How to Pick the Right Makeup for Your Skin Tone
Choosing the right color of makeup can be tricky, and it is harder when shopping online and with natural and organic cosmetics that you may not be as familiar with. Everyone's monitors are different, and those little color swatches don't seem to have much bearing on reality.
We've tried to make it easier. In all of the descriptions for color cosmetics we note whether a shade is cool or warm, give an indication as to the relative shade (lightness or darkness) and provide a general color description.
For this to work, you have to know what color you are. This has little to do with the amount of melanin in your skin and everything to do with the underlying colors. Most people are either "warm" or "cool" and some are neutral, with both warm and cool tones.
Here are some tricks to figure out your tone:
- Take a look at the color at the base of your nail beds or pinch the inside of your arm until you get color. How would you describe it? (this is also a good indication of what color blush you should choose).
- Go into a room with good natural light and make sure you have no makeup on. Put a white towel around your head and one around your neck. What is your first impression of color?
- Hold your arm with the inside facing up, against a white piece of paper or fabric. What color is it?
- Do the veins in your inner arm look blue or green? Blue=cool, green=warm.
- Still in doubt? Ask a friend's opinion about any of the above. Often they can "see" better than you can.
You are cool if:
- You have pink, blue, olive, or gray undertones. Your skin color ranges from milky white ("Snow White") to true black, soft beige, rosy pink, or olive.
- If you've had your "colors" done, & you are a summer (less intense cool
coloring like Gwyneth Paltrow) or winter (more intense cool coloring like Courtney Cox or Oprah Winfrey).
- your natural hair color is
bluish-black, dark brown, medium ash or pale blonde, and possibly titian red.
- You look better in pure white than ivory, black does not make you look washed out. If you are cool with dramatic coloring, you also look good in primary red and navy.
- Most Asian, African American, and Latino people have cool skin tones.
Choose:
- Good overall colors: blues, greens, violets, pinks, purples, blue-greens, magentas, and
blue-based reds, blue grays. Think primary colors, spring pastels, ice palaces, ocean, sky, and roses.
- Your foundation should be pink-based.
- Your blushes should be bluish pinks or reds (moving towards violet).
Famous cools: Oprah Winfrey, Gwyneth Paltrow, Snow White, Michele Kwan, Angelina Jolie, Elizabeth Taylor, Winona Ryder, Sharon Stone, Courtney Cox
You are Warm if:
- You have gold, yellow, or brown undertones. Your skin color is ivory, peach, or golden brown.
- If you tan, you get golden skin and your hair has gold or reddish highlights
- You look better in ivory than white. Black washes you out.
- You probably have hazel, brown or greenish gold eyes.
- If you have had your colors done, you are a fall (more intense warm coloring like Natalie Portman) or spring (less intense coloring like Jennifer Aniston).
- Your natural
hair color is coppery red (there are cool red heads, often of Dutch or Scandanavian descent), golden brown, deep brown, strawberry blonde or natural golden blonde.
Choose:
- Good overall colors: desert "earth
tones," yellows, ochres, oranges, browns, golds, and orange-based
reds or any color that tends toward warm colors (like yellow green).
- Your foundation should be yellow-based.
- Blushes should be peachy, pinky gold, or brownish pink.
Famous warms: Molly Ringwald, Jennifer Aniston, Natalie Portman, Evangeline Lily (Kate on LOST), Lindsay Lohan, Nicole Kidman.
Are you Neutral like Switzerland?
It is possible to have both pink and yellow undertones. Play around and see what works best for you. (Emily is a neutral). If you look good in a large variety of colors, can make either a warm or cool palette work on your face, can't figure out what the heck any of those tests above are supposed to tell you & look good in both silver and gold, you are a neutral. Congratulations. As long as you don't stray too far into the extreme shades for either "temperature," you will be OK.
Advanced Color Theory:
Here's the part where we blow your mind a little. In school you might have learned that red is a "warm" color and "green" is a cool color. They are after all, opposites on the color wheel. If you would like an "A" on the quiz, you will appreciate knowing that makes them complimentary colors.
However, red can be cool and green can be warm, depending on what hue it is. For example, a red can be bluish (towards purple) which is suitable for somebody with cool skin tones. A green can be yellow green or brown-y green, making it warm, while kelly green is more blue, and therefore cooler.
This is why there are no hard and fast rules about what color makeup you "should" use, but you have to get the shade and hue right.
You can use color theory to your advantage in other ways. If you want to create drama, use complimentary colors on your face , like red on your lips and green on your eyes. If you are cool, use bluer reds and greens, and if you are warm, use warm orange reds and yellowish greens. See how it works?
Other complimentary pairs to play around with are orange & blue and violet & yellow. Don't forget that your eye color can be a color to play up or down. This is why blue eyed people with warm skin tones look fantastic in a tawny orangish eye shadow The orange makes the blue eyes pop.
If you want a more neutral face (and most of us do except for special dress up events, Halloween, or when the Insane Clown Posse is in town), stick to colors that are close to each other on the color wheel, or lighter or darker shades of the same or similar colors. A quick way to unify your face is to use the same color on your lips, cheeks and eyes.
Have fun!
|
