What type of looks do you think you can’t pull off? Why?
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It’s hard for me to pull off really cool-toned looks, just because it’s a large contrast compared to my normal, warm-toned complexion!
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Thanks to Arika for today’s question!
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Great question! 🙂
Honestly.. I think its confidence that enables us to wear whatever colours we want. I don’t think that we can say, oh hell no.. don’t wear THAT colour. I mean, it also takes practice.
With brown eyes, I’ve been told I can wear any colour; yet right now.. I’m still too scared to wear anything blue, or anything too bright? I’m pretty much a neutral girl, but hopefully one day I’ll be able to wear something more tropical, and something that Christine shows us through all these gorgeous tutorials. I live vicariously through her 🙂
dark brown lipsticks and light pinks
the no makeup look.haha. cause i look like a corpse. dark undereye circles and pale lips
The i think this looks bad look, never good
the no m/u look, lol definitely
and usually the cool toned ones, bright e/s like teal/aqua, and hot pink blushers. I just can’t do pink blushers!!! very frustrating, actually.
I can’t wear purples on my eyes. Light lilac and lavender, yes, but real purples make me look like I got smacked in the eye. I’ve seen some fantastic purples, but all of them kind of turn bad and bruise-like on me. 🙁 I also can’t do orange lips, most nude lipsticks, or orange-y blushes. Anything with an orange tone stands out starkly against my incredibly cool, pale skin.
I agree with those saying the no make up look. I look terrible without it, I have very small and thin eyelashes and blotchy skin. 🙁
Bronzers yet I just end up looking orange ..too bright lipstick but ill do a bright gloss… too bright pink of a blush…and red lipstick im light skinned with very full lips it makes them look huge lol but maybe someday
Any red lipstick (yeah, seriously.) or hot pink lipstick. Or dark brown. Not to mention dark purple lipsticks. Any lip color that is darker than… let’s see… the color of the “search” bottom on the upper right corner of the website. Those lip colors make me look very old for some reason. And red, pink, wine-toned eyeshadows: they generally make my eyes look puffy. Maybe I have to play with more colors especially when it comes to eyeshadows- I sure hope there’s a way to pull off those shades!
oops, I meant to say the search button, not bottom. You get the idea. lol
I feel very limited in my makeup. I cannot wear anything too bright or to dark. I am very pale with light blue eyes. No smokey eyes, no blues, not much purple. I feel like I have to have a very light hand with any eyeshadow. My lips are weird, too. I turn anything with any brown at all in it to a yucky muddy color, but I turn anything pink a brighter shade of pink. Like MAC Syrup turns brown on me, but Big Bow turns so bright pink that I can’t even wear it. It looks a lovely on my daughter & it makes me so frustrated.
Hi Tabby
Maybe you should try lip-erase, it is a pro-product than neutralixes your own lipcolor, so you can wear the color lipstick or gloss you want. I have same problem as you, and I have a lip erase coming by way as we speak. Cheers, Julie.
bronzers and nudes…too pale for them.
It’s really hard for me to wear warm-looks, like gold/browns/bronze.
I have a very cool skin so pastel and cool colours like cold-pink,
purple, blues and greens looks good on me.
I think I have the guts to try any look, but I’m not an overall fan of pastels or blues.
I never feel like I can get blue eyeshadow looking right on me. I tend to tone it down a little by going teal if I’m having a blue day.
Also, orange-y blushes and lips are a BIG no-no on my pale skin. I tend to go for dusky, rose-like shades on my cheeks and lips 🙂
Definitely pinks, reds, and purples. I feel like I look garish with the reds/pinks and whenever I attempt to put on purple eyeshadows, it looks like someone punched me in the face 🙂
it’s hard for me to pull off a smoky eye. It might just be that I’m not used to wearing so much make up.. but even when its done by a mua, it looks weird!!
and I can’t wear pink eyeshadows- they make me look like i’ve been crying
I can’t wear pastels because they look muddy and dirty on me! can’t pull off pink and purples very well too, but not giving up till i find the right shade of purple! =p
I thinik blues look TERRIBLE against my caramel coloured complexion, well, true blues. Aquas look pretty okay.
Blue eyeshadow 🙁
a grey/black smoky eye, and liner on the waterline
Copper and Orange tones. They just end up looking horrible and make me look like a carrot. I have a cool skin tone/blue undertone. Usually gold is a bit too much on the orange side for me to wear as well, which I really find such a shame. For the above reason I have never tried any bronzer either. Just cant imagine it coming out anything other then horrible. Do any of you have experience with a blue undertone – very fair skin and bronzer?
The Physician’s Formula Organic Wear line has a bronzer called “Healthy Glow” that is pretty subtle and a lot less orange than other ones I’ve tried.
Pastels…I have a deep complexion (nc 40-43) and anything non jewel toned or deeply pigmented washes me out! I’ve never been able to pull off purple e/s, though everyone tells me brown eyes should pop with purple LMAO I’ll keep trying though…
also, the no makeup look…My face looks weird without my eyebrows filled in and my eyes look too large without eyeliner..plus unevenly pigmented skin!! argggh 😀
I feel like all green eyeshadow looks just don’t work on me. I can’t even describe what it does but I definitely look not-right. Hot pink lipsticks also look awful. D: That’s such a shame because I love that color.
Smokey eyes! Whenever I try them my hubbie says I look like I have black eyes! The no-makeup look doesn’t work on me anymore since I’ve gotten older and have dark circles and an uneven skintone now. Also, brown lipstick is the kiss of death for me, I look deathly ill–YUCK!!
For reference, I have NC15 skin, full red lips, turquoise blue eyes lined in navy, really rosey cheeks, and dirty blonde hair.. so, lots of colours going on lol I can’t wear too many colours, bc I look like a clown. Red & dark pink lipsticks also make me look like a clown. Light pastel coloured shadows, they just look lame on me. Too much eyeshadow makes me look YOUNGER than I am. Black lined eyes make my eyes look too freaky. Warm brown shadows make me look sick. So basically I try to neutralize some of my colours, not add more.. block out my lips a bit, taupe on my eyes, always make sure my skin is totally clear once my makeup is done.. otherwise the colours pick up on each other.
Ohh, to me it sounds like you have great colors going on, esp your eyes! Have you ever tried going brunette? I wonder if you had a dark neutral haircolor if it would make it easier for you to use colors in your makeup?
Nude lips, that’s for sure. I look like I am a walking corpse.
Pastels or crazy cool tones. I’m NC42 and they just make me look bleh!
Bright “Snow White” red lips. I’m pale & love wearing dark red & brown-toned red, but very bright red…I just can’t seem to make it look ok. Makes my skin imperfections stand out.
I look better without makeup at all than with the bright red lips!
Same here with the no makeup look. My skin is so sallow. I need something on my face.
Pastels or anything too cool or warm – I have pretty neutral coloring, so extremes don’t work
Light blue eyeshadow, brown lipsticks!
I can’t wear cool-colored lipsticks or blush, just makes me look ghastly.
Cool toned colours too! Pastels & light coloured pinks especially.. 🙁
Pastels and any neon/bright look look bad on me (although Party Mate lipstick, a bright fuchsia-ish pink with a slightly shimmery and sheer finish from the Naughty Nauticals collection, works well with my complexion). Also, browns usually look dead on my lips unless they have a tinge of gold or bronze in them.
Black liner all around the eyes, especially in the lower waterline. I’ve got small-ish eyes and it just makes my eyes looks smaller. I look best with just liner on the upper lid.
I also think blues look way to garish on me.
Hmm I don’t think that I’ve found an eyeshadow colour that I ABSOLUTELY can’t wear…But I must admit, creating new looks in GENERAL is a bit hard for me because I don’t have a crease 🙁
and I DESPISE the ‘fake-a-crease’ look because…well…it looks fake! 😛
So far, just brown lipsticks.
Nude lips.
Ditto! Since I’m so pale, I always have to have some sort of color to my lips or else I look dead. When I do smokey eyes, I always opt for pale pink lips instead of neutral nudes.
i can’t do the arabic-inspired looks with the crazy cool eyeliner in the tear ducts. the folds of my eyelids are so hooded that my tear ducts dont line up with my eyelids, so i can’t do it even though i have a crease.
I can not use any warm toned colors, but it kills me, since I love the way they look, and the golden bronzy looks I seem to see everywhere.
I am green-eyed, fair, blonde, pale and kindda seethough…
So I stick with pastels and cool colors.
I have tried to use a lot of self tanner and even brown contact linses, but I still cannot wear my lovely Off the Radar and the other 30 warm colors I keep buying LOL
I also can not do any dark lipstick, no matter if it is brown, purple or red.
Blue is also a problem, since I will look like a Barbie doll or worse…
Blues! I bought electric eel from MAC a few months back, and i was so terribly excited to pair it with some darker blues like Blu Noir and deep truth or even humid or freshwater, and i tried really hard to come up with a pretty blue smokey eye, but unfortunately i just ended up looking like a crazy crack whore. I’m NC37 complexion btw, and damn, i just cannot pull off the blue look! Oh well too bad! I’ll just stick to the pinks and brown neutrals that seem to work well with my tanned skin =)
– blue toned lipsticks (might they be light pink, mauve, red, hot pink)
– aqua green, lavender, baby blue, pink… anything cool, pastel and pale on my eyes
Bronzers because redheads are NOT meant to look tan! (Although, bronze and bronzy-brown shadows look gorgeous against my blue eyes.) Also red lipsticks that are 1. too bright 2. too orangey 3. too dark. I end up blotting all my red lipsticks because they fit into one of these three categories! Super glossy lip products dont look too good on me..I look better in more sheen-ish (not shiny!) and matte lip shades, and for what reason I’ll never know! 🙂
Really cool looks don’t work for me as well. Blues are near impossible for me to use. I can only wear it sparingly and a light hand. Lavender lipstick is an absolute no. I bought Fashion Mews and Lavender Whip because I heard it was gorgeous. I end up having to use bronzy or golden lipglosses over top to make it work. Dark brown lipsticks don’t work well for me either, they’re usually too intense, so I’ll layer it over lipgloss so its sheer. Pastel colors are ok, as long as it isn’t washed out pastel.
I used to think that I couldn’t pull off certain colors (pinks, reds, and purples mostly) But I found that if I tweak around with mixing colors, or using a MAC shadestick or paintpot it helps a ton. You just have to experament with things and 99% of the time you can find something that works! I usually stick to browns, greens, and aqua/teals. I’m Pale to medium skinned and my eyecolor changes all the time (it’s kinda freaky LOL)
I made a couple cool looks with older (and new collections) with colors I wouldn’t have dreamt of using a couple months ago.
Here’s a look for the new Sugarshot collection:
Bare Study PP all over lid
Lemon Chiffon Shadestick on the inner1/2-2/3’s of lid
Red Velvet on outer 1/3 and into the crease
Pat on Sugarshot over the Lemon Chiffon and just over the line of Red Velvet
Blend Dear Cupcake over the Red Velvet and into the crease.
Either Sushi Flower e/s or Bright Fuscha pigment to blend the Sugar shot smoothly
Club on the outer V
Vanilla for a highlighter
Layer on the plushlash and use the Club with a pencil brush for an eyeliner smoky look around the lashline.
Katie and Kalani Buxom mixed on the lips.
I don’t use much in the way of blush. I’m a Medium (Bare Essencials) and usually I’ll use High Beam or Moon Beam by Benefit Cosmetics for color on my cheeks and face. :]
The look I did today was the Moonbathe collection (mostly):
Bare Study PP all over lid
Cosmic e/s over whole lid only
Blend in Mythology e/s on the outer 2/3 of lid
Use the pencil brush to blend Cranberry e/s into the Mythology
Smut (my fave brown besides Club) in the outer V and as liner.
Bad Gal Lash (Benefit) and Benefit’s Perfect 10 blush/bronzer.
Marquis ‘D Lipstick and She Likes Candy lipglass (Or Consume Me over the lipstick)
I hope this helps!
Yeah I got the name of the collection wrong lmao Whoops. It’s been a long day!
God I’m on a roll. With the Moonbathe look. Use Claire’d Lune as a highlighter lol
Ugh! As a natural auburn woman with dark brown eyes (so dark you’d almost think they were black) and fair, cool skin, I’ve tried on many different types of looks from the purple eye to the black eye liner to the bronzy, smoky eye. Nude lips too, and red lips, and even purple lips.
Now I’m not going to name a look that I THINK I can’t pull off. Instead I’m going to name a few looks that I KNOW I can’t pull off since I’ve tried quite a few of them.
1) The tomato red lip. My skin is too pale and pinkish to wear that warm red lipstick like I’ve tried from Rimmel London back about two years ago. It made my face look yucky. Bluey-reds, I can easily pull off, and true reds too. NOT tomato reds.
2) The sooty black eye liner. Now while I can easily wear black in clothes, the same cannot be said in makeup, especially in eye shadow/eye liner.
3) Any combination of bronze/brown eye shadow and nude lip. Believe it or not, I went to my local department store, and the woman who worked the Lancome counter at the time, when I asked her about the browns/beiges/neutrals, she pointed me AWAY from those because they do absolutely NO justice to my deep brown eyes.
4) Pale pink lipstick of ANY brand. From Revlon to NYC, pale pink lipstick especially with a metallic quality washes me out. Pale pink lipstick with gold undertones doesn’t do me that much justice either.
I can do a sheer lipstick or lip gloss, but I have to have wilder colors for my eyes in order to balance myself out, otherwise I look too washed out too.
I have a hard time with bright pinks but am slowly learning how to better wear it and I can’t really do browns and bronzey colors on my eyes well….they just don’t look right to me.