If the colors you wear near your face have a big impact on your appearance … just imagine the importance of colors you wear on your face.  Your Color Fan is the perfect guideline for makeup colors that look the most natural on you and work with all the clothes in your wardrobe.

We recently spent an afternoon with Mary Kay Director Kimberly Richey and our model Sandy Beimfo putting that concept to work as an example for you.  Here’s Sandy before makeup.  She’s a great sport to let us publish a bare-face photo; I’m not sure I’d be so gracious if our roles were reversed. 

And here’s the range of colors that are Sandy’s best.  In case your monitor doesn’t show them accurately, they are (left to right from the top) 

• Her soft peachy skin colors
• Her dark blond hair colors
• Her olive green eye color and it’s golden highlight
• Her color “blush”  – her natural body red
• Her fashion colors:  chocolate browns, warm creams, warm coral reds, olive greens, teal blues, teal-y navy shades and plums. 

In choosing her makeup colors, we matched her foundation to her skin color (duh!).

Her makeup blush is a very close match to her color fan “blush” color, but it appears much softer on her skin because of its sheer nature.

NOTE: The names of the actual colors on Sandy’s face are listed below.

Her eye shadow colors echo her palest skin tone (used over the entire lid); her hair color (as an accent along the crease); and her eye color (as an accent in the outer corners).

When you emphasize blue or green eyes by repetition, be sure to choose a shadow shade that is no brighter than your actual eye color.

Another option for the corner accent shadow is the compliment (color wheel opposite) of your eye color.  The opposite of Sandy’s golden-green eyes is plum – a reddish-purple – that would brighten her eyes by contrast.

Lip color should match one of the reds from your Color Fan.  We use the term “red” to designate that whole wedge of the color wheel – everything from palest pink/coral/peach to dark, rich burgundy and rust shades.  Most women need only 3 lipstick colors:

• A very soft one – maybe matched to the “blush” from their Color Fan – for a very casual look.
• A brighter one – the mid-tone red from their Color Fan – to wear with their mid-tone fashion colors.
• A deeper, darker or richer one – the darkest red from their Fan – to wear with their darker fashion colors and for more dramatic evening looks.

It can be hard to shop for lipsticks, since they look very different on your skin than they look in the tube.  I love this trick:  wipe a test swatch of each color you’re considering on the tip of one finger.  Keep the tubes in order on the counter so you’ll know which is which, while you hold one finger at a time up to your lip area, color side away from your skin.  Look in the mirror and you’ll get a realistic view of the color and approximately how bright it will look in the context of your whole face.

Always evaluate your makeup application in a full-length mirror - rather than up close – to see how it balances your head-to-toe appearance.  For example, the lipstick that looks so bright up close may be just the lift you need when viewed from a distance.

 You shouldn’t notice the makeup itself, but instead should see your face looking more clearly in focus – a more dominant part of the whole visual composition that is YOU.

Here’s Sandy’s after photo –see the natural but brightened and balanced effect she gets by repeating her Color Fan shades in her makeup?  Now by all means DO try this at home …

( Of course there are many fine makeup brands; I chose Mary Kay because they provide makeup instruction, as well as product sales; they are available just about anywhere; and I actively try to support other women-owned businesses, don't you?)

In the St. Louis area you can contact Kim at richey3@charter.net. or Karen Irwin at kirwin@marykay.com.  In other areas, use the Consultant Finder at www.marykay.com.  Sandy's colors are Citrus Blossom (cheeks), Honey Spice, Hazelnut and Ivy Garden (eye shadow), Olive (eye liner), Neutral (lip liner), Sunny Citrus (lips), Cream & Sugar (gloss),