Teen Tips for Choosing Makeup Colors
How to Select Eye Shadow, Lipstick, Blush, and Foundation Colors
Nov 9, 2009
Makeup displays offer a dizzying array of colors. Although it is fun to experiment with a new look, wearing the wrong makeup colors can make a teen feel clownish. Even when putting on a dramatic party look, teens want to feel as if people are looking at them, not their makeup. Selecting the right colors can make eyes glow and cheeks look lightly flushed.
Selecting Eye Shadow Colors
In How to Be Sexy by Carmen Electra with Sheryl Berk (Broadway Books, 2006), the model suggests using eye shadow colors that complement, instead of match, eye color. Although seasons and fashion trends dictate specific colors that are available in stores, these suggestions offer loose options that can be tweaked with the season.
- Blue Eyes – Look for mauve, brown-pink, gold, bronze, and silver.
- Brown Eyes – Complement with flesh colors, pewter, navy blue, khaki, gold, bronze, and mauve.
- Green Eyes – Use gold, bronze, gray, earthy tones, and flesh colors.
Selecting Lipstick Colors
Electra believes that lipstick offers women the most versatility when it comes to wearing color. Although some colors will look more natural, the option of having fun and buying a tube of lipstick in a wilder shade allows for experimentation without costing a lot of money. Guidelines that the model put together from the expert makeup artists she has worked with suggests complementing skin tone when selecting lipstick.
- Fair Skin – Nudes, beige tones, light corals, light pinks.
- Olive Skin or Golden Undertones – Reds, brownish mauves, burgundies, spicy browns.
- Dark Skin – Plums, chocolates, reds, crimson-oranges.
Selecting Blush Color
Again, match skin tone instead of going with the hottest trends. Orange may be fashionable, but skip it if it casts an ill tone over the skin.
- Fair Skin – Beige, tawny, and pink tones.
- Olive Skin or Golden Undertones – Warm brown, almond, and copper shades.
- Dark Skin – Plum, auburn, deep bronze.
Choosing the Right Foundation Shade
For teens who feel they never quite get a natural-looking shade of foundation, they can try going to the makeup counter of the local department store. The technician at the counter can offer guidance. The difficulty here is that the shade may be specific to that company’s brand.
See if the foundation looks natural, but avoid buying at that moment. Go outside to check the makeup in daylight. At home, look at the color under the lights in the living room, bedroom, and even in the bathroom.
If budget is a concern, go to a nearby drugstore with a friend or relative who either does a great job on her makeup or who has a trustworthy sense of color. Test two or three colors along the jaw line for the color that best blends with the skin tone. (This is why a friend is useful – they’re at a better angle and can see the test colors.)
When selecting makeup colors, teens should look for colors that complement their skin tone and eye color. While it can be fun to experiment with a variety of colors, using basic colors ensures a natural-looking appearance.
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