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How to apply make up essential guide

How to apply make upHow to apply make up, written by a top celebrity makeup artist in LA & NY, This must have guide to the latest make up techniques is essential reading for everyone wanting to get the most out of their make up.

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Entries in color match skin tone (1)

Tuesday
12Aug2008

How to apply make up - skin tone color match

When considering how to apply make up, one of the first questions to arise, is what colors suit my skin.

  • Fair skin, soft look - Pale pinks and berries
  • Medium/Olive skin, soft look - apricot, beige and bronze
  • Dark skin, soft look - Mauve, red and berry
  • Fair skin, glowing look - Deep berry and rich wine
  • Medium/olive skin, glowing look - Brown and raisin
  • Dark skin, glowing look - Burgundy and Bronze



There a four basic color palettes and you skin tone will determine the base colors to work with.

Earthy: Browns, ambers and bronze, with some yellow tones

Rosy: Cherry pinks to red pinks

Violet: Purple tones with blue tones

Coral: The orange family, with a touch of red

For more vibrant looks, colors can be contrasted, but this contrast should only be on one area of the face, to avoid looking overdone.

As an example, a peach skin tone can work well with a vibrant purple eye shadow, but the lips need to be neutral beige, alternatively a pink lip with a neutral eye. Selecting the colors from contrasting color palettes is a case in point where less is more.

Foundations and blush, should almost always without exception, be similar to your natural skin tone.

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