As a woman of color it’s been a difficult process over the years to find the right shade of power and blush that matches my skin tone. If you are a woman of color you know there is a lot of trial and error. You do not want your powder to make your face look ashy as if someone threw white baby power on your skin and you want the powder to blend nicely into your skin and fade into your jaw line. Time and time again I’ve seen women of color wear the wrong shade of power, foundation, and blush. Unfortunately, not all makeup products or colors are for everyone. One key item to remember when choosing a powder is to find a powder with a yellow undertone. The yellow undertone tends to look the most natural and healthy. If the color is off a little it will make your skin look fake or like you have a mask on. Now, if you have very dark skin it’s important to match the color as close to possible. A brand of power that I and so many other women of color use is a powder from Mary Kay called loose powder which retails for $14.00. It comes in Bronze 1 and Bronze 2. These loose powers are great because they all have a yellow undertone to them so you can’t go wrong and you can put on as much or as little as you need.

So many women of color skip blush all together because they can never find the right shade for their skin tone. Blush is such an essential part of makeup, which brings all of the makeup together. If you want a more natural look you can wear just mascara, blush, and a great lip-gloss. A shade that works on dark skin if you are the color of a walnut or chocolate is to use a cinnamon or my favorite color: orange. Yes, you read correctly: crayola orange. You would be amazed how this color looks on your cheeks and makes everything pop. I used to use a big eyeshadow in orange however, MAC discontinued it. I hate when that happens so now I use a small eyeshadow in orange. Women who are very dark such as the color of dark chocolate or darker do not fear that you cannot wear blush because you can. Deep berries or plums with a hit or gold look wonderfully for your skin tone. A good rule of thumb is to pinch your cheeks and see what color it turns or see how it looks when you blush and you can go with that color. Paul and Joe cosmetics have a lot of different cheek colors that retail for $24.00. I hope some of these tips for women of color are helpful.

Have a wonderful week

Trendqueen

To make small eyes look bigger use white eyeliner on the lower water lash-line; makeup artist have been doing this trick for years. You don’t have to have small eyes to try this trick either, it also makes you look more awake. Tyra Banks makeup artist for the Victoria’s secret fashion show did this look on her. Maybe she was tired that day.

To keep eyeshadow from creasing or fading use an eyelid primer such as urban decay eyeshadow primer potion which is my favorite if you have oily skin or eyelids this will work the best. There is also sephora brand name eye primer pot or too faced shadow insurance anti-crease eye shadow primer. All primers will make the pigment in the eye shadow pop more. You can get a very dramatic look if you use a primer before you do a smokey eye as Beyonce did for her promotion pictures for her 2006 CD release of B-day.

Today is the first day of spring it’s time to put away the heavy jackets and your ugg or  bearclaws boots or  (I love my uggs). Spring always brings the most beautiful colors and they are incorporated into the Spring 2009 look. Of course it’s all about keeping it fresh and the new trend for spring 09 is bright neon colors.  However, do not confuse with the 1980′s neon era where everything was bright from head to toe oh the horror! Perhaps, an all black outfit with a bright neon clutch or handbag or bright neon shoes.  I saw this neon dress on the 2009 Micheal  Kors Fall/winter show and wanted to share this with you all.  Granted it is a bit much but you could always have dark accessories to even it out.