Beauty Basics
Have you always believed that knowing whether your natural coloring fits the “warm” or “cool” category would be enough to help you look your best? Or have you somehow secretly suspected that there might just be something more to it than that, yet wondered exactly what that something was? If so, read on. This article covers another, equally important, beauty secret that will help you look your best: the concept of “high- and low-contrast” coloring.
High- or Low-Contrast?
In order to find the truly optimal shades that will make you look your best, you’ll need to determine whether your natural coloring is “high- or low-contrast.” Do you have pale skin, but dark hair and eyes, or light hair, light eyes, and a deeper skin tone? If so, you have “high-contrast” coloring. (You could possibly have other combinations than those mentioned and still have high-contrast coloring, but the key will be that one or two aspects of your coloring will stand out in obvious contrast to the others.) On the other hand, if your hair, eyes, and skin are all light–or all dark–you have “low-contrast” coloring.
Natural Color Combos
Even the natural color of your lips can be an indicator of whether your coloring is high- or low-contrast. In combination with your hair, eye, and skin color, your lip color–without lipstick, of course–will add one more elements that will help you detect either the high or low contrast nature of your natural color scheme.
Made in the “Shade”!
This will then allow you to decide which shades within the warm or cool category will be most flattering to you. If you have low-contrast coloring and very light hair, eyes, and skin, you probably will not want to wear an extremely deep shade of lipstick. Even very dark eye shadow or blush might give you the “painted doll” look. In the case of low- contrast, medium coloring, you will need to experiment to see how dark you can go and still have your makeup appear natural. With low-contrast dark coloring, you’ll probably want to stay away from lighter shades in most cases.
High Drama!
By the same token, women with high-contrast coloring will be able to go for the colors that bring out the dramatic, contrasting tones of their natural features. In the case of light skin, but dark hair and eyes, they’ll probably want to wear a darker shade of lipstick and can probably use darker–or at least medium–shades of eye shadow and blush. Medium-skinned women, who have dark hair and dark eyes will more than likely look very attractive in darker shades of lipstick, blush, and eye shadow. For darker skinned women, who have light hair and light eyes, lighter lipsticks and possibly light to medium eye shadows and medium shades of blush would likely be most flattering. Again, experimentation is key.
“Foundational” Principles
When it comes to foundation, always try to match your skin tone as nearly as possible, topping it off with either the most closely matching or translucent powder. While it can take a bit of work to find the best shade of foundation for your complexion, it will be well worth the effort! Your foundation is the basis from which you will develop your high- or low-contrast beauty regimen, so finding the right shade is critical. You may need to experiment with different brands to find the shade that works best for you. Yet, once you’ve found it, you’ll look your very best because you’ll look your most natural! (With any luck, you might even find a close enough match that you’ll no longer need to use foundation on your neck! Wouldn’t that be wonderful?)
Eye on Beauty
Where mascara and eye liner are concerned, you’ll want to experiment to see what works best for you. In many cases, even women with low-contrast light coloring can use black mascara, which will actually help their eyes not to fade into the background. (Bear in mind, however, that black eye liner could possibly provide a bit too much contrast for these women.) Eye makeup is such a highly individual matter and such an extremely exacting area of beauty management, containing so many varied techniques, that it really requires an article all its own!
Are You Ready to Look Your Best?
Yet, once you know a few basics about your own natural coloring, you can begin to experiment in a more knowledgeable and less haphazard way, making it far more likely that you’ll soon discover just the right combination of colors to make you look your best!
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