15 Make-Up Tips Especially For Indian Skin Tones

One of the first things I did when my father first got us a computer was to YouTube make-up tutorials. I never realised how many hours I spent watching one video after another. As someone who has spent an inordinate amount of time online, I would say YouTube tutorials are akin to being sucked into a black hole. There is just no stopping!

The one thing I noticed though was the lack of content specific to Indian skin tones. Indian skin tone is beautiful in its own right and has its own share of challenges, so why not have a post that tackles these specifically, right?

 

1. Know your skin type

This is really the very first thing you should be doing. Identifying your skin type is of utmost importance because there’s no other way to pick the right skincare routine and make-up for yourself. Unless you don’t know what your skin type is, you will use all the wrong products be it skincare or make-up. You might have oily skin if you have large pores and are prone to breakouts. If your pores are hardly visible and skin often feels dry and stretchy, you might have dry skin. If your T-zone (forehead, nose, chin) tend to shine but the periphery of your face feels stretched and dry, you might have an oily T-zone.

 

2. Know your shade and undertone

Indians are obsessed with looking fairer than they actually are. I just don’t get it. Why can’t we like our complexion just the way it is? I’ve often heard women asking for lighter shades of foundation in stores, and asking make-up artists to make them fairer, which is stupid. When your face doesn’t match the rest of your body, it looks funny. Identify your skin’s undertone in four easy steps. Once you’ve done that, go for a true match. Buy a foundation that blends with your skin tone. It should look like your skin. When in doubt, go a little (just a teeny bit) darker because it just makes you look sun-kissed but NEVER EVER go lighter. You’ll just end up looking funny in pictures. The same goes for concealer. Buy one that’s a true match.

 

 

3. Test on your jaw

Most women will take swatches of foundation on the back of their hands or on the inner side of their arms, both of which are flawed. Generally our arms tend to be more tanned than our faces. Get swatches of different shades along your jawline. That way you will be able to pick a foundation that is perfect for your face and neck.

 

4. Choose the right finish

When it comes to primers, foundation, concealers, etc. pick products according to your skin type. If you have dry skin, you can opt for dewy finishes, which is something oily skinned girls should stay far away from. Mattifying and satin finish products are more your thing.

 

5. Look up brands

One simply does NOT buy make-up on a whim. I mean we do that too, but make-up shopping is serious business. You’ve got to do your bit of research. Look for brands that cater to women of colour. Very often brands don’t have a vast shade card and most of those are concentrated on the lighter end of the spectrum. L’oreal True Match Foundations offer a lot of variety in terms of shades and undertones. MAC has a foundation for nearly every skin tone under the sun. Bobbi Brown is also one of those brands that work well for women of colour.

 

 

6. Learn to colour correct

Most Indians have dark circles. I’m guessing most of us are born with these doughnut-like rings around our eyes! But it’s not something to fret over. Follow our guideline on concealing dark circles the right way. Don’t have an orange colour corrector? No sweat, we’ve got you covered.

 

 

7. Conceal the right way

Once you’ve got your colour correcting right and neutralised all the dark spots, use a concealer that’s a true match. Blend everything thoroughly with a sponge to create a seamless canvas.

 

 

8. Nail those brows

A lot of Indian girls have full brows and unibrows too. While there’s no doubting that the unibrow must go, it makes sense to err on the side of caution. Avoid these eyebrow mistakes and only focus on cleaning up stray hair.

 

9. Powders over pencils

Opt for brow powders instead of brow pencils to fill those brows. Brow powders look much more softer, and natural than brow pencils. Since most of us have dark eyebrows, don’t make the mistake of matching your brows to your hair colour. Even if you have jet black hair, go for a soft brown instead of black if you don’t want to look funny.

 

 

10. Gold’s the way

Most Indian women have warm undertones. So reds, browns, and golds look fabulous on our skin tone. Play up your complexion by dusting gold eyeshadow strategically on the areas where light hits your face. The centre of your eyelids, above and below the brow bone, the top of your cheeks, bridge of your nose, cupid’s bow are all great places to apply gold shadow and warm up your complexion.

 

 

11. Make them shadows pop

I’ve often noticed that eyeshadows don’t show up as well as they do in the palette on Indian skin tones. This is especially true for lighter eyeshadows. The one way to get your eyeshadows to pop is to neutralise the natural pigment of your eyelids and here’s how you can do it.

 

 

12. Layer your blush

Make your blush pop (this one’s a struggle for oily-skinned girls since your skin seems to eat up the product). Use a cream blush first and then top it off with a dusting of a powder blush in the same colour. And while we are on blushes, dusty pinks and peachy-corals seem to go with most Indian complexions.

 

13. Use bronzer

Most Indian women shy away from bronzer which is strange because nothing else gives you a sun kissed complexion better than bronzer. You can use a bronzer to contour under your cheekbones as well lightly dusting the periphery of your forehead.

 

14. Don’t overkill with powder

It’s very easy to go overboard with powder. After all it’s one of the first products we have been using since childhood. However, a light dusting is what you need. Anything over and above that will make you look cakey.

 

 

15. Go beyond black

Indian skin tone is made for colour. Go beyond your basic black eyeliner. Try brown, copper, grey, slate grey, jade green, emrald green, purple, cobalt blue, navy blue, turquoise blue eyeliners instead. There’s a world of colour waiting to be explored.