THIS Is the Way to Contour Your Makeup for Fall

Ahhhh fall…leaves galore, cozy sweaters, the smell of pumpkin lattes—what's not to love?

With the changing season comes changing beauty, too. Just like we are advised to change our skincare regimen (slather on the moisturizer!), you should take a good look at your makeup routine to see if there are any seasonally appropriate tweaks you can make.

In the age of contouring, one common mistake we make in the fall and winter months is not adjusting the colors used for this technique. Summer calls for brighter colors with more shine while fall contouring should be more about matte finishes and darker contours. To help make sense of these changing contouring rules, I'm taking you on a step-by-step how-to for fall makeup.

 

Start With a Natural Base

Rule number one is to start with a base as close to your real skin tone as possible. Make sure to use a concealer under eyes and around the nose where there may be redness. This gives you the perfect canvas to start layering on that fall color. Cover any blemishes with concealer as well. Make sure you opt for a matte, creamy foundation. This will help with the blending process later on.

 

Pick Your Bronzer Shade

Common wisdom is to opt for a bronzer two shades darker than your natural skin tone. For fall-appropriate makeup, pick up a matte version of a bronzer up to three shades darker than your natural skin tone. You will apply this the following areas (as shown in the above image): top of your forehead, the sides of your nose, bottom of your chin and most importantly, under your cheekbones. If you are using a liquid bronzer, opt for a sponge for blending. If you are using a powder bronzer, use a brush to erase lines.

 

Apply Your Highlighter

When choosing your highlighter, remember to stick to less shimmery formulas this season. Opt for a minimum of two shades lighter than your natural tone. Apply this as pictured: in the middle of your forehead, down the bridge of your nose, on the center of your chin, below and above your eyebrows. Finish your highlighter application off with two parallel lines to the ones you drew in bronzer below your cheekbones. You can also dot the inside corner of your eyes with highlighter. This last step will brighten your eyes and give the illusion that you slept like a baby the night before!

 

Blend, Blend, Blend!

Now that you have all of the bronzer and highlighter in place, start blending! Use a tapping motion for sponges and a circular one for brushes. Take extra care to make every inch of your face seamless. There is nothing worst than streaky bronzer or over-applied highlighter. Check your face under light to make sure you aren't uneven.

 

Voilà!

Now step back and enjoy your perfect face for fall! The technique above creates dimension and the illusion of higher cheekbones. Slather on a couple coats of mascara and your favorite lipstick or lip gloss and you are ready to take on anything.

 

If you need help picking your perfect lip shade, click HERE to read about the lipstick color everyone can rock!