How to: Give yourself a nose job...

Well, kind of! Celebrity make up artists have been using this trick for years to slim, straighten and even shorten the schnozes of their clients. It’s called contouring, and it only takes a few products and a little know-how to achieve!

Pick your dark contouring product. You can use a dark concealer or a medium brown matte eye shadow. I like to use concealer, as I prefer a dewy makeup base, and a creamy concealer, like the Savoir Faire Concealer and Finishing Powder in dark – the lighter of the two shades works well with my skin tone. If you do choose an eye shadow, just make sure it’s not shimmery and is only 1-2 shades darker than your natural skin tone. You can also use a matte bronzer during the summer months.

Draw or brush on your lines. You want each line to run straight down the side of your nose, until it hits the crease at each side, where your nostril starts. If you are worried about where to place, use the straight line of your makeup brush as a guide; hold it up, right where your brow starts and you’ll see the straight line to follow. Don’t worry if it’s a bit dark to begin with, you’ll just have to blend so the line isn’t obvious. You’ll want it to look like naturally occurring a shadow, not like makeup. Extra tips; to make your nose look longer, apply the dark product right up to your brows, and along the first third of the underside of your brows. To make it look shorter, add a little to underneath the tip of your nose. Again, just be sure to blend!

Pick your light contouring product. Choose a highlighting product 1-2 shades lighter than your natural skin tone. I like to use a liquid highlighter like the MeMeMe Beat the Blues Illuminator in Sunbeam, again for the dewy look. But you can also use a lighter concealer, or a pale nude matte eye shadow or powder.

Highlight the bridge of your nose. Apply in a line down the middle of your nose, in between the two dark lines. Try to make the line quite thin; the thicker the line, the thicker or wider your nose will look.

Blend, blend, blend! Take a look at the dark and light components of your contouring. If it looks too harsh or obvious anywhere, grab a small, clean, fluffy makeup brush and blend the area until they aren’t as stark. You can also try taking a selfie with and without a flash, and see how obvious your contouring looks, as it can become more apparent in photos then to the naked eye, which could be a problem if you are expecting to be snapped!

And keep an eye on the noses of some of your favourite celebs. You’ll probably see some clever contouring at play! Perhaps they haven’t all had the nose jobs they’ve been accused of after all…