Look 5 Pounds Thinner with Makeup!

Are you vowing to lose weight in 2012? Shedding pounds is consistently the most popular New Year's resolution. And with January right around the corner, hitting the gym and eating healthier are on many of our minds. We use fashion to flatter our figures, so why can’t we take advantage of simple, slenderizing makeup tricks like knowing how to contour? Sculpting your forehead, cheekbones, nose, and jawline can give you more defined features. “Contouring is creating an optical illusion with shadows. Depending on the shape of your face, you can do things to minimize features and create angles,” says celebrity makeup artist Scott Barnes (the guru behind Jennifer Lopez’s iconic glow). “If you have a long face, you can shorten the chin. If your face is round, you can emphasize cheekbones. And if you have a wide nose, you can slim it down—I call it scalpel-free plastic surgery!” For a more realistic effect, Scott suggests using contour as a base for the rest of your makeup: “Don’t contour on top of your makeup! Contour before you put on foundation,” he says. 

FOREHEAD

“Use a bronzer one shade darker than your skin tone to create a shadow above and around the temples, and lightly along the hairline,” says Scott. “This will bring the forehead down.” Your face will appear more oval with a more narrow forehead.

NOSE

When slimming down your nose, “don’t go all the way down the sides to the nostrils,” says Scott. Instead, “contour along the upper sides of your nose—just under the eyes—by blending in slightly darker lines on each side and leaving the center light. This makes the bridge appear thinner.”

CHEEKS

Your cheeks are the largest areas of skin on your face and in turn, often the chubbiest features. To achieve that sucked-in defined bone structure we all crave, chisel in faux cheekbones. “Go under the cheekbone with bronzer, and use a highlighting powder on the highest plane of the cheek."

JAWLINE

Avoid a double chin effect by defining your jawline. “Apply a bronzing powder that’s two shades darker than your skin tone under your jawline. This which will create a nice sharp line and square off your chin, giving you a thin, sculpted face,” says Scott. “Feather the bronzer down onto the neck so there’s no obvious two-toned effect. The key is to blend well!”