The Pale Girl’s Guide to Contouring
Today I’m bringing you the Pale Girl’s Guide to Contouring. I cover a lot in this video! I show you how I apply contour, highlighter and blush. I show you where you can contour around the face. I share the tools that I use and the products that I prefer to get the job done. Closed captioning is available.
The Pale Girl’s Guide to Contouring
Sigma F88, Makeup Geek, Silk Naturals, Urban Decay Video, & NARS Olympia press samples. Everything else purchased by me.
Please share if you enjoyed this video!
Contouring Brushes
- Real Techniques Duo Fiber Contour Brush
- Makeup Geek Chiseled Cheek Brush
- Real Techniques Contour Brush
Highlighter Brushes
- Urban Decay Diffused Highlighter Brush
- Real Techniques Setting Brush
Blush Brushes
- Real Techniques Contour Brush
- Real Techniques Cheek Brush
Blending Brush
- Real Techniques Fan Brush
Foundation Tools
- Sigma F88
- Beauty Blender
- Real Techniques Expert Face Brush
See more contour palette swatches from the original Pale Girl’s Guide to Highlighting & Contouring.
See more highlighters, bronzers and contours for pale skin.
Contour Products
- Aromaleigh Multi-purpose Contour Powders
- Lunatick Cosmetics Lab Multi-Purpose Contour Palette (see my swatches & review)
- Silk Naturals Shady Lady #1
- Urban Decay Blush in Video
- NARS Olympia
- Kevyn Aucoin the Art of Sculpting
- OCC John Doe
- em Cosmetics Chiaroscuro Stick in Fair (oos)
- Life’s Entropy Contour Sticks (closed until late August)
I really need to get around to doing a real review on the Real Techniques brushes. I’ve been using the brush line daily for 5 years but haven’t ever done one. It’s kind of crazy, especially considering how many sets of their brushes I’ve bought!
Pale Girl Guides
- The Original Highlighting & Contouring Guide
- The Pale Girl’s Guide to Highlighting
- The Pale Girl’s Guide to Blushes
- The Pale Girl’s Guide to Highlighters, Bronzers & Blushes for Summer
More to See
What lip colour are you wearing in these photos? It really suits you, and I am also a pale gal with neutral undertones. Is it the same shade as the one you’re wearing in your header photo? That one looks awesome, too!
So I think it’s Tarte Texas Toast, but I’m not 100% sure. Normally I write down what I’m wearing but I can’t find any notes on it. I’m working on a pale girl’s guide to nude lippies, so it will definitely be in there!
Awesome, looking forward to seeing that post!
Great brush recommendations – I’m not super happy with the current contouring and blush brushes I have, so I’m going to check these out.
I use the NYX blush in “Taupe” as my contour shade (I’m very pale/neutral tone). Find it to be a soft contour shade that doesn’t look crazy brown/orange on me.
I used to use Nyx Taupe, it’s a good shade!
It’s so funny, I was looking at UD Blushes, and I saw Video and I thought about asking you if it would be good for contour! This was THE perfect companion to your original Pale Girl’s Guide, and here you go for the brushes, how to define and accentuate without accentuating texture that you don’t want to highlight in your skin. And thank you for the Aromaleigh, just went to the site, I love the Greek theme, they have some gorgeous collections and those shades are lovely. In one of the other posts there is the NARS Dual Intensity Duo, it’s funny because I think-not sure that the current Blush/Contour palette they have out right now, the first two shades in it, Soft Tulle and the next one called “Damask with Gold Sheen” those are a lot like that duo, and then there is a shade called Peony, a beautiful DI Blush shade, and then the one on the far right is a darker shade called Titan, a chocolatey shade, so I think for $59 it’ nice since one duo is $48. I love the DI shadows, I wear them dry most f the time, they are sheer, I have the DI shadow brush so they are nice wet on the eyes but wet on the Cheeks it would be a lot. But dry would be lovely I think. I love OCC John Doe, such a great single. So this post was so helpful, application wise, and brush wise, thanks love!!!
SO EXCITED about the Real Techniques Sculpting Set!!!!! And now I know what a fan brush is really for by the way! 🙂
That MUG cheek brush needs to come home to my collection!
I’ve never seen that MUG cheek brush, but I so want to try it! It reminds me of the NARS Ita, which can feel a tad bit scratchy at times.
I think the Mug brush is a good balance between firm and flexible, making it ideal for contouring the cheek and jawline.
Firm and flexible is perfect! 🙂 Yeah the NARS ITA is really a definer/sculpter, it’s a great one but you would also need a brush to blend out with it. The MUG is definitely one I’m going to grab!
Yes I’ve tried the small version of the ITA, it came in a palette that I bought for my aunt, I do love NARS brushes for sure, I have more of the eye- there is the Mie brush(to soften the after you get that sharper chisel with the MUG if you do want a NARS or their classic #42 I think the Cheek Contour, not in the Kabuki collection. but I think that MUG looks really great, and a lot less pricey, for that one aspect:) Yay! Thanks Courtney!
I love that you included brush selection- I see a few I could add to my stash!
I thought that would be really helpful to see the tools I use and how I use them together.
Hi this is dev.. Long ago I saw your blog. I saw the article and read all the great ENJOY.
I’m several shades darker than you so I immediately zoomed in on your brush choices! I really need a good set!
So glad that you found the brushes and techniques helpful even though our skintones are different 🙂
I’d never think to use those murky shades as contour. I’d be sure everyone would see the gray. You explain things so well and your face looks so subtle even though you did so many steps.
They’re pretty goof proof shades because of how nicely they blend out.
I’ve never used Real Techniques brushes, not sure why. I love your look – the highlighting and contouring is so subtle but lovely. I don’t usually contour (except with the subtle em cosmetics cream stick from time to time) because I look like my face is dirty. I adore your lipstick – what is it?
The lipstick is Tarte x Grav3yardGirl Texas Toast. And yes, if I use too warm of a contour I feel like my face looks dirty too!
Thank you! Love that shade. I have to go swatch it
I love it and I’m not normally a ‘nude’ lipstick fan.