New to Silk Naturals--what to order?

[EtherealJane]

Firstly, I apologize for how long my post is likely to be. I have a hard time being succinct!

I'm not new to mineral makeup, but I'm tired of trying to find the perfect foundation match. I'm fair with complex undertones (or so it seems... I always have to buy several foundations and mix it seems) so finding the right foundation is next to impossible. I'm not newbie to mixing either, so I'm up for the challenge. The big thing for me is trying to figure out what foundation I should start with. I'm posting a picture for you to help decide, but I also wanted to say that in EDM I was closest to golden fair, and the most perfect match I ever got was mixing J.Lynne's fair neutral/fair warm 50/50. Can you Silk Naturals experts recommend the right colors for me? I can pretty much rule out anything cool--while I'm very fair, I don't have pink undertones--but if there's something I'm missing, i'm open to suggestions! I was thinking about ordering one of the foundation starter kits, and then whatever other sample colors I may need.

Now that that's out of the way... I'm also recently engaged, and am looking for my wedding makeup. I have been looking over the blush and lip colors, and they look beautiful! I've also heard much about Silk Naturals Perfecting powders. If you're feeling so inclined, please recommend a good starter set of items! I'm sure I'll be ordering again, but I'd like to get a good range of different products to try and am little overwhelmed about where to start.

Thanks in advance for all the help.. I can't wait to try them!


Not the best picture of me (no makeup--*cringe*) but hopefully that helps!

[JenW]

Hello Ethereal Jane!
First, Welcome to our forum! Next, but certainly not in importance, CONGRATULATIONS! I hope I can be of some help. I must say I immediately think you are a Warm Gold, but if your closest match in EDM was Golden Fair, you may be a Buttery Gold. It will definitely fall into one of the two, but I am leaning more Warm. (Perhaps get the Warm Kit with a Buttery Base sample?) I am thinking you will be around a 1 Color Base to 12 White ratio. I am also a weird undertone girl, as well as an ever changing color depth girl.

I know you are looking for wedding makeup, so I will recommend you go a little heavier coverage than you would wear on an average day. I am not sure if you prefer lighter coverage (from my eye in looking at your pic, that is all you would need!) Our Original formulation is our lightest, the Medium is like two good coats of the lightest, and the Heavy is like a few coats of the Medium. I personally would not go heavier than the Medium, but I know foundation coverage is a very personal issue. As for the Perfecting Powders, I would sample the Perfecting Powder, Date Bait, and maybe even the Tempt Tryst to determine which you like the best with your skintone. If you flush easily, I would stay away from the Date Bait, but if you do not flush easily, it would be my first choice. The Warm or Buttery Kit will come with a Perfecting Powder sample. Perfecting Powder would be my choice if you flush easily. Date Bait will impart a slightly pinkish healthy glow, and Temp Tryst will impart a golden healthy glow, neither is super sparkley.

In recommending color products, again, it is a personal choice. Do you like brighter colors or more neutrals? I am of the opinion that you should look like a natural you on your big day. I would most likely do a simple eye with Vanilla, Quartzite, possibly Mink, and Mahogany Cream Liner, Flirt Blush (matte with no Sparkle), and Breathless or Beloved lippie. The Beloved will have more of a sparkle than Breathless. Grace might also be a good choice. I went kind of neutral here, but I can go another route if that is what you are looking for.

[EtherealJane]

Oh my, Jen! THANK YOU, for the wonderfully detailed response That really helps quite a bit, actually.

I'm thinking you're right on with the foundation--I can't WAIT to get it, because I'm excited about having a perfect match. I was going to go for medium coverage too. I do like good coverage, especially since I do have a tendency to flush easily (are you a mind reader, or what?). Tempt tryst sounds good too! (my cart grows, haha!)

I love all the colors on the site in terms of eyeshadow--that's where I tend to have fun. I will definitely be natural on my wedding day, but I do want to get a variety of colors to play around with several looks to figure out what works best. Obviously, with my coloring, warmer colors look better. How sparkly are the shimmer shadows? I love a little bit of glow/shine, but I am weary of too much sparkle. I also admit to loving and hording blushes--flirt looks gorgeous, and I love the look of climax as well.

How are the cream eyeliners? They look beautiful! Do they last longer than normal dry lining with mineral makeup?

Thanks again for all the help--I feel more confident about placing an order now!

[JenW]

The trick with the cream liners is to set them. Since they are all natural, they need a little powder to make them last. If I want a sparkley liner, I put a similar eyeshadow color over the top. If I just want the liner color, I use Perfecting Powder. I like the Cream liners in that they can give the tight line of a sharp liner pencil, but have the control of a brush (meaning you aren't stuck sharpening every time!!) I have been a dryliner in the past, but the Cream liners make a much more defined line that lasts better if set, and they can be smudged if you want that look, too.

As far as sparkle levels, Karen does have some shimmery ones and some semi-shimmer colors, as well as mattes. The thing that I like is that even the ones that are on the sparkley side can be rubbed down to a lower sheen if you want. Staples for warmer colors will be Honey, Highbeam, Teakie, Cabana, Nekkid, and Plush. If you are looking for warmer greens, Grassroots and Seagrass are lovely. I stayed away from blues for you, because of your lovely blue eyes.

For blushes eventually try Flirt, Climax, Jamie, and Sassy for sure, as these are some of the best for fair gals. I am a real blush lover, too, so I really think you can't go wrong with any of them if you have a light hand for the pigmented ones. Samples are inexpensive, so I'd pick up a few that look interesting.

Happy shopping!

[Rhys]

Definitely Grassroots Green. And I bet Lilac and Vanilla would make an awesome two-colour simple look for you. And the lighter greens as well - Charmed and Pixie. Boom may be your knockout highlighter, but it does have some pearlescence to it - not real shimmer, though.

With your lips, I think you need Berry Nice and Berry Crush. Or Foreplay. Heck, eventually you'll need most of them, we all do

For the wedding, I'd agree to go light on the shimmer, too much would look weird on camera. Also go VERY lightly on the perfecting powder - the light refractive quality is wonderful in normal lighting but it can get a bit funky on film.

Mazal tov! And welcome to the forum

[karen]

Congratulations and welcome! The second I saw your pic I just wanted to put some Babydoll on you for blush. Either that or Lovelace (or both!).

If you're going to flush on your wedding day (or cry..it creeps up on you)- you need a little Unblush, and top it with Tempt Tryst- the yellow will give you a nice little glow, and help a little bit with the redness.

As the daughter of a wedding photographer, and someone who worked in a photo lab for a while...go with lighter colors for your eyes, and keep your lip color very "classic" so that the pics don't look dated in a few years. Bold colors are hard for a normal women to pull off for a normal woman who will have literally hundreds of pics taken of her that day. Sandy (the Gift with Purchase) color would be perfect for that kind of look. Also, as much as I love our lippies- and they do last quite a while- I've always recommended Covergirl Outlast lipstick to brides. It's not at all natural, but it won't get on the lucky groom when you kiss him. Breathless would be my color pick for you if you went with ours. Grab a few of ours- they'll keep your lips really soft.

Good luck!

[piccola_donna]

Grassroot Green! Yes! It is a really really nice colour. And for a blush i would say Wish You Were Here. It's nice, but often overlooked. In real life is is more pink and not so orangy. I think it would be a really good colour on you; it's warm but still naturally pinky.

Your eyes are nice btw. They're very very blue.

[zeebs]

I think you might need to try ebony and warm gold combination (easier to tell in person though - I think you should probably get samples of ebony, buttery gold, and warm gold to see them all on your skin).

Foreplay or Gold Blush might work for lippies -

I agree with recommendations for blushes that were given to you previously. I think Climax would be a good one to start with but you got a lot of good suggestions from others that I agree with.

And woman, I really want to see some warm burgundy/purple eyeshadow on you (maybe not for your wedding but how about for daily fun)! I haven't tried any of the purples but if somebody else could recommend you some I'd just love it. Nothing too cool though like you said More on the red side of purple than on the blue side. And not too dark. Might be a tall order, not sure if that color exists...

I wore subtle makeup for my wedding and it turned out really well. I wasn't into SN then, but I used brownish taupe eyeshadow and tried to keep it subtle (two color eye, and blend, blend blend) and just a pale pink gloss without too much red in it. I did use lots of blush to keep me from washing out in all the pictures and a TON of green corrector (like Unblush) because it was hot out and for blemishes

I would like to see you in some warmer brown shades that aren't too dark for your wedding. Maybe a subtle purple highlighter color to give it a little extra boost. Can somebody who is more addicted than I am help me with that?...I haven't seen very many shadow colors in person (yet...) Teak-ie comes to mind for the warm brown but I don't know which purple to recommend. You could also try Nekkid as a highlighter that's not too white for photos. It's got a nice pink to it that will look natural.

And I would like to reiterate the idea of going as matte as possible with everything. I'd set your makeup with the pure silk powder rather than the perfecting powder so you don't look shiny in the photos. The only thing I would wear with shimmer is your lips. You could maybe mix 1/3 Tempt Tryst with 2/3 Silk for a good finish for photos.

PS - your coloring is more similar to my own than anyone else's I've seen on this site, so please tell me how this turns out!!

[ladycattat]

Hi Jane, you sure came to the right place for advice! I am really fair like you and when I used EDM my closest match was Buff Fair Neutral, but I could also use Golden Fair. MY mixture here at SN is 13 ivory, I ebony, 1 wg, 1bg.
If you look at the posts for a couple of days ago, I did an "Ethereal Metallic Eye" , that I think with your baby blues would be stunning. You would need Highbeam and Wink Wink for shadows, and Fort Knox and Tarnish for cream liners. It is pretty subtle to start, but can be buffed down. I also think that Gator Gold, Bling, and Plush would all be gorgeous on you. Also for a really neutral shimmery tan, Teenie Bikini. I advise going by the colors swatched, as they give a *truer* idea of how they look on skin. All the other girls gave great advice for blushes, but I'd also give Vixen a try. I know it looks really dark and scary, but if you just start with a few grains, and go lightly, its lovely.(might be better as a autumn-type color, though)
Have fun, and congrats on your wedding!
When is it?
Laurie

[mgmsrk]

I would buy the sample pack of all 5 base colors and a bag of the white base (don’t forget the jar)

From how your photo shows on my screen it looks like you will need the ebony base. You look very close to me in skin tone and I use ebony with a touch of gold and a ton of white.

Pick out several blush samples to try, the quantity Karen gives is very generous, enough for many, many applications and the price is great. Definitely try the light tart, don’t panic at how bright it is just use a gentle touch. I think it will look very natural on you.

For Zeebs purple look I would start with:
Opal or Vanilla as a highlight
Lavender or Thistle for crease or lid (or liner) depending on the look you want
Amethyst liner – if using

Lurid may also be a good crease shade for you. I just tryed it today and don't quite like it for me but I have brown eyes I think it would look better on you.

I agree with the others for the wedding, stick with soft neutral mattes or pearls but nothing too shiny.