Rihanna’s 60-second contouring trick will blow your mind

Contouring’s face-sculpting powers should never be underestimated. But, as Rihanna’s makeup artist, Priscilla Ono, tells GLAMOUR, these days contouring 2.0 leans on a distinctly more natural, light-handed approach to creating lift and definition than those harsh painterly stripes of old. Perhaps even more incredible is the fact that Priscilla uses a cream contour hack on Rihanna that takes less than minute to perfect and only three products. Suffice to say, we were sold.

Priscilla starts by warming a Fenty Beauty Match Stix Matte Contour Skinstick on the back of her hand “to get the product going”, she says. Rather than doing a tonne of stripes, she sweeps the applicator “where the cheekbone indents and a little under the chin and jawline,” Priscilla says. “Sometimes I even do a little on the temples to narrow the face,” she adds. 

Blending is key to Rihanna’s modern sculpted contour and Priscilla prefers to use a sponge rather than a brush as it’s less time consuming. Rather than dive straight in and start dabbing the skin, she rolls the sponge on the leftover pigment she already has on the back of her hand. “Sometimes if you don’t pick up any product and you start to blend, you can get patchiness in your contour,” Priscilla explains. “This is going to help your contour look nice and smooth.” True to her word, the hard edges of the stripes melt like butter into the skin.

Priscilla also warns against contouring for the sake of it. “Contour as needed – don’t think that just because it’s a step, that you need to contour all the areas of your face,” she says. 

But if you want to emulate Rihanna’s “extra snatched” skin, Priscilla recommends using the flat end of the sponge to apply foundation for what she calls a “reverse contour”. Simply sweep the product underneath where you laid down your original contour “and it’s going to make your cheekbones and jawline pop even more,” she says.

Rihanna’s skin always looks so porcelain-smooth it’s like you’re viewing it through a soft-focus lens. So, of course, we had to pump Priscilla for her tips on creating the perfect base, too. For the oil-averse, Priscilla has this advice. “Rihanna is known to have a more oily skin type, and she gets pretty oily throughout the day, so having the Fenty Beauty Invisimatte Instant Setting & Blotting Powder in her clutch always comes through,” she says. As for how to apply it, simply dip a brush into the powder and strategically dust it over shiny areas. 

Finally, if you don’t want skin to look too matte, especially in winter, Priscilla recommends mixing a few drops of Eaze Drop Blurring Skin Tint in with the Pro Filt’r Soft Matt Longwear Foundation to get a lit-from-within glow.

All the products you need to recreate Rihanna’s cream contour