Flickr.com user Weglet

Good lipstick and blush can be a challenge to find if you don’t know how to choose the correct colors for your skin tone.  If you are having a hard time finding lip and cheek colors that look good on you, and are sick of feeling like a clown, here are some tips that will help you with your search.

Know what your skin’s undertone is.  There are two basic undertone colors, Warm (more yellow), and Cool (more blue).  To determine your skin tone, look at the underside of your arm. If your veins appear bluish you are cool toned, if they appear greenish you are warm toned. If you still can’t tell here is a quiz so you can know for sure.

For warm skin tones, chose colors like, coral, peach, rust, and deep brick reds, like Duwop’s Private Red. Stay away from pinky reds, and mauves as they will contrast badly with the yellow undertones in your skin.

For cool skin tones, chose colors with a blue undertone like Pink, Raspberry, Lavender, and Mauve, like Stila’s Lip Color Sheer in Natalie.

Blush colors follow the exact same rules – it doesn’t matter how light or dark your skin is – it’s just the undertone that you need to match. A bronze or orange-red is a beautiful color for warm skin tones, and purple-pinks, and berry colors will look natural on cool skin.

Follow just these rules, and it will relieve so much agony when buying new shades of lipstick and blush on your next shopping trip.