Your perfect contour placement
As for placement, Yoshimoto Bua recommends "aiming from the center of the ear to the center of the mouth." She also deposits a tiny bit of color along the jawline and at the temples, as well as along the sides of the nose. "You can lightly blend the edges from that initial placement and you can also scoop it under the apple of the cheek a little bit," she adds.
Image via Gabe Ginsberg/Getty Images
Where to apply blush
After completing the contour, Yoshimoto Bua goes in and adds in a little color with some blush. She applies color to the apples of the cheek, even sweeping color upwards to the orbital bone (aka the upper cheekbone).
Image via JB Lacroix/ Getty Images
How to choose the perfect blush shade
Does anyone else have trouble finding flattering blush colors for their skin tones? Yoshimoto Bua's advice is genius: "I like choosing a color that might be a little lighter than you think you might want for blush — because it actually shows up and it's much easier to blend and use," she says. "Then, you can go in later with a deeper tone if you want to punch it up."
Image via Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
You can soften your contour with some blush
Yoshimoto Bua says that she sometimes contours the brow and nose bridge area using the tiniest amount of neutral blush if she's going for a more understated look.
Image via Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
How to create the most flattering eye shape
From the deep-set eyes to monolids, there's so much variety with eye shape. To create the perfect shadow shape customized to your own eyes, Yoshimoto Bua recommends using your own face structure (and eyeball, even) as a guide. For shadow above the lid, she says you should "kind of go with the contour of the eye," feeling for where your eyeball ends.
As for creating wings, she recommends drawing an imaginary line from the "tip of your nose to the end of your eyebrow" to find out how far to wing out your eye makeup (as she explains, any farther than that and you're drawing on bone, which can mess with the shape). She also notes that it's often most flattering to "go straight out and lift it a little" with your shadow or liner, so your eyes don't get "dragged down."
Image via Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for MTV
