To each face, its own make-up.

Triangular, round, rectangular. Face shapes are all beautiful, and even more so by enhancing them with the right make-up.

Beauty is too precious to be harnessed in a pattern. This is what aesthetic culture has learned over the years. If once upon a time actresses and supermodels all looked alike, nowadays truly memorable faces do not conform to a pre-existing canon: they create it. The gifts of Nature continue to be important, but they are not everything. The potential present in a face is to be enhanced through a conscious and sophisticated use of make-up. With the aim not so much of correcting, but of revealing.

In this process, nothing can be left to chance. Those with a triangular face, like Reese Witherspoon, cannot follow the same make-up strategy as those with a square shape, like Angelina Jolie. This is true for Hollywood divas as it is true for every woman.

Even product quality can no longer be left to chance. Nowadays there are makeup products which double up as skincare products, such as foundation which also works as a hyaluronic acid-based moisturizer. Healthy skin looks brighter, and therefore more beautiful.

Below we analyze the three most common face shapes, and we recommend the appropriate make-up strategies to reveal the beauty of each type.

1. The triangular face

It is characterized by a broad forehead, a prominent nose and a pointed chin. If your face is triangular, you’ll want to divert attention from the width of the forehead.

Contouring is your ally. Start by applying a darker foundation on the cheekbones and on the side of the forehead, and a lighter one on the rest of the face. The rule, however, is to achieve a soft look, since women with triangular faces already generally have well-defined features.

“Tone down” the eyes. If the aim is to minimize the upper part of the face, you won’t particularly want to highlight the eyes. Therefore, use light shades for your eye make-up.

Highlight the lips. A thin jawline and a pointy chin are weaknesses of heart-shaped faces. To divert attention away from them, highlight the mouth with brightly colored lipsticks and lip liners.

(See: Reese Witherspoon, Ashley Olsen, Halle Berry)

2. The round face

In children, a round face calls for tenderness and stimulates the instinct for protection. In women, this is not always the case. If on the one hand make-up is easier to apply on a regular, oval face, too-round features can be disarming and above all lacks definition. Make-up’s task is twofold: 1) to create the illusion of verticality and 2) to redraw the features by inserting some angles.

Contour time. It is essential to “retract” the cheekbones, which are probably the widest part of the face. Start by applying a lighter foundation on the forehead and chin, and a darker one on the cheeks. Then apply bronzer under the cheekbones, to make them appear more hollowed out. Complete the look by applying highlighter on the forehead, in the under-eye area and on the chin, to draw attention to the center of the face.

Apply blush generously: it has the double function of lengthening the cheekbones (if we move the brush diagonally down from the temples) and of giving a healthy and luminous complexion, to remove the puffy effect that can come with a too-round face.

Angle your eyebrows. It is one of the most important details for those with an oval face. Round brows make a round face even less defined. Which is why you must break them with a straight line.

(See: Ginnifer Goodwin, Mila Kunis, Emma Stone)

3. The rectangular face

A rectangular face can be more or less elongated. If it is more of a square shape, the most evident feature will be the broad and strong jaw. The main goal of one’s make-up will be to soften the corners of the face.

Use contouring. To reduce the visual impact of the jaw, we will need to create movement towards the temples. Start by applying two different foundations: a darker one on the cheekbones and temples and a lighter one on the rest of the body. We will then apply bronzer to the sides of the forehead, and blush on the cheeks to complete the softness look.

Bring out the lips. If we want to divert attention from the jaw, the best way is to bring out the lips. Have fun with bright colors, and add definition by redrawing the corners of the lips with a lip liner.

If the rectangular face is long and narrow, the cheekbones will tend to flatten, and the face will appear very thin. In this case, one’s make-up will have to optically shorten the rectangular face by filling it with horizontal lines.

Widen the face. Apply a dark shade of foundation on the chin and forehead area, and a slightly lighter one on the cheekbones. The same rule applies for bronzer. Next, apply blush over the cheeks horizontally.

Elongate the eyes outwards. With a long face, we need to create a visual anchor with the eyes. Enlarge and elongate them with eyeliner.

(See: Cameron Diaz, Angelina Jolie, Rihanna.)