How to Add Contour to Eye Makeup

Eyes evidently shaded and contoured

To create more dimension on eyelids as well as to avoid a flat look, makeup artists use contouring. This adds shape and form to your eyes and gives you more of a reason to play with makeup. Proceed only if you are ready to give your eyes some extra enhancement!

Things You'll Need

• Makeup primer
• Light eyeshadow for base
• Darker eyeshadow for contouring
• Eyeshadow brush with a flat head
• Eyeshadow blending brush
• Highlighter
• Under-eye concealer

Instructions

1. Apply makeup primer onto clean lids. Press base eyeshadow color on from lash line to crease. This is the lightest shade on your current palette, and it serves as the backdrop for any contouring work you do.

2. 

   Take an eyeshadow brush with a small, flat head and use it to press your darkest eyeshadow color into the outer edges of your top lids in a sideways "V" shape. Blend hard edges away so that your new contour color melds with your base shade. This is one way to do it. To try another way, proceed to Step 3.

3. 

   Press your darkest color with your flat-headed eyeshadow brush onto crease area to make it more definite. Join the outer end of crease color to the end of your top lash lines. Erase excess color with an eyeshadow blending brush, which you use by going over the area with windshield-wiper motions.

4. Finish the rest of your color eye makeup application in either case by smoothing a subtle highlighter onto brow bones and fading away noticeable edges in the product. This separates your brow bones from the other parts of your eye, just as contouring gives you more of a crease.

5. Clean up afterward by dabbing under-eye concealer on and patting into place. This doesn't just brighten up the eye area; it gets rid of fallout from your eyeshadow application.

Tips & Warnings

• For optimum results with your eye makeup, groom and trim eyebrows as well. Define with a brow pencil or powder to eliminate sparseness.

• Polish off your eyes by lining them, curling your eyelashes and using your favorite mascara. All this works hand in hand with your contouring job.