How to Put Make Up on a Round Face

Blend foundation down onto the neck to make your makeup indistinguishable from your natural skin tone.

According to the beauty industry, the oval face shape is ideal. An oval face is balanced and looks symmetrical, is widest at the temples and tapers down to a curved chin. Round faces are widest at the cheekbones, only slightly longer than it is wide, with a short chin, rounded jaw and full forehead. If your face sounds like it is more round than oval, and you'd like for it to appear narrower or more ovular, there are some tricks up the sleeves of makeup professionals that can help. Before you begin, make sure your face is clean and hydrated.

Things You'll Need

• Foundation that matches your skin tone
• Foundation that is slightly darker than skin tone
• Sponge applicators or makeup brushes
• Blush
• Transparent powder

Instructions

1. Apply the darker shade of foundation to the outer edges of the face using a sponge or a brush. Include the temples, the hollows under the cheekbones, the jaw line, under the chin and neck. Make sure to blend well around your hairline and on your ears and neck since you are using a foundation slightly darker than your skin. If you don't have a darker shade of foundation, you can substitute by using a single shade of foundation all over the face and doing your contouring very carefully and lightly with a bronzer.

2. Apply the lighter shade of foundation that matches your skin tone to the center of your face using a clean sponge or brush. Use this shade on the forehead, nose, upper or high cheekbones, around the mouth and the chin. Since lighter colors make things seem closer to an observer and darker colors make things recede, by using shadow and light, you can trick observers into thinking your face is actually shaped differently with these makeup techniques. The key to using two shades of foundation seamlessly is blending, so don't stop until you cannot distinguish between the two shades or where your makeup starts and your bare skin begins.

3. Apply blush to the apples of your cheeks. The best way to make sure you deposit the right amount of color is to brush all the sides of your blush brush across the powder and then flip the brush upside down and knock the handle on a hard surface, causing the powder to shake down into the brush fibers. Then dip the brush in transparent powder on all sides and gently knock off the excess by tapping the brush handle on your palm. When you apply blush with this technique, you will only be adding a little color at a time and it will blend out with the transparent powder. The apples of your cheeks are just the very roundest parts that plump up when you smile. Blend out across the center of the cheekbone and down slightly, mimicking where a natural flush would occur.

4. Apply transparent powder to the entire face with a powder brush. This will set the contouring you have done and you can go back and finish the look with any style eye and lip makeup. Transparent powder and translucent powder are slightly different, so for the best results with your makeup applications, purchase a transparent powder. Translucent powers are mostly sheer, but still deposit some color and can alter the overall color and vibrancy of your makeup. Transparent powders deposit no color at all and will set makeup without changing its appearance.

References

• "Milady Standard Esthetics Fundamentals"; Joel Gerson; 2009
• SheClick.com: How To Apply Makeup On A Round Face: You Must Know