FOUNDATION & SKINTONES: Part 2 (Finding the Right Shade/Type of Foundation)

Let me start out by saying when you are buying your foundation if it’s your first time trying out that particular brand or shade, get it somewhere that has a good return policy such as Walgreens or Rite Aid.

Before you pick the formula, you need to find out the right formulation for your skin. If you're oily, look for words like "oil-free," "oil-control" or "mattifying" on the bottle.  Got dry skin? Go for moisturizing foundations with "hydrating" or "moisture-rich" wording on the bottle.  Foundations containing glycerin glide on easily.  For combination skin, determine if you're more oily or dry and go from there.  Cream-to-powder bases work great for combination skin.  Mineral foundations work well on all skin types, especially sensitive skin.

Consider if you want a light or medium-coverage. If you have good skin, but want to even out a few ruddy areas, consider a light coverage.  For women with really uneven skin tone or blemishes, consider a medium-coverage foundation.  Some women swear by mineral foundations, so you might want to try these out as well.

Show up to the store/makeup counter with a clean, fresh face.  It's OK to wear eye makeup or lipstick, even moisturizer on your face, but you don't want to show up already wearing foundation.

Select a few colors that seem close to your natural skin tone. Go for the yellow-based foundations, which look most natural on all skin tones especially warm or darker complexions.  However, if you're very fair, try a pink, cooler shade. 

Apply a stroke of up to three colors on a cheek (the inner wrist or hand aren't the best spots, contrary to popular belief). The one that disappears is the right shade.

Take a good, long look -- near a window. Ask to borrow a hand mirror and stand near a doorway, or step outside, to see which foundation looks best in the natural light. The right shade is one that you can't see because it blends in so well. If you are purchasing from a drugstore, take a couple bottles to a doorway, hold them up to your neck and see which one matches the best or if you have a favorite shade you want to match, match the colors of the bottles, never the swatch on the display.

Once you've bought the foundation, take it home and try it out.  If you don't like it you can return it.

A foundation with sunscreen is a safe bet, but you will still need to wear sunscreen under your foundation.  Also in the summer consider skipping foundation and opting for a tinted moisturizer instead.


When applying your foundation you can use a brush, sponge, or your fingers; depending on the form of foundation you will be working with.  For liquid foundation you can use any of the above methods, for cream-to-powder use a sponge, pressed or loose powder use a brush, or if it is a cream/mousse use your fingers.  


No matter what type of foundation you use, always apply it to a freshly washed, toned, and moisturized face; apply a facial primer if desired.  If you opt to use your fingers to apply the foundation make sure your hands are thoroughly cleaned !  You do not want to put bacteria and germs onto your skin causing breakouts and/or irritation.  


Always apply foundation using circular motions in the direction your facial hair grows.  & always, always, ALWAYS blend your foundation outside of the jawline onto the neck.  


Afterwards apply your concealer and then apply finishing powder, or any other loose/pressed powder that is either your skintone or translucent, all over the face.  This will set your foundation and concealer so it will last, as well as give your blush a better base.

FOUNDATION & SKINTONES: Part 1 (Warm, Cool, Neutral undertones)

Are you a Warm, Cool or Neutral?

Did you know that you could look even more beautiful just by finding out whether you are a warm, a cool, or a neutral?

The warm, cool or neutral spectrum of beauty is the color group that your skin tone falls into naturally. Colors are divided into pigments: yellow/orange tones for warm, blue/red for cool, or both warm and cool shades or shades in between for neutral.

How do you know your color group? For starters, it isn't hard to figure out whether your natural skin tone is more a warm, or a cool. Use these guidelines, grouped together according to your natural hair color, eye color, and complexion without foundation on:

Warm Color Group

• Look underneath your wrist/forearm in natural light by a window, your veins look greenish
• You look better in gold jewelry rather than silver
• Your hair is naturally black or brown (brown with reddish or copper flecks). Your eyes are brown, and your complexion is olive or golden and tans easily
• Your natural hair ranges from light, golden to dark blonde, your eyes are dark brown and your skin is golden or olive and tans easily
• Your hair is naturally red or light auburn with dark blonde flecks. Your eyes are either green or brown, and your skin tone is beige, tanning easily
• Your hair is naturally a reddish to golden brown, your eye color is blue and your complexion is light beige, tanning easily

Warm toned individuals tend to look alive and healthy while wearing earthy colors, such as oranges, bronzes, golds, peaches, brick reds, earthy greens, mocha browns and ivory. They look best in yellow based colors.

Cool Color Group

• Look underneath your wrist/forearm in natural light by a window, your veins look blue
• You look better in silver jewelry rather than gold.
• Your natural hair color is light to medium brown, you have either greenish, hazel, or blue eyes and you burn easily (but have naturally rosy cheeks)
• Your hair is naturally a darkened ash blonde, your eyes are either hazel or blue and your complexion is very fair to pale
• Your hair color is dark brown, your eyes are blue and you have a pink tone to your fair or pale skin
• You're a naturally light to medium brunette, your eyes are a blue-gray to light-green color, your face is fair to pale with a hint of rose in your cheeks
• Your hair is naturally red or dark brunette, your eyes are a very dark brown, and your skin is pale to fair with very rosy cheeks

Cool toned people look best in jewel tones such as vibrant emerald green, royal or icy blues, rosy pinks, silvers, plums, and pure white. Blue based colors look best. 

Once you know if you're a warm or a cool, have some fun trying on clothes of specific colors to test your color palette. If you're sure that you're a cool - choose a chic, hot pink shirt and see how it complements your skin tone.

If you're a warm color type, look out for a fashionable bronze-toned orange shirt and see how much glow it gives to your skin. The best way of figuring out if you're a neutral is to try on both the hot pink and the bronze-orange…if you look equally great in both of these different colors then you may very well be a neutral! Be Wonderfully Warm, Confidently Cool - Or Nicely Neutral.

The true beauty of discovering your own natural color palette is that you can really discover the true beauty within you. Whether you're a cool or a warm, or a nice neutral in between, you'll be able to pick out clothes and accessories, makeup products and hair coloring kits with more ease and certainty - and no more costly mistakes. Have you ever wondered why you look blah in black, but happier and healthier, and even younger in your favorite ruby-red sweater? Wearing clothes and cosmetics that match your color palette will actually smooth out and brighten your natural skin tone and even make dark circles, expression lines and wrinkles much less noticeable on your face.

Makeup Colors for Warm, Cool or Neutral

• If you're a warm, look for matte eyeshadows in colors like copper, golden brown, dark gray, pale yellows or greens and an ivory tone to highlight your brows. Your best foundation is either light or dark tan depending upon your natural skin tone, and you'll look awesome in a burgundy blush and copper lipstick.
• If you're a cool, choose pearl shades of icy pink, sky or navy blue, or frosted shades of lilac, pink or smoky lavender. Test a foundation on your wrist to see how it complements your fair skin tone. You'll look great in a rose or mauve blush, and a light plum lipstick.
• If you're a neutral, look for varying shades under the 'warm' spectrum, concentrating more on bronze or autumn tones in your eyeshadows (you can wear either a pearl or a matte finish). Also go for autumn tones in your lipstick and blush - you'll look fantastic!

Still unsure of what your undertones are ?  Check out this quiz called Are Your Undertones Warm or Cool? @ http://www.bellasugar.com/Warm-Cool-Quiz-1843402

Warm  You look best in foundation that has a yellow or golden undertone. If you fall under this category, you generally should stick to earthier shades such as yellow, orange, brown, orangey-reds, and yellow-green. You'd probably wear ivory shirts over white ones, and a deep brick-red lipstick would be fabulous for a night on the town.

Cool  You look best in foundation that has a bluish or pink undertone. If you fall under this category, you generally should stick to jewel tones such as blue, purple, blue-green, green, magenta, and bluish-red. You'd probably wear white shirts over ivory ones, and black mascara makes your eyes pop.

Contouring, Highlighting, & Blush .

Contouring the face is to highlight & downplay certain facial attributes to make your face more oval because that’s the "ideal" face shape.  Oval is ideal just because it's more symmetrical / "perfect" I guess for lack of a better word ?  Also, contouring your face gives it a more natural look regarding color because by applying one color of foundation all over the face makes it that one color of course.  So by adding touches of bronzer or a darker shade of foundation/eyeshadow here and there gives a more natural color contrast!   For a more natural look I prefer matte colors but if it's for a night out a shimmery bronzer is no problem

If you do not know your face shape even after reading my Face Shapes post and you want to contour, the best and easiest thing to do is just apply bronzer where your face is naturally darker !  Or in other words, if/when you tan where on your face does it get darkest ?  (Apply there).  Even if you do not tan, just analyze your face before you put on any makeup and take note of areas that are the darkest!  No matter what you want to still look like you and look natural, so if all else fails and you are still unsure of what your face shape is use the methods above to contour.  Also, if you REALLY want to know what your face shape is feel free to leave a comment on any of my posts and ask me, attach a pic of yourself where I can clearly see your whole face straight on and I’ll tell you !  (:  Obviously, if you already have a straight on pic of yourself as a profile picture then you can skip the attach a pic part lol.

To give the illusion that I have higher, more defined cheek bones I suck in my cheeks to create a guide and where my cheeks have sunken - that's where I apply the bronzer or darker foundation. Since I have a heart shaped face, I also apply a dark color to my temples, and the last place I apply my bronzer is right underneath the jaw.  This just emphasizes the bone structure in my jawline, sometimes I do it sometimes I don't.  It's a personal preference kind of thing.  Apply the bronzer however you like whether in a line or patting it on, but make sure you end the application in circular motions to fade it out into your skin so you eliminate any harsh lines.


For the application of your darker shade to contour, use a brush if its powder bronzer/foundation and your fingers or sponge if its liquid/cream foundation.  After applying your foundation, take your darker color that you are using to contour and stroke it on with a sweeping motion then blend out with circular motions.  Or you can pat it onto the skin then use sweeping and circular motions to blend it out.

Highlighting is another part of contouring the face that is done according to your personal facial features and your face shape; again read my Face Shapes post for more information !  Highlighting will bring more emphasis & attention to the area.  For me however, I highlight my forehead, chin, bridge of my nose, and the bone just below my eyes.  


When applying you can use a brush if its a powder base highlighter or your fingers if its a cream.  Dab onto skin and blend it out !

Blush -

When you're doing blush you can use any color you want but you always want to try to keep it in the undertone that matches your complexion.  Whether it be yellow, red, or pink.  To prevent making yourself look like a clown, it is best that you use a natural blush color for your skin.  To get more information on whether or not you have a warm, cool, or neutral skintone and what color your skin's undertone is check out my other post titled Foundation and Skintones.

To find your natural blush color simply pinch the apples of your cheeks and watch what color the area turns when the blood rushes to the skin.  That is your natural blush color !  Simple right ? (:

When applying blush to the apples of your cheeks, dab on with brush or fingers and blend out toward hairline/middle of ear.

** Note: It is important when contouring, highlighting, and applying blush that you blend out the colors into each other; erasing any harsh lines!

Face Shapes: Contouring, Eyebrows, and Enhancing Your Beauty

Helllo everyone !

Today I am going to discuss face shape features and how you want to use makeup to complement that face shape.  Knowing your face shape can come in handy whether you're trying to find a new hairstyle, contouring your face, or want to have eyebrows that complement your face shape; all of this will enhance your beauty !  There are certain hairstyles, types of bangs, and eyebrow shapes that will not complement certain face shapes so you would wanna stay away from those.  Back to makeup though, not everyone contours their face; contouring is completely optional and a matter of personal preference !

To find your face shape pull your hair back into a ponytail or use a headband.  Grab an eye/lip/brow pencil, dry erase marker, old lipstick, or bar of soap.  Look into the mirror and close one eye to focus better and get a more precise line.  Trace around the image of face on the mirror.

Now I will talk about attributes of each face shape in order for you to analyze your outline on the mirror and characteristics in your actual face as well.  Doing this will give you a better idea of which face shape you have. 

Most people will fit into one of the major categories which include:

Oval Face – If you measure, the length will be equal to one and a half times width; with forehead and jaw at the same width.  Forehead is wider than the chin, prominent cheekbones, and the face gracefully tapers to a narrow oval chin.  An oval face may change according to weight gain or loss and age.  It is common for people who have a classic oval face to have small features.  The oval face shape is similar to that of an egg.  The oval face shape is considered to be the ideal. A shape that is perfectly symmetric with broader cheeks that taper in at the forehead and chin describes the oval face.  Your face can support most makeup trends and needs no contouring.  With the use of dark and light correctors every facial shape can be made to resemble an oval facial shape. Oval faces can need darker foundation applied at the forehead and chin to make it less severely oval.

Round Face - If you have a round face your face will be circular and as wide as it is long.  This may vary a little where your face is not quite as wide as it is long, but within ¼ to ½ inches.  The round face shape is fuller and more youthful.  The distance from the forehead to the chin tends to be short, while being wider from cheek to cheek. A round face has full cheeks and a rounded chin.  To enhance the appearance of a round face, you can use some basic contouring.  Round faces need only a little darker foundation applied at the temples and around the cheeks and jaw. This will make it appear a little more elongated.  Blend, blend, blend!!

Long/Rectangular/Oblong - Face is longer than it is wide with a long straight cheek line.  Most women with a long face know they have it.  They learned early on that they could not wear their hair long and straight without looking stretched out.  The long face is characterized by high cheek bones, a raised forehead and distinct jaw line.  In order to shorten this striking face shape, all it takes is a little of bronzer on the chin. You can also apply extra blush on the apples of the cheeks to bring out the distinctive cheek bones. 

Heart/Inverted Triangle - Narrow at jaw line, wide at forehead and cheekbones.  The heart shaped face is wider at the forehead then narrows gradually to a slightly pointed or rounded chin.  To soften the lower half of the face, you will highlight the chin, forehead and under the eyes, while also darkening the temples and cheeks.  Similar to the oval face shape but the chin tapers to more of a point.

Square - If you have a square shaped face your forehead, jaw line and cheekbones are almost equal in width.  It is also characterized by a strong and broad forehead with squared jawline.  The main difference between a round face and square is usually seen at the jaw line.  When looking at the shape on your mirror, see if the corners are sharper rather than round.  Also, a square face has the same width from the edges of the forehead, across the cheeks, and from jaw to jaw.  To soften the square face you can highlight the center of the forehead, under the eyes, and the very tip of the chin.  Then, darken the hairline by the temples and the chiseled corners of the jaw. Finish the look with blush on the apples of the cheeks.  By correcting this face shape with darker foundation at the four corners, this redefines the corners into more of a curve, giving it a whole new dimension.

Pear/Triangle - Wide chin with a narrow forehead.  Forehead and cheekbones are narrow with a wide jawline.  The triangular face needs darker foundation at the chin, making it appear shorter.  Using light foundation along the jawline will give it more balance and depth.  This facial shape requires refining the lower part of the face with a darker corrector while also using a light corrector at the temple, bringing the focus towards the middle of the face. This will bring the face in, making it narrower and longer.

          Diamond – Characterized by narrow forehead and jawline with wide and high cheekbones.  Not as common as the other face shapes, typically the face is highly angular; the forehead is somewhat short and the face is widest at the temples.  Apply darker shade of foundation/bronzer on either side of forehead, apply lighter shade of foundation/highlighter at either side of jawline, apply blush on the apples of your cheeks blending away toward the center of the ear.

Balancing Your Features Face shape makeup tips also include your facial features. If you've got a feature you're not too fond of, like your nose or chin, playing with light and dark correctors can help you adjust how they look.

• Double Chin: Blend a darker foundation right on the double chin.
• Prominent Chin: Correct this by applying a little darker foundation right on the tip of your chin, and blend well.
• Long Nose: Think your nose is too long? Apply dark foundation right on the tip and blend well to make it appear shorter.
• Broad Nose: Broad noses are easily adjusted with dark foundation applied down each side of the nose.
• Short Nose: Short noses need a light application of light foundation along the whole top of the nose. This will give it a less defined edge and help it to appear less short.
• Narrow Nose: Widen a narrow nose by applying a light foundation down each side of the nose.
• Crooked Nose: A crooked nose is the hardest. Apply dark foundation on the crooked side to minimize it, and then apply light foundation on the opposite side.
• These tips will help you achieve a balance to your features.  Face shape makeup tips are some of the most useful tips you can have.  With them you can look your very best while still looking like you.

Eyebrow Shapes  Eyebrow shapes can also play a role in balancing your face shape. 

• Oval face shapes: soft angeled brows
• Round face shapes: higher arched brows will add length to the face
• Oblong: a flat brow shape will create a horizontal look, stopping the eye from looking up and down the face ; making your face appear shorter.
• Square: a thicker/darkened, more angular brow shape is good for square face shapes because it creates a strong brow.  This will balance the strong feature of a very defined jawline that is prominent in a square shaped face.
• Heart: to enhance the heart shape of your face and give a feminine and attractive look to your face, use a softly arched or rounded brow for your face shape.  If you have a short heart shaped face the best choice for you would be high arched round eyebrows to add the illusion of length.
• Diamond: to soften the angles in a diamond shaped face go with a curved or round eyebrow.  This will also make the widest portion of your face look slightly narrower.

* To make sure I gave correct information, I did have to do some research so this whole post is not entirely in my own words.  The resources I used are as follows:

http://www.eyebrowz.com/faceshape.htm

http://ezinearticles.com/?Makeup-Artists-Secrets---Face-Shape-Makeup-Tips&id=167309

http://makeup.lovetoknow.com/Face_Shapes

http://styletips101.com/makeup/how-to-determine-your-face-shape.html

http://www.hairboutique.com/tips/tip1460.htm

http://trepanrr.tripod.com/facial_contouring.htm

ABOUT ME IN DEPTH - FIRST POST

Hey guys !  So in case you haven't gathered already my name is Tiana Kalei (kuh-lay) aka nana.  My mom is Hawaiian & Portuguese from Ewa Beach, Hawaii (Oahu) & my dad is 100% Puerto Rican from Lajas, PR (coountry side lol).  I now live in VA but miss Hawaii & my family sooo muuch !  ):  I'm 20 years old with a gorgeous daughter who's almost 2 years old, currently single and trying to just get my life in the right path.  

I got my Cosmetology license while I was in high school and I'm always reading/looking/watching/searching about makeup, skincare, nails, & hair related stuff.  I love the subject of beauty and learning how to make yourself/others look better.  Doing someone else's hair (unless it's simple/quick lol) was never my thing but I always liked the other subjects of Cosmetology. 

Oh ! & how can I forget to mention that I have a twin sissy name Katrina aka chena (chin-uh) lmao.  Haha funny nicknames between us I know but we're super goofy and pretty care-free at time so oh well ;D  

But anyways my blog is going to contain stuff from my personal life but I want to gear it more towards my journey towards just different stuff in general that I do or want to do.  As of now I'm a stay at home mother but consistently looking for a job ! My life is FULL of constant rough patches holes that I'm trying to PATCH up.  I'm all over the place my thoughts... just everything lol but that's just ME.  Since after my pregnancy my mom and sister swear I'm so much goofier/crazy/insane & all over the place compared to before my bundle of joy haha and I can never deny it because it's totally true !  Something someone else says to me that really kinda makes me laugh is my baby's father (not my baby daddy - FATHER lol) he always tells me I'm OCD.  & that's kind of true too haha omg, if something is really bothering me I just have to fix it or else I will freak out (again, i know it's wierd).  Hahaha it's just some stuff though I guess; I have a thing with numbers & counting objects too.  With certain stuff I'm just really particular about it, and when I place stuff in an area I want to be really neat I have to make sure it's lying exactly straight.

More about me though - I'm a HUGE daydreamer (hence the name), it's quite insane sometimes.  In school during and outside of my work I was always daydreaming, I am a constant thinker.  & to be completely honest besides my 2 best friends in pennsylvania (Sam & Natalie:) and my friend Jas who is also living in PA ahaha I have liiiiike NO friends lol.  I'm social but fairly antisocial at the same time ; I'm wierd as hell sometimes I think I really am from Venus or Saturn orr... something.  Another thing I really want to do when I feel confident enough and get a webcam for my laptop - I wanna make my own YouTube channel with ehh different beauty related stuff, hauls, etc.  I love love looovvvee trying new products out I get so retardedly excited !

Another thing - I RAMBLE .  hehe sorry guys well I hope this blog works out how I dream & get a buuunch of followers/subscribers etc.  If you ever have any questions or suggestions of stuff you wanna see on my blog , absolutely ANYTHING !!!!!  Pleease make sure you let me know in a comment / message ; doesn't matter to me.  & don't forget to please FOLLOW my blog (8

<3 tiana kalei ;