Another color thread, do you coordinate make-up?

[Shirin]

Ok here is another color thread ,

how do you choose your make-up colors? I mean do you coordinate lippies with blushes and eyeshadows on your face? All cool, all warm, all same category of color, let's say peachy or rosy, or contrast, certain colors which look good together and others that don't? As I have never worn eyeshadows before I never had this problem. My blushes always looked natural, either rosy or corally and my lips mostly rosy, at times slightly peachy or slightly orange. But with eyeshadow it becomes needy of some color harmony theory. I only do one-washes and a smoky eye, a very subtle one, with Slick, really like Slick for that. Slick with Nekkid or Creamsicle.

[JenW]

I usually start with what I am wearing, but this does not work for those who only wear one temperature color palette of clothing. Cool clothing colors call for a cooler makeup set; warmer clothing colors call for warmer colors; neutral (I wear quite a bit of black) I can really do whatever suits my mood. Then I pick the eyeshadow first as there is more variation there. I really do just go with an overall color grouping that is similar in temperature unless I am doing the neutral eye/redder lippie thing, or the dramatic eye/neutral lippie thing. I have a few blushes that are my main ones (Satisfied and Embrace; one is warmish, the other coolish, although they are both pretty neutral). I usually do the lippie that goes.....right now Embrace with Whirlwind or Sugar Plum is a fave. Also, Satisfied with Caramel, Precious, or Maiden. I also think how dressed up I am plays a role. I honestly wear mostly neutrals as I don't go many places or dress up often and they just work for everyday without much thought.

[karen]

I do too. If I'm wearing something like Slick I usually go with Maybe Baby for the blush, and something subtle and nude for the lippie like Centerfold or Modern Poet, or even Gold Blush. For golden eye colors I wear Climax and a warmer lippie like Berry Crush or Mimosa. Daytime cooler toned looks get Babydoll and Raindrops on Roses together. I usually pair red lippies with Maybe Baby as well. Flirt is my natural blush so I pretty much wear it with anything.

I usually start with my eyes- and do them according to my mood, then match the blush to my eyes- and then add the lippie because it's easier to change the lippie than it is to change my blush.

I know you're not a big fan of sparkle in blush- but maybe a little of one of the new blushes might be good for you to try. They're really pretty, and not super shimmery.

[Rhys]

You know - almost all my clothes are in cool colours or black and white. I'm a redhead with cool skin, orange and yellow make me look dead.

Me being me, sometimes I'll just randomly grab eye shadows and see what I can make them do together (probably not the recommended approach unless you're Mikie, or Ghost, or some other crazy person ).

One thing I do try to do is to avoid the matchy matchy stuff - like if I'm wearing a green shirt I WON'T wear green eye shadow. I don't think they have green blush, so that's safe, but scarily, I have seen green lippies

So for eyes most anything goes so long as it's one of mine - I can't wear bronzes, salmon colours, or every tone of even good colours for me.

Blush and lippie I try to co-ordinate, but even then I've found that Petal and XOXO work really well together and a few other things you wouldn't really think of - so experiment with the lippie, as Karen said, it's a lot easier to change than your blush. And sometimes I do a bold eye look with a red lip. It's actually come out okay. But we know I'm not quite sane. Still that's a valid way to balance - it might not be in fashion these days, but it does work, at least for some.

Or you can do bold eye/light lip or the other way around, if you play up your lips then a neutral eye shadow.

Most of all don't worry and have some fun with it! If you have to go someplace where neutrals are the only acceptable thing, then pick up the Stonewash Nudes palette, or a few of the neutrals on the site and wear those those days. Other than that, have fun playing with colours. At least I do (never grew up, you see).

But make up is there to enjoy, more than to stress over. Really.

PS: Karen is right about the shimmer blushes. They don't give the play with globs of sparkly stuff look at ALL. Many of them are subtle enough you'd barely notice, and the shimmer particles are very finely milled in all of them.

[tizzylou]

I always do my eyes first and then go from there. Most days I sort of think about what clothing I'm wearing and what I am going to be doing, for work days, I usually stick to neutrals , on my days off, I play and use the brighter bolder colors. Lovelace is about my best blush, so that is what I wear most days, although I can and do wear a few others depending on what I am wearing, and whether I'm doing the bold eye, or subdued eye with a brighter lippie. Most days I grab Skinny Dip as my lippie, it is close to mlbb, so works for lots of things, since I wear printed scrub tops at least part of the week, I often will play on the colors in the top. Thus it isn't really matchy matchy but sort of a theme.

[zeebs]

Primarily I decide based upon what color my clothes are, or what kind of mood I'm in. I start with a lid color for e/s - for me this is often a vibrant color like Red Hot. Then I coordinate e/s colors by just looking at the colors - sometimes I'll stick to all warm or all cool but I'm sort of an artist so sometimes I'll mix colors that don't normally "go" together just because I like the way they look.

I choose blush based on my e/s palette. I have Foxxy and Flirt, but I'll also use Tart Light or Pretty Plum (or Beach Bunny) depending on my e/s. Usually if the eye is warm so is the blush.

For lips, I often end up with a nude lip unless my eye colors are neutral. I find that with my complexion, it's hard to wear too many warms or too many cools together.

[pinkpomelo]

I try to match my eye shadow to my clothes and the rest of my make up to my eye shadow.

I use the bright cheery blushes on days when I just go with eye liner and mascara and nothing else on my eyes. Otherwise, I'm quite dramatic with my eye shadows so I usually stick with a neutral shade of blush like Maybe Baby or Climax.

One thing I never miss: a slight dabbing of Cherub on my cheekbones! It just gives it that little bit of shimmery *pop*

[Kahani]

I don't follow the all-cool-or-all-warm rule to be honest. I think it's an advantge of having relatively neutral skin undertones. I do incline towards the cooler end of the spectrum though so too orangey or coppery tends to be a no-no.

I find that warm bronzey makeup with turquoise clothing for example makes for a really lovely glowy summery look. Similarly if I'm wearing something warm, like a goldy brown top, cooler makeup in contrast can give my face a fresh, ethereal look by contrast.

Bobbi Brown also made waves (to me) when she used cool earthy greys / mauves and paired it with a neutral-warm browny blushes and lipsticks. Obviously, you shouldn't pair blue eyeshadow with orange, but if everything is earth-toned the slight contrast can really work for you.

But a MUST for me is for my blush and lips to coordinate well though. A neutral blush allows you whatever lip colour you please, but a cool blush must be paired with cool lips. Same goes for warm. One thing I love about SN's mineral blushes is they can all be mixed with a clear gloss - plus they turn slightly darker in the process. Wearing the blush on both your cheeks and lips gives the most pretty look ever! I just did this with Cosmic and was blown away. Will post the pic to FOTD soon. Other blushes I love doing this with are Babydoll, Climax, and Forbidden. I must try this with Satisfied, I'm sure it'll be awesome.

[Shirin]

Kahani,
that's very interesting. I ahd come to teh conclusion to try a blue-pink blush and lippie, as close as possible, and I think it's a great idea to do the contrast with the top! I shall try that!

[ladycattat]

This really doesn't have to with co-ordinating colors, but I got Elle as a swap with Egerandi, and while it really wasn't my fav as an e/s, it made a really, really pretty pale, shimmery blue/pink color when mixed with one of the clear Black Label lippies. It would go with the *cool* blush colors, and any of the grey, blue. or purple e/s colors. It has a very *etheral* effect. I thought it was just cool....but maybe that's just me )

Laurie