I Tried Victoria Beckham’s Contour Routine

I recently finished watching the “Beckham” docuseries on Netflix, and if I learned one thing from the entire four-episode series, it’s that I f*cking love Victoria Beckham. Yeah, I know, the show was supposed to be about David Beckham, but her outfits are amazing, her skin is flawless, and her makeup is perfection. What’s not to like? When I saw a tutorial on her Instagram page showcasing how she contours her face, I was immediately rapt. The tutorial was a wild ride and I was concerned at times that the results weren’t going to come out great, but when I finished, I was ready to try it out for myself immediately.

To try it, I got my hands on the product Beckham uses herself: the Victoria Beckham Contour Stylus ($38). Then, I plopped myself down in front of my bathroom mirror with my cell phone in hand.

Beckham says she always starts by slimming down her nose. In the video, she begins by drawing two lines on either side to “shave down the sides,” she says. I followed her movements exactly, drawing a long thin line that started slightly below my eyebrows and ended at the tip of my nose. Pro tip: Beckham notes not to draw too much into the brow zone because it can make you look “angry.” To finish the nose contour, Beckham draws a tiny “V” shape on the tip of her nose and two thin, short lines on either side of the middle of her nose. I was following pretty closely without any sort of concern until I got to the last part. I had never seen anyone contour their nose this way, but I followed suit regardless because Beckham said it would give the illusion of a longer, straighter nose.

Next, Beckham used the pads of her fingers to find her cheekbone and then drew two medium-length lines underneath them. Typically, I draw my contour lines above my cheekbones to give myself extra lift, so I was interested to see how her method would turn out.

After that, things started to get really weird. Beckham drew two crosses on either side of her forehead, which was unlike anything I had seen before (and I watch a lot of contour videos). “When I blend all of this in, I’m really bringing the face in,” she says of the placement. I usually place contour on the edges of my forehead but not in a cross shape. From there, she drew a line underneath either side of her jaw, while I usually draw the contour along my jaw. Then, she did a “light dusting” underneath each eye by drawing a line from the outer corner to the inner corner, directly underneath her waterline. “When you smudge it, it should just look like a natural shading,” she says. Next, she added one line in each crease of her eye.

When it came time to blend everything, Beckham used her fingers to blend out her nose, then she used a brush to buff in the crosses on her forehead, the pigment on her cheekbones, and the area underneath her jaw. Last, Beckham used her finger to blend everything around her eyes, which she says helps open up them up.

While I was blending, one of the main things I noticed was how easily the product buffed out. I was honestly a little shocked that the contour hadn’t dried down, especially because I typically contour section by section. I was also more than a little excited to see that just as Beckham’s nose looked slimmer after application, so did mine. I still think it works better for me to contour above my cheekbones, but her method still gave me a lifted look.

The eye area is what differed the most from my usual contour routine area, but I found it to be the part of the process I loved the most. Although I think contouring underneath my waterline is a little much for everyday wear, it’s something I plan on doing whenever I do my makeup for a night out.

Overall, the entire process turned out better than I ever expected, and I can’t wait to continue using Beckham’s weird contour routine.

Renee Rodriguez is a staff writer and social producer for POPSUGAR. She writes across all verticals, but her main areas of expertise focus on fashion and beauty content with an emphasis on reviews and editor experiments. She also produces social content for POPSUGAR’s TikTok and Instagram accounts.