Is 'Strobing' The New Contouring?

By now most of us are well aware of the wonders of contouring and in particular, the amazing way it can carve out (or in my case, fake) cheekbones, leaving you with a slimmer, more defined and gloriously sculpted face (what on earth did we do before?). While using a darker shade to contour creates the illusion of shadow, it’s the lighter shades that manipulate the light and make these areas lifted, hence HIGH-lighter. So what is this new ‘Strobing’ trend? Should we be doing it? And why is it being labelled the new contouring?

We’re here to break the news to you: it’s just highlighting. Yep, that’s all folks. It’s pretty well known that in the fashion world trends come back around and recycle themselves as the hottest ‘new’ look. Unfortunately, the same can be said for beauty. While we can’t deny it is much easier then contouring, far more natural looking and perfect for summer, beauty pros are telling us that the recent hype over Strobing can simply be put down to fancy rebranding by the media. SIGH. If you do want to get on board with this trend, simply follow your usual contouring routine, but leave out the shading part. Be warned though; steer clear of too much shimmer. The key is to create that naturalm lit-from-within glow, and NOT to look like a disco ball. To achieve this, good skincare is a must so Rule 1 is to make sure your skincare routine is on point. This could mean giving it a little extra TLC, but most importantly, find a good brightening exfoliator or face mask as dull skin is an absolute no. One of our favourites is the Kiehl's Clearly Corrective White Exfoliator, gentle on even the most sensitive skin, this will polish, exfoliate and refine the skin’s surface leaving you with a radiant complexion.

Our next tip is to play around with different textures. Cream highlighters are a personal favourite of mine and this one from Benefit feels heavenly on the skin. Remember to blend and buff as much as possible (pretty hard to overdo this!) and apply this on all the high points of your face where the sun would naturally hit. For night time, or if you want a slightly more dramatic look, finish off with the holy grail of all powder highlighters Mary Lou Manizer on the tops of your cheekbones, tear duck, cupids bow and even a little on the bridge of the nose.

Try out the ‘new’ Strobing trend and tell us what you think! @MyBeautyMatches