Contouring and highlighting gives some dimension to the face. Contouring goes on any places that are behind from the plane of the face or are shadowed. Highlighting goes on the place that comes forward from the face. Such as the cheek bones, bridge of the nose, the brow bones, forehead and chin. I like to use a shimmery highlighter on the cheekbones and a shimmery eyeshadow on the brow bones. I avoid shimmer on the T-zone since it is already shiny. Highlighting should be done with a fluffy and less dense brush since too much shimmer looks tacky even on dry skin types. A dense brush can be used only on the cheekbones. Don’t use a dense brush on forehead, nose and chin.

Highlight Brush. Left: Posh Blending Brush, Right: MAC188

My favourite highlight brush is MAC188 (right). It will pick up a little product if you brush it on the product lightly. Start from the start of the cheekbones and make a half circle bringing the colour around the eyes – up to above arch of the brows. This brush picks up and delivers just the right amount. I also live this brush as a blush brush. It can also be used to apply lightweight foundation like MAC187 brush.

This Posh brush (left) is called Blending brush. The size is such that don’t know if it is a blending brush for eye makeup or face makeup or cheek makeup. However, I found a use of this brush. I use it to highlight on the days when I want a strong highlight. It is very dense and picks up a lot of product. But I wouldn’t consider this brush a necessity.

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Contour goes on the hollow of the cheekbones and sides of the nose. Find your cheekbones with your finger. The hollow is right under it. I also like to contour my jaw line and side of my temples to give  myself a slimmer look. I personally use bronzer to contour. If you like to stay out of shimmer then use a matter brown eyeshadow or blush. Contour brushes have to be narrow so that they can go on narrow places like hollow of cheekbones and sides of the nose. They have to be dense give the affect of high cheekbones, narrow nose and a slimmer face. They also have to be a little bit fluffy so the colour can be blended.

Contour Brush. Left: MAC186SE , Right: MAC109SE

My personal favourite contouring brush is MAC109 (right). It is a dense and narrow brush with a circular tip. It is just the right size to contour my face. I pick up my bronzer and its very easy to apply – no tricks involved. I starts from my temples and come forward towards the centre of my face.

My second favourite brush for contouring is MAC168 (left). It’s an angular dense and narrow brush. It can be used to contour holding it sideways – starting from temples and coming forward. It can also be used as a blush brush holding it normally – starting from the cheeks going towards the temples.

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Blush brushes are a great investment. The brushes that come with blushes often is of cheap quality and does not work. You should use a narrow brush if you have small face and smaller cheekbones. You might find a broad brush more useful if you have a larger face and use only one blush colour. However, I personally like to use a narrow blush brush though I have a big chubby face. The reason is that I also contour and highlight my cheeks – I apply the blush in between them so a narrow brush works great for me.

Blush Brushes left to right: MAC188, MAC129SE, MAC168SE, Posh Angle Blush Brush

I absolutely love MAC188 as a blush brush (first from left). I swirl it on my powder brush and then swipe it couple of times on my cheeks – and that is it. I start from the apple of my cheeks (I little bit behind it actually) and finish close to my ears. It picks up small amount if you want a light coverage and it picks up more if you keep swirling it. It is the baby version of MAC187.  Which means the black hair is goat hair and the site is synthetic hair. So this brush is great for people who apply cream blushes. This brush can be used to apply foundation as well. I also highlight my cheeks with this brush sometimes.

A traditional blush brush is like MAC129 (second brush from left). You swipe it from the apple of the cheeks and finish in front of the ears. I personally don’t like it. I tend to apply too much blush while using this brush. I tend to look older since the blush makes my cheeks look like it is sagging.

Another traditional blush brush is MAC168 (third from left). It is quite dense – picks up more colour and I tend to avoid it. It is very good for contouring the cheekbones though. If you use a bronzer with this brush and apply it on the hollow under your cheekbones, it gets a nice lift and makes your face look slimmer.

Posh Angle Blush brush (last brush from the left) looks similar to MAC168. It’s dense but softer and fluffier than MAC168. So this brush is not so good for contouring but a great brush for blush. If I ever lose my MAC188 (God forbids!) I will use this brush till I get a new MAC188.
[phpbay] blush brush, 3, “, ” [/phpbay]