How to Contour Like a Professional Makeup Artist for a Natural-Looking, Sculpted Complexion
This technique changed everything.
As someone fair, blue-eyed, and blonde, I'll be honest—contouring has never been a part of my makeup routine. I'm even a little skeptical about bronzer. I instantly think of middle school makeup: cakey, laid on thick with harsh lines that look unflattering, and a tinged orange hue. Even though I am decidedly not a contour connoisseur, I jumped at the chance to ask pro makeup artists about their best-kept, A-list contouring tricks.
"I always say the easiest way to start with contouring is to start with one feature at a time," says professional makeup artist and founder of m.ph Beauty, Mary Phillips, who works with clients like Hailey Bieber. "Start with just your nose or cheeks or wherever you want—as you get more comfortable, it's easier to add on from there." Makeup artist Kelli Anne Sewell, who works with Kelsey Ballerini, agrees, citing a trick she learned from another makeup artist, Katie Jane Hughes: "Really look at your face in the mirror and talk," she says. "This will expose your natural hollows in the cheeks, and you can start there."
What surprised me is that contouring is actually not as hard as it seems—and it can look incredibly natural. The formulas and pigments have gotten far more advanced, sure, but also the techniques and tips have gotten easier to follow, too—even for a contour novice.
Below, I used all their best tips to create the most natural, sculpted contour of my life.
Step 1: Prep The Skin
Everything—concealer, powder, highlighter, and contour—looks a million times more natural when your skin is prepped with a great moisturizer. "When the skin looks hydrated and smooth, it naturally looks good," says Phillips. "Then everything else just falls into place seamlessly."
Sewell agrees, noting you don't have to overthink it. "Just support the skin barrier in whatever way suits you," she says. I prep my skin by warming Bonjout Beauty's Balm all over—it's so soothing and nourishing, and my skin drinks it up, leaving it instantly plump, supple, and hydrated. Then I follow it up with a few drops of the Rhode Glazing Milk to add a bit of tact and sheen so the makeup adheres better.
Step 2: Color Correct
By color-correcting before you do anything else, you help ensure you're smoothing and evening out your skin tone. To make the process even more seamless, Phillips created this brilliant little palette, which has a color corrector, two shades of highlighter, and two shades of contour. It's all a part of underpainting, her signature technique of applying contour, bronzer, blush, and highlighter under foundation, foolproof. "Use the lightest shade in the palette with the small side of the dual-ended brush to color correct any dark circles or discoloration," says Phillips. "But remember that color correcting isn't concealing—so apply judiciously." Even if you don't want to use the rest of the palette, color correcting is still a crucial step to help your contour really pop, without ever looking too unnatural.
Step 3: Choose Your Contour
When choosing a contour product, Sewell says your skin's undertone affects how colors appear on your face. "It acts like a 'lens' that filters color or absorbs certain undertones of products," she says. To keep things simple and not overly complicated, she suggests looking for a formula that has strong cool (or gray) undertones for the most natural-looking contour. "You want to create 'shadows' on the face, and to do so you need a gray element to the formula to make it look as natural as it can," she says. Remember—you can always add a bit of warmth with bronzer and blush later on. (A good frame of reference is that bronzer is warmer in tone, and contour should be cooler.
Depending on where you contour, you can use a liquid, powder, or cream—but both Phillips and Sewell prefer creams for more dimension and depth. "A liquid is typically going to be more sheer, natural, and more like a tint because it can stretch and expand as you blend," says Sewell. "Creams are a bit more pigmented, [which] can do more to shape and sculpt because they're easy to blend but don't move around—you need it to hold its 'shape'."
Step 4: Sculpt At the Temples and Hairline
Both Phillips and Sewell say the biggest mistake in contouring is applying too much product right off the bat. "It’s important to work in thin layers," says Phillips. "That’s what gives the most natural, skin-like finish." Both Phillips and Sewell recommend starting your contour at the temple. "I love an outer temple snatch," says Sewell. "Use the contour to draw a diagonal line upwards from the outer edge of the eye, over the tail end of the brow, into the temple. This really helps define the eyes."
Phillips adds that, "By starting at the tail of the brow and brushing upward toward the temple, you create lift. Then bring it up along the hairline and around the perimeter of the forehead." As you go, you should softly buff and blend the contour with your brush or sponge so it's not totally blended to the point of being invisible, but there aren't super harsh lines.
Step 5: Chisel The Cheekbones and Jawline
Next you can add the subtle face-chiseling lift. Glide the contour along a diagonal line up to your cheekbones, blending to create shadowed depth. Chances are, you're probably applying your cheek contour too low. "It's all about working upward," says Phillips. "I like to keep everything slightly higher than you think—for example, on the cheeks, I hug just under the highest point of the cheekbone, not too low." Look for the natural dip of where your cheekbone sits and apply it right above. "Focus on lift more than depth," says Phillips. "So instead of dragging contour down the face, I place it strategically: under the cheekbone but diffused upward, into the temple, softly around the perimeter." While it may look harsh at first, Phillips assures us to trust the process. "Everything is blended out so there are no hard starts or stops," she says.
Step 6: Define the Nose And Add Highlight
To sculpt the nose, use a small brush or brilliant stick—like this one by Victoria Beckham—to sculpt up towards the brow. "You want to be very strategic because the placement matters," says Sewell. Then lightly buff it out to soften. "A small dense, fluffy brush gives you precision," adds Sewell. Bring lightness to the face (which helps add contrast to make your contour pop) with concealer or highlighter. "I start with the shadows of the face before moving on to where the light hits," says Phillips. "Highlight is what really enhances that lift—place it right under the contour on the cheek, between the brows, and down the bridge of the nose to bring everything forward."
Step 7: Apply Sheer Foundation Then Blend and Buff
Phillips signature underpainting technique means you apply a sheer (note—a sheer finish is crucial here) foundation over top to help blend out and conceal any lines from the contour. "The key is that nothing lives in isolation—the contour, highlight, and complexion are all working together underneath, so by the time foundation goes on, it’s just this seamless, sculpted skin," she says. "You shouldn’t see contour; you should just see a lifted, balanced face."
By layering a soft, sheer foundation over the contour, you're not covering everything up, but rather, blurring it imperceptibly. "That’s what gives that lifted, seamless, lit-from-within effect," says Phillips. "You’re not seeing harsh lines and heavy makeup—you’re seeing dimension coming through the skin." After you've layered a light foundation on, you can add more contour if you want (although I found this method left me with definition that looked super natural.) "You always can build, but it’s much harder to take away," says Phillips.
Step 8: Finish With Blush
My own tip for a look that’s both more natural and incredibly flattering, I dab blush on wherever the sun might hit (for me, it's a little on my nose and my cheeks). This helps bring it all together—the blush adds a little natural flush and melts in, so your skin looks like skin.
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Meet the Experts
Mary Phillips is one of the most influential makeup artists of her generation, known for redefining modern beauty through her signature “underpainting” technique—a now-viral method that’s reshaped how millions contour, highlight, and sculpt their features. With a client roster that includes Kim Kardashian, Kendall Jenner, Hailey Bieber, and Kaia Gerber, Mary’s artistry has become synonymous with glowing, elevated skin and a less-is-more aesthetic that enhances rather than transforms. A licensed aesthetician, former brow artist, and co-founder of Highlight Artists talent agency, she brings a multidimensional perspective to her work. In 2025, she launched m.ph by Mary Phillips, a curated collection rooted in her professional techniques—blending timeless glamour with breathable, skincare-forward formulas designed to make people feel confident, sexy, and effortlessly polished.
