Ladies, we’ll be lying if we said we’ve never envied Kim K’s perfectly sculpted features thanks to the magic of contouring. Unfortunately, none of us have celebrity makeup artists on speed dial to help us look like goddesses everyday and attempting to contour by ourselves only ends in disaster. Luckily for us, there is a new beauty trend that’s taken over. Strobing is all about looking dewy and fresh faced without too many complicated steps. We give you the complete guide to strobing like a pro. Why look chiseled when you can glow like a light bulb?!
What Is Strobing and Why Do You Need It?
Have you ever wished your skin looked as though you had a facial every other week, drank 3 glasses of vegetable juice a day and ate nothing but spinach leaves for lunch? Well, now it can. Strobing is a highlighting technique that uses a single shade to give you that natural, lit-from-within glow.
Strobing Versus Contouring
Contouring is a complicated process that involves blending light and dark shades to sharpen your features. It is time consuming and involves expensive contouring palettes with so many confusing shades.
Strobing is the anti-contouring that is all about illuminating your complexion using a single product and applying it where the light hits your face. Of course it does require a bit of technique but nothing that you can’t master in one go. Don’t believe us? Read on to get that gorgeous Deepika Padukone and Kendal Jenner-esque glow.
Step 1 – Start With Fresh Skin
The whole point of strobing is for your skin to look healthy, clear and bright. So, cleanse and moisturize your skin before you begin. You can’t achieve the look with dull, dry skin of course but make sure to use an oil-free moisturizer. You can use a bit of foundation like you normally do. One trick to try is to mix a bit of luminizer like Sephora Collection Radiant Luminizng Drops in your moisturizer or foundation for a brighter look.
Step 2 – Get Highlighting!
Instead of figuring out the perfect light colour and dark colours to use like you would with contouring, all you need is your favourite highlighter. Use it on places where light would hit your face to enhance those features, basically the high planes and points of your face. These would be your temples, down the bridge of your nose, your cheekbones, the centre of your forehead, along your brow bone, the tip of your nose, your chin and the inner corners of your eyes. Avoid using too much on your forehead if your skin tends to get oily.
You can leave it like that, but if you want to tone it down or a bit or feel like you need more coverage, add a light layer of your foundation on top. This will help it look like the glow really is coming from within.
Find The Perfect Highlighter
For a more subtle, natural sheen it’s important to use a highlighter that matches your skin tone perfectly. Remember to use a matte one, that greasy shine isn’t what we’re aiming for.
Fair Skin: Look for champagne coloured tones.
POPxo Loves: Benefit’s Watt’s Up! (Rs. 1,990)
Fair To Medium Skin: Anything from champagne to pale pink tones are flattering.
POPxo Loves: Revlon Highlighting Palette in Rose Glow (Rs. 995)
Medium To Dark Skin: Stay away from pink tones. Instead, peach to gold tones will help give you that natural looking glow.
POPxo Loves: MAC Prep + Prime Highlighter in Peach Lustre (Rs. 1,725)
Featured Image: Viral Bhayani; Images: Shutterstock
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