This article was co-authored by Christin Birckhead. Christin Birckhead is a Makeup Artist and the Founder of Conceptual Beauty, a beauty service based in Washington, DC specializing in wedding services such as engagements and bridal parties along with fashion shows and executive headshots. She has over 20 years of makeup and beauty consulting experience. She is also the lead makeup artist for Ascender Communications and freelances with the local NBC news team in the DC metro area. Her clients include Nancy Pelosi, Nancy Cartwright, Armin Van Buuren, Hugh Jackman, Vashawn Mitchell, Richard Smallwood, Benjamin T. Jealous, Colin Powell, Wanda Durant, and Former Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
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Do you find makeup shops confusing? Follow these steps to make things a little clearer. Who said choosing makeup has to be hard?
Steps
Base your foundation on your skin type. Skin can be normal, oily, dry, or mixed.- Normal skin works well with mostly any type of foundation.
- Oily skin usually does best with powder foundations.
- Dry skin can benefit from tinted moisturizers.
- For mixed skin, liquid, cream, or mousse foundations are usually a safe bet.
Choose your foundation shade. For this you'll need to test product in person. Using tester products, apply a small amount of foundation to the back of your arm, which will usually be a skin shade close to that of your face. Also apply dabs of foundations a shade lighter and darker than the one you think will be your match. Once they've dried, see which shade matches closest to your skin. If you're torn between shades, err to the lighter shade.
Pick your eyeliner. There are a few types of eyeliner you can choose from.- Pencils are easiest to use and blend well with eyeshadows.
- Powder gives a softer look, and the size and shape of the line is as easy to control as changing your brush.
- If you're looking for a smooth, sharp, or dramatic look (and you have a steady hand) liquid eyeliner could be the right choice.
Decide your eyeshadows. Shadows can be based on eye color or skin shade.- Brown eyes match well with purples, blues, and metal colors such as copper, silver, and gold.
- For hazel eyes, dark purples, yellows, and greens work well, but not blues.
- For blue eyes, try cool colors, dark browns, or oranges.
- For green eyes, you may find smoky grays and charcoals, plum, violet, beige, or tan to be a good fit.
- When it comes to pale skin, avoiding darker and smokier colors is best; go with light earth tones.
- Vibrant colors are best for dark skin tones, but be sure to avoid ashy and white shades.
Figure out your best blush.- Pale skin is easily complemented by light pinks and peaches.
- Medium skin suggests using rosy pinks and darker peach shades
- For dark skin rose shades and deep oranges are great choices.
Get your lips just right. The simplest method of choosing a lip color is going with a shade a couple shades darker than your natural lip shade.- If you want to go red, remember that for pink skin tones cherry reds fit well, for olive skin tones firetruck reds work, and for dark skin tones deep reds are the way to go.
- If you want more options, pale skin pairs well with apricots, pinks, and creams; medium tones can wear roses and berries well; dark skin can be beautifully accented with dark browns or deep or vibrant purples.
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Community Q&A
- QuestionHow do I choose the right brands?
HumanBeingTop AnswererThe right brand is the brand you like best! Consider cost, ease of application, the look of the product, any brand loyalty you have to suppliers or designers and, of course, how good the product makes you look. You don't have to stick to one brand; you can use foundation from one maker and eye shadow from another, for example.
Tips
- You don't need to break the bank buying the most expensive brands, but buying the cheapest makeup comes with risks. You get what you pay for.Thanks
- Always test makeup before purchasing to make sure it's the shade and texture you prefer and that your skin doesn't react poorly to the product.Thanks
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