Women Of Color: Makeup Ideas And Color Suggestions For Light-To-Medium And Dark Skintones

Makeup tones that flatter women of color are usually deep, rich tones.  To show off your natural skintone, select highly-pigmented makeup shades for more brilliant color.   Specific color suggestions for women of color are divided into two different categories below:  light-to-medium skintones and dark skintones.   (Basic eye shadow contouring and color placement, along with blush and lip color placement, is the same for ALL skintones.  Basic color placement tips and instruction can be accessed through the author’s website blog.)   

COLOR SUGGESTIONS FOR WOMEN OF COLOR FALL INTO 2 CATEGORIES:  1) Light-to-Medium skintones & 2) Dark skintones.

Colors that accentuate and flatter LIGHT-TO-MEDIUM skintones are:

FOR EYES…

* High-pigment powder eye shadows in shades of Browns, Beiges and Coppers will add definition to the eyes.  Examples of these highly-pigmented tones are shown below.
          
     
  

* Use a liquid or pencil eye liner in Black as shown.  High-pigment Black liquid liner on left and Black pencil eyeliner on right.
 
* For eyebrows, select a tone that is the same shade or 1/2 shade lighter than your hair color.  Shown below are examples of a charcoal gray and brunette automatic eyebrow pencil.

       
* Finish with macara in Black.  

FOR LIPS…

Hint:  First apply your foundation to the lips to ‘even out’ the skintone on the lip prior to applying lip liner and lip color.

* Lip colors in Soft Peach, Raisin, or Coral tones (examples shown below) will define the lips beautifully.

     

* For lip liner, select a tone similar to your lip color choice, for example, the shade on the left below will match the first two lip gloss shades above.  The lip pencil shade on the right will coordinate with the lip gloss on the far right above.
 
        

FOR CHEEKS…

Hint:  To achieve most glowing results with your blush, select similar shades of blush and lip color.

* Blush tones in Peachy-Browns and Corals coordinate beautifully with suggested lip colors above.
 
         

FOR SHOULDERS, ARMS AND LEGS…

Show off your skin with Body Shimmer Powders in a soft warm tone. 
  

 
FOR EXTRA GLAMOUR… 

Use the eye shadow tones suggested above, then blend a charcoal eye shadow softly into the browns to add a sultry look.   Apply a warm red or deep brownish-red shade to the lips and brush a coral tone on cheeks…and you’ve got your night-time glam look!   Glam-up recommendations shown below are a matte eye shadow in a charcoal black, a coral blush and lip glosses in warm, clear red and a brownish-red. 
             
 
 

Colors that accentuate and flatter DARK skintones are:

FOR EYES…

* High-pigment powder eye shadows in shades of Dark Purples, Midnight Blues and Golds will add definition to the eyes.  Examples of these highly-pigmented tones are shown below:  
         
                  

* Use a liquid or pencil eye liner in Black. High-pigment Black liquid liner on left and Black pencil eyeliner on right. 
 
* For eyebrows, select a tone that is the same shade or 1/2 shade lighter than your hair color.  Shown below are examples of a charcoal gray and brunette automatic eyebrow pencil.
 
       

* Finish with macara in Black.   

FOR LIPS…

Hint:  First apply your foundation to the lips to ‘even out’ the skintone on the lip prior to applying lip liner and lip color.

* Lip colors in Burgundies, Plums and Caramel tones (examples shown below) will define the lips beautifully. 

                

* For lip liner, select a tone similar to your lip color choice.  The lip liner example shades below coordinate with the lip gloss shades shown above, in corresponding order.
 

         
             

FOR CHEEKS…

Hint:  To achieve most glowing results with your blush, select similar shades of blush and lip color.

* Blush tones in Deep Roses and Plums will coordinate beautifully with suggested lip color examples above. 
 
           

FOR SHOULDERS, BACK, ARMS AND LEGS…

Show off your skin with Body Shimmer Powders in soft bronze tones as shown.
 

 
 
WHY select highly-pigmented makeup colors?   Makeup colors that look best for photography and stage are usually highly-pigmented, meaning they contain strong color pigments and are not sheer.  A highly-pigmented makeup color product will allow the user to apply a small amount to achieve a bit of color or it can provide darker, dramatic color when applied more heavily.  This allows flexibility for the user to achieve her preferred look.  Along with being longer-lasting, the strong color pigment in highly-pigmented makeup colors will hold up against the harsh lighting from cameras and stage lights (no washed-out, ghostly makeup looks).

About the Author

Commercial Makeup Artist, Jennifer Kalman, has 18+ years of experience applying makeup for thousands of proms, pageants, weddings, personalities, print media, TV and video.  Her professional credentials have included makeup for LeAnn Rimes, Troy Aikman, Dixie Chicks and the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. Counted among her many commercial makeup clients are Pepsi, American Airlines, Frito-Lay, Dr. Pepper, and Verizon. This expertise contributed to the development of QDazzle.com and QDazzle(R) High-Pigment Makeup Colors.  Jennifer desired to provide a resource to coach women how to polish their makeup skills (skills they can use for a lifetime) rather than applying their makeup for them once.  Her website, designed to help pageant contestants of all ages refine their makeup skills so they can be prepared and confident on stage, contains makeup instruction, techniques, and ‘Jennifer’s Makeup Tips Blog’, along with brilliantly-hued High-Pigment Makeup Colors.

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