Next to skin tone, your hair color makes a huge difference in the make-up shades and styles you can pull off. It’s similar to dressing to complement the weather of the seasons – the way the light plays off different hair colors can lead you to the best make-up color schemes to try.
Colors that look great on you as a brunette can give your face a muddy, low-watt tone as a blonde. The warm browns and corals that give Julia Roberts a glow when she’s sporting dark locks would look out of place when she’s wearing her hair on the lighter side.
Redheads
Like spring, fiery redheads (especially those with fair skin and freckles) should try bright and airy shades.
Sheer greens on the eyes and dewy apricots for cheeks and lips are the perfect match. Make sure your make-up look is crisp so as not to ‘muddy’ up your sexy freckles!
Check out Clinique’s Color Surge eye shadow trio in Rainforest, and Lorac’s Baked Matte satin blush in Plush.
Blondes
Summery golden blond locks surround your face with light.
Play up your golden highlights with iridescent, shimmery shades.
Look for a balance of color – blondes want to bring their face to life with make-up, but not overpower their lighter overall look.
A gorgeous highlighter for Charlize Theron blondes is Smashbox’s Artificial Light Luminizing Lotion in Flash.
Brunettes
Gals with rich autumn brunette hair can pull off the most vibrant hues – think plums, burgundies, reds, and metallics!
Brunettes have a bit of free reign when it comes to colors – their hair frames the face, and most shades of make-up work well.
Try Benefit’s Plum Mascara or Sephora’s shimmery eyeliner in Golden Sand.
And like the dark shades we wear in winter, if you’ve dyed your hair a deep brown to black shade, amp up your inner vixen with smoky charcoal or navy eyes and pale pink lips and cheeks.
Focus on one feature (like a smoky eye) and make it dramatic and noticeable, but keep the rest of your look sparse.
Benefit’s PosieTint gives a slight lift of pink color and can be used on cheeks and lips.
Gray hair
Try pewters and lavenders on the eyes and golden pinks or apricots for the cheeks and lips. Pay extra attention to your brows with a pale blond brow pencil – it will give shape without too much pigment.
Aim for radiant and luminescent. Try DermaMineral’s light reflecting Breathable Coverage foundation, and Vanitymark’s Ultra-Brow pencil in Blondest.
More tips…
Any other factors to consider? Your hair tone is important, too! Gals with ash (cool) undertones in their hair have different make-up shade strengths than golden toned mavens. You really want to complement your overall tones to create uniformity. For example, anyone can rock a classic red lipstick, but a beach blond should try a coral, tawny red, while a platinum blond should stick to blue-red shades. A fab warm red is YSL’s Silky Sensual Radiant lipstick in Red Muse. A gorgeous cooler toned lipstick is Dior’s Addict High Shine lipstick in Flamenco Red.
Still unsure? I always suggest looking at pictures of your favorite celebrities. Do you have the same hair/skin coloring as Eva Longoria? Check out her many red carpet looks and really pay attention to the make-up tones she favors. What works and what doesn’t? Chances are the same looks will work for you.
Originally published by SheKnows
