HOW TO CHOOSE YOUR MAKEUP: A QUICK GUIDE

Makeup can take an inordinate amount of time in our busy lives, and yet the basics are so easy to grasp and implement. Whether you’re a diva who loves her time in the mirror or a plain Jane who prefers to revel in her natural beauty, we have a quick guide to make your makeup choices easy. Go on. Indulge a little.

Makeup is one of modern life’s essentials. Gone are the days when we can reminisce nostalgically about our grandmother’s natural beauty, and how she never had to use eye shadow or lipstick. In today’s world, every woman – no matter what age – needs a handle on makeup essentials in order to fit into any social situation. While we don’t judge whether this is inherently right or wrong, we will give you a quick guide on how to choose your makeup in three quick steps. As easy as one, two, three.

1. Watch your eyes
Eye shadow, liner and mascara are the three main products to enhance your eyes. If you’re tripping over yourself confused as to which colours will suit you, here’s a quick breakdown. If you have blue eyes, go for warm colours such as orange, brown, gold and peach. Don’t use blue, because we want your natural eye colour to be set against something contrasting. If your eyes are green, plums, purples and pinks will look good on them.

Hazel eyed beauties are among the luckiest of the bunch because they can literally play with any colour palette with good results. For dark brown eyes, you will go either with tastefully selected navy blue, brown and black, or with a contrasting colour such as white or silver. Combine the white with black mascara and liner to make your eyes pop (not literally!)

2. Know your skin tone
There are many different skin colours, but we’ll break it down into three: pale, fair and dark. Sometimes these are called cool, neutral and warm respectively. Think of your face as a canvas, and ask yourself what colours will suit it. If your skin tone is cool, warm colours such as pinks and apricots work well to give shape to the contours of your skin. Use beige or light golden colours to add light and dimension to your complexion.

For neutral skin tones, pinks and peaches are great, so are bronzing powder, illuminators and blushers. Choose a foundation which is the same complexion as your skin tone. Dark-skinned women can opt for metallic bronze and golden shades which bring light to dark skin. You can also experiment with certain darker shades of pink and burgundy.

3. Lips
The third step to choosing your makeup is to ensure that you know your lips. Unlike with skin tone, there are only two kinds of lips: full or thin. Here, too, there is a continuum, so first decide whether your lips are thin or full. If you answer neither or both, it could be that you have ‘middling’ lips, which means you can swing both ways according to your mood. It’s a good thing!

If you have full lips, your ideal lipstick colours will be maroon, copper and pink. Avoid bright tones because they tend to make your lips look fuller. Women with thin lips would do well to adopt the opposite approach: select bright tones to enhance whatever fullness their lips possess, or go with light colours that add shape and sensuality.