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Over the weekend I went to Panyiri, the Greek Festival in Brisbane. I ate so many honey puffs, I am sure I looked like one by the time I left. Yum! There

were people from all ages at the event and lots of teenagers dressed to the nines. One thing I did notice and just have to comment on is the number of teenage girls and young women to wearing foundation that too dark for their natural skin tone. Correctly colour matched foundation can hide flaws and smooth out skin tone. By contrast, foundation in the wrong shade can create a sharp contrast between the skin tone of the face when compared to the neck and body. It can also leave obvious foundation lines along the jaw and hair-line.

The reason I comment is that so many of these young women have gorgeous skin and it is such a shame to see it being masked by layers of the wrong colour foundation in an attempt, I can only think, to look more tanned. So this blog looks at some of the myths associated with choosing the correct coloured foundation and how to choose the best shade for your skin.

1. Skin Tone
It is important to have an idea of your underlying skin tone so that you choose foundation that suits. For instance, yellow toned foundation makes me look like I am about to be sick which isn’t a look I aim for.

On their website, Lavera describes how to work out your skin tone:
If you belong to the cool types, your skin has a cool, bluish foundation tone. The hair has a cool ash tone and can also range from blonde to dark brown. A simple test: Place a silver-coloured cloth under your face this allows your complexion to glow, whereas a gold-coloured cloth makes the skin look tired. If you belong to the cooler type, these colours, for example, will suit you: black, light grey, pink, cold rose, lilac, claret, ice blue, marine, silver, mint, stone grey

If you belong to the warm types, your complexion has a yellow – golden foundation tone. The hair always has a warm gold shimmer or honey tone and can range from middle blonde to gold-brown, from red to brown. Your personal test: Hold a gold-coloured cloth under your chin – if your complexion appears noticeably fresher, you belong to the warmer type. In contrast, a silver-coloured cloth makes you appear pale and washed-out. If you belong to the warmer type, these colours for example, will suit you: tomato, chocolate brown, cream, salmon, apricot, olive, brick red, orange, moss green.

2. Testing Foundation
The most commonly myth about choosing foundation is that you can match it to the back of your hand or your wrist. If you hold up the back of your hand to your face you will see that they are quite different in tone and colour. Often hands have more sun damage and so the skin is darker than facial skin.

To test your foundation you should do so along the jaw line as this will give the best indication of your skin tone. You have to have a clean face to test foundation so don’t try and test over your existing foundation shade. Another no-no is trying to match to your foundation bottle. Try it on your skin. Foundation can look very different in a pallet or a bottle than it does on your skin.

3. Matching to your neck
Now this is controversial as most make up artists will tell you to make sure your make up matches the skin tone of your neck as well as your face. However in Australia many women have sun damage on the sides of their necks, which means that the skin on your neck may not be the same tone as the skin on your face. Match to your jawline first, then to your neck if you can.

4. Fake Tan or Vampires
I often see young women using very dark foundation in an attempt to match

the fake tan on their bodies. This may be ok within the first few days of having the tan applied but after a week or so the foundation starts to look too dark. The alternative is to have fake tan lightly applied to your face and forego wearing any foundation at all. You can apply some bronzer or blush to give you colour which will give a more natural look. Or have two shades of foundation, one for use when tanned and one for use when your skin is natural.

The vampire look is another mistake often made and one that I have been guilty of in the past. It may not be immediately noticeable at first but will show up dramatically in photos. So if you see a photo of yourself looking like you have just popped out of a coffin for a midnight feast, time to change your make up.

5. The Eyes Have it

Another popular trend is to use light concealer around the eyes and then plenty of darker foundation or bronzer over the rest of the face. This look is fine if you want to look like you have been sun bathing in your sunglasses. Otherwise, match your concealer to your make up as well using the same techniques discussed above.

6. Professional Help
If you still feel that you need assistance with choosing a foundation shade, do yourself a favour and have your foundation shade colour matched by a cosmetics consultant. Drop into Vitale and we will happily test both Mineral or Natural Liquid foundations for you.

If you have a story about the wrong foundation or have had a positive experience please let me know.

I am a huge fan of Mineral Make Up in general, particularly an Australian brand called Minerelle. Mineral make up suits most skin types however, application styles can vary from product to product and certainly, the pressed mineral powders require less work on the skin than loose powders. Here I show how I apply Minerelle Make Up, a pressed mineral powder as well as discus the benefits of mineral make up in general.

Last week I met a gorgeous rockabilly called Kat. Kat has her own You Tube site that shows other rockabilly chicks and anyone else interested how to do 50’s and 60’s hair and make up and she came into the store looking for natural and vegan make up. As a result of her visit to the store, Kat made a You Tube video which you can view here: My Little Rockabilly – 1960’s Hair & Make Up.

I love this era. It is all bright lips and sultry eyes…and you should see Kat once she has finished. Vavavoom!!!

The products Kat used include the following:

• Lavera Deep Plum lipstick #19. I use this colour also, however, I tend to blot it back a softer for daytime look.
• Ere Perez Black Eyeliner. This is a very soft pencil which is great for eyes, particularly the lower eye rim. If the pencil is too hard, it tends to pull on the eye.
• Eco Tools – Bamboo 5 Piece Brush Set. This range is made from recycled aluminum, bamboo and synthetic bristles so animal friendly and vegan.

A couple of other great lipstick and eyeshadow colours that would also suit this look include:

• Minerelle Marie Lipstick – a true 1940’s blue red
• Lavera Chestnut #27 – the name does not do this colour justice. It is a gorgeous red with a slight yellow base
• Minerelle Dream Eyeshadow – a smokey dark blue grey
• Minerelle Lust Eyeshadow – a black eyeshadow suitable to use as a liner.

While on the topic of natural make up, I wanted to mention issues relating to lead traces found in make up, particularly red lipsticks.

A article in Reuters revealed that more than half the lipsticks of popular brands such as Cover Girl, L’Oreal and Christian Dior contain lead. Over 33 red lipsticks were tested in conjunction with The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics and it was found that 61% contained detectable levels of lead (0.03 to 0.65 parts per million (ppm)).

While 0.03 ppm may not seem like a lot, the concern with any lead content is that it is not easily detoxified and is readily stored by the body. Additionally, estimates indicate the average woman consumes up to 1kg of lipstick each year. This is where lead levels become serious cause for concern.

As a toxic metal, lead can cause all sorts of issues such as behavioural problems, aggression, learning disorders. It has also been linked with miscarriage in women and infertility in men.

Lead is not added to lipsticks intentionally. It is actually found in some colourants, particularly red shades. At this stage lead content in lipsticks is unregulated however there are calls for the FDA to do. In addition there are also calls to the cosmetic industry to reduce levels or eliminate lead from lipstick all together. It is definitely possible to make lipsticks without lead so there is really no excuse for continuing with the current practices.

Contrary to the popular urban legend, applying lipstick to a gold ring will not indicate the presence of lead. Lead is not a listed ingredient on lipstick labels so it is difficult to know if you using products that contain lead without independent testing. Of those tested, the brands listed above were shown to contain the highest levels. To find out if the brand you use contains lead, visit SafeCosmetics.org.

Lipstick is something I refuse to go without. And I am a big fan of bright lips (definitely not a gloss girl) so it is essential that my lipstick is safe. There are a growing number of  natural and non-toxic brands available including the Minerelle, Ere Perez and Lavera brands stocked at Vitale Natural.