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Selecting The Right Makeup For Your Skin Tone

 
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By Eseandre

Finding makeup that matches your skin tone can be tricky especially when you have no clue about what your undertone is. Finding out your skin’s undertone is one very important detail you must know if you want to achieve an effortless glow while wearing makeup. Now don’t get me wrong. You are beautiful in your own skin. No one is disputing that. But should you choose to wear makeup to enhance your natural beauty and you don’t know where to start, I just want to help you select the shades that work for you.

Skin Tone And Undertone

The very color of your skin is your skin tone. Various factors can lead to different variety of skin tones. Your genes, melanin pigmentation, age, exposure to sun, or even the geography of where you stay are all factors that influence your skin tones and skin types. Understanding that your skin tone can be different from other people’s is important, especially if you’ve realized that what works for your friends doesn’t always work for you. Now we have established that, let’s talk about undertones.

Wearing the wrong tone of makeup can make you look muddy or totally give away the fact that you might be a little clueless when it comes to picking out shades. So, let’s get into undertones. Your undertone is that shade of skin that is not exposed to the usual harshness that the rest of the skin faces. It is that underlying skin color that affects your overall tint.

Undertones usually fall under three shades:
● Cool
● Warm
● Neutral

You have probably come across foundations named “cool linen”, “warm bisque” or just “neutral.” These names aren’t just creative ways to address the makeup shades, but they also indicate the undertone that the makeup will complement.

You can determine your undertone by looking at the veins on your wrist or the inside part of your arm. If you have a cool tone you will notice either blue or purple looking veins on your wrist. A warm skin tone is synonymous with green veins and a neutral skin tone doesn’t have an obvious vein color but more of a distinctive skin color.

Cool Tone

If you have a cool tone, I must first acknowledge your beautiful eyes. Cool tones go hand in hand with grey, light blue, amber, hazel or deep brown eyes. As for your luscious hair, people with blonde, jet black and also dark brown hair usually have cool undertones. Sadly, most people with cool undertones usually burn easily in the sun. The foundation you will wear will be different from the next person’s and I mean once you know what works best for you, the possibilities are infinite. Sometimes using the foundations with their respective tones may not always work for you. Some leave you looking too pinkish or yellowish. The tip here is to select foundations that give a little hint of pink on the bottle. For cool undertones, you will look rather radiant with a cherry red lip, deep purple, grey and jewel toned eyeshadows, and a rosy pink blush for that natural skin flush. Feel free to step it up a notch by trying bolder colors. You will love the results.

Warm Tones

Warm bodies get in here. People with warm skin undertones have green wrist veins and tend to tan easily. It is important to note that your undertone is not a reflection of how fair or dark you are. Someone with a warm undertone can be really fair. If you have a warm undertone, you will want to go for warm colors. Honey, golden, warm beige, yellow, red, peach, coral and also orange. These colors will highlight your facial features and beauty. When you are foundation shopping go for the bottle with a ‘W’ label, it has a slight yellow hint to it. For your hair, honey blonde and golden brown will make you look absolutely gorgeous. You will notice that a coral red lip and colors of the coral family as blush will flatter you the most. For your eyes think colors of the earth, copper, bronze, gold will make your eyes pop. Eyeshadows look best when they contrast in comparison to your eye color.

Neutral Tones

Congratulations! If you have a neutral skin tone, you can pretty much get away with any color. I mean, any color in the right proportion. Feel free, honey. You are basically a chameleon. Deep purples, golden and orange shadows, blue, grey, pink you can rock it all with minimal chance of looking muddy. Go for foundations made for neutral undertones. If you have a neutral tone you can wear both cool and warm blush shades and contour colors. Go get it, girl!

Conclusion

Irrespective of what your skin tone, skin color or undertone reflects, remember that you need to wear what you are most comfortable in. Comfort is key. Also keep in mind that these are only guidelines and not rules. Good luck and have fun!

You can see all of Eseandre’s posts here.

Fall Makeup Trends 101

 
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By Eseandre

Hello, lovelies! Fall is here once again and designers and artists are just killing it with the makeup trends this year. From bold cheeks to two-toned lips, fall is going to be sizzling hot, and we have all the trends to make you the center of it all. Summer’s metallic eyes and graphic eyeliners are moving out to make room for Fall’s distinctive looks. Here are some makeup trends for the season.

Glossy Lips

Glossy lips are in again! If you didn’t master the matte look, no biggie. You’re now free to use a good lip gloss…or two…or ten. Glossy lips were popular on the runways this year. Totally understandable since it’s a comfortable, sleek and it is sexy look. It’s also easy to pull off. The good thing about this trend is that glosses are no longer as gooey as they were in past seasons and they also come in just about every color of the rainbow. So go ahead and gloss it up, girl!

Mauve Finish

Mauve represents the best shade when transitioning from warm to cool seasons. It makes you look amazing and also like you are not trying too hard. The best part is that you can rock this shade on your lips, eyes, and cheeks without committing any fashion infractions as it is very flattering on a wide range of skin tones. I especially love how actress Elizabeth Olsen makes this look work for her. Mix things up this fall and be mauve suave.

Sunset Eyes

Sometimes orange can be a tough color to pull off. But this fall, we’re not just following trends–we’re setting them. On the plus side, orange on the lids works for many skin tones. If you want to balance it and not look too loud, try its ombre version and you might just get mistaken for a supermodel. This daring trend is one that I absolutely cannot wait to try.

Feathered Lashes

False lashes in my opinion, are amazing. If you can master the look, they won’t look tacky. This season, don’t go for basic. Add some drama and softness at the same time with a pair of feathery lashes. These lashes will draw attention to your soulful eyes and make someone want to drown in them. Just keep the rest of your make up toned down with this look, and you are good to go.

Two-toned Lips

This look is one that captured the world by storm. Models, artists, and celebrities have all indulged in this look either on the runway or at shows. I love adding more color to my lower lip and using a lighter shade for the upper. Ladies, this is one trend that is not going anywhere anytime soon. Depending on the shades you use, it gives you that subtle worn for a while kind of finish which looks really good.

Subtly Highlighted Skin

Contoured skin is gradually fading from the radar. But guess what’s in? Highlighting. Lightly highlighting your face accentuates the areas where the light directly hits. Your cheekbones and brow arches have never looked good until you try this hack. Out with the contour, in with the highlight.

Dramatic Winged Eyeliner

For a more daring and fierce look, this is the trend to use. Winged eyeliners have a way of making its subject look not only beautiful but also really interesting. It gives that dramatic finish and lets everyone know you have arrived. This is perfect when trying to stand out from the crowd, I highly recommend it.

Conclusion

Makeup is definitely a must-have and when applied correctly, it just enhances your natural beauty. These trends are only ideas based on popular demand. They are not rules. So do what works best for you. When you look good and feel good, you’ll slay the season no matter what.

You can see all of Eseandre’s posts here.

An Introduction to Choosing Make Up Colors by Kathleen

 
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Hi folks Kathleen here with simple ways to determine what make up colors you should wear warm neutral or cool. This will be a basic introduction to the wonderful world of makeup. Above is a chart Heather (CEO & founder of CysterWigs) created. It makes determining your skins undertone easy. Once you know your skins undertone everything else falls into place. For instance my veins are a blue/green in natural light but can vary depending on the lighting conditions. I’ve always worn white & yellow gold..lol. Clearly I have neutral undertones but I do lean towards warm. That’s not uncommon. If you aren’t sure most likely you have neutral undertones. 😉

Lets make this simple the surface color of your skin is not the same as your undertone. Your undertone is what determines what foundation…warm neutral or cool you should get. Above is a graphic using a portrait I painted that demonstrates how your surface skin color doesn’t determine your undertone. Even though my clients both have warm surface skin colors Bishop Hodges has cool skin undertones whereas his wife has warm undertones.

Another hallmark of neutral undertones is my surface skin color and undertone are basically the same. Peachy…and my skin color will change depending on the lighting conditions or for example what color wig I wear. If I wear a vibrant red wig my skin will look warmer. Image 3 shows how some brands make it easy for you. The cool foundation isn’t mine but the other three are. Can you see how the cool foundation has a pink cast to it? The middle two the neutral shades have a peach tint and the warm foundation on the right has a yellow tint to it? No? No problem if you cant see the nuanced color changes between these. That’s why many brands mark C for cool, N for neutral and W for warm right on the foundation themselves. This takes the guess work out for you. I would suggest finding a foundation that clearly tells you what undertone the foundation is. It makes it so much easier. TIP: When choosing your foundation color look at your neck vs your face to find a good color match.

Now when I’m in a hurry and I just want to look put together …healthier I use my BB Cream above in image 4.

Now that you have determined what undertone your skin is cool neutral or warm and you’ve found a good foundation by matching the skin on your neck. You are ready to pick out a blush. This is easy too. For blush you should go with colors that are opposite of your skins undertone. Think of it this way. If you have a cool undertone and you pick a cool pink blush you will only look redder…if you choose a soft warm peachy/apricot colored blush it’ll give you a healthy more natural glow.

Image 6 is a simplified reference guide for blush colors. In general if you have warm undertones choose a blush that is on the cool side. On the other hand if you have cool undertones choose warmer blush colors. If you aren’t sure but think you are neutral you most likely will look fine in any color you choose. TIP: If you try a warm blush and it looks too matchy matchy try a cool blush and visa versa.

Image 7 illustrates the blushes I am currently using. One is cool and one is warm. I am neutral so I can use either one but most often I combine the two.

Layering your blush gives depth to the colors vs using one color. You will have a more natural healthier glow than using one color alone.

Image 8 illustrates what I do when applying blush. I apply where I naturally blush because I am going for a healthy glow. I don’t contour etc. Why not you ask? Well the short answer is because I’m lazy..lol I go for the least amount of work with the biggest payoff. Especially as we age we lose color in our cheeks and even our lips. So I brush the cool blush (remember cool blushes are for warm undertones) across the apple of my cheeks and up a bit. Then I use the coral highlighter (remember warm highlighters and blushes are for cool undertones) on the top edges of my cheeks. Since I have neutral undertones these two colors mixed together achieve that. I prefer a subtle color on a highlight. To me this reads healthy vs oooh look at that highlight!… 😉At my age there aren’t too many areas on my face that are wrinkle free and I really don’t want to bring atention to those 😂.

Above image 9 illustrates simply what is a cool warm or neutral color. For this example I am using pink. The cool pink has blue added to it. The warm pink has yellow added to it and the neutral pink has both these colors added to it which also brings down the intensity of the pink. If you see a color and you can’t tell if its cool or warm it most likely is a neutral version.

Here is one last color choice to look at. Lipstick…If you have warm undertones choose warmer colors and if you have cool undertones choose cooler colors. In my case since I have neutral undertones I chose a neutral pink. Its easy and will look good no matter what hair color I am wearing or what clothes I have on. Its my go to color. TIP: When choosing a lip color look at your natural lip color as your guide.

The take away here is makeup can be fun. For a quick heathy look a little foundation blush and lip color and you’re out the door. You don’t have to wear everything to look put together and healthy. ….but it is fun…lol..next eyes! Enjoy..🙋

You can see all of Kathleen’s posts here as well seeing her talent as an amazing artist at KathleenRyanArt.com.

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