I was awoken recently way too early. It was a truck or something reversing into a nearby building site at an absurd pre-dawn hour complete with attending workmen screaming at each other because jangling steel poles or something were being unloaded haphazardly.
Annoyed and staring at the ceiling, my addled sleep-interrupted mind started drifting and funnily enough – perhaps I’d been dreaming about it or something – I found myself wondering: “What the hell is contouring?”
If you spend any time stalking Pinterest, you’ll know it’s a veritable treasure trove of ‘how-to’ and ‘DIY’ beauty tutorials. Same deal on YouTube.
On these, it’s not unusual to come across young women who’ve outlined in photographs or video the very steps you need to achieve, say, a dutch crown braid or the very latest beauty folly and the subject of my early morning musing: contouring.
Contouring isn’t about learning how to sculpt clay, or spray paint a car, although these skills may very well help. No, contouring is a beauty technique, previously reserved for runway models, heavy lit TV studios, the theatre and photo-shoots, where bronzer and highlighter is applied to parts of the face to create subtle definition.
Because the world is our runway – right?
What becomes clear after browsing a few of the social media tutorials is just how impossible this trend is to achieve as a rookie. The requirement is basically that you apply makeup to suit your particular bone structure with respect to hard light falling from different angles. Not too easy at all if you’re planning a day out with the likelihood of light coming from all directions.
And on top of that, why on earth – unless we’re on a runway or being shot for the cover of Vogue – do we need it?
Because let me tell you, not only is it crucial to strictly perfect a ten-step routine just to get your face looking ‘defined,’ you’ll also end up wearing a lot of makeup.
Contouring isn’t for a trip to the grocery store or lunch with friends. This is hard-core layering of makeup applied to change the appearance of your face to create theatrically higher cheekbones and a thinner nose.
“Finally!” I thought to myself. Ten minutes later I was back in the land of nod, deep in restful slumber.
