A Modern Beauty Guide For Dummies

Strobing, baking, contouring—oh my! When it comes to the beauty world you haven’t a clue about what to do first. No matter how many Youtube tutorials you watch or cosmetics your friends insist that you buy, you still feel like a fish out of water when it comes to creating a makeup look.

Luckily, we’re here to guide all of you beauty newbies into this foreign world of buffing, blending and getting that highlight just right.

Contouring

What It Does: “Sharpens” the facial structure of one’s face.

What It Means: A makeup technique that will guarantee you a reality show once perfected. Most known from Kim Kardashian’s makeup artist, Mario Dedivanovic—mastering the technique on Kim K. herself. Contouring is the use of dark foundation, bronzer and highlight to pinpoint features, like cheekbones (using the duck face), or create the illusion of smaller features, like the forehead.

Buffing

What It Does: The technique will give your skin a glowy, airbrush appearance.

What It Means: The act of applying foundation or concealer onto one’s skin and pressing a foundation brush, preferably one with a stippling design (it’s the one with pointy ends), or a beauty blender onto your skin in circular motions until the products are no longer visible.

Baking

What It Does: Leaves your skin with a creaseless finish.

What It Means: No, it’s not a recipe that Betty Crocker would want in her kitchen. Baking in the beauty world has nothing to do with baking powder and chocolate chips. It’s the application of translucent powder on your foundation and concealer; then allowing it to remain there to “bake” for up to 10 minutes before brushing it off.

Strobing

What It Does: Creates a luminescent appearance on your cheekbones, tip of your nose, Cupid’s bow (the slight dip of your upper lip) and brow bone.  

What It Means: You may do this on the weekend, but we’re talking about lighting that lies on your face. Yes, you read that right. Strobing means applying highlight powder to the parts of your face that natural light would touch.

Tightlining

What It Does: Achieve the “no makeup, makeup” look by making your eyes appear brighter.

What It Means: It’s the process of filling in your lash base (the line right when you lift your lid up) with liner. It’s a rather intimidating, but extremely effective makeup trick once you get the hang of it. Just try not to poke your eye.

Cut Creasing

What It Does: Adds depth and makes eye looks pop.

What It Means: Don’t worry, it’s not as scary as it sounds. And no, there aren’t any sharp tools involved. All it includes is applying a dark shadow into the crease, right above your eyelid, to create a more dramatic look. The application of this is called “cutting.”