Color Help

[Terra]

Those of you who know my family will laugh hysterically at this question... :doh:

I got a bunch of Ecco Bella samples, and I can't figure out which shade is best for me. I asked my one-non-engineer female friend living in the area, and she kept using words like "warm" and "cool" but couldn't define them. The same is true with lipstick...

Any ideas? Or, better yet, is there anyone in Philly I could bribe into meeting me at Singapore to show me? My female friends are engineers and as clueless as I am.

Terra

[rincaro]

Hair color? Eye color? Skin tone? Do you look better in silver or gold jewelry?

Warm & cool is subjective. I have brown hair with some auburn in it, dark brown eyes, and pale-ish skin. I'm a "cool", but you won't catch me in bright pink lipstick. I wear brown & pale pink eyeshadows, grey & brown eyeliners, black mascaras, and a mauve-y colored blush. Most of my lipsticks are browny pinks.

This page helps some with what warm and cool colors are: http://www.aromaleigh.com/whatcolarewa.html

[Terra]

Thank you :) The problem is that I read the site, and a bunch of others like it, and it hasn't helped. I think the core of the problem is that I can't tell which ones would look better on me, and I'm so unused to looking for the types of subtle tones they discuss that the advice to "put a white sheet" next to my face doesn't make sense. :-/

I have green eyes, tri-colored hair (reddish brown with natural blonde highlights), and I can't really tell whether silver or gold jewelry looks better on me. I don't know if that helps, but... :-/

Terra

[punkmommy]

What's your underlying skin color- is there more pink in your skin or yellow? I don't know what you look like, but with green eyes and the hair color you described, it sounds like you have warm coloring ( yellow undertones).

I miss Singapore!

[SallyK]

Terra,
I work with color cosmetics and I must tell you that in my opinion, it's not nearly as scientific as it may seem. They are free samples right? Just try them on! Take a photo of yourself wearing them. If you feel pretty in that color, then it's probably a good choice. There are really only a handful of colors for each person that would be a big mistake. Many of my clients can easily wear colors from all three sets...(warm, cool, and neutral) that Arbonne offers.
Good luck!!!

[Terra]

I guess that's the problem -- I can't tell whether my underlying skin tone is more pink or yellow, and I can't tell whether the samples look ok. :-/ To me all the foundation colors look equally flesh-tone, and all the other colors look equally like make-up.

I don't really want to be wearing them; the only reason why I am is because I make $50-75 more per shift when I do. I just don't want to look like an idiot when I go to work (which I'm afraid I will).

Thanks :)

Terra

[LadyFaile]

can you post a picture of yourself or is there one in the gallery?

i can say that if you have gold in your eyes wear shimmery gold eyeshadow and brown liner and brown/black mascara, it will bring out the colour of your eyes. if you have like really green green eyes experiment with greens and yellows and beiges. i myself have brown eyes but with bits of gold, i find anything earthtoned really brings out the colours in my eyes. for foundation that's easy, i get the lightest one i can find because i'm pale. blush is where i was confused. i went over to my friends house and had her help me. she has like 8 billion different colours of everything in her makeup "tray" (she has so much of it she keeps it in a huge tray instead of a bag) so i had her try a few colours on me and judge which one she liked best. she'd put one colour on one cheek and another on the other cheek and then tell me which looked better. i ended up with a dark brownish pink, it makes me look a bit more tanned but is still natural looking, i love it.
lipstick i avoid like the plague so no problem, but i wore it to formal occassions pre-veg and could never decide on a colour i liked, i usually ended up blending 2 or 3 different colours and liners to get a shade that looked ok on me.

you just have to play around with different colours and try blending different ones together, but it really does help to do it with a friend. even if they don't know their colours and what's warm and cool etc, they'll be able to say yes that looks good, no that looks bad, this brings out your eyes/cheeks etc

i think the trick with foundation is to rub a little into the back of your hand or on your jawbone, and rub it in really well. if you can't see where the makeup starts and stops, it's good. if you see a big pink/orange streak or the outline around the spot you put it on, toss it. you shouldn't be able to see foundation, it's just to even your skintones.

hope some of that helps!

[Quizeen]

I don't really want to be wearing them; the only reason why I am is because I make $50-75 more per shift when I do. I just don't want to look like an idiot when I go to work (which I'm afraid I will).

Are you a server in a restaurant?

I only ask because I'm not a huge make-up wearer myself, and I never though much about it. But apparently everyone else on the planet does, and I've been surprised by things people have said about me when I do and do not wear make-up. Apparently all else being equal most people think that you're a big slob if you don't wear make-up. It's so annoying.

Sorry for the off-topic flip out.

[rincaro]

Terra! I vote for pictures too if you can. That would help immensely. For me, makeup was very much a trial and error process until I finally found the look that suits my features best. A couple of things that helped me immensely:

Less is more - if you have to wear three tons of stuff to achieve a good look, you're probably not picking the right colors.

Groomed eyebrows & curled eyelashes - I can go out with no makeup at all if I do these two things. You can get your brows waxed for less than $10 if you aren't comfortable plucking (you might already do this).

You sound like a warm to me too. But any neutrals - browns, taupes, etc. - should work nicely as well. Good luck!

[lucycat]

It sounds like I have similar hair and eye coloring to you and I'm a warm. Another way to tell is to see if you look better in a pure white shirt or an off-white/beige shirt. I look pretty bad in white but good in browns and beiges.