(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-10-17 11:50

Cheekbones have become the beauty focus of the year, outranking the strong brow (not for everyone) and the accentuated lip.

Kylie Minogue, Victoria Beckham and the younger crew are popping right out of every fashion shoot and red-carpet event you care to peruse over a cup of tea.

CHEEKY: Kate Moss knows how to 'pop' her cheeks.

"Popping" means creating cheekbones that "pop" by painting them with colours. Unfortunately, there are no numbers to follow as everyone's cheeks are different. But everyone can get good results with a little playing around, whatever those make-up professionals would have us believe.

"Everyone wants glossy, gorgeous, Lopez cheeks at the moment," says Jan Thomas, Max Factor's chief make-up artist, but he believes most of us can't have them because our product knowledge is a bit hopeless.

"Blush is blush and contour is contour," he says. "If they confuse them, they're going to look like someone has hit them."

But let's take it back a notch. You've got to get the foundation right before you begin.

The right foundation is the foundation that is right for your skin, rather than the one that is the "right look".

Fresh, dewy (read child's) skin is "right" for 2007, but most women need a creamy finish to even out their complexions.

Make-up artists begin the contouring at this stage.

At least two foundations are necessary, says Thomas. "The lighter shade highlights, the darker recedes, so if you have a big nose use the darker one there."

To begin popping, "do the fish", says Thomas (suck in the cheeks) and, using a contouring brush, sweep from the ear to the nose below the cheekbones. He recommends using a powder bronzer.

Next, take a powder blush and brush, and smile. Apply to the apples in a light downward motion.

"Then dab some frosted eye shadow right on the tops of the apples," says Thomas and you may want to extend it to the temples.

What was that sound? A cork popping? Flash bulbs? You've done it!