"What Color Lies Beneath the Skin"
Before you buy your make-up and clothes for that matter you may want to try doing the following. Find out what color lies beneath your very top layer of skin. Try this. Turn your inner wrist up. Look closely at the veins. Are they more blue than slightly greenish? More blue is generally a cool undertone in your skin. Where more greenish is more the warm tones n your skin. When you know this you can have the radiant glow of healthiness most of the time. Have you ever had someone tell you that you look tired, when in fact you had plenty of sleep and don't feel tired at all. Chances are it's the color you have on. If you have warm undertones in your skin and you are wearing something from the cool side of the color wheel then you probably won't look your best and the result will be those darker circles under the eyes. It is true the other way around also. Cool undertone in the skin and you are wearing warm colors that day, the result will be same story.
Go to a fabric store and take a friend along. Go bare skin on your face and shoulders (no make-up). Bring a good-sized hand mirror with you. Pull your hair back tight away from your face. If your hair is too short to pull away find a piece of fabric (thickness and type doesn't matter) in as close to you flesh color around your hair line as possible and wrap it around your hair turban style.
Now that you are prepped, in the fabrics pick a pastel pink (true pink is cool where peachy is warm based), blue (if it's a slight aqua it warm toned base), yellow, (if it has an orange tone it's a warm tone), green (mint is a cool base...yellowish is a warm tone base), white (off white is warm tone base). Now gather cloth in these colors. Drape some of the cloth around you shoulders and under the chin. Look in the mirror you brought with you, notice the under eye area. Does it make you look sleepy? Does it appear that you have dark circles under your eyes? (Well ok...darker than usual.) On the other hand does your eye color show brighter? Do your cheeks seem to have a more flushed color? Does your uneven tones of the skin blend in and look more smooth and even not sallow and subdued or rutty.
You are looking for colors that appear to even the skin tone and brighten your eyes and bring natural color to your cheeks. If you go to a Craft store in the paint department you can get a color wheel. It will have colors divided by warm, which as yellowish to golden undertones and then cool colors, which have gray to blue under tone. Once you have decided you look better with warm or cool colors then on the wheel you'll find the darker tones of the same basic colors. Those you can switch too in different times of the year. Spring and Autumn are opposites and Summer and Winter are opposites. Another way to think of the colors is what colors you see most in which season always remembering to stay in the warm or cool base tones regardless.
Now that you have done this now let's move on to make-up. SPF15 important sun protection.
"Bare Escentuals" are the best make-ups for covering and concealing age-spots, blemishes and uneven skin tones. It is a mineral powder base. They come in 1) Fair, 2) Fairly Light to light, 3) Medium Beige to Medium, 4) Tan to Medium Tan, and 5) Dark to Deep. You need to choose which skin color group you best fit. These go on with a brush. It's easy. There's no blending and make up line.
Now, how to get that glow that give that really healthy happy look? It's called bronzing, and it comes in a cool color or a warm color. The cool base will be on the pinkish side. The warm is more on brownish golden bronze. This is brushed just under the hairline on the forehead, on the topside of the cheekbones, lightly down the center of the nose bone, and in the front of the chin where the sun would have kissed a bit of color naturally, not going to the side towards the jaw bone.
Unless absolutely needed save blush for evening. The natural bronzing I mentioned earlier will take you for your everyday wear. (add blush when that monthly cycle of the HRT causes you to be a bit low and not your general bright and radiant self.)
Finish now by using the allover mineral veil. This will minimize pores, lines, and shine. It's so light you won't even no you're wearing it. It's a gorgeous, soft-focus finish.
Eyes are the most important feature on your face. They are the part when you speak to someone you want them looking at because that is where you will be looking on theirs' when you are talking. You want something that is most natural but enhancing and draws attention to them. It is said eyes are the windows to the soul. Let them draw people in to see you truly as you are.
You don't want them to shout but you want to enhance expression. You will want a neutral base color the blend or is just a little lighter than your natural skin color. Regardless of the color of eyes use dark browns or mauve or slate gray or slate blue (almost a gray-blue charcoal) (remember to choose a warm or cool color depending on your out come at the fabric store) in the fold of your eyelid, use a light brown tone on the rust or rose side on the lower lid above the eyelashes. If you choose to wear liner choose again a color in you warm or cool tones. Warm dark brown or Black and Black brown. There are tricks to this too. Depending on your eye shape you will want thin in one area and thicker in another. I'll go into this for each whom wishes to know, if you desire. Finish with Mascara in same color as liner. The white line on the lower lid above the lashes is great to draw your eye forward for those whom have deep-set eyes. There are also tricks for wide apart eyes. I can address those for anyone wanting to know that too.
I'll do another post for evening and special occasion shadows.
Lips are also important because a smile can tame a lion. A liner helps to keep your lip color from bleeding into the skin surrounding your lips. Keeps one from looking as though a child helped put their make-up on. Some lip color products or worse than other for staying put. If you'll look at your lips natural boarder-line, most often than not it's lighter in color. A neutral kind of a taupe color is best. Then you don't look like you've been coloring in a coloring-book outlining the picture. Daytime and natural enhancement looking is the key again. At night and more high fashion go with just slightly darker that the shade of lip color you've chosen. Choosing that color again is important. You don't want the only thing on your face to appear to be your lips. There is a balancing act between the eyes and the lips going on. Generally when you pick out a color that color would actually have a light shade, medium shade or darker shade. If you look best in bold colors in your clothing then you want a bold or dark deep tone on your lips. If you are person more suited to pastels, then you want a light shade softer look. If in dought the medium shade will work best in this pinch either way.
There you just had the Mini make-up session I give the young Ladies that come to me for interview help. These guidelines are what many of the Miss USA and Mrs. USA use. Below is a link of where to get these Bare Escentuals Products. I know when you watch these pageants on the TV you hear adds for other products. That's not because they wear them. It's because the companies are supporters of the pageant system wanting this famous person to sell their product. Lots of the women that win and hold these titles don't use these brands. There are some that do but most don't. The heaviness on the face under the stage lights can cause an oily looking sweaty appearance, not what they want to project. So they wear what I have shared with you.
I hope this will be helpful to you,
Peggiann
[edit]By Steph - Deleted the link as it was a sales only site[/edit]
