Spin the colour wheel and you could land anywhere on the rainbow of shades passed across cosmetic counters worldwide. But how do you decipher the right hues of makeup for you?
Wearing the correct colours can make you feel more energised, look less drawn and dramatically enhance your look. With so many products on the shelves put there to cater to the many millions of women worldwide, you may be fooled into thinking that choosing the right makeup colour is easy. It’s not. Instead, we repeatedly cram our makeup bags with foundations, eyeshadows and lipsticks that jump at us in the store but look frightful on our faces.
It may seem hard to gauge what will be a waste of our hard-earned cash, but there’s no magic or professional consultancy necessary in making the right choices – all you need to know is what skin tone you have and then how to present it in the most flattering light.
In theory
The colour analysis theory is based on the conclusions of Swiss expressionist painter Johannes Itten. He noticed that when his students painted identical scenes some would use warm colours while others would opt for cool ones.
In 1947 he delved into this further and discovered that the students using mostly warm colours for their paintings had gold-toned skin and dark, warm-coloured eyes. The students who used cool colours had a blue-pink tone to their skin, ash hair and cool-coloured eyes. Instinctively, the students were naturally drawn to their individual colour tone.
Seasonal delights
When you’re thinking about which tones work, picture the seasons. Warm colours are those with a yellow undertone. Think of all the brilliant earthy hues of autumn leaves – from gold to khaki and burnt reds or oranges.
Cool colours are those that have a blue undertone similar to the crisp and stark winter’s day with pure white, crimson sky, icy grey, blue, pink, fuchsia, purple, burgundy, slate-grey and black.
Self help
It’s actually not at all difficult to establish if you have a warm or cool skin tone – it’s a matter of simply following the colour analysis procedure. The tools of the trade are good natural lighting, a large mirror, a hairband to tie your hair away from your face, a white shirt or sheet and a cream shirt (matte fabric only).
Ensure your hair is away from your face and remove every speck of makeup, clothing and jewellery from your face, neck and decolletage. In front of the mirror, hold the white fabric under your chin then repeat with the cream fabric. Look at the clarity of your eyes and observe if you can see them light up.
The cream fabric should give you a warm glow if you have warm tones, while the white will make you look drawn – and vice versa if you are cool. Easy!
Another good indicator of skin tone is which jewellery looks best on you. Silver tends to work well for cool skin while gold makes warm skin glow.
Hot heads
Those with warm colouring often share certain traits of hair, eye colour and skin tone combinations. Coppery-brown, chestnut, charcoal brown, dark golden blonde, red, light or dark auburn hair; brown, hazel, light green or light blue (perhaps with yellow flecks) eyes; a yellow-beige, golden-brown, peach or ivory complexion, perhaps with freckles and a tan.
Cool off
The hair, eye and skin tone combinations typical of those with cool colouring: Black, dark brown, medium brunette, ash blonde, silver grey, salt and pepper or white; your eye colour is dark brown, dark green, dark hazel or dark blue; your complexion is black, olive, fair, rosy or pale and can be prone to burning.
Work it
Now that you have established whether you’re warm or cool, the rest is a breeze. Shopping will be made easy – a process of elimination, where you are looking only for the colours that suit you, rather than everything the store has on offer.
If you’re warm opt for hues with a yellow undertone, including brown, tan, green, teal, gold, burnt-orange and warm red. If you suit cooler colours, stock up on pinks, purples, lilacs, grey, burgundy, blacks and blues. When it comes to metallics, warm-coloured folk generally suit golds and cooler tones suit silver.
A good combination for warm skins is foundation with a yellow base and cheeks/lips in brown, coral or peach. Cool skin benefits from a pink based foundation and cheeks/lips look best in pinks, plums and cool reds.
Foundation
Foundations generally have either a golden or blue-toned base, with variations that flatter a wide group of faces. Basically, if you have cool skin, choose a foundation that has blue or pink undertones. Use a yellow-base foundation for warm skin. Test to colour on your face and look at yourself in natural light to make a good match.
Blush
Fair skin tones are best suited to pink, tawny and beige blushes. Darker skin tones look best in plums if they are cooler and auburns or rich bronzes if they are warmer. For olive to yellow skin tones, try blushes in copper, almond, and warm brown shades. Finally, tanned skin often looks best on warm colors like peach, coral, apricot and orange.
Lipstick
Lipstick is the most difficult to select as shades that look incredible in the store can be hideous once you put them on. Examine a tester version of lipsticks on a sheet of white paper to determine the dominant hue. If they are mostly brown, warm red, or very pale, they will look excellent on yellow skin. Many shades of red and pink are flattering on skin with a rosy tint. As for dark skin, try rose, magenta, and shades of purple. Tanned skin is flattered most by a variety of true pinks. Finally, if you have very light skin, try pinks, orange/red shades, and light purples.
Eyeshadow
If you have warm skin, experiment with different tones of bronze, cream, light brown, red/pink, soft green, and coral. For cool skin, white, silver, pale blue, purple, dark green and grey are good choices. Hold any you are unsure of up to your face to decide if they are becoming.
Say goodbye to the days of wasted money on drawers full of the wrong lipsticks and enjoy the knowledge that you can pick makeup like a pro. Go forth to makeup counters and prosper!
