How to Contour Your Face Shape? Round, Oval, Square, or Heart Shaped Face Contouring

Learning how to contour your face is a game-changer in the world of makeup. This essential technique allows you to enhance your natural beauty, add definition, and create a sculpted, flawless finish. But the key to effective face contouring lies in tailoring your approach to your unique face shape. Whether you have a heart-shaped face with a defined jawline, a round face that needs more angles, or an oval or square face, knowing where and how to apply contour makes all the difference. 

With the right tools, techniques, and a little practice, you can create a perfectly polished look that’s uniquely yours. Dive into this guide to discover expert tips on how to contour your face, bring out your best features, and elevate your makeup game to the next level.

What is Contour?

Contour is a makeup technique designed to sculpt and define your facial features by adding depth and dimension through the strategic use of darker and lighter shades. It’s the secret behind achieving that chiseled, camera-ready look. Learning how to contour my face is all about enhancing your natural beauty while creating balance and symmetry.

When deciding where to put contour, it’s important to focus on areas where you want to create shadows or definition. For example, applying contour under your cheekbones, along your jawline, and the sides of your nose can help shape and define your features. Highlighting complements this by adding brightness to the tops of your cheekbones, the bridge of your nose, and your forehead.

For those with a heart-shaped face, contouring can work wonders by softening a wide forehead and adding structure to a pointed chin. No matter your face shape, whether it’s round, oval, square, or a heart-shaped face, contouring allows you to tailor your makeup to bring out your best features. With practice and the right tools, you’ll master how to contour your face for any occasion, leaving you with a flawless, sculpted finish.

Determining your face shape for perfect face contouring

Before mastering how to contour your face, it’s essential to know your face shape. The four main face shapes are round, oval, heart, and square. Not sure which one you have? Start by pulling your hair back and taking a straight-on selfie to see the outline of your features. Pay close attention to your forehead, cheekbones, and jawline. 

Are your features angular or soft? Is your forehead the widest part of your face, like a heart-shaped face, or are your jawline and forehead equally wide, like a square shape? Knowing these details will help you tailor your face contouring technique, ensuring you enhance your natural beauty in the most flattering way. Whether you're contouring a heart-shaped face or any other shape, understanding your proportions is the first step to achieving a flawless look.

Face contouring 101: The basic

Learning how to contour your face starts with understanding your unique features. Contouring enhances areas like your cheekbones, jawline, and nose while creating a polished, sculpted look. The trick lies in knowing where to put contour and blending seamlessly.

Your face shape—be it round, oval, square, or heart-shaped—guides your technique. For example, on a heart-shaped face, contour the forehead and chin for balance. Use tools like Beautyblender to blend products below cheekbones, along the jawline, and the sides of your nose for a natural finish.

With the right approach, face contouring transforms your look, making it easy to highlight your best features.

How to contour your face shape?

Contouring is all about enhancing your natural features and creating balance by tailoring the technique to your unique face shape. Whether you’re working with a round, oval, heart-shaped, or square face, understanding where and how to apply contour makes all the difference. Below, we break down how to contour my face shape for stunning, sculpted results.

How to contour a round face?

Round faces are usually shorter in length and fairly symmetrical (think Chrissy Teigen or Ginnifer Goodwin), with your cheekbones being the widest part of your face. Since your features are often more soft and rounded, you can lose definition after putting on your base foundation. The key to contouring a round face is learning where to contour to add structure and bring out those angles.

The Contour Queen

To accentuate your cheekbones, you’ll want to contour just below them. Suck in your cheeks or make the (iconic) duck face in the mirror to find the correct spot to start dabbing products with your makeup sponge. You’ll also want to contour along your forehead and pull it down the temple–think of it as the letter “C” on each side of your face.

Pro tip: Don’t forget about the eyebrows. An arched, angled brow brings more dimension to your face to help break up some of the curves. Have a little fun and experiment with a brow pencil to see what you like.

How to contour an oval shape of a face?

Although oval faces and round faces both have a round jawline, oval faces are more elongated (like Jessica Alba or Bella Hadid) with the forehead typically being the widest area.

You Are Making Me Blush

To give your face a more rounded appearance, reach for blush to add depth and dimension to your face. Bounce your favorite blush on the apples of your cheekbones and even below your chin (just trust us) to achieve a well-rounded look that brings your best attributes forward. Plus, since an oval face shape is already symmetrical, you can focus on contouring just under the cheekbones to emphasize your features.

How to contour heart shape face

Heart-shaped faces (think Reese Witherspoon) are wider at the forehead, but get more angled and pointed toward the jawline. This lets you have some fun with highlighting and contouring. Take your highlighter and glide it along the bridge of your nose, the tops of your cheeks, and your upper jawline. Then, sweep the contour along the sides of your forehead to help minimize the width.

Since your jawline is already defined, you only need a bit of contour below your chin. Blend it all and add an extra touch of bronzer or blush to your cheeks for some color and voila–you’re ready to hit the town. Finish the look with a few spritzes of our setting spray for coverage all night long.

How to contour a square face

If you have a square-shaped face (like Katie Holmes), your temples, cheekbones, and jawlines have defined angles that are practically equidistant from the center of the face. When contouring a square face, the goal is to soften defined edges and round out your angular features. You’ll want to contour around the perimeter of your face and blend well to get a natural look.

Only The Highlights

To elongate the face, highlight your forehead, chin, and the bridge of your nose. Don’t forget to add some highlighter under your eyes and just below the corners of your mouth, which will help add height to your face. Once you’ve highlighted to your liking, it’s time to contour your angled features.

Lightly brush all along your jawline, lower cheekbones, and forehead, and blend to perfection. You don’t need to go crazy with contouring your hairline or temples—though you can if you want to. You do you!

Contouring is more than just a makeup technique—it’s a way to highlight your natural beauty and express your style. Whether you’re refining your cheekbones, learning how to contour your nose, or balancing a heart-shaped face, the right approach makes all the difference. With practice and the tips shared in this guide, you’ll master how to contour your face with confidence.

Remember, the secret lies in knowing where to put contour and blending it seamlessly for a natural, polished finish. So, grab your tools, experiment with your technique, and watch your makeup routine transform. Your perfectly sculpted look is just a contour away.