On the contrary, I find that using sufficient lip color makes the major difference in passability. I never go out without a lip color that's sufficiently strong for my complexion, and for me it needs to be a dark rich purple-red. Constant experience over the years has shown me that this is how I pass the best. Less-bold colors like pink just look wrong on me. If you're a pale blonde, I don't know what to recommend, I just know what works for me. Makeup advice in America is geared toward Nordic white people by default, so those of us with darker complexions have to look a little harder to find what's best for us. I'm Sicilian and I found a lot of usefulness in the book Latina Beauty, which also provided statistics that Latina women use more makeup than white women. With our complexions and features, we actually look good with more of it than less. Even though conventional wisdom always warns us away from using more, I think that conventional wisdom mainly has pale washed-out blondes in mind.
I cannot stress strongly enough that there are no makeup rules that encompass everybody the same. Each individual has to find the best look for her. Get a makeover from a professional! I'm in luck because around here the makeup ladies are usually Iranian, so they are naturally expert at making up complexions like mine. Deniz, you're Greek but I don't know what you look like, I would have guessed we had similar needs. We share a lot of common heritage.
In my case it wasn't chin and lip surgery that allowed me to look good in makeup-- it was the laser hair removal. That's what made my life possible. With such strong features, people just assume I'm Arab. I've had American racists tell me to go back to the Middle East where I came from. "You people messed up your own countries, we don't want you over here messing up ours too" was the hate message.
As for liquid foundation, I agree, especially if you have lines and large pores, liquid is the way to go. It's imperative to blend your foundation perfectly, so that it has no visible edges. Liquid is the easiest foundation to blend. I use Clinique Perfectly Real powder over that to help set it, but again powder has to be blended perfectly too. Same goes for concealer, blush, and bronzer. Blend, blend, and blend some more.
