Chiselled cheekbones

Not all of us were born with sharp cheekbones like Halle Berry or Mischa Barton (pictured). And so a little bronzer can go a long way to enhancing the cheekbones we were born with.

But be warned: sculpting your cheeks with bronzer takes practice, good lighting and plenty of blending. If your application is too strong, you may end up with zebra-like makeup stripes. And if you’re too light handed there’ll be no visible difference at all.

Here are my 5 steps on how to sharpen your cheekbones with bronzer:

1. If you haven’t done this before, try a powder bronzer first. Powders (in general) blend better than liquids and so are easier to control.

2. Remember that powder needs powder to blend. So always set your liquid base (foundation, primer, or tinted moisturiser) with powder first. If you don’t do this, your bronzer will be difficult to blend and may end up looking patchy.

3. Get to know your face. Using your finger tips, find the area just below your cheekbone. This is where you will need to apply the bronzer. You may need to suck your cheeks in a little to find this spot.

4. Using a brush slightly smaller than your blush brush, brush bronzer onto the area, concentrating the colour towards your hairline and ear.  Then blend until you can’t see any visible bronzer lines. Good lighting is crucial here.

5. Finally, apply a small amount of illuminator directly above where you have just applied bronzer, the fleshier part of your cheek. The contrast between the light illuminator and shaded bronzed area will further enhance your cheekbone sharpness.