Choosing the proper cosmetics can be hard and confusing but is completely worth it in the end. The right cosmetics can take you from being borderline Oompa Loompa or chimney sweep to the true beauty you are. First you need to know the different products, what they are for, and where to apply them. But before you get to applying anything, you need to find your skin tone which is key to not looking like an Oompa Loompa or chimney sweep. Once you find you skin tone and get an understanding of the basic face products, the rest is easy. This all may be a bit confusing or hard but it’s worth it.
First, a brief background on the products that will be discussed, foundation, blush, bronzer, and eyeshadow. Foundation is most commonly found in liquid or cream form and is applied to the entire face. It’s purpose is to even out the skin and blur any imperfections. Then there is blush, also know rouge, which is applied to the apples of the cheeks (the chubby circular part emphasized when you smile) to warm up the face and give a natural glow or flush. Now for contouring. Contour can be liquid but is more commonly a pressed powder or cream that is two to three shades darker than your skin and is applied to the hallows of the cheeks to give a more sculpted appearance. To find the area to apply contour, suck your cheeks in making a fish face, the part sucked in is where contour should be applied. Eyeshadow is most commonly a pressed powder but you can also get it as a cream or loose powder and is applied to the eyelids to enhance your natural eye shape and color. Combine all of these together properly and you’ll be a show stopper.
No onto the most important part, what the different skin tones look like and how to find which one you are. The three different skin tones are cool, neutral, and warm. Cool tones are pink based, warm tones are yellow based, and neutral tones are in between. Now, how to find which you are. The first, and simplest, test is to just stand in front of a mirror, look at your skin and see if you have more pink undertones or yellow undertones. If you’re more pink then you’re likely cool but if you have more yellow undertones then you’re more likely warm. Sometime holding up a blank piece of white paper will help because you can compare your skin to the stark white paper and see if you’re more pink (cool) or yellow (warm). Not many people can tell from just looking at their skin so there’s the vein test. Look at the veins running down your arm. If they look very blue you're cool, while very green looking veins are warm, and then teal looking veins are neutral. Hopefully you’ve figured out which you are but if you’re still not sure, try warm skin toned products (they tend to be more flattering) but if you look too yellow then you’ll know you’re cool toned. Your skin tone is what you base all of your face products off of which is why it’s so important.
Now for the fun part, choosing new makeup that will enhance your natural beauty but also fits your skin tone. For foundation you want it to blur imperfections and smooth out any unevenness your skin may have so choose on that is the same as your skin tone. As for blush you want to choose the opposite. If your skin is already pink from being cool or yellow from being warm you don’t want to draw focus or add to it. Good colors for cool toned people are peaches or anything orange based while pinks and purples are best if you’re warm. If you’re neutral you’re lucky and can where whatever color you want. Contour is like foundation, you want to choose the same as your skin tone but two to three shades darker than your skin. If you’re cool you’ll want on that has a grey undertone. Using a bronzer or contour that is too warm can make it look like you have orange streaks on your face. If you’re warm toned then you’ll want the bronzers and orange based contour. When a warm toned person uses a cool toned contour it will be very grey, giving a dirty or even sickly appearance to the skin. If you’re neutral, you get to choose which you prefer, just make sure it all goes together. So to summarize, foundations and contours should be the same as your skin tone while blushes should be the opposite.
Now that you’ve got the face mastered we can learn how to make your eyes stand out. Choosing eye shadows that will make you eyes pop is like choosing blush, you want to use the color opposite your eye color or the color wheel. So if your eyes are blue, use orange, peach or even an orange based gold. Red is opposite green so try using red, pink, or even violet shades. Brown eyed people are lucky like neutral skin toned people because you can use any color you want. These are just how to make you eye color stand out more but you can rock whatever colors you like.
So now you’ve learned it all. From finding your skin tone, the correct products to use, why it’s all important, and how to make your eye color stand out. No one wants to look like an Oompa Loompa or chimney sweep and now you have the knowledge to not only avoid it but also change it if you hadn’t been using the correct products. Choosing the correct makeup products might be hard, confusing, or even intimidating, especially if you’re new to makeup, but it’s worth it to enhance your natural, beautiful self.
