Ladies, it’s time for a talk. Not “THE” talk…your parents should have done that years ago. This is the makeup talk…the conversation all women should have with each other when they see their friends or comrades in gender committing crimes against foundation and bronzer. Now, this article was inspired by my Instagram feed. I follow several cosmetics brands and when I see an MUA submitted post from them with great applications, I follow that MUA as well. But today, I saw yet another crime against foundation. A MUA had applied a woman’s makeup and opted to use a foundation that in no way matched her neck. And there’s no amount of explaining “oh the lighting from the flash caused the color difference” that would justify that much of a color difference. Literally, she was a good 5 or 6 shades lighter on her face than her body…and it made me give that IG post the mean side eye.
There is NEVER an excuse to either apply on yourself or allow an MUA you’ve hired to make you look like you’re wearing a mask. It’s not natural, you’re fooling no one and I promise you…you’ll cringe when your wedding photos come back. More often than not, I see women of color committing this heinous crime. But to be fair, I’ve seen our fairer skinned friends doing this with bronzer – a tanned face and a pale body don’t match either missy!
Now I’m not going to get into the social issues behind this phenomenon – especially as it relates to women of color. My readers are intelligent enough to do a Google search for colorism and its effects on the beauty industry within communities of color. However, here are some things to keep in mind when either you buy makeup or hire an MUA:
1. Don’t get caught up with the name of the shade or the color of the foundation.
The goal of using foundation is to look like you have flawless skin naturally. When we see a line of demarcation between where your “flawless” skin ends and the rest of you begins…you failed. Pick a color that best matches your skin tone.
2. DO NOT go up or down more than a shade or two from your own skin tone.
I get it, it can be hard to buy a shade of foundation that perfectly matches your skin tone. I even have to buy two colors that are on either side of my actual shade & mix them to create the perfect blend that matches my shade. But when you go too far light…you’re setting yourself up to look like Casper’s cousin in-person and in photos. This rule also applies to bronzer babes…the goal is to look sun kissed, not like your face got burned by a sun lamp.
3. Don’t forget to properly blend beyond your face.
You have skin up through your hairline and of course, beyond your face. When you only blend along the jawline and before the hairline, you’re setting yourself up for the mask effect. Blend into your hairline and blend into your neck.
4. Make sure your MUA actually has your shade.
Look, I brought my own foundation for my destination wedding. Obviously, I don’t think most MUAs in Japan are carrying around foundation in my skin tone! But even here in the US or in the Caribbean or wherever…make sure you confirm that your MUA has your shade. And more importantly, do a test run and be sure to take pics of yourself without and with flash. Make sure that your face still looks like you in natural sunlight, outdoors and under (sometimes harsh) indoor lighting.
5. Don’t fall victim to the contour craze.
Yes, contouring is awesome as it can give you definition and smooth out what might be (in your opinion) problem areas. But DO NOT let the fact that you need to use a mix of darker and lighter shades to effectively achieve contouring fool you into using shades that in no way could ever match you.
Image Credits: Aveda Corporation – Creative Commons License 2.0
The Anti Bridezilla 