Makeup for an oblong face

The approach

An oblong face is longer than it is wide, with straight sides. Makeup shortens it with shadow at the top and bottom of the face, widens it with colour placed horizontally at the cheeks, and avoids anything that draws a vertical line, from a bright centre strip of highlight to a highly arched brow. Every step works against length and for width.

Contour placement for an oblong face

• Hairline: contour along the top of the forehead, blended into the hair, right across the width of the forehead. This lowers the visible hairline and shortens the face. It is the most important contour step for this shape.
• Under the chin: contour under the tip of the chin and along the underside of the jaw at the chin. This shortens the lower face.
• Under the cheekbones: a horizontal sweep from the ear toward the mid-cheek, kept flat rather than diagonal. A steep diagonal lengthens; a flat shadow widens.
• Sides of the face: leave alone. Contouring the sides narrows the face, which is the opposite of what an oblong face needs.

Use a matte contour a couple of shades deeper than the skin. Blend the hairline contour especially well so it disappears into the hair.

Highlight

Keep highlight on the tops of the cheekbones, blended outward toward the temples, to add width. Avoid a vertical strip of highlight down the centre of the face, from forehead to chin; that is the standard highlight placement for most shapes and it lengthens an oblong face. A little on the cupid's bow is fine.

Blush

Blush is placed on the apples of the cheeks and blended outward, horizontally, toward the ears. Keep it wide and low rather than swept up to the temples. This adds width across the middle of the face and is the single most effective makeup step for an oblong face after the hairline contour.

Choose the colour by undertone, which the face shape test reports: warm undertones suit peach and coral, cool undertones suit rose and berry, neutral undertones either.

Brow shape for an oblong face

Brows should be flatter and longer rather than arched. A high arch adds vertical space between the brow and the eye and lengthens the face. A straighter brow with only a slight lift at the outer third, extended a little longer at the tail toward the temple, draws a horizontal line and adds width.

Avoid rounded brows that peak high, and avoid short brows, which make the face look narrower.

Eyes and lips

Horizontal emphasis on the eyes helps: a winged liner that extends outward rather than upward, and lashes with more length at the outer corners. Shadow blended outward past the outer corner widens the eye area.

On the lips, a slightly wider, fuller shape with the colour extended a fraction at the corners adds width to the lower third. Avoid overlining the cupid's bow upward, which adds height.

A simple routine

1. Base as usual.
2. Contour along the hairline, blended into the hair, and under the chin.
3. Flat, horizontal contour under the cheekbones.
4. Blush on the apples, blended outward toward the ears.
5. Highlight on the tops of the cheekbones only; skip the centre line.
6. Brows flat and long; liner and lashes extended outward.

The oblong face overview explains the length ratio all of this is working against.