Who here is tired of contouring?

*raises hand*

A firm believer that everything has its place, contouring is no exception.  HOWEVER… I think everyone has gotten a little carried away with the art.  Myself included.  And I came to this very conclusion when I realized that this technique, once reserved for nights out, had somehow become part of my “every day face” routine.  Finding myself puzzled on how I was running late (again) one morning, I retraced my steps to figure out exactly where the extra time was being spent.

And one guilty look in the mirror confirmed it.

I’ll be the first to admit I’m not taking one single step outside of my house without some sort of coverage.  And before you even go there, its not because I need it.  I don’t need to wash my hair either.  Or for that matter, even my body.  But we all have our routines that make us feel put together.  Ready for the day ahead of us.  Daily showers and makeup just happen to be part of mine.

#Preach

But perfectly carved cheekbones?  A nose that appears slightly slimmer?  I’m fairly confident I’m able to take on the world without those things.  And I definitely could use the extra 20 minutes in my mornings.

So it was a relief to see a new trend take center stage for Spring.  Some call it the Tonal Trend, others Monochromatic Makeup.  I’ll just refer to it as my new “every day face”.

Some of you may remember Gigi Hadid making a stunning debut of the trend at the Sports Illustrated Awards a few weeks back….

And it was that look right there that made us want to put down the contouring brushes.

Enough said, right?

So what exactly is monochromatic makeup?  Exactly as the name implies.  Its the use of one color, in varying shades, on multiple areas.  In this case, the eyes, lips and cheeks.  But more importantly, its about enhancing one’s natural features- not manipulating them.  And while there’s still a little work involved in the process, your pores will thank you.  And probably your boyfriend.  Not to mention- its SPRING.  Who wants to be weighed down with layers of creams/powders/bronzers?  The increase in temperatures alone means an increase in maintenance throughout the day.

So take a much needed break and lighten up.  Literally.

So now the “How?”….

The key here is to take one color, and first pick the feature you want to put the focus on.  Whether its your lips, cheeks or eyes, that area is where the strongest/brightest version of that shade should go.  Take Gigi for instance.  Burgundy was the drug of choice in this killer look, with the attention on the eyes.  Then two softer burgundy shades were used, 1 for her cheeks and 1 for her lips.

Side note- this is an awesome excuse to use all those colors in your pallets that you usually ignore.  You know what I’m talking about.

Looking for an even easier route to go?  Then just go with two.  You’ll just have to pay closer to attention to your color choices, as working with two shades makes it super easy to get all matchy-matchy.  And that is not what this look is about.   For example, if you choose to go with a bright pop of color with the eyes, then the lips should be muted.  Or vise versa.

My personal favorite?

Violet Eyes + Lilac Lips

Even easier, yet just as lovely?  Concentrate on your cheeks and lips.  Coordinating these two correctly is absolutely stunning when using an unexpected color.  Like coral.  And before you immediately write that off, give me a chance.  I wrote before about a beautiful orange hued blush I picked up at MAC.  It was one of those products that when the artist applied it on me, I wanted to hug her.  But I only used it as more of a highlight, adding it softly on top of my primary blush (usually pink).  Until now…  After finding a soft coral tinted gloss that compliments it, its now moved confidently to primary position.

You can visit to links below to purchase:

MAC Powder Blush in Devil

MAC Mineralize Glass in Precious Fruit

But the look I absolutely cannot get over?

Metallic.

Gold, silver, bronze- they all work beautifully.  And you wont have to worry about going through highlight withdrawal while on your contour ban.

PS:  For my Urban Decay Naked Palette lovers, this is allllllllll you.

So you’ve probably already realized that going monochromatic can be as subtle, or as bold as you’d like.  The only real consistency here is the most important one: ENHANCEMENT.   In other words, instead of trying to create the features that you want, focus on the beautiful features you already have.

They deserve the attention.

I promise you- a confident face will always outshine even the most flawless contour.

But a little blush will never hurt, either.

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