Black Makeup

Black Makeup – Black is beautiful! So don’t try to hide or change it. With the right makeup products for African-American women or any woman who is adorned with darker skin, these incredible makeup tips will help you enhance your natural beauty and make you proud of your inherent looks.

Not so long ago women who had dark skin tones had a difficult time finding the perfect black makeup that effectively enhanced their natural beauty. Fortunately, in the early 1990s, the fashion and film world discovered how beautiful and exotic colored women are, hence the boom of several cosmetic products solely dedicated to satisfying the needs of women blessed with naturally dark skin.

But finding the perfect black makeup to accentuate one’s beauty can still prove to be difficult even with the plethora of beauty products for women of color available today. This is because skin tones of African-American women come in so many shades and hues. Listed below are several black makeup tips that will help you learn how to apply makeup like a professional makeup artist.

Black Makeup Tip #1 – Know Your Skin’s Shade and Undertone

Black or ebony skin come in so many hues, it would be quite difficult to name each one in this post. However, we can categorize them as light to medium and medium to dark. The basic undertones for an African-American’s skin are red blue and yellow.

The black makeup color tones that are perfect for African-American women who have light to medium skin, such as caramel, coffee or latte are as follows:

• Brown – choose shades of bronze, gold or different shades of brown colors with pink undertones like caramel or mushroom. These colors give a soft glow to light or medium African-American skin.
• Purple – If you like the color purple, it would be best to choose berry tones like vermilion or blackberry
• Orange – most orange shades tend to wash out light to medium African-American skin. So choose orange colors that brighten up your skin like apricot and coral
• Blue – blue is one of the favorite colors for eye makeup. But not all blues are ideal for light to medium African-American skin. Go for indigo or cobalt.
• Red – scarlet or bluish red is the perfect red tones for this category.
• Pink – For a soft and natural enhancement, coral and rose work great
• Green – choose black makeup that has olive, turquoise or teal tones.

Black makeup color tones most suited for medium to dark African-American skin such as ebony, mahogany or cocoa are:

• Brown – it would be best to choose warm brown tones like chocolate, bronze, copper and brick-brown
• Purple – plum, currant, and burgundy brings out the natural radiance of your dark skin
• Orange – most orange colors do not blend well with dark skin except coral
• Blue – the most flattering tones for dark skin are sapphire and indigo
• Red – try bold red colors such as brick, crimson or raspberry
• Pink – fuchsia and magenta complement dark skin really well
• Green – if you like green, it would be best to opt for aqua, mint or turquoise.

Choosing Black Makeup That Is Ideal For Your Skin Undertone

African-American women with red undertones should go for black makeup with magenta, red and mauve colors. Other complementing colors are black, orange and yellow

If you have blue undertones, it would be best to choose shades of black, teal, red, blue and orange.

Women with yellow undertones, on the other hand, should go for black makeup with blue green, violet, amber and brown shades.

Black Makeup Tip #2 – Know Your Skin Type

Choosing the best black makeup not only depends on your skin shade and undertones, but also your skin type. You should be aware if whether your skin is normal, oily, dry or combination. Before purchasing any kind of black makeup, make sure that it is compatible with your skin. Check the label where it usually states if that particular black makeup is designed for normal, dry, oily or combination skin

Black Makeup Tip #3 – Choose a foundation that exactly matches your skin tone

Never use a black makeup foundation that is too light or too dark for your skin. Remember, you want to enhance your natural beauty and not try to hide or change it. Try to test 3 foundation colors that are closest to your skin shade. Apply a small amount of each shade on your jaw line and make sure you test under natural bright light. Whichever color that seems to disappear upon application is the best shade for you. Never test foundation on your hand or your wrist as these do not have the same shade as your face.

It is not a black makeup foundation’s job to lighten or darken your skin. It is meant to even out your skin tone or cover up blemishes or pigmentation spots. If you want to brighten your skin, you might want to look into a light reflecting sheer powder. If you want a deeper tan, go for a black makeup bronzer and not a darker shade foundation.

Black Makeup Tip #4 – African-American women are blessed with full, luscious lips, so flaunt it!

The best lip shades for dark skin complexion are bronze, burgundy, copper, mocha, deep berry and dark plum. Lip gloss is also very important in your black makeup arsenal. An African-American woman’s lips is one of her best features, gloss helps enhance this. If you plan to use lip liner, make sure to go for a shade that closely resembles your natural lip color.

Black Makeup Tip #5 – Blush and Eye Makeup

Black eyeliner is a must-have in every African-American woman’s black makeup kit. Sure, we usually do not have green or blue eyes, but there is no doubt that African-American eyes are to die for! Black eyeliner is a great way to enhance this natural beauty. If you have steady hands, I highly recommend you use liquid eyeliner as this gives the perfect thin line just above your eyelashes.

When it comes to black makeup eye shadow, burgundy and plum colors are great in complementing dark skin. These are the shades to choose if are going for the natural look. For a more glamorous look, metallic eye shadow shades look amazing on dark skin, too.

Blush is also a must in your black makeup kit. If you have medium to dark skin, choose bold and rich colors of burgundy and red. Do not go for blush shades that are too light. They will just end up sitting like pale powder on your dark complexion. If you have a light to medium complexion, I recommend you use a bronzer instead. Simply dust a light coating of bronzer over your temples and cheekbones.

The key to choosing the best black makeup for your skin tone and skin type is to test, test and test again. There definitely so many advices out there that will tell you what shades, colors and tones work best for your type of skin. But the only way to really find out which black makeup brings out the naturally beautiful you is to experiment with the different black makeup available today with the help of the tips mentioned above.

 

Black Makeup @ 2012

Resource: Black Makeup