Here's What You Might Not Know About the History of Contouring
Contrary to popular belief, the Kardashians only make up a fraction of the makeup technique's rich history.
From Victorian-era arsenic face powder to modern-day soap brows, the evolution of makeup has come a long way. One of the most popular trends we’ve added to our beauty arsenal is contouring, but did you know that the face-sculpting technique has a rich history dating all the way back to the 1500s?
First invented during the Elizabethan era and made modern by drag queens and then the Kardashians, contouring is used to exaggerate and transform one’s bone structure. The technique can chisel cheekbones, change the shape of your nose, carve out a jawline, and even dramatically morph your face shape to mimic celebrities. Learn all about the fascinating evolution of contouring and brush up on some queer history below.
16th Century to 19th Century
While most of us associate contouring with Instagram models and MUAs, the art of face shading is actually centuries old. However, its history is still deeply entwined with performance art, according to Byrdie. Back in Elizabethan England, stage actors would contour their faces with chalk and soot to allow spectators to see their facial expressions from far away. By the 1800s and 1900s, contouring was still relegated to the stage, but its formula was adjusted to suit the artificial stage lighting. As the theater moved indoors, actors used grease paint to emphasize their expressions onstage.
1920s to 1940s
Contouring became more common in the entertainment world with early movie stars such as Vivien Leigh (Gone With The Wind). Actresses would employ subtle use of contouring to highlight their cheekbones onscreen in the 1920s and ‘30s. Before the era of Youtube beauty gurus, vintage makeup artist Max Factor is credited with popularizing the contour technique. In 1945, he turned face shading commercial with his makeup school’s contouring tutorial that instructed women on how to shape their faces.
1980s and 1990s
Like many other makeup techniques—baking, cut creases, and overlining lips—drag queens can be credited with the current interpretation of contouring. Drag queens have been around since at least the 1700s, but their popularity in mainstream media started to emerge during the 1980s and 1990s after the Gay Liberation Movement with the opening of gay bars in New York City. In order to make their faces appear more feminine, drag queens use advanced contouring techniques—softening harsh angles, camouflaging Adam’s apples, and making cheekbones and browbones pop. From RuPaul to Divine to Pepper LaBeija, contouring shaped the faces of the most influential drag queens of the ‘80s and ‘90s. While face shading is now as basic as mascara and blush in any contemporary makeup tutorial, we owe the modern use of contouring to the iconic queens of the past.
2000s
Makeup moved away from sculpted cheekbones in favor of a softer allover bronzer. Often paired with frosty lipstick, uber-thin brows, and blue eyeshadow, fake tanning and bronzed faces were all the rage in the early 2000s — à la Paris Hilton and even Snooki. While they might look orange by today’s standards, the packed-on bronzer was meant to give skin a sunkissed, glowing-from-within look.
2010s
The astronomical rise to fame of the Kardashians helped bring contouring to the masses. While they certainly didn’t invent the makeup technique, their method for carving out their famous bone structures made contouring even more commonplace in the makeup world. Kim Kardashian’s KKW Beauty contour kits helped make at-home face shading more accessible. Here, you can see the “before” stage where she highlights her under-eyes and puts shadow beneath her cheekbones.
Today
Following the heavy contour popularized by Instagram and Youtube-famous makeup artists, trendy makeup today tends to skew more natural—but that doesn’t mean we’ve forgone contouring altogether. Instead, many TikTok makeup artists opt for a more diffused look, placing stealthily blended amounts of highlighter, contour, and blush higher up on the cheekbones for a more lifted look. Many people also ditch heavy shading in favor of “strobing,” or bringing out your features by only using highlighter on your face’s high points.
