lights — contour reads much stronger than it does in the room. Build lighter than feels right and check on a phone camera with the flash on.

The contour in this kit


Knowing how is one thing. Ninety minutes on the morning is another

I bring every product on this site to brides across Casablanca, Rabat, Marrakech and Tangier — matched to your skin, your caftan, and the light you will actually be photographed in.

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