Before Contouring

There was once a time before contouring made it onto the popular scene. A few years ago most of us were going through our makeup routines blissfully unaware of this makeup technique- myself included. But when I think about it I can’t really recollect what my make makeup routine was like before contouring; it was definitely less time consuming. I did wear a bit of bronzer here and there, but like a true procrastinator, I sometimes find myself thinking about our obsession.

Contouring actually has a history, from greasepaint and soot, to a technique used by makeup artists. If you go back to the Elizabethan Era you’ll find that stage actors would apply a mixture of chalk and soot to their faces, so that audiences could read their facial expressions more clearly.

But then the 1800s rolled around and artificial lighting was introduced. Nobody wanted to be seen with soot on their faces, so naturally you just opt for greasepaint instead. The 1920s and 30s had their own contouring queen, German actress Marlene Dietrich, she would sculpt and shade to accentuate the natural lines of her face. She knew the power of lighting and casting the perfect shadow, just like the Kardashians.

Would you have imagined a few years back that you would be reading an article on the history of contouring?

We’ve all become masters in the art of contouring- or at least we try to be. One day you think you’ve contoured to perfection and the next you wish you hadn’t even bothered. Amy Chance, a Los Angeles–based makeup artist who works with the likes of Lily Allen, Sky Ferreira, and Chloë Sevigny, points to the contouring queen: “I call it the Kardashian effect,”[1] adding “You can’t flip open a magazine, log on to the Internet, or turn on your TV without seeing a Kardashian doing normal things, like shopping, carrying a baby, or walking out of the gym, with a fully contoured face of makeup, looking like perfection.[2]” Are we blurring the lines between what we look like in photos and what we look like in reality?

We’re contouring in our everyday lives, enhancing our facial bone structure and creating definition. For anyone who has watched a sped up contour video on YouTube, you’ll know what I mean when I say how interesting the transformation is. Even with all those adept contour geniuses out there, on some days we just don’t have the time to blend a full face of contour and highlight.

For Chance, whose seen makeup trends come and go over her 12 year career, the contouring craze is a bit of a downer: “Everyone’s contouring away the little perceived imperfections that make their faces unique,”[3] she said.

But once you start contouring can you go back? That’re so many views on contouring, should you do it should you not? The designers at Hood by Air, sent their models down the runway with unblended contour. Perhaps shining a light onto the fact that trends fade and that perfection doesn’t require you to shed a whole load of money on a contour kit. Trends are just that, trends. They come and they go, there might just be something on the horizon that will overshadow contouring and we’ll all forget what we used to do before that trend.

[1] Why Is Everyone So Obsessed With Contouring?: Allure: Mary H. K. Choi: 5 December 2015

[2] Why Is Everyone So Obsessed With Contouring?: Allure: Mary H. K. Choi: 5 December 2015

[3] Why Is Everyone So Obsessed With Contouring?: Allure: Mary H. K. Choi: 5 December 2015