Until I did my makeup training I had no idea what 'highlighting and contouring' meant, but after purchasing the famous Kevyn Aucoin book 'Making Faces' and familiarising myself with it, I was amazed at the difference it could make. Simply put in the words of the master Kevyn, 'Dark colours shade and make areas recede, for instance the hollows of the cheek, temples, under the chin, sides of the nose. Light colours highlight and make things come forward - the apples of the cheek, under the eye, the brow bone and middle of the chin.'
I prefer to work with creamy textures on the face as I find them easiest to blend and I had been searching for a creamy format contouring kit for a long time. Enter Tom Ford's Shade and Illuminate. Like anything Tom Ford the packaging and the attached price tag is expensive, however the product is lovely and easy to use. The contour shade is realistic and certainly gives a more convincing shadow than a powdered bronzer would do.
Although my brother would beg to differ, I don't have anything too irregular on my face to correct so when I contour my own face I mainly focus on the hollows of my cheeks to make my cheekbones more prominent. I then add the highlight to the tops of my cheekbones and to my brow bone.
Before - no sculpting of cheeks
After - having contoured and highlighted around my cheekbones
Before
After - it is not so obvious when you are not face on
I've done my best with some before/after shots above. I am no photography expert and this was my first attempt using my new light and tripod!
So when would you use this? Obviously it is not something I would bother with on a daily basis, but if I know i'm getting my photo taken or if I have a big night out, that is when I would add in this extra step.
Tom Ford Shade and Illuminate is sold at Selfridges (here) for £55.00. It comes in two shades - intensity one which is for white/caucasian skin tones, and intensity two for darker skin tones. If you would like any details of what other products I have used above please don't hesitate to ask in the contact box below.