That Cheek Shading Technique

Yes, I know I promised you this eons ago. Mea culpa. Here it is now. I've been diligently searching for clip art I can use to demonstrate, but I can't find anything suitable right now. You'll have to deal with my words. It's relatively easy. If you have questions, contact me via this blog, K?

Before I start, I should mention that this technique is excellent for round and square faces or if you've put on a little weight in the cheek area. Also, it's good for doing a look on an oval or narrow face where you are specifically trying to accentuate your cheekbones. If your face is too narrow and it's not for a special effect, it won't look good. I'll deal with thinner faces in a later post.

Okay. Here we go. You know how everybody tells you to suck in your cheeks and place your blush there? Well, I want you to suck in your cheeks, but instead of your blush, use a dark shade of makeup, a bronzer or brown eyeshadow. (Color is color, folks. I use lots of things in places where they're technically not supposed to be. :) I use a medium shade of bronzer on my medium-light olive skin. The darker color should be applied in a straight line, directly in the hollow created by the sucking-in (is that a word?). The best brush for this is an angled blusher brush, but use what you have for now. When you're done, you should like someone punched you in the face. Your cheeks should visibly sink in.

Now take your favorite blush color on a regular blusher brush. Start under the center of your eye and sweep up towards the hairline by the top of your ear. Smile to make sure you have blush on the apples of your cheeks. Now bring the blush down OVER the bronzer or whatever you used to shade. Yeah, I know it looks like too much right now. Trust me and hang on.

Here comes the real trick. Take a light highlight color (I use white eye shadow. . . GASP, HORROR, SHOCK) and either with a brush or with your fingers (I use my fingers :), make another line right across the bottom of the bronzer shading. The white shading should be in a similar straight line shape as the bronzer when originally applied. (NOTE to darker complected ladies: White may not work for you and could make you look pasty. Choose ivory or beige or makeup 3-4 shades lighter than your skin tone or a highlighting eye shadow. You may have to experiment a little to get just the right color.)

Now take a big fluffy powder brush and load it up with loose face powder that matches your skin tone. Dust it off on a tissue so you don't get a big gob of the stuff on your face and. . . BLEND, BLEND, BLEND!!!!! Stroke from the center towards the ear. Cover all colors. Blend until all you see is your face subtly thinner with no demarcation lines. You should not be able to see where each color stops and starts. If you can, keep blending.

EXTRA TIP!!! Got double, triple or more chins? After you put the initial bronzer stripe in the hollows of your cheeks and your brush has only a little bit of bronzer left, stroke it under your chin from ear to ear. This has to be done gently. If you get too much on, you're going to see a brown line. Remember, you can always powder it down if you get too much on. It's easier, though, to add more than to subtract later.

Go ahead. Try it! It may take you a few tries to get it right but I guarantee you round and square ladies will love it!