The Tom Ford Facial Sculpting Technique

Trends come and go, but the desire to have a symmetrical face is an ever-constant beauty ideal. As humans, we’re attracted to symmetry whether we realize it or not. We’d all like to think that our facial features are in perfect harmony, but minor inconsistencies are only natural. While many resort to plastic surgery to tweak their facial structure, Tom Ford recently let us in on a little secret—the right makeup and technique can instantly give you the appearance of perfectly symmetrical facial features. As a former architect and photographer, no one understands the power of angles and lighting better than Tom Ford.

Tom Ford’s revolutionary philosophy of using natural light to create facial symmetry has inspired an entire collection to enhance your natural beauty and bring out your unique beauty, Shade and Illuminate. Here are four easy steps to enhance your natural bone structure and unique facial architecture.

“In order to achieve true beauty, the most important thing is to understand your individual face architecture. Shade and Illuminate brings out your natural bone structure to create the appearance of symmetry through light and shadow.” — Tom Ford

Step 1: Create a flawless base

Create the perfect base with a subtle, radiant foundation. Ideally, a long-wearing formula that incorporates skin-loving ingredients, like hyaluronic acid and peptides, to hydrate and plump the skin.

Beautylish recommends: TOM FORD Beauty Shade and Illuminate Foundation

Step 2: Conceal imperfections

Let’s take things a step further by evening out the skin tone and correcting imperfections. The right formula will play with shadow and light to enhance your natural features.

Beautylish recommends: TOM FORD Beauty Shade and Illuminate Concealer

Step 3: Sculpt and contour

Apply super sheer light shades to the cheekbones, browbones and the center of the nose to draw light, brighten and lift the face. Apply dark shades under the cheekbones, temples and jawline to define and contour the natural architecture of the face. The key is to use simple, effective products that go undetectable.

Beautylish recommends: TOM FORD Beauty Shade and Illuminate

Step 4: Add fresh, youthful radiance

Finish your look by combining two different blush finishes—one soft shine and one semi-matte—to reflect light while adding a vivid glow from within. The multi-dimensional finish will further define your facial structure while adding lasting radiance for a fresh, youthful look.

Beautylish recommends: TOM FORD Beauty Shade and Illuminate Blush