How to Choose Makeup for Asian Skin

This is how to choose makeup for Asian skin.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. IDENTIFY YOUR SKIN TONE. Asian skin usually has yellow undertones. A small percentage of Asians have skin with pink undertones. Take an honest look at your skin and judge the tone. This can be challenging because the colors in skin are not strong or obvious to the untrained eye. A good person to ask is an artist, painter, graphic designer, or someone similar. They look at color all the time and will be able to tell you what color your skin is.

2. 
    
   Lavender is great for Asian skin

   USE COLOR CORRECTING MAKEUP to balance out your skin tone. Smashbox makes a product called Photo Finish Color Correcting Foundation Primer. Purple balances out yellow so this is a great choice for Asian skin.

3. CONSIDER HOW THE COLOR OF YOUR CLOTHES INTERACTS WITH THE COLORS IN YOUR SKIN. Contrary to what many Asians believe, wearing pink, rose or red does not make your face look more red; in fact it can have the opposite effect. Smashbox's "apricot" primer is a good choice when you wear pinks that draw the color out of the face. Tinted foundations can also be used for this purpose.
   
   If you're wearing purple, this will usually make you look more yellow. The lavender in the clothes takes out what little lavender color there was in your face. If you want to increase the yellow tone in your face this is a good way to do it.

4. WHEN CHOOSING FOUNDATIONS, PAY ATTENTION TO TONE. Most "beige" colors don't have very much yellow. It won't match your face at all. Your best bet is to look for multifaceted foundations that blend with many tones. The drugstore brands CoverGirl TruBlend is one example. Sometimes you can tell by the name. "Honey" for example implies that there are golden tones in the mix.

5. Go to a makeup counter in the department store or Sephora and SEE WHAT THE MAKEUP ARTIST THINKS. It may help to go to an Asian artist. However many top of the line cleansing systems also have bleaching properties that take out the color in skin. They may thus have very different tones from yours. After the consultation don't purchase the makeup yet. Promise that you will come back, then go home and take another look at yourself to see how the foundation has held up over a couple of hours.

Tips & Warnings

• If you live in a seasonal climate, have a couple of foundation colors. You will need lighter makeup in the winter when your skin loses some of its tan.
• Experiment with inexpensive drugstore brands to get an idea of how different tones look.
• Don't settle, especially if you are purchasing expensive department store makeup. There are many colors out there and you deserve to have a foundation that actually matches your skin.

[chrisanimelo444]

on 10/26/2009 Great tips! Though, you should probably add an introduction. :)