Makeup for an oval face

The approach

Contouring is the practice of using shadow and light to change how a face's proportions read. On a round face it slims, on a square face it softens the jaw, on a heart face it adds width at the chin. On an oval face there is no proportion to correct, so contour is used sparingly, for dimension rather than reshaping.

That is worth taking seriously, because the usual contour tutorial (dark stripe under the cheekbone, along the jaw and down the sides of the nose) is written to make a face look more oval. Applied to a face that is already oval, it over-sculpts and can make the face look gaunt and long.

Contour placement for an oval face

• Under the cheekbones: a very soft sweep from the ear toward the centre of the cheek, stopping well before the corner of the mouth. Blend upward. This adds dimension without narrowing the face.
• Hairline: a light touch of contour along the top of the forehead shortens the face a fraction. Useful if your length-to-width ratio is at the high end of oval.
• Jaw: leave it. The oval jaw is already balanced; shadow here narrows the lower face and tips the shape toward heart.
• Nose: optional and about the nose, not the face shape.

Use a matte contour a couple of shades deeper than the skin and blend until there is no visible edge.

Highlight

Highlight sits on the high points: the tops of the cheekbones, the brow bone, the bridge of the nose and the cupid's bow. On an oval face keep highlight off the centre of the forehead and the chin, since brightening the top and bottom of the face draws the eye along its length.

Blush

Blush is the most useful product for an oval face because it reinforces the width at the cheekbones. Apply it to the apples of the cheeks and blend slightly outward and upward toward the temples, keeping it horizontal rather than diagonal. A diagonal streak that runs high toward the hairline reads as contour and lengthens the face.

Colour is chosen by skin undertone rather than face shape. The face shape test reports undertone; warm undertones suit peach, coral and warm rose, cool undertones suit pink and berry, neutral undertones can wear either.

Brow shape for an oval face

Brows are where an oval face can go wrong most easily. A high, sharply arched brow adds vertical space between the eye and the brow and lengthens the face. A soft, gently arched brow, or a straighter brow with only a slight lift at the outer third, keeps the proportions where they are.

Keep the brow's outer end roughly level with or slightly above the inner end, and avoid extending the tail far down toward the temple, which drags the outline down.

Eyes and lips

There are no face-shape rules that override your features here. Horizontal emphasis helps an oval face read balanced: a winged liner that extends outward rather than upward, and lashes with more length at the outer corners. On the lips, a defined, slightly overlined cupid's bow adds width to the lower third of the face, which suits an oval well.

A simple routine

1. Even the skin with base as usual.
2. Contour under the cheekbones only, very softly, blended upward.
3. Blush on the apples, blended outward horizontally.
4. Highlight on the cheekbone tops and brow bone; skip the centre forehead and chin.
5. Brows brushed up and filled with a soft arch, no high peak.

If you are not certain the face you are working on is oval, the face shape test reports the ratios, and the oval face overview explains what they mean.