How To Wear Makeup For A Round Face: A Quick & Simplified Guide

Whether you have a round face, heart-shaped, square, oval, or long, having a few makeup techniques in your back pocket is a must if you want to play up your natural beauty. In fact, this was one of my favorite lessons in makeup school many years ago, and I have most certainly put it to good use (on myself and many a client)! 🙂

Now, if your face is round, with the right guidance, you can easily tailor your makeup look to accentuate your best features while also de-emphasizing certain areas on your face. For example, if you wanted, you could use your makeup to add extra definition or even elongate your face so it appears more oval-shaped.

Today, Beauties, I will let you in on a few makeup artist tips, tricks, & secrets to do all of the above, from contouring techniques to blush placement, brows, and eyeliner! By the end of this article, rest assured, you’ll know exactly how to wear your makeup so that it complements your uniquely beautiful face!

So, without further ado, let’s get started, shall we??

Round Face Shape Guidelines

Before we jump into our makeup tips and tricks, we need to first make sure you do indeed have a round face shape. You may feel confident that you do but bear with me, ok? It’s better to be safe than sorry…right?

Besides, finding out what technically defines a round face is important because it will help you to better understand the reasons behind those tips & tricks we’ll cover.

Here are a few face shape guidelines for 100% confirmation… You’ll want to take a quick look in the mirror and follow these next 3 steps:

STEP 1: Let’s determine where the widest part of your face is. Would you consider your cheekbones to be the widest part of your face? If so, you likely have a round face. But to be sure, move on to #2.

STEP 2: Now, look at your jawline & chin. Are they more softly curved and rounded? Or are they angular and sharp? If soft and rounded, you can bank on having a round face. Also, if your jawline seems a bit on the shorter side, you probably have a round face.

STEP 3: Lastly, look at the length of your face in comparison to its width. You can even grab a measuring tape for accuracy if you’d like. Does it appear wider than it does long? Or do the length and width seem about the same? In both cases, you would classify it as round.

If you need a reference, a few celebrities who have round faces are Selena Gomez, Chrissy Teigen, Mila Kunis, & Emma Stone.

How To Wear Makeup For A Round Face: Best Tips & Tricks

The good thing about having a round face is that it gives off a more youthful appearance. That said, if you are like most gals, you probably want to minimize its roundness for a more sculpted look. Well, worry not; these next expert tips and tricks will give you all the definition, chisel, and sculpt you need!

Contour Makeup For A Round Face

Contouring is undoubtedly one of the best ways to slim down a round face with makeup. And I’ll also add that it’s a surefire way to give yourself a more defined bone structure.

Now, the goal is to be strategic with your contour (shading) product placement. You want to apply it to areas that will create more angles and break up the roundness of your face. You also want to use it in places that help make your face appear more elongated.

• Avoid contouring with a shading product that is too shimmery. The shimmer will only make your face look rounder. This is one of the reasons I’m not an advocate of contouring with bronzer. Instead, opt for a product with a matte finish.

• Whether you go with a cream or powder, you can try something roughly two to three shades darker than your natural skin tone. However, I usually recommend opting for two shades darker instead of three. On rare occasions, I have gone three shades darker on just a handful of clients, but it’s more the exception rather than the rule.

• If you have very fair skin, you should probably stick to something closer to 1- 2 shades darker.

• Start by contouring slightly onto as well as under your cheekbones. Then blend downwards into the hallows of your cheeks. This will help give your face a more angular & thinner appearance.

• You’ll want to contour around your jawline, along with the outer sides of your forehead and at your temples. Then if you’d like, you may apply a thin line along your hairline, right above your forehead. Contouring in these areas with makeup helps reduce the width of a round face and the fullness of one’s cheeks.

Highlighting For A Round Face

After you’ve contoured and added depth to your face, it’s time to add some dimension with a highlighter. And highlighting happens to be another superb way to minimize the roundness of your face.

How so?? You can use it to emphasize the center of your face, which will draw attention away from its width.

• Use a highlighting powder or cream and apply it to the center of your forehead, center of your chin, and bridge of your nose. This will also give your face some extra length for an elongating effect.

• Try applying across the top of your cheekbones to create lift and accentuate your bone structure.

PRO Tip: Make sure you don’t apply your highlighter too far inward on your cheeks, as this will make them look too full.

Blush For A Round Face

While most gals worry blush will just make their face look rounder and opt to skip it, don’t! Blush is another makeup item, much like your contour and highlighter, that can be used to sculpt a round face for a slimmer look. Not to mention, it assists with breaking up some of the roundness by adding in some angles and gives a lovely lift.

here you apply your blush is of the utmost importance. Contrary to what you’ve heard your whole life, with a round face, you want to avoid the apples of your cheeks. Rather instead, you want to apply your blush higher up on your cheekbones. Sweep in an upwards diagonal fashion.

The goal is to keep your application sharp and angled. So, as you begin to apply your blush, you want to go along your cheekbones, following their natural 45-degree angle.

Another option that works well at slimming the face is the sideways “V” method. You want to literally apply your blush like a narrow sideways “V” that falls directly on your cheekbones. Again, with this, you want to avoid apples of the cheeks and focus solely on the cheekbones.

PRO Tip: Make sure you don’t apply your blush too close to your nose or too far inward on your cheeks, as this will make your face look rounder again.

For additional blush application methods & makeup tips for a round face: Blush Tips & Tricks: How to Wear Blush.

Eye Makeup For A Round Face

Eyeliner can be a fantastic product for enhancing your eyes while de-emphasizing fuller, rounder cheeks. And a statement-winged liner or cat-eye is the perfect style to go with! The strong angles help to balance out & draw attention away from the softness and roundness of your face.

PRO Tip: Keep your specific eye shape in mind when applying your eyeliner.

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Brow Shaping For A Round Face

Your brows are powerful….No really? They truly are!! They have the power to make you look younger, give your face more balance, create symmetry, correct eyes that are too close-set, wide-set, and more!

Now, one thing many women are surprised to learn is that certain brow shapes are much more flattering for different face shapes than others. The right brow shape has the power to add length to a round face, which helps to make it appear slimmer and more oval-shaped.

What’s the best brow shape for a round face? High arched, sharp & angled brows!

You see, it’s sort of like you’re tricking the eyes and creating an illusion. For example, when you look at a face with highly arched brows, that high arch becomes a vertical focal point on the face.

What this does is to draw your eyes upward, which as a result, takes your attention away from the width of that face and creates the illusion of more length to the face.

• Additionally, sharp, angled brows help create more definition and shift some of the focus away from the softness of a round face.

Tips For Filling In Your Brows:

• You’ll want to use your brow makeup products to create those high-defined arches. But first, you want to brush your brows upwards and outwards with a spoolie or brow brush.

• Begin filling in your brows right at the arch and try to go a bit darker here to emphasize it. Starting at the arch will most likely make them appear a bit darker there since most people are heavy-handed in the areas where they first apply their products.

• However, you can always go with two shades if you need to. Use the darker shade to accentuate the arch & tail. Then use the lighter shade for the front of the brows.

• Try applying a highlighter on your brow bone to make the arch appear higher and to continue to emphasize it. 

Additional Makeup Tips & Tricks

A simple way to de-emphasize a round face with makeup is to draw attention to your other beautiful features instead. So what is your favorite feature? Your lips or eyes, perhaps? You can give them a little extra lovin’ and balance out your face all at the same time!

You can add bold lipstick or use complementary eyeshadow shades to play up your eye color. Grab some volumizing mascara for larger-than-life lashes! Or, if you’re really feeling daring, try some show-stopping false lashes!

The Wrap-Up!

Well, Beauties, now that you know the best ways to wear makeup for a round face, it’s time to put all of that wonderful new knowledge into practice! With these tips & tricks, you’ll soon be on your way to contouring like a pro, applying blush with confidence, and filling in those brows like a boss.

I hope you found this article helpful. Have fun experimenting with new looks, and feel free to reach out if you have any questions! Do you have any round-face makeup tips or tricks that you love? Share them in the comments below!

Related Articles:

• Basic Makeup Tips & Tricks: 30 Absolute Need-To-Knows For Beginners
• How To Contour Your Face The Right Way: Get The Inside Scoop!
• 30 Exceptional Beauty Tips for Eyebrows!!

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