Kim Kardashian-West Over Contouring? What New Craze Has Kim K Ditching Bronzer?
Get ready to pound some tutorials aspiring makeup mavens; Kim Kardashian-West has declared the contouring craze officially over.
Contouring, an ultra-trendy makeup technique, became a household name thanks to Kim Kardashian-West and her famous sisters. Contouring tutorials have been a mainstay of Kim Kardashian-West’s app. The Kardashian-Jenner sisters convinced their legions of fans to buy makeup in just the right colors, two shades darker and lighter than your skin tone, to pull features they don’t like to the forefront while downplaying features they don’t like. Women spent hours watching tutorials on the perfect product and techniques by Kim Kardashian-West (and her team of makeup artists) and other YouTube influencers.
Why has the first lady of contouring walked away from the trend that created her signature look?
According to Vogue UK, Kim Kardashian-West broke down her latest makeup fascination at the Vogue Festival in London.
“I think right now it’s more about non-touring, like real skin with less make-up on it. I’m trying to wear less… and my husband loves me without makeup. Now when I travel I just bring a small makeup case, and I’m content with that. I’m really into strobing now, so just highlighting the skin without using bronzer.”
You read that right. It seems that Kim Kardashian-West is tossing out the highlighter and heavy bronzer for a lighter, more natural look. The natural look is a far cry from the standard Kardashian-Jenner look of impeccable eyebrows, heavy contouring, and perfect gloss or matte lips, but it’s perfectly on trend for the season. And Kim Kardashian-West isn’t the only one of the famous sisters to jump on board the non-touring train.
According to PopSugar, strobing first appeared on makeup enthusiasts’ radar in the summer of 2015. Strobing, also known as non-touring, ditches the bronzer and darker shades for highlighters and illuminating products.
While contouring focuses on the entire face, non-touring focuses only on areas that light would naturally hit.
How can you dip wade into the non-touring waters? Cosmopolitan recently released some tips to get a perfect, lightweight glow.
- Start with a good base. Strobing creates a perfect, lightweight glow, but without layers of foundation and bronzer, skin problems have nowhere to hide. Wash your face with your favorite cleanser and follow with a good hydrating moisturizer.
- Pick the right shade. The super light shades of yesterday’s contouring technique have no place in non-touring. Chose a more subtle highlighter that complements your skin tone without being too loud. Go for shimmer, not glitter.
- Stick to the spots light naturally hits. Non-touring is all about creating a natural glow. Lightly swipe your highlighting product on your cheekbones, the bridge of your nose, at your temples, beneath your brow bone, and in the corners of your eyes.
- Use the right tools. This is where reformed contourers have the advantage. Improper blending could give novice strobers an oil slick instead of the subtle glow they crave. Blend away hard lines with a fan brush or damp sponge. You could even repurpose your trusty beautyblender for the task.
- Keep your other products matte. Adding more shimmery products to your flawless strobing experiment could make you look like a glittery mess. Take a page from Kim Kardashian West’s book and stick with matte products and neutral eye shadow.
If you fell in love with the contouring trend and aren’t ready to put away the bronzer just yet, fret not. Kim Kardashian-West isn’t ready to go cold turkey either.
“I love contouring and I don’t think I’d stop contouring my nose — I know people think I’ve had a nose job but it really is just make-up!”
[Photo by KGC-11/STAR MAX/IPx]
