by Nancy Tozier, Director of Education and President, Take up Make-up Cosmetics
To custom blend a foundation that matches the client’s skin perfectly, you must begin by determining if the client is warm toned or cool toned. Does the client’s skin have golden undertones or cool undertones?
(Cool undertones are sometimes referred to as blue undertones, but because people rarely look blue, let’s say cool.) Here’s what to do:
1. If you have on hand different colors of cosmetic or barber caps or drapes, that would be helpful in determining skin tones.
2. Look closely at the actor’s skin tone. Do you see any gold? Don’t confuse a beige or brown tone with golden. Many people
with different depths of color can be cool toned.
Make sure that the actor is seated in bright daylight so that you will get the best view of the skin without interference from other sources of color.
3. If you think the actor has a warm skin tone and their skin is fair, then light golden yellow, gold, or adobe would be good colors to place next to the skin.
If you think the actor has a golden skin tone but has darker coloring, burnt orange, avocado green, or deep gold would be good colors next to the skin. What you are looking for is if their skin takes on a healthy look.
PRO TIP
You can use blusher or eye-shadow colors ^ from your makeup kit that are similar to the colors suggested above for checking skin tones.
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4. If a color is wrong for a person, their skin will take on a grayish cast. If the color is good for a person, they will look healthy and vibrant. Don’t let your preference for a color cloud your vision. You are looking for the effect on the skin, not if you like the color. Learning to see the whole picture takes practice, so don’t get discouraged if it isn’t easily apparent at first. Use the chart opposite to help you find the colors that bring out the best for clients with different skin tones.
6. Clean paper towels for keeping things tidy.
Cool Neutral Warm Cool Lt. Warm
Linen Cream Vanilla Almond Almond
• I | I I
Cool Sand Warm Cool Cool Pale Neutral Beige Sand Porceline Beige Natural
«Mil
Cool Warm Warm Cool Warm
Fawn Topaz Sepia Espresso Mahogany
I III
Add-In Add*In Add-In Add-In Add-In
Lilac Mint Mauve Peach Amber
FIGURE 6-2: TAKE UP MAKE-UP COSMETICS’ COLOR CHART