Those words “highlighting” and “contouring” sound so daunting, right? It can exhaust anyone just thinking about or saying them aloud, which is the total opposite of what you want to look like by the end of putting on your make up before you rush out the door for work.

Luckily with the right tools and enough practice, highlighting and contouring can become a second nature breeze.

Trying to totally and completely alter your face isn’t necessarily the mindset to take before picking up the brush and getting up close and personal with those bristles. It’s really all about knowing your natural bone structure and what you want to accentuate.

It also helps to know what the benefits are of both. Contouring creates a sense of balance and helps add definition. Highlighting, the opposite of contouring, assists in balancing out “the balance” so to speak—you can use this technique to draw out features like your cheekbones and jaw line.

Another thought: When highlighting and contouring, think about doing so in the most natural light as possible. If you try to do both under dim lighting, you run the risk of highlighting and contouring more than you need to and leaving the house looking less like a celebrity, and more like a celebrity’s extravagant wedding cake.

ModaMob’s beauty expert Marissa Hewitt shows you how to highlight and contour your face in unison with the same prowess as celebrity make up artists for Kim Kardashian and Jennifer Lopez.

Watch her exclusive tips and tricks here.