Ugh will I ever be able to wear purples/blues/grays

without looking like a corpse?

I spent an hour practicing this morning and I'm just OVER IT. lol  Need to go look up some tutorials for fair skinned, freckled brunettes with brown eyes... w/fine lines and grayish under-eye circles to conceal.

That's not asking too much, is it?



okay rant over.

YES, YES and YES! You can totally pull off those colors, especially with your fair skin... With my dark skin, I always have to use a darker color... for you, you could use light colors and contour them with the same color but a little bit darker... Or try even a cream color for your base and contour it with a light version of the purples, blues and grays...  You just have to practice and keep an open mind... post up some pics of what you  have done... I'm sure it doesn't look as bad as you think... we always are the worst critics for ourselves...

I agree it takes practice. Fair skin can definitely pull off those colors. Especially since you have dark hair. Equally important is finding the right shades of those colors. I can't say which is better for you but there's a different look between pastel purples and bright, solid , vibrant purples.

Is it possible you're just not used to seeing yourself in these colors and that's why you think you look bad?  I just started fillinf in my eyebrows with powder (I had used pencil for years) and it was a lot more bold than the blonde pencil I had been using.  I though I looked like a clown but now that I'm used to it I love it.

I thought about that - but I think its the looks I'm trying to do. If I'm doing purple I can't use a really bright obvious highlighter or it looks very pasty. I think in order to pull purple off I'm going to have to go more natural with a highlighter color rather then lighter shade of purple or whitish gray. I tried photographing it, but I can't get a focused close-up with my camera. I think its a setting issue so I just need to mess around with it some more.  I'm not beyond actually going someplace and getting it done so I can see how they apply it.  I can do it lighter, but the minute I try to go darker with highlighted accents it looks terrible.  I wore purple on my wedding day, but it was very light/natural and it didn't even show up in the pictures that I was wearing makeup.
 

Originally Posted by Bonnie Krupa /img/forum/go_quote.gif

Is it possible you're just not used to seeing yourself in these colors and that's why you think you look bad?  I just started fillinf in my eyebrows with powder (I had used pencil for years) and it was a lot more bold than the blonde pencil I had been using.  I though I looked like a clown but now that I'm used to it I love it.

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Maybe try a new technique, like have a light color on the lid then a darker version of that color in the crease, or put a light color on the inner half of your lid and fade it out into a darker color?

I personally do not like colored highlighters. The colors I use are UD's Virgin and Sin. They are very light and satin/frosted. And I have a pretty good tan going so it's not necessarily that you have paler skin. And I might say to stay away from any gray toned highlighters.

Another tip is to maybe not bring your eyeshadow all the way up. It looks like you have some decent eye lid space. Which i envy. Try keeping the brighter colors lower on the lid and use more highlighter

Originally Posted by angels41105 /img/forum/go_quote.gif

I personally do not like colored highlighters. The colors I use are UD's Virgin and Sin. They are very light and satin/frosted. And I have a pretty good tan going so it's not necessarily that you have paler skin. And I might say to stay away from any gray toned highlighters.

Another tip is to maybe not bring your eyeshadow all the way up. It looks like you have some decent eye lid space. Which i envy. Try keeping the brighter colors lower on the lid and use more highlighter

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Im not a huge fan of colored highlighters too... i like a more neutral beige color rather than keeping in the same color groups...

I also agree with Bonnie... try doing a lighter color as a base, then blend out into a darker color for your contour/crease area... But it seriously takes practice... When i first started i didnt like the colors either i thought i looked like MIMI from the Drew Carey show LOL... but you get use to it... Now a days i LOVE playing with different colors... Or you could do that I did, I stuck with a brown base color for a while, then just blended different shades of blues or greens into my middle of the eye eyelids, if that made any sense lol... keep trying chica... show us some pics =) i dont think its as bad as you think it is...

I'm not a fan of colored highlighters either, but honestly I can't even tell what color they are I use so little.

You can wear any color so long as you find the right shade that suits your coloring. I have the same problem with my makeup and my daughter's since we look great in blues and greens but not so much on our eyes but I have yet to find the right shade of blues, greens are easier to find.

Thanks for all the tips - I'll work on getting some pictures... I also will be moving my product into a brighter room with way more natural light in the next few weeks so hopefully that will help too. Its summer so I'll have plenty of time to practice before I feel like wearing cool colors again. I'm really loving all my neutral/bronze palettes - especially the Naked palette.

Yeah if you could get us some close up pics that would be really great /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" /> For me I have a thing with keeping highlighters the opposite of the 'main' color-- in the sense of shimmer vs. matte. For example, if I'm going for a dramatic shimmery lid, I keep the highlight matte. If I've got a matte overall look, I choose a highlight w/ a bit of shimmer. You definitely CAN pull off these colors; it's all about finding the right Hue for You /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

It just takes time to find the right shade for you. I've noticed that red purples are not so lovely on me as more blue shades of purple. Grey and me are still battling and blue walks a fine line with me. Experiment and go tot he counters and see if the ladies will do a look for you and it may spark some ideas.

I personally think gray is a hit and miss shade. Matte grays fail on me. But Gunmetal in the naked palette  

Have you tried a purple/plum in the crease, and a more neutral shade on the lid? It might be less than jarring than a lavendar wash or purple smokey eye.

Originally Posted by zafiro80 /img/forum/go_quote.gif

It just takes time to find the right shade for you. I've noticed that red purples are not so lovely on me as more blue shades of purple. Grey and me are still battling and blue walks a fine line with me. Experiment and go tot he counters and see if the ladies will do a look for you and it may spark some ideas.

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Definitely a good point! You may look better in warmer purples (more red based, plummy type shades) or cooler (blue based, lavender type colours or darker versions of).

well I tried again this morning and it was zombie apocolypse... yeah that bad.  But I did make a discovery - I think a big part of my problem is that I'm doing my makeup standing up in a bathroom mirror. Plans are underway to get my make-up out of the bathroom this weekend (after reading here how bad it was to keep it there!)  Now I'm just trying to figure out a makeshift place for me to SIT and do my makeup.  I think my problem is bad lighting and also I need a magnifying mirror of some sort.  The shadow is not getting to where I want it to go... its just a hot mess and it just shows more with darker colors. I've been getting by because of neutral colors, but the minute I add color it goes downhill. 

Originally Posted by NotAVampireLvr /img/forum/go_quote.gif

well I tried again this morning and it was zombie apocolypse... yeah that bad.  But I did make a discovery - I think a big part of my problem is that I'm doing my makeup standing up in a bathroom mirror. Plans are underway to get my make-up out of the bathroom this weekend (after reading here how bad it was to keep it there!)  Now I'm just trying to figure out a makeshift place for me to SIT and do my makeup.  I think my problem is bad lighting and also I need a magnifying mirror of some sort.  The shadow is not getting to where I want it to go... its just a hot mess and it just shows more with darker colors. I've been getting by because of neutral colors, but the minute I add color it goes downhill. 

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Good light is a definite must... i do my makeup in my living room LOL cause the bathroom light is awful... But I do need an actual makeup sitting station, maybe in my bathroom idk yet... But don't be scared to try colors, it takes some time to get use to.. You can do it! =) Just keep practicing, practice makes perfect...

Personally, I love wearing Center Stage (Smashbox eyeshadow trio) and I'm fair-skinned. It's actually one of my favourites. They don't describe it as plum, but it looks kinda "plum-like" to me. Maybe you can use this as reference to come up with a colour combo that works.

From my personal experience I tend to prefer something more neutral like that over lavender or blue shadows. I just don't think it looks as good on me.

I think she would look better in a red based purple.. and try some pinks too!  OOh.. pink and purple.. my favorite!