Why Strobing Is The Summer Make-Up Trend You Must Try

Professional make-up trend alert: contouring is out and strobing is in. That’s right, the labor-intensive, heavy duty contouring made famous by Kim Kardashian is not the favorite of the pros any more. It’s also not the best for the warm summer months, when lighter is always better.

Strobing is the flip side of contouring, and focuses on lightening by highlighting certain features with a lightweight shimmer. The look replicates professional lighting on your face. It also requires much less work than the art of contouring Kardashian is famous for. Contrary to strobing, contouring is uses dark shades and light nudes to make sharper, more chiseled features.

Strobing, now being used by haute model buds Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid, has been credited for Beyonce’s “flawless” face. Sir John, Bey’s personal make up artist doesn’t think it’s that different from contouring. In an interview with New York magazine, he said “Strobing is not something new, we’ve been doing this for a while,” said.Sir John, whose clients include Khloe Kardashian, Chrissy Teigen and Victoria Secret Model Joan Smalls. “It’s the same thing as highlighting, but with a different name.”

To replicate the make up trend that recently went viral, it is important to stay moisturized and keep your bronzer and blushes matte to ‘strobe’ correctly. Sir John also says to toss the shimmer stick and opt for a cream shimmer to get a more natural look that will not look heavy on the skin.

Apply the cream shimmer to places you would like to catch light, like the tops of the cheekbones, the bridge of your nose and the Cupid’s bow. You could also apply the cream to the inside corners of your eyes, below the brow line and temples to brighten the eye area. The goal is appear as if the glow is coming from beneath the skin. Some of the best pro make-up lines are already offering tools to help facemakers to get their strobe on. Here are some of the hottest:

MAC Stobe Cream, $33, MAC Cosmetics

NARS Illuminator in Hot Sand, $30, NARS Cosmetics

High Beam, $26, Benefit Cosmetics