I Tried the Easiest Contour Hack on TikTok: See the Photos
I Tried the Viral "Dot" Contouring Hack From TikTok, and I'll Never Go Back
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Recently, while scrolling TikTok, I came across a video of makeup artist Megan Lavallie explaining an easier way to contour more naturally. For the record, my feelings on contouring have been precarious over the years. It's never been my style to do a full-face beat with heavy contouring — I've only used powder bronzers — but after discovering a few amazing cream bronzers, I've added a more pared-down version of the makeup technique to my daily look.
The way I've been doing my contour for the last two years is by adding a line under my cheekbones that extends back to my ears. But the Lavallie suggested adding a dot to the one "spot on your cheek that if you poked a hole through it would touch your teeth," right by your back molar, and that's it.
@meganlavallie sometimes a straight line from your ear can look a little intense #contourhacks #contour #makeup
♬ Elevator Music - Bohoman
This tip is supposed to be an easier, softer-looking way to contour. It didn't take much to convince me to try it myself. I saw a fair share of other people duetting the hack and it seemed to work great for them, so I tried it the very next day. As usual, I used the Makeup By Mario Soft Sculpt Shaping Stick (£27) and followed her (super easy) instructions.
"There is this one spot here on your cheek that if you poked a hole through it would touch your teeth," said Lavallie in the Tiktok video, applying a single dot of the Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood Contour Wand (£29). "If you softly blend it out, it'll create the most soft-looking, high cheekbone for those who want to look good from the side and the front."
I took the end of my Makeup By Mario cream contour stick and dabbed it right in that sweet spot that Lavallie mentioned. I then used a dense blending brush to buff that spot out — not drag, swipe, or rub, as she cautioned against in a separate video on blending 101 — until it disappeared seamlessly into the rest of my makeup.
After both sides were blended, I immediately noticed how lifted and chiseled my cheekbones looked. Though I've liked the contour routine that I'd been following prior, it did occasionally leave my cheeks looking blotchy and my contour less sculpted and more muddy-looking. This more precise contour hack kept that from happening. Because there was less product on my skin, it required less blending, which is always a win in my book because I hate that part.
Unlike some makeup hacks on TikTok that require a bit of a learning curve or at least some level of natural makeup skills, this tip is effortless. For my quick, everyday makeup look for work, I'll definitely be implementing this easier method. For fast it is and how good it looks, it's worth giving a try.
