The Difference Between Bronzer and Contour

There is a difference between bronzer and contour. I will teach you how to use these two products and where to apply them.

The difference between bronzer and contour is something that a lot of people can have trouble with. They may mix the two up or think they are the same thing. Bronzer and contour are not the same. The biggest difference between bronzer and contour is the color and where you put them. Another difference is what you use to apply them.

Bronzer

Let’s talk bronzer first. I feel like most people are more familiar with bronzer. Bronzer is a warm, glowing brown shade that is used to give your face a natural sun-kissed glow. You can also wear bronzer all over your face for a tanned glow. When you are applying bronzer you want to place it in the areas on your face that would naturally get the most sun. You can apply bronzer to your forehead, the tops of your cheeks, down your nose and even down your neck.

A good bronzer will be a warm, glowing tanned color. Some bronzers can look orange or ashy. A bronzer is not meant to look orange or ashy. The color should give you a beautiful warm glow.

Maskcara Beauty has a great bronzer that is cream based. Creams are great for multiple reasons but a cream bronzer is great because it is easy to apply and easy to blend. Bella cream bronzer will work for most skin tones and because it is cream it can be applied very lightly or dark depending on what look you are going for.

Bella cream bronzer is on my Summer Essentials list because it works well with any skin tone, giving you a perfect sun-kissed glow. I like to apply my bronzer with the B Squared Blush + Bronzer Brush from Maskcara Beauty. This double ended brush with two fluffy sides. One is a bit smaller and more dense which is perfect for applying blush to your cheeks and the other end is larger and more fluffy and it’s perfect to apply bronzer.

Contour

Contour is usually more of an ashy, cool toned color. The purpose of contour is to mimic and enhance your natural shadows. Contour shades are different colors based on your skin tone whereas bronzer is a warm-toned bronze color that will work for multiple skin tones.

Contour shades can be warm or neutral tones but they are not as warm as a bronzer. Most skin tones look better with a cool toned contour. Contour is the color you place under your cheekbones to give them a more chiseled look. Contours goes under your jawline also to give it more definition. Contour goes down the sides of your nose to make it appear smaller. It can also go around the edges of your face to draw the attention inward and make the brightest places on your face in the center.

One other tip for contour is to use a more defined brush to apply. This will help you put the contour exactly where it needs to be. Contour is placed in more defined areas whereas bronzer can be lightly brushed in larger areas and doesn’t need to be as defined.

The brush I love to use for contour is the Detail HAC brush from Maskcara beauty. It’s a double-ended brush and one side is flat and long to help place the contour directly under the cheekbones and down the sides of your nose.

Maskcara Beauty has a few different contour shades to choose from. There are contour shades for the lightest skin tones to deeper skin tones. Finally, if you need help choosing a contour color for your skin tone take my color match quiz below.