Where order and agreement exist between the elements of a composition (for instance, between your natural colours, apparel, and cosmetics), we sense harmony. The relationships are visually interesting and appealing.
More than that, their relationships give the elements the ability to interact. This is visual magic. Now, appearance becomes scintillating, as if the pieces are speaking to one another.
A Spring woman looks intelligent when she wears her own colours. She knows what she came here to say. Her natural cheerfulness in no way detracts from her credibility. In fact, she was selected for this job because she is so clearly non-judgmental. She sees the best in everyone. She was voted Most Loved Principal by her students. Her workshops are so well-attended because people look forward to being around her. They feel that she just plain likes them. Spring is the no-strings-attached person.
Spring shares with Autumn warmth of colour. Spring warmth is clear, yellow like daffodils. Autumn warmth is softer, where yellow becomes darker, richer gold.
Spring is smooth and appears 2-dimensional. Autumn is deep and 3-dimensional. This post is about how to continue those natural optical effects with cosmetics.
Enhancing Spring Skin
Spring skin keywords: dewy, young, delicate, smooth, plump. Like petals.
Spring makeup tips:
1. Try cutting foundation with moisturizer. You'll look the same or better. Opaque coverage is never needed here.
2. Keep use of translucent face powder to a minimum, just enough so the next products can be blended. Matte and dry finishes don't feel right for colours that feel like juice and cream. Even peaches manage to be velvety without feeling heavy.
3. Transparency, as sheer products, are better than opaque ones with heavy colour deposits. What looks normal and necessary for colour to get noticed on Winter skin looks like house paint on Spring skin.
4. Uplighters, not low lighters! Choose slight shimmer and uplighting liquids. Highlights, meaning light + shiny + colour (which isn't the same as Winter's white + frost + icy absence of colour) beautify the geometry of the face and enhance the vitality of the appearance and how well cosmetics work together.
5. Jingle, twinkle, sparkle, movement, near the face with jewelry. Let the jewelry do what the makeup can't reasonably do.
Light Spring
petals in hazy light
daisy to daffodils
more delicate and less shiny than tulip petals
peaches and cream
[caption id="attachment_2105" align="alignleft" width="300"]
Photo: yenhoon[/caption]
For Light Spring, try
delicate peach-gold bronzer very lightly applied
milky or creamy colours, which look creamy, as the upper rose above
still some Summer here so keep a little haze with more powder and less bronzer
sheer and cream products, to create a moist and dewy finish as the bottom rose photo below; notice this isn't icy, glitter, metallic, bronze, it's just wet (kept within reason on a face)
lipgloss
uplights on cheeks using coloured (coral, light beige, gold), not icy, products; remember that Light Spring's lightest colours are more colourful than Winter icy colours because they are pastels
eye shadow probably better light, sheer, and matte to recognize Summer haze
True Spring
juicy
shiny
transparent
Below, notice all the light bouncing off every surface. There are highlights everywhere. Surfaces are tight, plump, moist, with no associations of cold, hard, or frosty.
[caption id="attachment_2107" align="aligncenter" width="300"]
Photo: plrang[/caption]
For True Spring, try
the least face powder of anyone, just enough to dry the skin so the next product doesn't stick
gloss
cream cosmetics as for Light Spring
eyeshadow can be shiny or matte, your preference; matte is easier on mature skin
peach-gold bronzer, same product as Light Spring but using more of it to create a face that is very vibrant with the colours of health
Bright Spring
delicate shine
icier lights (more colourful than Winter but not soft/muted/grayed/dusty/heathery)
glassy
more contrast as Winter arrives
moist lips
The Birds In A Tree picture is smooth, light, shiny, crisp, tight, and clean, with significant separation between lightest and darkest. The overall effect is still warm, bright, and alive.
[caption id="attachment_2108" align="aligncenter" width="300"]
Photo: mckenna71 at ozaidesigns.com[/caption]
On the cherries, the overall effect is darker and the placemement of highlight more strategic than the currants above. The surface is still round, tight, and plump and doesn't need any strategic shading to make it better.
[caption id="attachment_2109" align="aligncenter" width="200"]
Photo: al71[/caption]
For Bright Spring, try
sharper angles with more deliberate uplight placement along upper edge of cheekbones, browbone, and center of nose to sharpen the angles, not a warmth diffusion
lighter uplighters, not too gold/peach/caramel/yellow as Winter's sharpening comes in
multicolours and colourful colours to keep the Candyland feeling of this colouring; peach eyeshadows, dark turquoise eyeliners, fuchsia lips together looks perfectly fine because that's how her face is put together to begin with
sparkly jewelry, not pearl/coral/jade/turquoise which don't feel glassy and twinkly
use glitter in nail polish but keep it delicate, like winking; there is delicacy in Bright Spring that more aggressive cosmetic effects don't respect
more definition of features from skin (a form of contrast)
more distance between light and dark colours ---------
Will the face look wet or oily? No colouring will in right colour because the whites that the colour brings out in the face don't exceed your own. That's part of the magic. When lights get lighter than your own, which can happen for a variety of reasons in wrong colour, there seems to be a random too-shiny white light bouncing all over, which looks a little greasy or sweaty.
What your makeup looks like in pans is only how you see it. The rest of us see it painted right on top of your own colours. When you and your product are a match, your appearance has rhyme and reason.
Recap: The skin is dewy, setting up highlights. The features are fresh, lively, distinguished from the skin by being very colourful, moist, and vibrant.
--------
More than that, their relationships give the elements the ability to interact. This is visual magic. Now, appearance becomes scintillating, as if the pieces are speaking to one another.
A Spring woman looks intelligent when she wears her own colours. She knows what she came here to say. Her natural cheerfulness in no way detracts from her credibility. In fact, she was selected for this job because she is so clearly non-judgmental. She sees the best in everyone. She was voted Most Loved Principal by her students. Her workshops are so well-attended because people look forward to being around her. They feel that she just plain likes them. Spring is the no-strings-attached person.
Spring shares with Autumn warmth of colour. Spring warmth is clear, yellow like daffodils. Autumn warmth is softer, where yellow becomes darker, richer gold.
Spring is smooth and appears 2-dimensional. Autumn is deep and 3-dimensional. This post is about how to continue those natural optical effects with cosmetics.
Enhancing Spring Skin
Spring skin keywords: dewy, young, delicate, smooth, plump. Like petals.
Spring makeup tips:
1. Try cutting foundation with moisturizer. You'll look the same or better. Opaque coverage is never needed here.
2. Keep use of translucent face powder to a minimum, just enough so the next products can be blended. Matte and dry finishes don't feel right for colours that feel like juice and cream. Even peaches manage to be velvety without feeling heavy.
3. Transparency, as sheer products, are better than opaque ones with heavy colour deposits. What looks normal and necessary for colour to get noticed on Winter skin looks like house paint on Spring skin.
4. Uplighters, not low lighters! Choose slight shimmer and uplighting liquids. Highlights, meaning light + shiny + colour (which isn't the same as Winter's white + frost + icy absence of colour) beautify the geometry of the face and enhance the vitality of the appearance and how well cosmetics work together.
5. Jingle, twinkle, sparkle, movement, near the face with jewelry. Let the jewelry do what the makeup can't reasonably do.
Light Spring
petals in hazy light
daisy to daffodils
more delicate and less shiny than tulip petals
peaches and cream
[caption id="attachment_2105" align="alignleft" width="300"]
Photo: yenhoon[/caption]
For Light Spring, try
delicate peach-gold bronzer very lightly applied
milky or creamy colours, which look creamy, as the upper rose above
still some Summer here so keep a little haze with more powder and less bronzer
sheer and cream products, to create a moist and dewy finish as the bottom rose photo below; notice this isn't icy, glitter, metallic, bronze, it's just wet (kept within reason on a face)
lipgloss
uplights on cheeks using coloured (coral, light beige, gold), not icy, products; remember that Light Spring's lightest colours are more colourful than Winter icy colours because they are pastels
eye shadow probably better light, sheer, and matte to recognize Summer haze
True Spring
juicy
shiny
transparent
Below, notice all the light bouncing off every surface. There are highlights everywhere. Surfaces are tight, plump, moist, with no associations of cold, hard, or frosty.
[caption id="attachment_2107" align="aligncenter" width="300"]
Photo: plrang[/caption]
For True Spring, try
the least face powder of anyone, just enough to dry the skin so the next product doesn't stick
gloss
cream cosmetics as for Light Spring
eyeshadow can be shiny or matte, your preference; matte is easier on mature skin
peach-gold bronzer, same product as Light Spring but using more of it to create a face that is very vibrant with the colours of health
Bright Spring
delicate shine
icier lights (more colourful than Winter but not soft/muted/grayed/dusty/heathery)
glassy
more contrast as Winter arrives
moist lips
The Birds In A Tree picture is smooth, light, shiny, crisp, tight, and clean, with significant separation between lightest and darkest. The overall effect is still warm, bright, and alive.
[caption id="attachment_2108" align="aligncenter" width="300"]
Photo: mckenna71 at ozaidesigns.com[/caption]
On the cherries, the overall effect is darker and the placemement of highlight more strategic than the currants above. The surface is still round, tight, and plump and doesn't need any strategic shading to make it better.
[caption id="attachment_2109" align="aligncenter" width="200"]
Photo: al71[/caption]
For Bright Spring, try
sharper angles with more deliberate uplight placement along upper edge of cheekbones, browbone, and center of nose to sharpen the angles, not a warmth diffusion
lighter uplighters, not too gold/peach/caramel/yellow as Winter's sharpening comes in
multicolours and colourful colours to keep the Candyland feeling of this colouring; peach eyeshadows, dark turquoise eyeliners, fuchsia lips together looks perfectly fine because that's how her face is put together to begin with
sparkly jewelry, not pearl/coral/jade/turquoise which don't feel glassy and twinkly
use glitter in nail polish but keep it delicate, like winking; there is delicacy in Bright Spring that more aggressive cosmetic effects don't respect
more definition of features from skin (a form of contrast)
more distance between light and dark colours ---------
Will the face look wet or oily? No colouring will in right colour because the whites that the colour brings out in the face don't exceed your own. That's part of the magic. When lights get lighter than your own, which can happen for a variety of reasons in wrong colour, there seems to be a random too-shiny white light bouncing all over, which looks a little greasy or sweaty.
What your makeup looks like in pans is only how you see it. The rest of us see it painted right on top of your own colours. When you and your product are a match, your appearance has rhyme and reason.
Recap: The skin is dewy, setting up highlights. The features are fresh, lively, distinguished from the skin by being very colourful, moist, and vibrant.
--------