How to Do the Viral “Supermodel Cheekbones” Contouring Hack

The quick hack involves applying a contour stick to your face in just a few curving strokes (or one continuous one, depending on how you choose to do it) and blending to create a chiseled cheekbones look. The typical method of contouring your cheekbones is to do one straight line along the bottom edge of the bone, stopping right before your chin. This TikTok-trending look, however, requires you to curve the line and bring it down towards your jaw to completely outline your cheeks. After scrolling through videos of the transformative results, I had to try it myself. 

In this selfie, you can see what my face looked like before I went in with my contour. I have a light layer of medium-coverage foundation, but that’s it as far as face makeup. To highlight the full effects of the contour hack alone, I am keeping the rest of my makeup fairly simple.    

The easiest way to contour, regardless of your experience level, is to use a contour or foundation stick, since you can just draw the lines on your face by hand. I opted for the NYX Professional Makeup WonderStick Contour and Highlighter Stick in the shade 03 - Light Medium. This multitasking, double-ended makeup stick offers everything you need for a perfectly sculpted face in one handy package. We also love the Lancôme Teint Idole Ultra Wear Foundation Stick, which has a thicker tip and a built-in Kabuki brush. 

Using the contour end of the WonderStick, I started by drawing a curved line, almost forming a right angle, under my cheekbone and down towards my jaw. Then, starting near the bottom of my ear, I traced the contour stick along my chin towards the bottom of the other line. I repeated the lines on the other side and blended it with a makeup brush.

After blending out the contour makeup, I definitely feel like my face looked way more sculpted and angular than it did before. I added a bit of cream blush to the high points of my cheeks and finished with some loose setting powder, and I was overall pleased with the final effect. The contour makeup shade was slightly dark for me right now, but I would totally try this again on a night out when I am doing a full face of makeup. The best part was how quick and easy it was to do.   

Photo: Jordan Julian; Design: Juliana Campisi