Makeup for all, Skin Tones and Undertones

Dark Skin Tones: What Colors Should You Wear?

Skin color is determined by three factors: carotene, melanin, and hemoglobin. Carotene gives a yellowish tinge to the skin, while melanin lends a brown color and hemoglobin contributes a reddish hue to the skin. Melanin is the dark pigment in your epidermis. The more melanin, the darker the surface skin tone; carotene, on the other hand, provides a contrast with a yellow undertone.

 The tone and undertone to your skin is based on the amount of carotene and melanin in the epidermis. Melanin and your features determine the colors you should wear. For instance, there are critical differences in applying makeup color to your face. If you are African American, you must consider all three colors, none of which is neutral. You must look at your hair, eyes, and skin color in determining your makeup color.

All makeup is created to compliment the undertone as well as the surface tone of your face. If you are black, then using makeup colors designed for white skin will probably result in an inappropriate choice. Black women today can change their hair color and can appear to have changed their eye color by wearing tinted contact lenses; to some degree, they can even lighten their skin color with bleaching agents or darken it through tanning. But even if you do all this, you will still have three colors to consider.

A large majority of black women are still churchgoers, so the idea of putting on color is slow to be accepted but times are changing. Too much makeup on dark eyelids is unattractive. Never overdo your eyes. You should achieve notice through the quality of your performance, not through garish makeup or inappropriate use of color.

There are hundreds of hues but only three basic colors: red, yellow, and blue. This is as important to remember as the fact that black skin generally has one of the following three undertones: yellow, brown, or red-blue, with all their gradations. You also need to remember that a color will draw from itself.

Colors for Dark Skin:

Dark complexions with grayed and red undertones look best with primary hues of red, mauve and magenta.Complimentary accent colors are: Yellow, Orange, Deep Gold, Black and Chartreuse

Colors for Medium Skin:

Medium brown and dark complexions usually look best in shades that have a bit of red added to them. In general, they are flattered by colors with blue undertones, rather than yellow.

Complimentary accent colors are: Brilliant Red, Teal, Orange, Tonal Blacks with neutral characteristics such as Gray or Black.

Colors for Light Skin:

A woman with fair light skin with yellow or olive coloring will usually look best in shades that have an earthy yellow cast.

Complimentary accent colors are: Violet, Brown, Terra Cotta, Amber and Greenish-Blue.

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