Shimmer Makeup and Skin Tone

Adding Shimmer to Your Evening Look

A shimmery eyeshadow is all you need for this understated yet beautiful evening look.

Adding shimmer to makeup is like adding jewelry to a pretty cocktail dress. It can make your makeup look more festive for parties, special occasions and elegant evening events.
Less is more with shimmer and sparkles, so first decide which areas you want to accentuate—eyes, cheeks or lips. You don’t want to use it all over the face. Don't add shimmer to any place you wouldn't want to draw attention to. The idea is to place the spotlight on a specific area that you intend to be the focal point.
What Type of Shimmer Should You Use?

• Use a shimmer lotion if you want just a touch of shimmer.

• A shimmer cream will give you more of a medium coverage.

• Use shimmer powder if you want more coverage and more noticeable sparkle.

If you have oily skin, make sure that you use a shimmer product with a crease-free formula so that it will not cake or crease.



Glitter Vs Shimmer

Unless you're going to a Halloween party or will be onstage, it's best to use a light touch with glitter.

Mixing a little glitter or shimmer to lotion can look great in moderation, but you don’t want too much shimmer or glitter on the face. Glitter gels and powders can sometimes be a bit much. It’s better for younger skin and should be used sparingly. You usually see more glitter at Halloween parties—so you get the idea.
If you do use glitter, use it in one place, like the corner of the eyes or a little on the cheeks. If it is used for the eyes, make sure that it's not too close to the eyes and that it is made for use on the eye area and won't cause an allergic reaction. Don't use glitter near the eyes if you will be wearing contact lenses.
Another solution is to wear a glittery nail polish or touch up your favorite shade by applying glitter on top.

 

 

Does Skin Tone Matter?

 

 

These days you can find shimmer products that have much better formulations than in the past. Instead of color being the key, it’s really the intensity of pigment. Fair and light skin tones usually look better in softer, lighter shimmers. Intense, vibrant colors are better for deep skin tones because they need more pigment to actually show up on the skin, like golds, bronze and purples.

Because of variations in our skin tones, the choice of shimmer shades for the face is individual and depends on the makeup brand that is used. It comes down to experimentation.
In general some colors have been known to look better on certain skin tones:
Fair/Light - soft pink, soft lilac, sky blue, icy blue and silvers.
Light – Tan - light golden/light yellowish greens for the eyes.
Olive/Medium – rose, brownish-pink, pale or pinkish-gold, light shimmery bronze, sapphire blue, plums.
Medium - Dark – deep lilac, purple (for the eyes) copper and bronze.




Tips For Adding Shimmer:

This golden yellow shadow looks great on light brown to olive skin tones. Finish with a lip-gloss and keep the face nude.

 

 

An easy way to add subtle shimmer is to mix a luminizing highlighting fluid with your foundation for an all over glow. Some luminizers are designed to be used under foundation to give skin radiance.
A shimmer lotion can also be used under foundation or mixed with foundation. Use in a gold shade if you have a warm undertones and icy or silver shade if you have a cool undertone (and light skin).
You can also dust a powder highlighter to add contour to the bridge of the nose, under the brow bone and over the cheekbones.
Mix shimmer powder with your favorite lipstick.
Add shimmer to collarbone, shoulders and décolletage.
Use a bronzer for a natural glow or to contour the cheeks for more depth. For light to medium tones try light golden shades like a peachy gold or golden pinks. Bronze and copper complement dark tones.




Shimmer Shades & Eye Color

Here is a golden bronze eye shadow look that is stunning on this Latina model.

Eye Color
Eye color is something to consider when using shimmer eye shadows. Brown eyes are the easiest to match because they are complimented by most shades, especially blues, plums, greens, grays, and vibrant colors. Green/hazel eyes look great in pinkish browns, plums, lilacs and other reddish tones. Blue eyes look best in orange tones like browns, camel, apricot, and golds.
Using a highlighting shade (the lightest shade) just under the brow bone and in the inner corners of the eyes opens up the eye area, making the eyes look brighter.
Brush a shimmery shadow along the upper and lower lid lines with a flat eyeliner brush and use darker tones for definition.



Skin Tone & Eye Shimmer

Medium to dark tones can use a deep lilac color on the lids, with a lighter shimmery shade by the brow.

So many factors can come into play when it comes to shimmery eye shadows, from skin tone, hair color and highlights to clothing and personal taste. In general lighter shimmers look better on lighter skin tones and darker shades on darker skin tones. Also take into consideration your skin's undertones. Silver looks better on lighter skin with cool undertones and deep gold looks great on dark skin with warm undertones. If you have a warm skin tone you'll look better in warmer shades (warm reddish pinks, warmer golds) and cool undertones look better in cooler shades (cooler pinks, blues, greens).
Light to medium - soft lavenders, pinks, greens, blues, champagnes, light golden peach.
Tan - shimmery pale shades, pale gold, lilac and light green.
Olive - can go a little deeper in color, deeper blues, lavender, coppery peach, copper.
Dark skin – can use more vivid, deeper color--gold, bronze, purple, greens, blues.


Finishing Touches: Shimmery Lips

Deep skin tones can use a golden brown lipstick and then apply a gloss with specks of glitter and shimmer.

Avoid using shimmer on both the eyes and the lips. If you are not playing up the eyes, you can concentrate on the lips instead. Use a shimmery gloss or add shimmer to a gloss or lipstick.