African American Makeup

The African American Woman and Makeup: How to Find What’s Right for You

The biggest challenge for African American women when selecting makeup is the fact that women of African descent have many different skin tones. It is these undertones that help determine the right color makeup for the various hues of black skin.

African American Skin Tones

Ask for help from someone knowledgeable about African American skin and makeup to find your skin’s undertones. This is very important in helping you find the right color make up. African American women whose skin color is brown or lighter tend to have warm undertones and will find that makeup in the gold or honey range will be ideal for them. On the other hand, African American women with very dark skin tones tend to have cooler undertones and hence makeup in blue, plum and mauve (purple) will suit them perfectly.

Makeup for African American Skin and How to Choose

The information provided below will help African American women select the types of makeup best suited to their skin’s overtones and undertones:

• Foundation

  It is often necessary to use two different shades of foundation for African American skin since the skin tones can be darker in some areas, such as the forehead, and lighter on the cheeks. However, when blending foundation, it is important to do so carefully so that there are no defining lines between where the two come together.

• Lipstick

  For most African American women, the wrong shade of red can destroy the perfect look. African American women with dark brown or deep ebony skin can use lipstick in various shades of red, while those a little lighter will find that coffee and deep reds work best. African American women of mixed race and very light skin tones will find that lipsticks in pink and peach will do wonders. However, you can rarely go wrong with lip colors in terracotta, purple, toffee and berry.

  Neutral colored lip gloss is also wonderful on the lips of black women.

  One word of warning for African American women, however, is that using light shade lipsticks will minimize the size of large lips while darker shades will make lips look larger.

• Eye shadow and eyeliner

  When it comes to eye makeup, African American women can experiment with lots of different color liners and mascara.

  Those who are looking for more natural-looking colors can go with earth tones such as browns, gold, cinnamon and caramel.

  To really bring brown eyes into focus, nothing works quite as well as blue eyeliner.

• Blush

  As a general rule, very dark-skinned African American women do not need blush. However, if you decide to add blush to your makeup, choose from shades of bronze, plum, mauve and wine if ebony colored. Interestingly, some women of African descent can safely go with rose and some shades of pinks.

It is also important that when selecting makeup for African American skin, attention is paid to the use of sunscreen. Moisturizers with sunscreen are a good choice.

Also, for the African American woman, skin tone shouldn’t be the only consideration when buying makeup. Because black skin can be hypersensitive, it is important to pay attention to skin type as well. African American women with normal to dry skin can generally use makeup and cleansers that are cream based, while those with normal and oily skin are best suited to water-based makeup such as liquid foundation.

When buying makeup, it is best to buy from companies that actually cater to the specific needs of African American skin. Some of these companies include Covergirl (Queen Collection), Iman, Black Opal, Milian, MAC and Maybelline. Bee Cosmeceuticals are also making their name as a source of good makeup for black women.

Thank you to Jessica McCurdy Crooks for this "African American Makeup" article.

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