Know yourself: make-up

Get your make-up right

Sure you might be mad for taupe eyeshadow or in love with your coral lippy, but did you know that eye colour and skintone (and even your hair colour) can enhance your shade choice? Here’s our guide to hot hues for you.

You’re pale-skinned with blue eyes:

Eyes: Choose a gentle shimmery shade such as bronze, says make-up artist Algria Fererria. She also recommends lavender to make your eye colour pop.
Lips: “I love using a baby-pink lip stain on models with this type of colouring,” says Fererria. Think of a stain as a wash of colour rather than an opaque look – using your finger to press on colour directly from the lipstick tube can help you get the look.
Cheeks: Ferrerria’s choice for blush is a creamy textured powdery pink rather than a powder blush. She loves Bobbi Brown Pot Rouge in Powder Pink, R310.

You’re medium-skin toned with green eyes

Eyes: Plums enhance the colour of green eyes (they also enhance any green hue in brown eyes too) and they work beautifully in a classic smoky look. Team plum-coloured eye shadow and a matching kohl pencil (we are loving L.A. Girl Endless semi-permanent eyeliner, R39.95) with black liquid liner and black mascara for a dressy, nighttime look.
Lips: Plum eye make-up is of course quite colourful, but don’t let us scare you here – it doesn’t have to be too bold nor vibrant if it’s blended properly. But lips need to take a bit of a back seat. Try neutral-toned lips in a shade that’s similar to your natural mouth colour.
Cheeks: Add a shimmery bronzer to your cheeks or a pinky-peach powder blush to add glow to your skin. Texture-wise, we love MAC’s Sheertone Powder Blushes, R195. They come in a wide range of colours to suit all skin tones.

You’re medium skin-toned with brown eyes

Eyes: Glam bronze colours rock! And metallics can be worn day and night depending on how you dress your eyes up. Keep bronze gentle for day (washed softly over lids with lashes defined in black mascara) but pump it up for night by adding a line of bronze kohl pencil smudged into your bottom lash line (try MAC’s Eye Kohl Teddy, R155) and then line your top lash line with black liquid liner. And end off your look with lashings of black mascara.
Lips: Bright pinks and punchy oranges and corals work well on this skin tone, so don’t be afraid of being bold with lip colour.
Cheeks: Olive complexions can get away with most colours on their cheeks (obviously tone things down a bit if you’re wearing a bright lipstick). However, if your skin is more on the sallow side (if you have a yellow-ish undertone to your complexion) then stay clear of draining colours such as orange, gold and peach.

You’re dark skinned with brown eyes

Eyes: Classic black smoky eyes make you look sophisticated and also really flatter your sultry looks. Try L’Oréal Paris Color Appeal Trio in 408 Night & Day Black, R156.
Lips: Bronzy or gleaming lip glosses complement a black smoky eye – but if you’re just keeping your eyes cleanly defined with simply black liquid liner and black mascara, then try bolder colours like flattering plum or purple lipstick. Try Black Up RAL18 lipstick, R175.
Cheeks: Plummy pinks and rich, almost red shades look fabulous if you’ve decided to play up your cheeks. But bronzy colours are also a hit and will work hard with a black smoky eye or bold lip.