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You wouldn't limit yourself to just one shade of eye shadow when creating a smoky eye, nor would you ever dream of owning just one lipstick. (How else would you be able to create a sumptuous ombré lip?) To that point, it should make sense that when it comes to choosing the right sculpting shades for your contour (not to be confused with choosing bronzer shades), folks shouldn't be limited to a single hue to choose from.
"For simple contouring, you only need one shade; but for more elaborate sculpting, you need two: A deeper shade to define the lines of the bone structure that you’re creating, and a lighter shade to create the shadow," makeup artist Benjamin Puckey tells Allure. "When people hear the word 'contour' they instantly think of heavy Instagram-style makeup, but it’s supposed to be very subtle," he adds. "Cream formulas are the best for this." Another secret for getting a "my cheekbones but better" result? Choosing the right hue.
1. Reinvent the color wheel by mixing shades
A contour palette takes the guesswork out of choosing shades for your skin tone, but trust us, you don't need to be a pro to get the most out of a product like Ben Nye's Creme Contour & Blush Wheels (which Puckey himself helped curate), available in four colorways ranging from Light to Deep Brown. "Each wheel contains two highlighting shades, two contour shades, and two blush shades," he explains. "All shades can be lightened and darkened by mixing and they sheer out beautifully on the skin."
2. Keep to the shadows and choose shades that mimic the realistic shadows of your face
Just as foundation shade ranges have expanded to accurately represent a wide variety of skin tones, so, too have bronzers; this month, Fenty Beauty launched its first-ever powder bronzer in eight shades, and earlier this year, Benefit Cosmetics expanded the offerings of its iconic Hoola bronzer to include two darker shades, Caramel and Toasted — perfect for people with medium-tan-to-deep skin tones. (They released a Lite shade for fair-skinned folks back in 2017.)
However, according to Puckey, landing on the right contour shade is actually pretty straightforward.
Look for neutral taupes that imitate the look of a real shadow on your face.
A "deeper, more golden undertone" will ensure that your contour doesn't read as ashy.
Very deep and black skin tones need a lot of warmth and depth with contour shades, so the contour doesn’t appear grey, Puckey says. "The deepest contour shade in the Dark Brown [Ben Nye] wheel is a beautiful deep, neutral, dark brown shade with the right balance of blue and red undertones."
3. Choosing colors for cream vs. powder
"Contouring shouldn’t look like makeup, but like real shadow created by beautiful bone structure," Puckey reiterates. And he's totally right. It's for that reason (plus a handful others) that artists often recommend that people try contouring with a concealer instead of a shimmer-flecked bronzer — the finish will look as close to real skin as you can get.
Makeup artist Fiona Stiles also name-checks two cream formulas — the Best of Beauty-winning Tom Ford Shade and Illuminate duos and Beauty Pie's Quick Color Contour Supergel, plus one powder iteration — the Sheer Sculpting Palette from her eponymous brand.
"The powder formula is light on the pigment load so you can’t over do it, and the colors were designed for the most believable contour," Stiles says of her palette.
And remember what we said earlier about the benefits of using multiple contour shades? Opting for a palette will allow you to rely on one product year-round, even if your skin naturally tans during the summer. However, the bottom line is that if you're looking for a more dramatic result (or if you want to boost its wear time), you can set a cream contour with a pigmented powder bronzer.
Additional reporting from Allure's digital makeup editor Sable Yong
More contour content:
- How to Contour for Your Face Shape
- The 12 Best Bronzers for Dark Skin Tones
- How to Use Concealer for Contour and Highlighting Your Face
Observe the transformative effects of contouring:
