You may have fair skin, blue eyes and light brown hair, or perhaps you have dark brown eyes, golden brown skin and black hair. Your complexion, hair color, eye color and other factors play a significant role in choosing the right makeup colors. The rules for choosing makeup colors can seem complex, but the final judgment is yours. Choose those colors that look good on you and that make you feel good wearing them.
1. Makeup Tips for Fair Skin
Many women with fair complexions have extremely sensitive skin and either blonde or red hair. Makeup must not be too heavy to avoid blocking pores or even triggering allergic reactions. Women with fair skin also face the dilemma of looking washed out when they wear no makeup or looking clownish when they wear too much of the wrong shades of makeup. Many with fair skin look very striking wearing vibrant red lip color, warm colors like coral around their eyes and peach or rose blush.
2. Makeup Tips for Women of Color
Many fair-skinned women feel like Casper the Friendly Ghost during the winter. On the other hand, many women of color are blessed with beautiful, rich skin tone all year round. African American women in particular often look sensational wearing sheer lip gloss and bronze cheek color matched with bold eye color. Many Latinas have golden skin tones. Earth tones such as browns and oranges look great on many Latinas. Many Asian women have flawless skin with no apparent pores. Ice blue eye makeup and true red lipstick are often ideal matches for Asian women.
3. Makeup Color Palette for Warm Skin Tones
Women with warm skin tones have veins that have a greenish cast rather than blue. Gold jewelry tends to look better than silver jewelry against skin with warm undertones. Regardless of whether you have dark or light skin, if you have a warm skin tone, you tend to look better in makeup that features earth tones such as reds, browns and orange.
4. Makeup Color Palette for Cool Skin Tones
Women with cool skin tones have veins that look bluish, and tend to look better when wearing silver jewelry rather than gold. Many women with cool skin tones have fair skin, but women with very dark skin may also have cool undertones to their skin. Makeup in jewel tones such as blue and green look great with cool skin tones. Women with cool skin tones should opt for lip color with hints of purple or magenta.
5. Makeup Color Palette for Neutral Skin Tones
If you find that silver and gold jewelry flatter your features equally, you are likely one of the lucky few women with a neutral skin tone. Your color palette has fewer limits; what limitations you do face are determined by factors such as your hair color and your eye color. Your skin color also plays a role – women of color with neutral skin tones generally look better in richer makeup colors. Fair-skinned women with neutral skin tones often find that pastels suit them better, although true red is also frequently flattering.
6. Matching Makeup Tones with Your Hair Color
Along with your skin color and your skin tone, your hair color plays a role in determining the best makeup colors. If your hair is dark brown or black and your skin is dark, your makeup palette should include bronze, copper and, navy blue gold. Women with dark hair and fair skin should favor Cheek and lip colors that tend toward sheer pink. Brunettes look great wearing earth tones around their eyes and coral or pink lip and cheek color. Redheads often look fabulous wearing green eye shadow and pink cheek and lip colors. Blondes with cool skin tones should opt for pink lip and cheek color and eye makeup in jewel tones. Blondes with warm skin tones should favor peachy lip and skin colors and eye colors in warm browns. Blondes with both warm and cool skin tones should almost always opt for brown mascara instead of black.
7. Choosing the Right Foundation
The most important factor in choosing a foundation is selecting a shade that matches your skin tone exactly. In past years, many women of color found this difficult to accomplish. Fortunately, many manufacturers have begun to formulate makeup for women with dark skin as well as light skin. The second most important factor in choosing foundation is deciding what function you want your foundation to accomplish. If your skin has imperfections or is very dry with fine lines, you may opt for a cream foundation that provides richer color. If you are concerned about minimizing shine, a water-based or powder foundation is likely a better choice.
8. Blushing Beauties
If you opt to wear blush, it should coordinate with your overall makeup palette. You should also limit blush to your actual cheekbones to avoid looking clown like. However, in many cases you may be able to skip blush, especially if your lip color is vibrant or if you are wearing a dramatic eye look.
9. How to Wear Red Lipstick
All reds are not created equal. True red lipstick may not be the best shade for you, but that doesn’t mean that red is off limits. If you have warm undertones to your skin, choose a red with an orange cast. Bluish reds look better on skins with cool undertones.
10. The Eyes Have It
You may think that matching your eye color is the key to playing up your eyes. In fact, your eyes will often be more attention-getting if your eye color palette features shades that do not exactly match your eye color. On the other hand, a blue-eyed woman wearing electric blue eye shadow may draw attention – but not necessarily in a good way.
Everyone’s complexion is different, so it’s important to know these makeup tips for different complexions. If you have some other tips, share them with us, please.