Go for a perfect look with right Shades

Make-up is all about choosing the right shades of colour cosmetics. Learning to select them according to skin colour and tone is important. Whether you have fair, wheatish, olive, brown or dark skin, choosing the right colours is so important. 

Go with your skin tone

The natural skin tone is most important while selecting foundations. Ideally, it should enhance your natural colour, or even tone it down, when the skin colour is reddish, for instance. Try to buy one that is closest to your skin colour as possible. Face powder may be translucent, or of the same shade as the foundation. If you wish to tone down a tan, select a powder that is one shade lighter, but in the same colour tone. However, I feel that translucent powder works quite well. For a very fair ivory skin, go for beige with a rosy tiny. If the complexion is fair, but sallow (yellowish), avoid pink tones and go for beige or biscuit. For reddish complexion, a softer beige will help. Olive complexions look better with brownish beige, while for brown and dark skins, try out colours in natural brown tones.

For contouring, like creating cheek hollows, select a foundation that is one or two shades darker than your normal foundation, but in the same colour tone. Keep the principle in mind that dark colours help the area recede, while light colours emphasise.

For your lips

Where lips are concerned, a dark complexion looks good in vibrant colours. Avoid very pale colours. If the skin is fair, avoid very dark colours. For a brown complexion, go for warm earthy colours, like coral, wine, plum, strawberry or burgundy. A dark pink or rose-red would look good too. Even brick-red may suit. One can also mix two colours to create the desirable effect.

Blusher colours

It need not match lip colour exactly, but it should be co-ordinated. Keep to the same colour tone. For example, if you have worn an orange toned lipstick, avoid pink blush on. For fair skin, try pinks and reds. If you have a sallow skin, avoid orange. For olive complexions, colours like rose, coral, russet, amber, copper are flattering, while plum, wine, bronze and burgundy may suit darker complexions. 

For bright eyes

For eye colours, if the skin is fair, a brown eyebrow pencil may be more suitable than black. Darker skins can take black eyebrow pencil. For daytime make-up too, I find that a grey or brown may be better than black. The same goes for eyeliner. Brown and black eyeliners or eye pencils usually go well with Indian skin tones. Or, try charcoal (dark grey). These colours match the natural eye and eyelash colours.

When it comes to eye shadow, two or three shades of the same colour can help to enhance the shape of the eyes. For a natural look, shades of the same colour tone should be used. Brown shadow may be applied on the lids and a darker brown in the crease of the eyes. A very light brown, or beige, may  be used as highlight. Of course, one can also use other colours. For brown skin and brown eyes mauve and navy blue can be combined, with silver highlight. For dark skin, a combination of gold and dark charcoal grey or brown can be combined. 

The different colours should blend into a whole. Beauty, after all, is a total impact.