What’s the difference between bronzer and contour?

Have you ever wondered what the difference is between contour and bronzer? Are they interchangeable, or do you need both products? This brief article will share the main differences between the two products, and their uses.

Bronzer

Bronzer is a makeup product used to mimic a fresh, sun-kissed glow. Bronzer can come in many forms, including stick, cream, powder, and liquid. It also comes in a range of finishes, like matte, satin, glowy, and shimmery. Since bronzer is supposed to recreate the same midsummer tan that you might get from being in the sun, bronzer is most often very warm in tone. It is meant to be applied on the high points of the face. This includes the tops of your cheekbones, forehead, top of the nose, and chin.

Contour

Contour is a product used to sculpt the face, making certain features look bigger smaller, shorter, wider, or narrower. You may use contour to make your nose look smaller, by swiping some down the sides of your nose, or to emphasize your cheekbones by placing contour underneath the high parts of your cheekbones. You use contour by placing it on parts of your face that you want to appear shadowed. Since contour is meant to look like a shadow, it is typically cool toned and comes in a matte finish. You do not want to emphasize the contours of your face by making them shimmery or glowy.

Conclusion

These two products are not interchangeable, if you're using them correctly. Contour is much cooler than bronzer, so if you were to use contour in the place of bronzer, it would make your complexion seem grey and muddy. If you were to use bronzer in the place of contour, it might make your base seem orange.

If you want to use both contour and bronzer, it is definitely worth investing in the two separate products, instead of trying to make one product serve two purposes.