Did you know you can contour to make your face look more feminine or masculine? You may think contouring only creates one look (ahem, Kim K.) but that's not true! 

Below we'll tell you the difference between feminine and masculine contouring. And, we'll give you tips for achieving these looks!  

What Does Contouring Do?

Contouring is using light and shadow to bring features forward or backward in space. For a less technical definition, it's using shadow to shrink parts of your face and highlight to bring forward parts of your face. 

Masculine vs. Feminine Contour

Let’s talk about what makes a more feminine or masculine face shape. 

A feminine face shape is usually softer, rounder, and with less blunt edges. There is more emphasis on the eyes and lips and less shadowing. There is a focus on the high points and more lifting effects.

Masculine face shapes have more blunt edges and darker features. There is usually more emphasis on the jawline, cheekbone, and forehead regions. While feminine faces are rounder, masculine faces tend to be sharper with a less lifted look.

How Do You Do Masculine Contour?

As mentioned above, masculine contouring focuses more on creating shadows. Every face shape is different, but here are a few tips for contouring masculine:

Carve Out Your Cheekbone

Masculine contouring calls for more hollowed-out cheeks. Sweep your contour under your natural cheekbone, then drag it down closer to the corner of your mouth. It should look like a subtle upside-down “L” shape. This will make your face appear more blunt and defined. 

Bring Your Forehead Down

Masculine features appear more square-shaped, so use contour to bring your forehead down. Place your contour in a straight line over your hairline and add vertical lines near your temples. This helps detract attention from your forehead. 

Outline Your Jawline

Masculine faces have stronger jawlines, so use contour to sculpt out this area. Start from below your ear, sweep straight down, and then move horizontally along your natural jaw. Want to take it to the next level? Use contour to create a shadow around your lips and chin to mimic subtle hair growth. 

How Do You Do Feminine Contour?

Feminine contouring is all about softening, rounding, and lifting. Here are some feminizing contour tips to try:

Keep Your Cheekbones High

You’ll want to make your cheeks look lifted and rounded. Start where your cheekbone meets your ear and end where your cheekbone begins to meet your nose. It should look like a soft, straight line.

Highlight, Highlight, Highlight

Feminine contour is all about the highlight. The key places to highlight for a feminine face shape are the top of your cheekbones, chin, and forehead. Remember when we said contouring is about bringing features forward or backward? Highlighting these points will make your face appear rounder and smaller. 

Slim Your Nose

Nose contouring is tricky, so go slow and follow your natural nose shape. Start small by applying contour on the rounded parts of your nostrils and gently blending it out. Then move on to contouring the sides of your nose tip. Then, move on to making two small, thin lines along the sides of your nose slope. The key to this step is to apply small amounts of contour at a time and build it up. 

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Try ourUniversal Crayons orLiquid Lipsticks for feminine or masculine contouring!

Were these tips helpful? Tell us below!

Written by Julia Pincus, The Beauty Mark Writer