Insta-Beauty: Powder Contouring Is Still One of Hollywood's Favorite Makeup Techniques

In the Insta-Beauty series, i bring you makeup looks inspired by our favorite, summer-worthy photo filters. It's picture perfection…all day long.
The contour craze of 2014 may be coming to a close, but there are still devoted fans out there, especially among the celeb set.
But in these dog days of summer, is this makeup look (popularized by the likes of Kim Kardashian and Demi Lovato) too much? Absolutely not, according to celeb makeup artist Karen Gonzalez. The expert stopped by E! studios to show us her spin on one of Hollywood's favorite makeup tricks.
"It's a summer look, and we don't want to wear heavy cream contours," said the beauty pro. "We still want to apply concealer and foundation, but we want to look really luminous and radiant."

Kailey Strachan for E! Online

The trick is to prep the skin, keep it hydrated and settle with a subtle contour (read: no Tony the Tiger stripes!).
"I actually recommend contouring with powder rather than creams," advised Karen. "Creams can be so intimidating and messy, but this is much easier to work with and you get a more natural finish."
Surprisingly, the steps leading up until the eyes should take less than 10 minutes total, reassured the makeup maven.
To take the look from day to night, Karen used dark, shimmery shadow and dark liner but opted for a natural nude on the lips. There's no need to over-saturate that photo, err, face!
Check below for full tutorial

 

Step 1. Prep Skin

Prep the skin with moisturizer and eye cream. "I don't care what the person's age is," said Karen. "They should always use eye cream because it's always going to make their makeup sit better underneath the eyes. In general, we forget how delicate that area is. It's very important that you keep this area hydrated and protected."
 
Before you start highlighting and contouring, you need to address skin imperfections. "I swear by Lancôme Visionnaire Blur‎," gushed Karen. "I really want this product to penetrate her skin, so I want to target her T-zone and around the eyes. You'll notice it'll really help blur any imperfections, fine lines or pores within a minute. Your skin will look so velvety!"
 
Starting beneath the eyes, apply foundation with a kabuki brush (Karen used Mac Pro Longwear Foundation) to get the placement down.

Then use the tip of the beautyblender to set the foundation into the skin. "We want to do this to brighten up her undereye area," explained Karen.
Pro tip: To hide especially dark undereye areas, dab orange eyeshadow on that area before pushing concealer into skin with a beautyblender.

Using a flat brush, Karen applied a camel color from Anastasia Beverly Hills Contouring Book from the cheekbones into the temples and a little onto the forehead. Then she add a little bit to the jawline and to the neck. Next she applied a deeper shade of contour just underneath the cheekbone to get a more intense finish.

Karen then used the same darker contouring color to fill in the brows. "No look is complete without the brows," she said.
 
Before applying eyeshadow, Karen put translucent powder underneath the eyes to catch any shadow fallout. She then applied shadow, smoking it out.

Karen then lined the top lashline for a more dramatic effect.
 
Using a clean brush, she swept away the translucent powder and any residual shadow fallout with it.

To really get to the lash roots, Karen held a brush between the perfecty done lids and the lashes to prevent the mascara from ruining any shadow.

Because the eyes and contour are on the more dramatic side, finish the look with a nude lip shade to balance it out. It's summer, after all. Less is more.

We're 'gramming this!