Years ago, foundation was used specifically to alter the color of
the skin, re: ‘rosy glow’. But the trend of the last few years has taken
us from what intentionally changed the wearer’s natural coloring to
products that match the tones perfectly
Dress shabbily, they notice the dress. Dress impeccably, they notice you – Coco Chanel
When you walk into a room people must notice you and not your makeup.
If they notice your makeup, your makeup is “shabby”. If however they
notice you, your makeup is impeccable.
Makeup should be used to draw attention to your best features and
away from your less flattering ones. When doing a painting, the artist
first primes the canvas with a base color. This primer
must have sufficient coverage to conceal the blemishes in the material
and provide a smooth surface on which to work. It has to be a neutral
color to bring out the colors the artist intends to use. This neutral
primer used is white.
A makeup artist, as the name suggests is an artist. The “primer” used
is foundation. When doing a makeover, you cannot of course use white,
since it will result in a mask-like appearance. You must find a “primer”
that matches your natural skin tone.
This “primer” must have good coverage and be neutral enough to allow
your eye, cheek and lip makeup to highlight your natural beauty. The
greatest challenge facing any makeup artist or makeup wearer is finding
the right foundation!
The problem is, from the inception, foundations were not invented to
perfectly match our natural skin tones. They were first developed for
the movie industry by early cosmetics pioneers such as Max Factor. Types of makeup foundation
These were the days when “white light” was used, causing actors and
actresses to look “washed out”. To put color on their faces, cosmetic
manufacturers developed foundations with a red base. This era of “pink”
foundations dominated the cosmetic market during this period and still
forms the basis of many brands today. As the movie industry developed,
natural light was introduced and there was no longer the need for “red”
foundations. Manufacturers then began reducing the amount of red used in
their formulations to better match various skin tones.
Foundations, for many years however, remained far too red. Later,
manufacturers began adding more yellow to their foundations to alter the
pink look. The “added yellow” however, gave foundations an unattractive
orange look.
During this time, cosmetics manufacturers began recognizing that
there was an emerging market for African American cosmetics. They took
their existing “red” formulas, darkened them, and foundations for women
of color were invented. They however failed to take into account that
darker women have yellow undertones and needed to wear foundations with a
yellow base.
In his book “Making Faces”, renowned makeup artist, Kevyn
Aucoin,states: “Years ago, foundation was used specifically to alter the
color of the skin, re: ‘rosy glow’. But the trend of the last few years
has taken us from what intentionally changed the wearer’s natural
coloring to products that match the tones perfectly”. He later adds:
“Still, if you choose to wear foundation, there are two important things
to consider when selecting a product, the ‘look’ you want to achieve
and that it matches your skin”.
At fashion online, we believe that a foundation should provide
sufficient coverage to suit the individual’s need and yet remain
natural-looking. Your foundation should perfectly match your natural
skin color so you do not end up with a “ring” around your face.
From our experience, most Caucasian, African and all Asian and Latin
women have yellow-based skin. Yet, most foundations have red or orange
tones. When women with natural yellow undertones wear foundation with a
pink or orange base, they often end up with an unnatural looking hue.
Women with darker skin tones often turn ashy. Darker African women often
look at least one shade darker than their natural skin color.
Excerpts from the book Make up secrets revealed by Kamla Regrello
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