It’s no mystery that a lot of make up products seem to be more geared towards light skin or golden tanned skin tones rather than darker skin tones. Truth be told, it is usually the lighter skin tones that require more make up and more coverage due to the skin being more transparent and showing blemishes far more easily than darker skin. This, of course, doesn’t help those with darker skin learn and see what make up products will look best for their skin.

Darker skin tends to be far more resilient than paler skin and it ages at a far slower rate as it can better withstand exposure to UV rays. If you are looking for a foundation to help with any sort of coverage, be sure to choose one that is liquid or creamy without being oily. Chances are you will only need to use a sheer foundation and follow up with cover up for any blemishes that you may wish to conceal.

TIP: If you have more of a yellow pigmentation to your skin, avoid any foundations that appear to be orange-tone based.

It is important to remember that, with dark skin, the appearance of make up is a whole lot more prominent. This means that it is all the more important for you to strive or light coverage and to not pile on any foundations and concealers that may turn pancakey. If you do have a thicker foundation, you can thin it with a drop of water or a drop of moisturizer.

The powder you choose to follow up after the foundation can be the same color as your foundation, or you can also use a baby powder.

Blush colors that work best tend to be:

• Rose
• Corals
• Deep orange

Any sort of brown tones or peach shades should be avoided. Apply the blush to not only the apples of your cheeks, but to the temples and under the outermost corners of your eyebrows as well.

As for eye shadows and other eye make up, for an eye shadow stick to dark purples, dark blues, and dark metallic shades. Adding some silver shadow around your eyes as a highlighting feature will really make your eyes stand out. You can finish off your eye shadow with a black eye liner and black mascara.

Lipsticks with a matte finish will have a better affect with your skin tone than any sort of frosted lipstick shades. Go for medium to dark shades of lipstick, and try to go for more “dull” tones (meaning, no candy pinks and bright reds please!). Blackberry shades, caramel colors and purples all compliment your lips very well.

TIP: If you are concerned that your lips may naturally be too dark, put some foundation and powder on your lips before applying your lipstick.

Most importantly, experiment! You never know just what colors, tones and shades will work best with you if you don’t visit your local beauty store and try on a few different colors and color combinations.