How to Contour Different Nose Shapes

Makeup products and techniques have developed massively over the years and we now have the ability to change the shape of our face with a few strokes of a brush. For anybody with woes about their nose, learning to contour can be a money saver and also help you to feel more confident. Nose contouring can seem intimidating but by paying attention to just a few basic tricks and learning a select number of skills you can be a master in no time.  

What is Contouring?

First things first – for anyone who doesn’t know what contouring is, it is a corrective makeup technique that allows you to highlight or create shadows so your face looks different, but without the price of surgery. A brown coloured product is used for the majority of this technique, creating shadows on your nose to slim it or give the illusion of a different shape, but highlighter is used in some techniques also, which is a light colored, shimmery product. While contouring can change someone’s appearance significantly it is hoped that it also benefits the user that they feel more confident. 

Preparation

Preparation is key for any beauty technique. Now that you know what contouring is let’s look at the steps you need to take to prepare for this fabulous technique.

1. Prepare your base – this means to prepare your skin so that it is ready for the contouring products. Often prepping your base is a case of cleaning your face, applying moisturizer, primer if you use it and your foundation. Having make up products on your face already will make it easier to blend out the contouring products giving you a beautiful finish. 
2. Have the right products –  there are different types of contouring products and it is important that you get one that suits both your skin complexion and skin type. If you have dry skin a powder product may look cakey or cling to dry patches making your contour look uneven. If you have oily skin a cream product may not stay put for the day or may lose it’s finish as your skin becomes oilier during the day. 
3. Have the right tools – this depends on the product you are using. If you are using a cream product you can use a brush, beauty blender or your finger to place the product on your skin and then blending it out. If you are using a powder product a brush is best.

Type of Contour Products

If you are armed with the right products you will be able to contour your nose like a master make up artist in no time. While a bronze contour product is important for creating shadows in your face some techniques also require a highlighter. Highlighters can be purchased in any of the below formulas also. Most likely you will buy both a contour product and a highlighter in the same formula. 

Powder Products

If you have oily skin or you are a beginner powder products would be the best choice for you. For oily skin, the powder can catch the oil and hold well on your skin. For beginners, powder products are very easy to use and they are buildable, meaning you can play with them to find the color pay-off you desire. When using powder products to contour your nose we recommend a large kabuki brush for blending and a small angled brush for placing the product so that you have more control over where  the product is being placed and the lines you are creating. 

Cream Products

Cream products are suitable for any skin type as they are thick and luxurious. Cream products are best applied with a small angled brush while creating lines for your contour and then blending out with a beauty blender is advised as the blender does not wipe away the product like a brush may do. With cream products, the color pay-off is better than with powder products so a little bit of product goes a long way. If you are worried about your product slipping during the day, you can add a translucent powder to keep it in place or apply a light layer of powder contour and highlight products over the cream products. 

Liquid Products

Perhaps the most difficult to work with, liquid products are best suited to dry skin. You can get different weighted liquid products, meaning some may be light weight which would give a natural finish or some may be high coverage meaning they would conceal the skin and be a high color pay off. Liquid highlighter products are easier to work with than liquid contour products but a top tip is that you can use a darker shade of foundation in place of liquid contour products. For liquid products a beauty blender or kabuki brush is best but we recommend using your fingers or a beauty blender specifically for highlighter. 

How to Contour Different Nose Shapes

Each nose will vary in shape but below is a guide for the seven most common nose shapes that people may wish to adapt using contour techniques. With most of these techniques you will begin the process by placing two parallel lines of the contour product along the edge of your nose. This line will begin at the inner corner of your eyebrows, where they meet the top of your nose. For every technique it begins with contour and ends with highlight. 

Uneven Shaped Nose

1. Draw two parallel lines along the sides of the nose using your contour product of choice, start at the inner corner of your eyebrows and work your way down to the tip of your nose
2. Blend the lines out
3. Apply highlighter on the bridge of your nose to draw attention to a smooth, narrow section of your nose

Blunt Shaped Nose

1. To give your nose more shape, draw two heavy parallel lines using your contour product. Start from the inner corner of your eyebrows and follow down to the tip of your nose. 
2. Blend the lines out
3. Apply highlighter to the very tip of your nose to lift it

Bulbous Shaped Nose

Draw two parallel lines along the sides of the nose using your contour product of choice, start at the inner corner of your eyebrows and work your way down to the tip of your nose, make sure you cut through the bulbous shape

1. Blend in a downward motion to achieve a slimming effect
2. Apply highlighter along the bridge of your nose, between the contoured lines to really accentuate the slimmer shape of your nose

Triangle Shaped Nose

1. Draw two parallel lines along the sides of the nose using your contour product of choice, start at the inner corner of your eyebrows and work your way down to the tip of your nose 
2. Connect the parallel lines at the tip of your nose to two lines, forming a triangle above your nostrils, this will slim the look of your nose at its widest point
3. Add highlighter to the bridge of your nose, a small amount on level with your eyes and another small amount on the tip of your nose. 

Long Narrow Nose:

1. Draw two parallel lines slightly wider than the sides of the nose using your contour product of choice, start at the inner corner of your eyebrows and work your way down to the tip of your nose 
2. Fill the area between the contoured lines with highlighter 
3. To shorten the nose, apply contour on most of the tip of your nose, leaving just a circle around the highest point of the tip of your nose
4. Apply highlight to the circle at the tip of your nose

Blend

After following each of these techniques there remains one final step and that is to blend! If you do not blend your product it will be visibly obvious and not achieve what you are looking for. Don’t be afraid to play around with different products and techniques, eventually you will find what works best for you and what helps you to achieve the shape you are hoping for.