How to Contour Fair Skin for a Subtle, Sculpted Look

Contouring your face for a sculpted look can be challenging, especially when you have a fair skin tone. There’s a fine line between looking sculpted and bronzed and looking unnatural and muddy because the products you chose are too overwhelming against your complexion. Not only that, trying to find the right places to apply the product can be just as confusing. That’s why we’re sharing helpful tips on how to contour for fair skin tones and recommending some of our favorite products for the job. 

STEP 1: Use a Primer

First things first, prep your skin with primer. This will help any products applied after stay in place and last longer. 

STEP 2: Apply Your Base

To make your contour look as natural as possible, find a foundation that matches your skin tone to give you an even canvas to work with. We recommend the Maybelline New York Dream Radiant Liquid Foundation for its ability to even out skin tone while incorporating skin-loving ingredients in the formula, like hyaluronic acid to hydrate and collagen to plump. 

STEP 3: Apply Concealer to Highlight

Before you get to shadows and defining, apply a concealer that’s one shade lighter than your natural skin tone to bring forward any areas on your face that you want to be highlighted. These areas tend to be the highpoints of your face and where the sun naturally hits, like your under-eyes, middle of forehead, brow bones, middle of chin and the bridge of your nose. Blend out the concealer and then use a translucent powder to set it in place to avoid creasing and greasiness.  If you need a concealer recommendation, we love the NYX Professional Makeup Born To Glow! Concealer, which is great to highlight as it has a beautiful radiant finish. 

STEP 4: Apply a Darker Concealer to the Natural Angles of Your Face

To avoid harsh, dark streaks, find the natural angles of your face and apply a concealer that’s one shade darker than your skin tone on those areas. Usually, these are your forehead, along the perimeter of your face, the hollows of your cheeks and the sides of your nose.  

STEP 5: Blend, Blend, Blend 

This is the most important part when contouring fair skin. To make your contour look as natural as possible, you must blend. Use a brush or damp beauty sponge and blend the dark concealer in an upward motion. The trick is to blend out the product without completely wiping it away, so it creates subtle definition without harsh lines.

Our Editors’ Favorite Contour Products for Fair Skin

NYX Professional Makeup Highlight and Contour Pro Palette
This palette offers an extensive range of contour and highlight shades, making it perfect for fair skin tones. It’s a creamy formula that effortlessly glides onto your skin making it easy to apply and blend. 

Maybelline New York Facestudio Master Contour V-Shape Duo Stick
The Maybelline New York FaceStudio Master Contour V-Shape Duo Stick highlights and contours in two easy steps. Apply the dark shade along the jawline and hollows of the cheeks, then follow up with the light shade to the high points of the face. Finally, blend it all together for a beautiful finish.

L’Oréal Paris Colour Riche Monos Eyeshadow in Meet Me in Paris
While it may seem untraditional, using a gray, matte eyeshadow, like this option from L’Oréal Paris, works great to contour fair skin. Your natural contour shadows typically lean gray, which is why this eyeshadow will offer a natural-looking finish. 

Read More:

How to Determine Your Skin’s Tone and Undertone

How to Safely (and Quickly!) Bronze Your Skin

Help! I Have Rosacea and Dry Skin