Beauty How to Finally Master Contouring in 4 Easy Steps

"Can you teach us how to contour? Will it change our lives?" Leah asked not so long ago. "Yes," I said. And unlike Mayweather, I keep my word. Moving on. No matter how many unblended Kontour selfies Kim K. posts, I am unable to follow her and my contour skills remain abysmal, resulting in a chin-strap of bronzer along my jawline. While resident makeup mother Kurtis Dam-Mikkelsen, also known as Miss Fame, is an expert in extreme contouring—just check out his YouTube page—we don't want witness protection-level transformation; we just want a subtly more sculpted face.

Here, Dam-Mikkelsen does away with the gratuitous steps to give us the most minimal guide to contouring. Thanks to Miss Fame, a more angular face is now actually easy to achieve.

The Kit: Your existing foundation plus two stick foundations: one that's two shades deeper than your overall color, and one that's two shades lighter, says Dam-Mikkelsen, who loves Bobbi Brown because it's dense but blendable.

To prep: "Using fingertips or a Kabuki brush, apply foundation to even out skin," he says. Don't worry about varsity-level coverage. It's simply about creating a uniform base.

STEP 1: MAP YOUR FACE

With the darker of the two stick foundations, "Trace the temples. If you have a larger forehead, carry straight into the hairline to minimize it," Dam-Mikkelsen says. "To bring out your cheekbones, find the hollow part by placing your fingers on the sides of your face, and where you feel it dip underneath the bones, just above is where you place your pigment. With the nose, you can go a little bit narrower at the tip or you can carry it into the brow if you have a shorter nose to add length or width."

STEP 2: BLEND IT

"Take a damp beautyblender and tap over the area of the contour color, merging it into your base foundation. Tap in small circular motions using the bigger, rounded end of the beautyblender because it has more space. But for details like the sides of the nose, I flatten it and squeeze it into my hands."

STEP 3: GET LIT

Concentrate the lighter foundation stick underneath your eyes, Dam-Mikkelsen says. "If you want to go crazy you can do a little bit in the center of the forehead and on the chin, and the bridge of the nose. Blend any excess product with a damp beautyblender."

STEP 4: DUST IT

With a fluffy brush, dust the entire face with loose powder. "Translucent is best for securing a cream foundation," Dam-Mikkelsen says.

See? Very subtle. I sharpen some parts of my face with Miss Fame-level skills every day now, and it makes a difference. Even my therapist noticed! Try it and let me know how it goes.