Selecting the Best Skin Care and Make Up for Your Skin Type

By Diego Vanderhoff

Getting the most from your makeup is a lot like becoming an artist. To get started, you must care for the "canvas" - your skin. Not everyone can have that traditionally beautiful perfect skin tone, but we can make the most of what we have, and that means three important words: cleanse, tone and moisturize.

Believe it or not, the first step toward the best cosmetics look is... skin care! That's right - when you take good care of your skin, you give yourself the beginning of a beautifully made-up face. That means setting up a daily skin care routine based on just a few words: cleanse, tone and moisturize, in that order.

Start your facial look by taking perfect care of your canvas - your skin. Learn about your personal skin type - normal, dry, oily or combination -- and then embark on a daily skin care routine. Twice a day you should cleanse your skin, tone it with an astringent, and apply lotion, even if you have oily or combination skin. Stick to this always and you'll be guaranteed to have a great start to your makeup.

Next, select a good foundation that matches your skin type. Always select the best makeup you can afford, because it's going on one of the most important organs of your body, your skin. Cheaper makeup products looks on your face like just what they are - cheap makeup.

The most difficult part of choosing a good foundation is to figure out your right match. The harsh lighting used at most department store makeup counters can wash out your skin tone, making it very difficult to pick a matching color. To make up for it, try putting a little bit of the foundation product on the inside of your wrist. The skin there is likely to be the closest match to the skin on your face. Don't try to select a color by putting it on the back of your hand, because your hand can appear darker from being out in the sun. And don't try sample makeup products on your face, because those samples very likely transmit germs.

Now the real fun begins, picking a new look out of all those magnificent cosmetics shades! Most girls like to have at least two make up looks, one for daytime wear and another bolder look for night and special occasions. Some ladies match their cosmetics with the main shades in their wardrobes, while others like to try all the new fashion looks each quarter.

The true enjoyment of beauty products begin once you've selected your foundation. Now is the chance to play around with a bunch of different looks for day time, night time and nice occasions. The first step is to think about the mix of your skin tone and hair color together. For example, girls with blonde hair, light-colored eyes and light skin will look pretty in neutrals and pastels. Ladies with light skin and deep eyes and hair can get away with more drastic makeup with more contrast. Girls whose skin and eyes are darker often look pretty in deep colors contrasted with silvery or metallic accents.

Makeup advisors sometimes argue the best way to choose cosmetics product is to coordinate with your hair and skin. For instance, girls with light skin and dark hair, or darker skin with dark hair, each can look fabulous in dramatic makeup of dark shades with drastic contrast. On the other hand, women with light skin and pale-colored hair and eyes look better in pastel colors, while women with yellowish or olive skin should use makeup shades that will balance the yellowish tones in their skin. Likewise, certain "correction" cosmetics will help hide flaws. Green will cancel out too much reddish tone in the skin, while yellow can hide bluish under-eye circles and other blemishes.

Having a family member or cosmetics consultant work with you on your makeup look can be helpful, because we can't always see what's best for uswhat looks best|what looks best on ourselves|what will look best on us. In the end, we don't want to go around looking at ourselves in the mirror all day. We just want to put our best faces forward while at work, having fun or when we're with that special someone. - 30292

About the Author:

Sign Up for our Free Newsletter

Enter email address here