Matching your makeup with your clothes can make you look put-together and stylish. However, finding the right shades can be tricky.
First, you must identify your skin tone and undertones. Then, you can find the right foundation. It is also important to match your face and neck. A makeup color that is too light on the neck will highlight pores, dry skin, and fine lines and wrinkles.
How to Match Your Makeup with Your Clothes
There’s no denying that matching your makeup to your clothes can make a polished and sophisticated style statement. However, it’s not easy to do and requires a bit of skill to pull off correctly. The best way to match your makeup and outfit is by using colors that complement or contrast with the main color(s) of your outfit. Ideally, the colors should suit your skin tone as well.
To begin, let’s examine what the different types of makeup colors look like. Blush and eyeshadow are two of the easiest makeup colors to match to your outfit. For blush, try to pick a shade that’s similar to your skin color so it blends in seamlessly. For eyeshadow, opt for a shade that is lighter than the color of your outfit, but not so light that it looks washed out.
You can also use complementary shades, which are opposite each other on the color wheel (such as blue and orange or purple and yellow). These shades are more difficult to pull off and usually require some experimentation. However, they can add a touch of drama to your look and help you stand out from the crowd.
One of the most challenging makeup colors to match to your outfit is red. While it’s a sexy color, it’s also a bold one that can easily overwhelm your look if you go overboard with it. The trick is to pair it with other more neutral shades to make it pop, like browns and golds.
When it comes to lipstick, it’s usually easier to match your outfit if you stick with a nude or pink shade. Avoid attempting to use any other colors that will stand out too much against your outfit, as this can look garish and overdone.
Another easy makeup color to match with your outfit is black. It’s important to choose the right shade, though, as a dark lipstick can overpower your whole look. Instead, try pairing your black outfit with a bright or metallic shade to create the perfect balance.
Planning Ahead
For those who like to plan ahead, making changes to your makeup routine can be a good way to keep your look fresh. But for many people, the idea of trying a new foundation shade or switching to warmer or cooler tones can be daunting. Color match makeup takes the guesswork out of finding the perfect shades for your skin tone and creates a flawless, three-dimensional, and natural finish that looks effortless.
The first step in the process is to determine your skin tone and undertone. Most people fall into one of four categories: fair, medium, olive, or deep. Then, it’s important to find your undertone, which is either warm or cool. If you’re not sure, consider your clothing preferences: do you tend to wear gold jewelry more than silver? Do you tan easily in the sun? If so, you’re likely a warm-toned complexion.
Once you know your skin tone and undertone, it’s time to start browsing for foundation shades. Most brands will break down their shades by category and undertone (warm, neutral, or cool) to help you narrow down your options. Once you’ve found a few possible matches, try them out on your jawline to ensure they look flawless when blended on your face and neck.
Remember to apply the foundation in a natural light setting with clean skin (no moisturizer or sunscreen, please). This allows you to get the best reading of how the color pigment will blend on your complexion. You can also test out your chosen shade on your cheek to see how it will look, or if you have hyperpigmentation in a specific area of the face, consider testing on that area instead.
Consider the Occasion and Level of Formality
When it comes to applying makeup, there are a lot of factors that come into play. You have to think about your clothes, the occasion and level of formality you’re going for, your skin tone and undertone, and even your hair color. Having your makeup done professionally can help streamline your routine and give you the perfect look for any occasion.
When you’re buying your foundation online, it’s always a good idea to get a color match first. This helps prevent the frustration of mismatched products and saves you the hassle of returns and shade swaps.
Getting a proper color match will help you avoid having to deal with blemishes and discoloration in certain areas of your face or neck. A great way to do this is to take a picture of your neck and chest with a mirror in natural light, then compare it to a photo of your face that’s also in natural lighting. This will help you locate a shade that perfectly matches both your skin tone and undertones.
Blond hair is the most common hair color to pair with makeup, and there are a variety of shades that can complement it. It’s important to note, however, that you should steer away from darker colors, especially those that are orange or red. Instead, try light pastel shades like pinks and peaches that will highlight your beauty without overwhelming it.
Understanding the Color Wheel
There is a reason that artists and designers use the color wheel—it makes it easy for them to find harmonious combinations of colors. Created in the 17th century by Isaac Newton (best known for his physics breakthroughs), the color wheel arranges hues around a circle, making it simple to see how colors relate to one another. This is the basis of color theory, a practical combination of art and science that determines what colors look good together.
The primary colors—red, blue and yellow—are arranged in the center of the color wheel. They cannot be made from other colors, and they form the basis for all secondary and tertiary hues. Secondary colors line up between the equidistant primary spokes and are created by mixing equal parts of two primary colors—red with yellow makes orange, for instance, while blue mixed with yellow creates green. The tertiary colors (derivatives of the primary colors) are orange, red-orange, blue-green, and violet.
When applying makeup, it’s important to know your skin’s undertones. Warm undertones lean golden, cool undertones lean pink or red, and neutral undertones are a mix of both. Knowing this will help you curate your shade match and narrow down your options when swatching on your face. The easiest way to identify your undertones is to look at the veins in your wrist—if they appear blue or purple, you have cool undertones, and if they appear green or olive, you have warm undertones.
The color wheel can also be used to find harmonious triads, which are colors that share a common hue and sit adjacent to one another on the color wheel. For example, orange and brown are triads, as they have red in common. A triad can be a great choice for eyeshadow or lipstick shades, as the three colors will work well together and blend naturally. The color wheel also helps you discover analogous colors, which are colors that share a similar tone but aren’t exactly the same. For instance, red, orange and purple have a similar intensity but different saturation levels.