We spoke to one of our favourite makeup artists in the business Nina Norman on all her tips and tricks to understanding your face and what make-up does to highlight your best features.
Most of us get stuck in a make up rut at some point – so used to seeing the same face day after day, it’s difficult to be creative or even just to try something different occasionally. In fact, most women have never been shown how to make the most of their features – to play up the good bits and disguise the not so good!
I believe make up is magic and can have an enormous positive effect on us and how we feel – we’ve all experienced the joy of a new lipstick and how it can put a spring in our step!
Understanding your face and how to apply which products where, (it’s a minefield out there) can bring a dull complexion back to life, can give the effect of having had eight hours sleep even if you’ve only had two, can add an instant look of health (a pinky cream blush is the way to go) and even knock a few years off you – what’s not to love?
Once you understand which colours suit you, make up becomes a whole lot easier, and while there are no rules in make up, it certainly gives you a fail safe guide to getting it right. I’m often asked which eye colours to choose, so as a general rule of thumb, brown eyes (although there are many shades of brown) can wear any colour, but in particular plums, navy and brown work really well. To accentuate blue eyes, choose warm browns and gold, and for green eyes, choose warm shades such as orange, rust and bronze – these colours will really make your eyes ‘pop’
Choosing the right foundation is also another sticking point with many women making an expensive mistake, so let’s talk about skin tone and undertone. Skin tone is the surface colour of your skin eg fair, medium or dark whereas undertone is the colour beneath the surface of your skin eg cool, warm or neutral – so you can see how choosing the perfect foundation is not that simple.
If your skin appears pink, red or bluish, then you have cool undertones, and if your skin has a yellow, peach or gold tinge then you have warm undertones – a mix of both and you are neutral. It might appear complicated so do the simple test to see if you look better in gold or silver jewellery. Gold complements warm undertones and silver will complement cool undertones.
Now onto lipstick, which can make a huge difference to the features of your face – and usually by trying out different shades, you will easily be able to see what suits you. The right shade of lipstick should lift and brighten your face, rather than washing you out!
Choosing a nude is probably the most challenging, so look at the natural colour of your lips and choose a shade that matches or is 1-2 shades brighter or deeper than your lips.
Pinks are so versatile as there are so many different shades, so choose one a few shades brighter than your natural lip, for a subtle everyday look.
Once you know your skin tone, the job of finding a lipstick to suit you becomes a lot easier. Fair skins are flattered by light pinks, peaches, nude and dusty reds.
For a medium skin tone choose berry reds, rose and mauve and a tanned skin looks gorgeous with a bright red, a deep pink, and a bright coral.
Make up should be fun so experiment and enjoy!
To learn more about Nina’s services visit her website here: www.ninanorman.co.uk …trust us you won’t be disappointed!