People who apply makeup professionally are called makeup artists. They deserve the title "artist," because they play with colors to enhance and highlight your natural beauty. The first important aspect in makeup is color. You have to know what colors are best on you. There are many theories on how to select your colors. During the 90s and the 80s, we were into seasons; now we have to tones: cool or warm depending on our complexions.

With so many products available for so many millions of women, it would make sense that choosing the right make-up color would be easy. However, this is not the case. Instead, we repeatedly buy foundations, eye shadows, and lipsticks that looked great in the store but dreadful on our faces. It can seem impossible to know what will work and what will be a waste of hard-earned money. Luckily, it does not take magic or an expensive consultant to choose the right make-up colors. All you need to do is figure out what skin tone you have and then use the hues that flatter it.

Once you identify if you are cool or warm, you can pick colors according to the codes of the cosmetic lines. They have tones for both cools and warms in almost all colors. If you follow this code, you are more likely to pick color that will make you look better. If you pick the wrong colors, they might make you look tired or not enhance your beauty.

Cool colors
Skin tone: olive, rosy brown, fair medium rosy
Hair color: dark, black, blond, all brown tones with exception of golden brown
Eyes: blue, green and hazel

Warm colors
Skin tone: golden (in any color), medium fair
Hair: golden brown, red, strawberry blond
Eyes: hazel, dark brown and medium brown

There are more shades of eye shadow than could possibly be covered in one small space. However, there are certain common colors that work best with warm and cool skin tones. If you have warm skin, experiment with different tones of bronze, cream, light brown, red/pink, soft green, and coral. For cool skin, white, silver, pale blue, purple, dark green, and gray are good choices of eye shadow. Hold any colors you are unsure of up to your face to decide if they are becoming.

Knowing your skin tone will make the once-daunting task of buying make-up simple. When you know whether you are warm or cool and to what degree, you can walk into the cosmetic department with confidence. Say goodbye to the days of wasted money on the wrong lipstick and enjoy the knowledge that you can pick make-up like a professional.