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November 24, 2009

Crushing on Kerry Washington













Kerry-WashingtonShe's pretty.

You cannot deny that she has great bone structure, full pouty lips, and alluring eyes. (OMG ... am I having a girl crush?) I can only imagine how great it would be to be her makeup artist.  An easy job ... I'm positive.

I think what makes her features stand out even more is how flawless and even her skin is ... she's seamless. 

The funny thing is that for a long time, it was quite hard for "women of colour" to find the proper foundation colours.  It was also really hard to find eye, cheek and lip colours that were flattering.  MAC, Makeup Forever and a few others definitely helped out when they entered the scene with their extensive range of foundation and makeup colours, and then superstars like Iman also came to the rescue, developing lines specifically developed for darker skintones and all the ethnicities you could find under a rainbow.

If you happen to be of a darker skintone, the key to getting your foundation right is to pay attention to your undertones! For example, brown, olive and mocha skintones usually have warmer undertones. Darker, ebony skin tend to have cooler undertones.

Darker skintones should also choose cream formulas over powder formulas. Creams will distribute more pigment evenly and be able to stand up to your skins colouring.  I also find that powder tends to sit above the skin on darker skintones - making the demarcation line a little more obvious.

Don't be afraid to mix and match either.  A lady with medium to dark skin may find that she is darker around the perimeter of her face and lighter in the middle.  You may need to mix and customize your base so that you can get that perfect and even skintone.

Once you have your foundation exactly like you want it, take a tip from Kerry and play up the cheeks and eyes while keeping your pout nude but glossy.  For the cheeks choose cranberries, mauves, or raisins - and just a hint of it - not too much.  For the eyes, define them with a black pencil or liquid liner, and smudge it a bit.  Finish it with mascara (lots!).  A soft pink or peach is neutral enough to make the lips look bare, but add enough colour to make them look healthy!

-bp-

Posted by Stephanie Daga at 12:05:00 AM in Try it Out Tuesdays

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beauty is easy because ...

  • ... beauty IS easy - you just need to find the products that work for you and learn how to use them!

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