Brighten Your Face with Color

Makeup and color seem to go together like hand and glove. Most makeup seems rather boring until you see that sleek, shiny packaging of a gorgeous eyeshadow palette with a rainbow of different colors. It changes makeup as a product into makeup as an art. But then, after you purchase the beautifully packaged makeup, take it home and put it in your makeup bag to be used in the morning, it ends up sitting there waiting to be used. You might open it up and look at it, but it is nowhere near as appealing as it once was under the store's spotlights.

And every time you open it and think about trying out a color, you decide against it, put it away and use the same colors you already had in your makeup bag. Or when you do try it, you decide to be adventurous and try the teal shade (because you read in a magazine somewhere that it was the new "it" color of the season), look at yourself in the mirror, and then wash it off as quickly as you put it on because you ended up looking like a child playing in her mother's makeup.

We've all been there. We've all wasted money (and product), and yet, we continue to do it again and again. So if you are just so drawn to the array of colors in the pretty packaging but have no idea how to make it work on your face, here are some tips for how to use a pop of color without letting it be all you see when you look at your face.

Eyeshadow

- Try using a lighter shade of the color (such as teal) and sweep it on the lid from the lashline to the crease. Then take a mauve or taupe colored shadow and use this in the crease. Finish with a black or dark brown eyeliner and mascara.

- If you want to use a bright and pigmented color, make sure you have already lined your eyes with a fairly thick line of black eyeliner. The black will contrast the brightness of the shadow and give you an effect similar to like when you see the shadow in the shiny black case it comes in.

 

- Don't pair a bright eyeshadow color, a bright blush and a bright lip color if you are trying to go for a more natural look. If you do, you will end up looking like a clown.

- Try using a shimmer (not glitter) shadow in a brighter color than you would normally use. This is a great way to incorporate color without making it obvious. The shimmer will offset the color and make it more subdued.

- Use a dark shade of a color (purple, blue, green, etc.) and do a smokey eye with it. Blend it into your eyeliner near your lashline up to your crease to give it more dimension.

 

 

Blush

- If you decide to try a bright blush, place it on the underside of the apples of your cheeks and extend up towards your temples. Use this sparingly as too much will make you look like a doll--not in a good way.

- Blend in a bronzer to the cheek area, both in the hollows of your cheek under the cheekbone and also onto the apples of your cheek. This will help to offset the stark contrast of the blush color and your skin. It will also help correct any stripe-like blush application.

- After lightly dusting your cheeks with the blush color, take the brush and gently pass it over your brow bone/eye area. This will give you more of a sunkissed look and tie in the blush color making it seem more natural on your cheeks.

 

 

Lips

- Using a bright lip color is probably the safest and easiest way to integrate color into your makeup routine. A bright pink or red lip--even a subdued shade--with a natural, almost nothing makeup look works for everyone.

- Be sure to either take care in lining your lips and apply the color precisely or else dab it onto your lips and blend with your finger. If you want a more matte look, dab the color and blend it with a dry finger. For a dewier look, use a little Aquaphor or petroleum jelly when blending it.

 

- If you try a color on your lips and it seems too bright, blot your lips with a tissue. You can then either leave it like that or apply your normal lip color over it.

- And if you really want to use a bright color but are really uncomfortable with the way it looks on your face, use a sheer lip gloss. It will give your lips a little boost and no one will be able to detect exactly why your face looks a little brighter.