Which Make Up Colors Should I Wear?

In today’s makeup industry, companies as well as makeup artists are always pushing the boundaries by wearing clashing colors and mixed-up textures which is often viewed as a fashion-forward statement, rather than a mistake. But if you’re after a more natural, beauty-enhancing look, here are some guidelines you should follow.

Let’s start with identifying your dominant undertone. This will help you to choose the right colors for a great makeup look. There are four main undertones: porcelain, light olive, dark, fair, and dark olive. If you’re not sure which one you are, look at the pictures and the list of celebrities as examples.

Porcelain

If you have porcelain skin tone like Nicole Kidman, Kate Blanchett, and Sophie Dahl, then your undertone color is approximately 95% pink and 5% yellow.  For this skin tone, cool colors are best to use, especially for your eyes.  Your best eye colors are shades of gray (also ideal for eyeliners too) and blue and cool cream colors – the darker shades of these colors are best for evening wear. Be sure to stay away from heavy eyeliners; cool neutral or soft pastel eyeliner colors work best.

For your cheeks use colors like pale peach and apricot, and natural-blush pinks, but don’t use anything too pink as this will overemphasize the natural pink in your skin. Stick to a silvery highlighter on the cheekbones.

The porcelain beauties benefit greatly from brownish pinks and soft apricot colors for the lips, which are more flattering than a bubblegum pink color. Scarlet red can also look beautiful, but know that it can be a hard look to pull off.

Light Olive

Olive skin tones are about 5% pink and 95% yellow.  If you have light olive skin like Lucy Liu, Jennifer Aniston, and Angelina Jolie, your skin is predominantly yellow-toned but still very pale.

For your eyes the light olive beauties will find that rich and warm colors are best, i.e. neutrals, earthy browns, and mossy greens. Vanilla highlighters are flattering but stick to the paler shades for daytime. Stay away from pastels, especially pink shades and girly pearlized finishes.

Focus on coral pinks and soft orange tones for your cheeks, which add warmth to your tone. Most bronzers, including pearlized ones will work on your cheeks (not for the eyes, but the cheeks, yes). To highlight the cheekbones, use soft peach or gold tones.

The light olive beauties would be best served with warm colors, such as coral and peachy pinks as well as shades of berry, plum, and brown. Go for orange undertones rather than blue, and stay away from fuchsia pink.

Dark

The dark beauties like Michelle Obama, Halle Berry, and Naomi Campbell will either have an olive or a red undertone. If you have olive tones, use rich warm shades to bring out the golden highlights. If you have red undertones a cooler color palette will be more flattering.

If you have dark skin, you’ll want to use shades of bronze, burnt orange, emerald green, sapphire, and plum for your eye colors. If your skin has a paler caramel tone, use olive green, warm gold, toffee, and lighter plum colors. Shimmery and metallic textures are flattering for evening looks.

If your skin tone is a cool color, deep shades of plum and rose will look beautiful on your cheeks. Shades of apricot and a bronzer are flattering on warm-toned skin, while deep gold highlighter will bring out the golden undertones.

For your lips most deep shade colors will work, especially colors like berry, rose, coral, bronze, terracotta, coffee, and dark apricot. Glossy textures and gold add instant glamour to your look.

Fair

The fair skin ladies like Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, and Gwyneth Paltrow have approximately a 65% pink undertone and about 35% yellow. While the underlying skin tone is predominantly pink, there is some yellow, which means that you can use pink colors when making up your face.

For the eyes, warm and cool tones are the best colors suited for your pink and yellow undertone. Those who have darker colored eyes, wear deeper colors and stronger eyeliner. If you keep the color shades muted, it’s hard to go wrong. Yellows and oranges do not suit you.

For your cheeks pink shades will look very lovely – anything from a brownish pink color to fuchsia to fresh pink. Be careful with using bronzers and avoid anything too dark or too orange or shimmer. Stay with silver tones as a highlighter.

You will also benefit greatly from wearing neutral colors for your lips, such as nudes and pinks; they are the most flattering. Red is a possibility but it might be difficult for you to find that right shade – you don’t want one that is too blue-based nor too orange.

Dark Olive

The dark olive beauties like Eva Longoria, Freida Pinto, and Penélope Cruz have a deep yellow undertone. In general, deep, rich, warm colors work well for you – shades lighter than your skin tone will drain you and make you look sallow.

For a natural daytime look, go for warm gold, peach or olive green colors for your eyes. For a more dramatic look, deep purples, plums and greens, or golds and browns are best. Stay away from cool colors, especially silver and pale blue.

Apricot and peachy pinks create a warm flush, while lighter plums and browns are also flattering. A bronzer works very well for you – from warm gold to terracotta – including shimmery finishes. For a highlighter, go for gold tones.

Dark, warm colors work best for your lips, while pale colors will wash out your complexion. Shades of deep red, orange, coral, gold, and brown look stunning, while deep fuchsia is striking and dramatic.

Which makeup colors are you using for your undertone?  Post your comment below.

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Filed under: beauty tips • cosmetics • makeover • makeup

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