Vol. 4, No. 2, February 2007
RSS Feeds
No-Fuss Beauty
Making yourself gorgeous need not be a long project
Not sure where to get started with your makeup application or what makeup colors will work best with your skin tone? Let’s play dress-up.
Whether we work 10 or 70 hours a week, no matter what the job, sometimes we do not have time for makeup. Most women feel compelled to look their best whether food shopping, shoe shopping or running around. Chances are, running out to check the mail in a sweatshirt and no makeup is when you’ll meet Mr. Right or run into a long lost-friend. Where are my gigantic sunglasses when I need them? Here are a few simple steps to making ourselves drop-dead gorgeous without all the fuss.
Step 1: CONCEALER
Place the concealer all around the eye area to eliminate any dark circles and pigmentation around the eye. This will not only open up your eye area but also locks on your eye shadow.
Step 2: FOUNDATION
Put your foundation on with a cosmetic wedge and make sure to dab the foundation up to the lash line over the concealer underneath the eye.
Step 3: EYE SHADOW
Use a light pink, beige or gold eye shadow over the entire eye area, from your lid all the way up to the brow bone. It’s as easy as that. This hint of color will change the entire look of your eye and give it a wider, more awakening appearance.
Step 4: BLUSH AND MASCARA
Just to finish it off. Stay subtle on the blush. Lips are where it’s at.
Step 5: LIPSTICK
My favorite! Since you are using brightening, yet subtle eye shadow on the eyes, pick a rich, striking lipstick color that will dress up your whole look. Berries, reds, plums.
I like to compare wearing a rich lipstick color to wearing a simple little black dress. Throw on a hot pair of shoes and it dresses up the whole outfit! Same concept for your face: Throw on a hot-colored lipstick and you just dressed up your entire face in about 10 minutes!
A lot of us have trouble finding what colors look good or what colors to use. Here are some suggestions I love for every skin tone:
1. Makeup for Fair Skin
If you’re fair-skinned, sheer colors such as earth tones and soft pastels work best for you. Blues and lavenders are my favorites for the eyes. Soft pink blush is subtle, yet compliments your beautiful cheekbones. Light sheer lipstick or lip gloss to accentuate the lips in any peach tone works well.
2. Makeup for Medium Tone Skin
You have a lot of options. Deep earth tones and jewel-like colors such as browns, dark grays, and greens look awesome on your eyes. Since your skin tone is very versatile, anything from red to pink will look great on your lips. I find that plum colors work best for your cheekbones. If you have red undertones in your skin, stay away from anything pink on your cheeks. In that situation, corals and earth tones work best.
3. Makeup for Dark Skin
For your eyes, try using gray, brown or natural shades of eye shadow. Shimmer colors such as bronze, silver and earth tones look amazing. If you’re really daring, deep purple or navy blue mascara is beautiful on darker skin tones. Deep rose colors work best for blush. Anything in the orange family is not good for your skin tone. Go deep on your lips, berries and reds, hot!
4. Makeup for Olive and Ethnic Tone Skin
Blues and purples, definitely, for the eyes. Anything metallic looks amazing as well. Just try to stay darker than your skin tone. Your cheekbones will look best in dark plums, chestnuts or even bronzing powder. Lipstick colors that look gorgeous are russets, almonds, plums and berries as well. Do not use “true” reds; they tend to clash with your skin tone.
