January 17, 2013

Amanda Seyfried and Her Skin's Pink Undertone


Several regular movie-goers know Amanda Seyfried for her starring role in Dear John, whereas those of us who don't pay many visits to the theater may only recognize her for her supporting role as the lovable airhead Karen in Mean Girls.

Amanda Seyfried's celebrity career has been long and fruitful, and her pure, youthful appearance and enormous amount of talent have landed her roles in dozens of successful films and television shows. This woman is constantly in the public eye; from People magazine to Glamour magazine, she's a big name for the press.

Seyfried is as famous for her beautiful appearance as she is for her acting career. In a 2011 issue of People magazine, she ranked number one on the publication's "hotties" list. There is no doubt that she is the envy of women everywhere, and several people are beginning to wonder how she always manages to look so proper and poised, with the right outfit for every occasion. The answer to this is simple and often overlooked; Seyfried's stylists know how to correctly match her skin tone with colors that make her look irresistible. 

Amanda Seyfried is an icon for women with cool skin tones. Her skin has a pink, "cool" undertone that is best suited for cooler colors when it comes to makeup and clothing. Seyfried's skin tone works best with clothing colors that bring ash and smoke to mind; washed out forms of gray, black and dark blue colors suit this actress's skin tone very well, as they give a boost of coolness to her appearance. The jewelry that is best for Seyfried should be silver in color, and the makeup that is applied should follow roughly the same rules as the clothing. If your skin tone is similar to Amanda Seyfried's skin tone, you should be able to glean some use from this celebrity discussion.

The discussion of what doesn't work for cooler skin tones is extremely important. Warm, bright colors often do not work on people with pink, cool undertones and should be avoided. Bright greens, pinks, oranges and reds are often the culprits in making a beautiful woman look plain and disheveled. Colors have a significant psychological impact on how people perceive others, and if you want to look the best, it is important that you choose to wear colors that match your skin tone. When you are using makeup, the same rules tend to apply. Bright eyeliner and mascara do not go with cool skin tones, and it is best not to purchase them.

The rules pertaining to skin tone are basic and easy to remember. Amanda Seyfried's skin tone is cool, and if yours is as well, it may be wise to choose her as one of your style icons. Every woman could use a little self-esteem boost during her day, and there is no better way to obtain one than properly matching clothes and makeup with skin tone. If your skin tone has a more warm appearance, it is advised that you should do some essential research and attempt to discover what colors work best for you, as those discussed in this article work for people with an opposite skin tone.

January 9, 2013

Olive Skin Tone such Penelope Cruz has


When you have olive skin, it can open your world to amazing color combinations that other skin tones just can't accomplish. From dazzling golds and coppers to sensual shades of pinks and purples, having an olive skin tone gives you many advantages when it comes to cosmetics. With such a versatile skin tone you can literally wear very wide range colors you want, you just need to learn which ones look best for your type of skin tone. Learn the many ways you can embrace your glowing skin tone in both fashion and makeup every single day. 

Warm skin tones tend to do well with shiny copper, gold, tan, and light pinks when it comes to makeup choices for lipstick or eyes. For a cool skin tone, deep purples, blues, dark greens, and other jewel tones work great for the eyes, while dark crimson and berry colored lipstick works great for the lips. With olive skin tones, color combinations are easy to accomplish and make wearing makeup fun every day. Happy warm olive skin tone persons can easily wear vivid exotics and bright electrics, while the cool skin tone owners would wear vivid colors only with a good hint of ash, smoke or ice in tones.

Olive skin tones are a huge trend among celebrities today. Perhaps one of the most famous celebrity with olive skin are Jennifer Lopez and Penelope Cruz. You can determine how you want your style to look by following these fashion and celebrity icons and embracing the way they love and enjoy their beautiful warm skin tone. 

Tan is always in fashion, which is why having olive skin is so envious. Since you always look like you have warm and glowing skin, it's easy to figure out how to make your skin look even more glamorous. Simply choose your favorite shimmering colors to bring out the already golden hue in your skin and you'll look amazing every single time. 

You can mix and match your tones for a youthful look, or stick to one main spectrum of color for a more mature appearance. For a fun and flirty feminine look, consider combining pearly pink lips with fuchsia eye shadow. For a more mature, sexy appearance, pair golden brown lipstick with coppery shiny eye shadow. You can mix your favorite colors together because your olive skin tone won't make them look overpowering, which allows you to be more exploratory with your makeup overall.



The sure all-prize make-up for warm olive skin person like Penelope Cruz would be the shiny bronzer to the eyelid area and cheekbone, natural tone pinkish lipstick with some pearl or glossy finish, and from neutral tones of brownish taupes to black ebony as for eye shadows. Some cool or neutral blush accents and black mascara will finish your daily look for every occasion. Only the blushes in this make-up could be matt, but every one another piece should have satin to pearly gloss or shine. Remember, that ashy tones of lipstick could add some dull green to your skin tone.

The best type of makeup to wear for your skin tone depends on your undertone. You can use a chart to determine what your undertone is, but in general if your skin has a pink tint to it, then you are a cool undertone, and if your skin is more yellow based, then your undertone is warm. Knowing your undertone helps you choose the best colors and style of makeup to meet your needs. 

Your hair can help you decide what color works best for your skin tone as well. If your hair is dark or black, stick to cool tone colors. If your hair is golden or lighter brown, then you can wear warm colors nicely. Beauty isn't hard to accomplish, however, and you can wear whatever colors suit your personality best. 

The best part about having an olive skin tone is that you can quite literally wear whatever makeup you want, and only the "but" would be too earthy and ashy tones without golden glowing, mat terracotta or pale smoky grey, for example. Also, too much orange tone lipstick will bring the unnecessary green into your complexion. The sky's the limit when it comes to your style choices, whether you want to look warm and inviting or cool and exotic. The choice is yours, and the possibilities are endless.

January 8, 2013

Cool Vs. Warm Skin Tone & Coloring: Penelope Cruz and Amanda Seyfried


Skin color ranges from pale to dark. Fair skin that burns easily or has freckles is usually considered a light skin tone. Tan skin is usually considered an olive skin tone. 

Skin tones can have cool or warm undertones. Orange, yellow, gold and green are considered warm undertones. Red, pink and blue are considered cool undertones. You can determine which undertones you have by looking at the veins on your wrist. Blue veins indicate cool undertones, and green veins indicate warm undertones. Additionally, people with warm undertones look better in gold jewelry while silver jewelry looks better on people with cool undertones.

Colors that are next to each other on a color wheel are called analogous and seem to match nicely. Colors that are opposite each other on a color wheel are called complementary. Warm tones are analogous to other warm tones and cool tones are analogous to other cool tones.

Analogous colors on your hair, lips and clothing are what make you look your best. When selecting an eye shadow color, you can choose analogous colors to look more subtle or complementary shades to highlight your eye color. 

Penelope Cruz is a Spanish celebrity who has a warm olive complexion skin tone with goldenundertones. She looks best with a warm brunette hair color and brown eyes because these colors are similar to her warm skin tone. Her signature smoky eyeliner looks great against a brown or tan eye shadow base, and her best choice for lip color is coral or orange red. 

When it comes to fashion, Penelope Cruz looks best in quite bright warm and cool colors. The yellow Oscar de la Renta dress that she wore to the 2005 Academy awards looked amazing and radiant against her tan complexion. In 2010 she rocked the Oscar red carpet again in a warm color, this time a maroon Donna Karan gown. 

Penelope Cruz does not look as great in smoky cool colored outfits. While promoting Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides in 2011 at Cannes, Penelope looked washed out in a periwinkle Marchesa dress. It was just a few shades too light for her warm skin tone. She also looked washed out when she wore a cool toned Armani Prive gown to the 2012 Oscars. 

While Penelope Cruz has a typically winter appearance for high contrast between her skin and hair and for her face features, she earns huge compliments for electric colors of outfits and for clear black and whites clothes. Her olive skin goes healthier and warmer with electrics blues, greens and reds. Like many of winter type persons Penelope is happy looking about wearing black and whites for every occasion, even without any make-up: she has enough contrast in appearance to take this style liberty.

Amanda Seyfried has a cool toned complexion as her skin is light with pink undertones. Her hair is ashy blonde and her eyes are a cool blue/green/grey combination. She looks best with smoky or ashy toned blonde hair and pale pink or neutral lip colors. Amanda Seyfried is a typical Summer appearance person with light skin tone and really noticeable pink undertone.

Amanda looked fabulous and ethereal in a cool purple dress by Lanvin at the premiere of her film Red Riding Hood in March 2011. Contrast that sleek look with the orange-red Valentino dress she wore back at the 2009 Oscars. The orange-red looks clownish and unsophisticated on her because it is just too warm for her cool coloring. Amanda’s stylist should stick with cool pastels, ashy 's' smoky colors and jewel tones as those colors look best on her. Also, electric tones won't be the best companions to fit light skin tone with pink undertone.

If your complexion is similar to that of Penelope Cruz, try a warm hair color such as golden blonde or brown. Coral or red looks great on lips. These shades work because they are all warm tones. Use gold or brown eye shadow to look natural, or purple shadow to help brown eyes stand out. For clothing and accessories, wear black and whites, electrics, bright tones, gold and red. Avoid smoky toned pastels as they will wash you out.

If you have light skin and pink undertones like Amanda Seyfried, you will look best with a cool blonde or ashy brunette hair color. For lips, nudes or cool-toned pinks will look much better than oranges or corals. Neutral beige and taupe shadows will look more natural on eyelids while gold or tan shadows will make your cool eyes pop. Choose jewel toned and smoky or ashy pastel colored clothing. Stay away from anything too contrasted, electric or earthy as this will make you look unnatural.

December 12, 2012

Skin tone charts for grey haired.


Hello everybody, I've been away for years I think! Now I'm ready to discuss such an important question as different skin tones in many sorts again!

Oh my God, I'm going grey! Is it awfully inglorious? Or is it trendy? Could grey hair be attractive and stylish? How to bring yourself to gracefully natural grey hair? How to match your skin tone to different shadows of grey hair? How to choose the right tone of clothes and accessories to your skin and grey hair? There are so many questions, so let's look at this matter in details with visual skin tone charts.  

There is no secret grey hairs appear even in youth, so grey hair can't be only the mature age sign in fact of genetic inheritance, global environmental influences and other matters. According to the recent famous fashion magazine Glamour more than 2500 persons poll 43%  of people that took part in it answered that they found grey haired women and men attractive. Only 4% of asked persons thought grey hair to be unattractive. The great power of public mind is on grey-haired people side.

Grey hair were in fashion in 18th century as we can see thanks to the paintings of famous art members like Thomas Gainsborough, Francois Boucher, and others. Duchess of Devonshire in her powdered silvering grey wig has a fresh complexioned skin tone with blue undertone like a garden rose. Grey hair were considered as a mark of high social status. Only quite well doing people could venture themselves the luxurious wigs in white, grey and lightly colored grey tones made of real human hairs. Moreover, those volume shaped grey hair wigs of 18th century should be generously powdered with oak powder or with starch. What a deepest relief  that we are not obliged to do something sophisticated this way!

 Grey hair is in fashion now: Karl Lagerfeld's and Calvin Klein's favorite supermodel Kristen McMenamy wears her naturally grey hair on the catwalks and says "You can get older and still be rock'n'roll". Even the style icon Kate Moss is going grey and she does it gracefully fashionable. Many of celebrities were driven by this trend: Pink, Kelly Osbourne, Nicole Kidman and Lady Gaga, of course.  

Let's imagine I'm finally encouraged enough to go gray. But would it match my complexion? I want my grey hair suits me very well, and I definitely do not want to look like just a person who've forget the way to stylist. Let's have a look at the charts by the example the celebrities such Jamie Lee Curtis, Helen Mirren, Maye Musk and Meryl Streep.

Superstar Jamie Lee Curtis has a medium skin tone with golden undertone. You can read about medium skin tones in my article about determining skin tones and undertones with charts. She's so lucky about her complexion! When she was a brown-haired person, she hadn't enough contrast of colors in her appearance. But recently Jamie Lee Curtis went grey haired, and we can see a striking change to impressive good-looking. The truth is in the science of colors: the warm tones are in contrast with cool tones. If you put warms and cools nearly, you can see them brighter and more vibrant then they are in itself. This quite clear principle is in use by the world artists and stylists. Hair tone is always opposite to skin tone or skin undertone in the matter of warmth.



I think Jamie Lee Curtis is much prettier with grey hair. Her skin looks vivid, and her expressive eyes are appreciable now. Her appearance gained some special dynamics of tones interaction. That's because of high contrast between very light grey hair and golden warm skin tone. We can see Jamie Lee in search of best matching tone of grey for her skin. In according to the science of tones, warm orange golden is opposite to blues. It doesn't mean Jamie Lee should have her hair in futuristic manga style. But the best matching tone of grey is cool silver for her. We can see in a chart that warm grey hair looks not very fresh on Jamie Lee Curtis.



Stay tuned, more articles with charts are coming soon!  




January 10, 2012

Determining dark skin tones and undertones


Dark skin tones from tan to bronze can be examined with the object to warmness or coolness and undertones the same way even the article “Determining your skintone and undertone”. Test your skin with silver and gold textile, and then try test with white towel. Remember about good diffused natural lighting, makeup and accessories absence to determine undertones and the “tone temperature” of your skin correctly enough. At first determine the main tone of your skin and then proceed to test your undertone.

It’s important to remember that skin tone and undertone aren’t the constant. They can change according to the health state, climate impact (sun rays, for example), even the age does matter. During the day the instability of undertone can show itself by the light surging from bluish to reddish hues within one color limit. Skin can look dull by the evening but quite fresh in the first half a day, so you’ll need some cosmetic features to correct not only one undertone.

An additional way to determine the undertone is to look at your wrist veins. Greenish veins are coming with yellow with hint of green undertone in case of dark skin tones. This cool yellow undertone often looks like olive-colored skin. Caramel, lightly brownish colored veins are coming with golden undertone. It is warm yellow with hint of red. Brownish and reddish veins are coming with red undertone in case of dark skin. Usually red undertone comes with darker skin tones. Blue undertone is quite rare and comes with deeply dark skin.

Let’s look at celebrity examples of skin color intensity from tan to bronze/ebony:

  • Tan. Pale among the dark skin colors. Olive, coffee, caramel hues. Has cool yellow with hint of green or warm yellow golden undertones. For example, Rihanna, Kim Kardashian, Halle Berry.
  • Dark tan. More intensive color skin that looks quite warm, but rarely can be ashen. Undertones can be greenish yellow (that looks ashen) and golden to red, for example, Naomi Campbell, Chanel Iman, Sara Nuru.
  • Brown. Naturally beige or lightly sun-tanned skin with yellow to golden undertones. For example, India Arie, Tais Araujo, Lauryn Hill.
  • Bronze and ebony. Exotically rare for blue-black undertone. Usually comes with warm red undertone. Alek Wek, Viola Davis, Jeneil Williams for example.
Now we have the skin tones and undertones charts with celebrity examples for any occasion to compare. But remember celeb’s photos are usually from formal arrangements, so we can see only celebrities with make up features on their skin. It’s quite difficult to determine somebody’s natural color by photo. Naomi Campbell can look rather cooler in real life, but her make up artists correct her tone to warm hues, so we are to be satisfied with such unpretentious information as official photos.

January 7, 2012

Determining your skin tone and undertone

Don’t know what make up color to pick? The theory of color matching will help you to create a healthy harmonious make up suitable exactly for your skin tones, eye color and type of appearance. It's quite a basic knowledge in make up theory and practice! Some example charts with celebrity photos are applied to this article.

Remember, if your hair has been colored it would be slightly harder to determine your appearance type. Also, while determining you should not wear any make up on your face. It’s better to put on neutral colors clothes without accessory. The best lighting for real colors is a diffused day light.

At first you need to examine your skin tone: is it warm or cool? It’s quite easy; just try on some golden and silver textiles near your face. If silver fits you more, so you have cool skin tone. If golden better interacts with your skin, so your color harmony is in warm. Neutral skin tone owners usually have complex colors in their appearance, so they need to determine their undertone also. Do you think your skintone and undertone features look like Amanda Seyfried's? Just have a look on best and worst Amanda Seyfried's make-ups for her light skin tone with cool pink undertone to have your inspiration! It will help you finally to determine your skintone as cool or not.

The undertone color looks to shine through your skin. How to determine it? A good piece of something white, towel for example, will help you to test your skin undertone. Test it only with diffused day light because even small amount of artificial light, such a monitor or table lamp, will add hues to your real skin color. Bring the piece of something white close to your face. Does your skin look bluish, greenish or yellowish, or maybe pink? Blue and pink are cool undertones, yellow from peach to golden is about warm undertones, and people with green undertone usually have neutral skin tone.

Why does it important to determine your skin tone and undertone? It will help you to choose an ideal foundation, concealer, blush and powder, which will look absolutely natural on your face. Also the undertone is exactly the thing that helps match all make up perfectly by choosing the same undertone in eye shadows, lipsticks and lip glosses. You just need to choose foundation in according to your skin tone taking into account the undertone (blue, pink, yellow or green).
  
The last step would be determining the color intensity of your skin from light to light tan: 
  • Light. Palest skin, often with freckles. Doesn’t tan at all or tans hardly, always with sun burns.  Have blue, pink or green undertones. For example, Julianne Moore, Amanda Seyfried, Anne Hathaway. You can have a look at the comparison between Amanda Seyfried's light cool skin tone with pink undertone and Penelope Cruz's warm olive light tan skin tone
  • Fair. Pale skin that tans lightly and looks quite natural with small amount of bronzing. Fair skin tone has yellow, green or pink undertones, for example, Cate Blanchette, Haruka Ayase, Coco Rocha.
  • Medium. Naturally beige or lightly sun-tanned skin with yellow to golden undertones. For example, Takei Emi, Gisele Bundchen, Natalie Portman.
  • Light Tan. Often with a Mediterranean, Asian, Indian and Brazilian descent. Usually known as olive skin tone. Often seems unhealthy without sun because of greenesh undertone. Light tan skin tone goes with green, yellow and golden undertones. Aishwarya Rai, Penelope Cruz, Morena Baccarin for example.

December 15, 2011

The Dragon look make up for New Year celebration.

Many of the trend cosmetic companies have called our attention to gold and reds for make up trends for these winter holidays and parties. Somebody can find this boring, but I think gold and red colors are best to express the Asian luxury of the dragon’s imagery. The native Thailand and Chinese dragon decorations are covered with gilding and painted with bright intensive red. We can use the national exotic flavor in our make up to create a hot magnetic look with ethnic motives for your party. This look can be really easy to adapt to any kind of appearance, whatever brunettes or blondes you are. Persons of warm light tan olive skin tone with golden undertone have the best chance to match it. How to create this trendy make up?


  1. The Dragon’s face make up. You can use your regular foundation, but take care about its stability and long lasting for New Year night. For extremely long wear make up you can use the special base or fix, which are usually translucent or lightly pigmented to correct your complexion tone. You can use a little amount of bronzers to warm up your face edge near temples, chin and forehead. Then use blush with a shimmer for healthy glow effect. You need only a small amount of blush just to cheek apple, because your eyes will be rich enough. Shade your bronzer and blush carefully to make the borders hidden and invisible. If you have chosen the matte blush, so you’ll need the luminious powders and cosmetic features also known as highlighters and luminizers. Highlighters can be tinted or pearly white, but choose the finest and delicate textures without large-scale blinking spangles. Highlight slightly your eyelids, cheeks, skin above upper lip, and chin. The mystical shimmering Dragon’s face is done… I feel this make-up would be fabulous for Penelope Cruz type of appearance with light tan olive skintone and golden undertone.
  2. The Dragon’s eyes make up. First of all, it’s better to use the eyeshadow make up base so to get your look long lasting performance. For pale blondes and red haired persons the smoky eyes slightly elongated to temple would be fine, for inspiration you can have a look on the recent Indian-style PARIS-BOMBAY MÉTIERS D’ART collection of Chanel. Using black kajal and waterproof eye liner create the eye outline then shade it. Blend the onyx, dark-grey or black shadows with eyeliner lines on eyelid skin. The brushes would be more suitable for this work than the typical applicators with sponge. Shade well so to take the haze effect of your smoky eyes. Yes, only the tints of black, but how they accent any eye color! The doubtless high of classic smoky eyes is that this make up workaround conceals puffiness and dark circles. The neutral to olive skin tone persons would look outstanding with hints of gold on eyelids. You can use gold colored shadows or liners combining them with tints on black and brown. For more dramatic look you can use red eye shadows and red liquid liner, or combine two colors of well-defined lines, in gold and black, for example. Whatever eyes make up you’ll create finish your eyes with black mascara.
  3. The Dragon’s lips make up. If you’ve chosen smoky eyes, so use the pale golden nude tones of lipstick or lip gloss. In this case you don’t have to create an accurate defined lip outline. If your eye make up is in gold or even red with combining black you can use deeply red lipstick with the same undertone as your own skin has. Your sheer red lipstick can enclose the real gold dust in its formula. You can use the transparent invisible lip contour pencil to make the long lasting lips make up. Adding some glittering lip gloss will make your lips shine like Asian jewel, and lacquer lips glosses will bring the charm of varnished antiques of emperors.