Strobing vs. Contouring (ft. Baking)

This past year, we definitely experienced some extreme makeup trends. We went from sharp contouring to the complete other end of the spectrum, soft strobing, and picked up the habit of baking on the way. But wait, what do all these words mean? Why would I want to "strobe" my face? And how the heck would you "bake" your face? Never fear, makeup newcomers, these questions and more will all be answered in the following blog post.

Let's start with contouring. What exactly is that? Dictionary.com defines "contour" as "the outline of a figure or body; the edge or line that defines or bounds a shape or object." When you contour your face with makeup, you are using powders or creams to extenuate the edges and angles of your face that give it a more sharp, structured look.

Contouring, depending on who you are, can make you look older or younger. For a younger person with softer features and a more child-like face, contouring adds angles that make you look more mature. For older people whose skin may have lost some of its elasticity, again, contouring adds the more defined angles back.

Contouring really made a name for itself with the rise of the Kardashians. Kim is famous for the heavily contoured look that she sports on a daily basis. She and her team of makeup artists, or "glam squad", use a combinations of different shades of concealers and powers to give her face a more defined and sculpted look.

Tons of other celebs took to the contouring trend too! Contouring can also lend itself to giving the skin a more warm and bronzy look that pick up amazingly on camera, so it's no wonder that red carpets were covered with this makeup trend. Check out Leighton Meester sporting the trend herself here!

As fall of 2015 approached, so did a new makeup trend - strobing! The term is derived from the term "strobe light" which is a "lamp capable of producing an extremely short, brilliant burst of light" according to Dictionary.com. Strobing has sort of an opposite effect to contouring - it makes the face look more glowing and youthful, and lessens the sharp lines naturally found in a person's facial structure.

This year, strobing was all over all the runways. Casting directors tend to lean towards girls with a more youthful look to them, and doing a bright makeup look like strobing helps achieve that. When you strobe, you apply a highlighter cream or power to all the high points of your face. This means the bridge of your nose, your cupids bow (the cute little dip above your lip), the peak of your cheek bones, your temples, and under the arch of your brow. To do strobing correctly, it is imperative that you skip out on any of your regular bronzing or sculpting products. Light and bright makeup goods here only, folks.

Now where does baking play into this? Really, baking only became a super popular makeup application technique until near the end of this past year. Essentially, baking is just applying excess setting powder to the same places you highlighted during your strobing or contouring process. Afterwards, you let the powder sit, or "bake", for a few minutes to really set in place. Then you brush off the excess powder with a brush, and voila! You've got a freshly baked face.

Baking your makeup allows for it to stay in place longer and look fresh all day! One of the dangers of baking however, is how easy it is for your look to become cakey. That's why its super important to make sure you brush off all the excess powder after it sets, and whatever you do, DO NOT apply any kind of cream or liquid makeup over the powder. When you do this, the products end up mixing into a gunky combination which is responsible for causing the infamous "cake-face." When done right however, baking your makeup can gives you a super long-lasting matte makeup look!

So there you have it! Your guide to the biggest makeup trends of the year. Try some of these trends for yourself and see how they pan out! Till next time pals.