What is your makeup comfort zone like?

For the eyes, teal eyeliner is a go-to but for eyeshadows on the lid, I don’t know that there’s one look I reach for. For cheeks, I tend to gravitate toward coral and peachy-brown or rosy brown satin finishes. For lips, mauves and corals.

— Christine

38 Comments

Comments that do not adhere to our comment policy may be removed. Discussion and debate are highly encouraged but we expect community members to participate respectfully. Please keep discussion on-topic, and if you have general feedback, a product review request, an off-topic question, or need technical support, please contact us!

Please help us streamline the comments' section and be more efficient: double-check the post above for more basic information like pricing, availability, and so on to make sure your question wasn't answered already. Comments alerting us to typos or small errors in the post are appreciated (!) but will typically be removed after errors are fixed (unless a response is needed).

We appreciate enthusiasm for new releases but ask readers to please hold questions regarding if/when a review will be posted as we can't commit to or guarantee product reviews. We don't want to set expectations and then disappoint readers as even products that are swatched don't always end up being reviewed due to time constraints and changes in priorities! Thank you for understanding!

Comments on this post are closed.
Seraphine Avatar

My comfort zone goes through phases. Lately, I’ve been going through a no-eyeshadow phase—just doing my brows and wearing mascara on my upper lashes (my lowers are too sparse to wear mascara). I always wear foundation, concealer, setting powder, and blush, plus sometimes a bit of highlighter on my cheekbones. And, of course, lipstick. Must. Wear. Lipstick. One of the things I love about the no-eyeshadow look is that I can wear a dark or bright lipstick without looking overly made up at the office (in MY opinion, of course…there are a lot of women here who don’t wear a stitch of makeup!).

Anne Avatar

Have you tried lightly dotting pencil eyeliner between your sparse lower lashes? Mine grow more sparse every year. Mascara without lengthening fibers looks better and more natural on them.

Janice Avatar

For the eyes it’s brown, copper, all shades of golds, plums & purples. I can’t wear blue or teal eyeshadows on my lids, doesn’t look good with my teal eyes. But, I can wear teal or navy, royal blue eyeliners, & it looks stunning. Go figure. Lol. For cheeks, it mostly liquid or cream blushes, some powder, but has to be satiny. For colors, Coral, pink, & rosy brown shades, even some bronzes. Lips, coral, pinks, some coppers, orange, or warm reds. Lipglosses, I can just about get away with any color.

GUSnail Avatar

Eyes some neutral to slightly warm browns, and brown eyeliner. Cheeks rosy plums like Nars Dolce Vita, and lips plumy, pinky, browny like Bite Chai or Mac Whirl.

Raeanne Avatar

Eyes/Brows: I usually only wear mascara and a quick brow pencil.

Cheeks: I have a lot of different colors I love, but my go-to for work are anything nude, peach, and copper.

Lips: Nudes and reds all the way. I usually go either with a comfy matte nude or red, or alternatively, a nude gloss that I can just swipe and go.

Lesley Avatar

My comfort makeup is warm bronze and brown shadow (Viseart Theory Minx), brown eyeliner and black mascara. Fenty gloss bomb on my lips. Blush leaning toward red these days. But I feel comfortable in most other colors except red lips, because I am bad at maintaining them.

Jade Avatar

My go-to look is comprised of light to medium, natural coverage for the skin, a satin coral blush, no bronzer, a brownish rose for the lips with a glossy finish, and for the eyes: some sort of blue or teal on the lower lash line, an inner corner highlight, lots of mascara and nothing else.

Mags Avatar

For me, it’s mostly taupe or cool toned brown mattes on the eyes with soft black mascara. Blush is a medium pigmented pink (warm or cool, depending on my mood) and either a pinky nude or pinky lavender lipstick, always matte.

Wednesday Avatar

Balanced shadows which run neither too cool nor too warm. I like plums, purples, reds, cooler browns, and blues for my green hazel eyes. I’m more likely at this point to wear a well shaped but very well blended eye look and no lipstick than the reverse. Cheek colours must look nude with a hint of satin finish colour. I adore highlight.. bring it on. Skin should be slightly dewy, light to medium cover, and look skin like. I’m over matte or heavy coverage foundations. Eyebrows shaped, but slightly fluffy looking. Lip balm a must with a soft natural looking plump lips. Sophisticated Natural would describe my jam.

Charlotte Rhubottom Avatar

I’m looking for a foundation like you described. What brands do you use. My Estée Lauder Double Wear and Lancôme Teinte Idole is just too heavy.

Wednesday Avatar

Hi Charlotte: I’m stressed about the recent discontinuation of Sunday Riley The Influencer foundation. That has been my key foundation since it was introduced just this year! I completely abandoned EL Double Wear for this one. I love everything about it. I’ve tried other foundations, but this one has it all: finish, coverage without being ott AND a great colour for my light neutral slightly olive complexion.

I’ve read good things about Lancome Skin Feels Good foundation (not the tinted moisturizer.. the foundation version), but frankly never really had much luck with their base colours. It is on my shortlist to try and buy.

I’ve recently tried a mineral foundation by Glow and while I love the finish and have an okay colour match, the wear time is a big issue. It transfers and my skin swallows it up which is made worse by primer. Wha???

I love the texture and feel of GA luminous silk. Sadly, nowhere near a skintone match.

Others on my list from my research: YSL radiance awakening liquid version and Lawless Woke up Like This.

I don’t know whether or not the Sunday Rikey will return or be reworked. If so, will I still love it?

Crushing when you find a key product you absolutely love which subsequently does not even last a full year on the shelves. Argh ?!!!!

Nancy T Avatar

For eyes: Copper/rose-gold, warm browns/bronze/gold, plum or purple eyeshadows, black wings, mascara and tightline, dark or deep purple/plum or teal/green pencil liner on lower lashline.
Cheeks: soft berry or muted coral blush, golden hued or rose-gold highlighters.
Lips: Nudes that don’t look like concealer on my lips (MAC Marque, PMG She’s Heaven, UD Liar or Broken), plums, burgundy and deep, warm red, plus warm pink/coral for lipsticks. MLBB shimmery lipgloss, ie; Fenty Universal Gloss Bomb or Becca Beach Nectar. Gold shimmer or molten red metallic gloss, too.
And for my foundation to perfect my skin without looking heavy, cake y or mask-like.

Deborah S. Avatar

I think that overall my comfort zone is pretty tame and mainstream. I don’t use a lot of really bright shades on my eyes. I do love colour on my eyes and love a good shimmer/duochrome sparkle but I tend to not get any wilder than greens, blues and teals. It took me quite a while to warm up to reds and oranges on my eyes. Because I don’t work and live in a small community, I mostly play with my makeup and every once in awhile I think I should get some more out there, bright, bold shadows for my eyes but I just never seem to follow through.

As for lips I am very pretty mainstream there also. I wear the usual shades allowing for my personal preferences which always lands me in the red, plum, pink, mauve range. I don’t do nude lips as they don’t work well for me with my pigmented lips and I don’t care for how they look on me either. So, nothing exciting here.

Rachel R. Avatar

I don’t think I really have a comfort zone as far as color is concerned. I avoid going too bright and garish or too dark on the cheeks, because I’m pale. I usually rather the focus be on my eyes and/or lips. I also prefer a higher placement for blush and highlighter, as I have a round, fat face.

Stylewise, my comfort zone is more colorful and dramatic looks, especially on the eyes. I don’t wear super-contoured “Instagram looks,” a fully bronzed face (usually, I forego bronzer entirely), dewy looks, or natural or “no makeup” makeup looks. I don’t think any of them suit my looks or my personality, and I feel like an imposter when I try them.

On days where I’m tired or don’t know what to do, I usually default to a classic pin-up look.

Genevieve Avatar

Matte foundation in porcelain
Peachy shaded blush
Navy blue or black mascara
Brow pencil in light taupe
Lipsticks: coppery browns/cinnamon, rustic reds, ginger oranges and berry
Eyeshadows: Golds with Olives, Copper and navy blue, Champagne with dark plum or greens, warm toned bronzes and neutrals, pewters with greys and navy, teal with golds, coppers and champagne shades.

Charlotte Rhubottom Avatar

After a makeup hiatus I’m just getting back into makeup at 59. Ive decided I like pinks browns and corals on my eyes, pink/peach on my cheeks. No eyeliner just tight lining and mascara. I LOVE highlighter though I maybe too old, and metallic lipstick in pinks and corals, too old but I’m old enough not to care what others think! Gotta make me happy!

Brenda C Avatar

Moisturizer, sunscreen, primer, foundation, highlighter, rosy blush, pinky lipcolors, blue, black or teal eyeliners with a tightline. Black mascara or cobalt is even better. A touch of contour, my face is round so it helps to do a bit. Powder in the center t-zone.

Korinne Avatar

I tend to either stick Baked by UD everywhere on the lid and run, or take a light pink (#rip to Lorac Mega Pro 2’s Sorbet, my holy grail) and then a light pink shimmer a la Sugarpill Wink on the lid.

Lips wise if I’m in a rush I’ll take NYX Ever and draw it all over my lips and then slap a balm or Lancome Completely Nut on top.

Face wise I’ve been into Buzzed from Wanted I from Nars and use it as a blush and a contour.

Alecto Avatar

I don’t have a “look” except to the degree that I have repeated patterns, so I guess my comfort zone has to do with how I balance my face: When I wear strong eyes, I generally go bare on the lips; strong lips usually mean a nude eye; if I wear unusual colors on my lips (black, grey, blue, etc.) I’ll often go with a warmer, slightly flushed eye look and no cheek color at all. I generally don’t wear light-neutral lip colors, but on the rare occasions that I do, it’s accompanied by a full face of “done” makeup, with more classical eye looks/shape/design and blush — the works (I tend to wear light-neutral lipsticks when I’m doing something dress-up and proper).

I have a feeling that when I’m done cataloguing all my lip colors and hit my de-stash phase, I’ll probably get rid of all but maybe two of my light-neutral lip colors and stick to the strong and/or unusual choices from there on out.

Sarah Avatar

Sheer rosy shades all over. I’m not really into a lot of base products outside of maybe concealer. I’ll define my eyes a bit with some black/brown pencil eyeliner and mascara too.

Bonnie Avatar

While I like almost all eye colors and combos, there are a few basics I do in almost every look. Bronzed skin, full brows, dark eyeliner, long lashes, pale lips (preferable light pink). These are things I just know will look good every time. Most shadows look good with this look, but I especially love yellow. orange, brown, gold.

Blush should be pretty pigmented, a reddish color. The thing for me that is so unnecessary is highlight. I do wear it every day, and it looks pretty when I apply it, but I don’t feel it really does anything and it doesn’t seem to last.

If I had to though, I could live with just bronzer, brows, black or dark brown eyeliner, pale pink lips (any finish), and a simple black mascara. That’s my comfort. Everything else is just extra.

holly Avatar

I admire all of you for being so together, makeup wise!!

I typically have a houseful of kids (some are even mine) so my makeup routine is a fast shower (long luxury showers result in a small fist pounding on the door and the bellow of “Moooooomy I have to gooo!!)

I usually have a few minutes between fist fights (kids) and threats of “Be good or the Barry Manille CD is going in!!” (me). Moisturizer, eyeliner and mascara are generally all I can manage.

holly Avatar

Bless you Rachel!

Your survival and sanity has given me more hope since my youngest wanted a picture of his favorite treat and crammed a Twinkie inside the computer printer!

Angela Avatar

I wear groomed brows, and a red lip. If I wear any thing on my eyes, then my lips will be a toned down mauve.

But y’all can take my red lippies from my cold dead hands! LOL!

tousledelegance Avatar

The vintage pinup look with red lips and black cateye liner is a really simple go-to for me. I realize I’m the opposite of what’s on trend for eyeshadows though. I prefer cool tones to warm. I especially dislike working with gold shades and warm browns. Cheeks are always a challenge for me because I have rosacea and I’m constantly reaching for different shades and formulas depending on how redness looks that day.

Silvia Avatar

Cera Ve moisturizer followed by spf (which I absolutely hate to wear specially on face but have to all over since I have pale skin and will burn or get sun spots) followed by lightest pinch of foundation only to even out skin color/some mild redness but fortunately still have at 55 pretty good skin with some laughing wrinkles and on forehead too.
I have green/hazel eyes love warm eyeshadows colors bronzes, golds, rosy golds, purples, plums and dark greens. Even reds I’ll wear them with a grey sweater and brings them to life like a lizard. Don’t wear blue often that’s one color I’m afraid to wear and end up looking like Mimi I do like a pretty dark blue with silver sparkles. Blush I love pinks and call them my very best friends they bring health to a ghostly face also the slightest bronzer swiped all over with kabuki brush. Love pinks, corals, mauve, but have to be very soft. Lips I’ll wear just about every shade love berries, plums, reds, rosy shades, corals, peach. I’ll wear nudes but again need brighter colors as I look like a vampire with no life wearing them but love them. I don’t wear greens, black not even on Halloween just not me. I love colored mascaras sometimes but mostly wear brownish/black. Black seems too harsh on me. Love colored eyeliners in browns, and every shade possible and smudge it. And don’t get me started on highliter my latest undying passion I need to stop purchasing those beauties.
Loveeeee makeup! So much fun to play with it even though I go for a very natural look. But is my time to ‘think’ I’m pretty! Lol!

We try to approve comments within 24 hours (and reply to them within 72 hours) but can sometimes get behind and appreciate your patience! 🙂 If you have general feedback, product review requests, off-topic questions, or need technical support, please contact us directly. Thank you for your patience!