Lipstick - finding the right shade for you!

Many women wonder how to find the right lipstick. With thousands of colors and formulas available in the cosmetic market, finding the right shade and consistency is a game of trial and error.

When browsing cosmetic counters or the beauty aisle in a drugstore, you'll notice a variety of lip coloring products. There are lip stains, lip gloss, and traditional lipstick formulas available in hydrating, rejuvenating, matte, long wearing, and high shine finishes. It's no wonder the choice can be complicated and confusing.

Prior to seeking out the right lipstick, it makes sense to determine what type of formula you're comfortable wearing. Here's a look at a variety of formulas and a rundown on how they tend to feel on your lips.

• Gloss: Gloss lipsticks tend to have a thick and sticky formula, which may bother women with longer hair. There are many benefits of gloss lipsticks. Gloss formulas pack hydration and tend to soothe lips in winter months while adding sexy shine. New formulas offer better staying power, quickly making glosses a product worth revisiting.
• Extended wear: Extended, or long wearing lipsticks may claim to color last for up to six hours. Although some brands may live up to this promise, it is rare that the product comes without the dry and flaking downside. Every brand may wear different on your lips. If you seek an extended wear lip color, it pays to try out a variety of formulas.
• Lip stains: Lip stains color the lips with a diluted wash of color. They are perfect for the woman seeking low maintenance wear ability. A stain can be applied without lip liner and will last for a few hours. The downside? Lip stains come in limited color choices, and often dry the lips. The trick to wearing a stain is to top the color with a light coat of lip balm.
• Matte finish: Matte lipsticks are a tricky category, as matte finishes tend to go in and out of vogue, and the finish itself can feel drying on the lips. Topping a matte lipstick with a clear gloss will help add some shine and moisture.
• Moisturizing finish: Moisturizing and rejuvenating lip colors are the most popular and the easiest to wear. With a bit of shine, hydration, and heavily pigmented color, this traditional lipstick category is perfect in almost every way. The downside? Some have little staying power. To combat this, line and fill in the lip with lip liner to increase staying power.

Once you've found a winning formula, you'll need to discover a color that flatters and compliments your skin tone.

Women should feel free to experiment in every color family, and focus on underlying tones rather than color to find a suitable match. Generally speaking, skin tones look best in either cool or warm cosmetic colors:

• Fair: Fair skinned women with blonde, red or dark hair will fall into the cool category.
• Warm: Women who tan easily and have olive, medium or dark skin fall into the warm category.

Here's a look at some complimentary shades for both tone types:

• Cool: Cool toned lipsticks are berry, blue red, and pink. This skin tone can wear the lightest shade of pink and the brightest shade of raspberry. Avoid muddy neutrals and find lipsticks that add a punch of color to your skin to brighten your cool complexion.
• Warm: Warm skin looks best in true reds, browns and dark berries. To avoid looking sallow, stay away from brown or beige neutral shades. To avoid garish tones, stay away from fuchsia and hot pink lipstick. Mauves and berries flatter this skin tone beautifully.

Why not check out Avon's collection of wonderful lip shades including:

Beyond Color Plumping Lip Color

ANEW Youth Awakening

AVON PRO Color and Gloss Lip Duo

GLAZEWEAR Lip Gloss

Have a beautifying day!

Heather ~ Independent Avon Representative

Are you cool??

Cool skin tone makeup, if you have pink or blue undertones, can make your skin come alive in a way that bronzes, golds, olive greens, and warm browns never could. In fact, if you have a cool skin tone and you've been wearing shades best suited for warm skin tones, you may have been asked on more than one occasion if you're feeling alright. It's important to match the skin tone to the makeup, choosing shades from the matching color family.

Determine Your Skin Tone

• Do you look better in silver jewelry than gold?
• Does your skin appear to be more pink than golden?
• Does your natural hair color have little to no copper-red or gold in it?
• Do you look better in white than cream?
• Do you prefer to wear jewel-toned clothing rather than earth tones?

If you answered yes to most or all of the questions above, you may be in need of cool tone makeup to match your undertones.

Cool skin tone makeup includes pinks, mauves, plums, roses, cool browns, black, navy blue, bright blue, teal, white, gray, and so forth. All of the "cool colors" on the color wheel fit in with this category, though you wouldn't wear all of the colors on every part of your face, of course. Blue-based colors work perfectly with cool skin tones. That includes blue-based red lipsticks, plum blushes, taupe shadows and more. For your best look, stay away from yellow-based eye, lip, and cheek products. They'll drain the color right out of your skin.

Have a beautifying day!
Heather ~ Independent Avon Representative

Lip Makeup Tips

LiptricksUse lip pencils, gloss and concealer to transform lips.

To make color last longer

Apply lip liner to entire lip area, use a lip brush to gently blend any hard lines around the edges and then apply a gloss or a lipstick.

To transform a lipstick shade 
Use a lip pencil as a base for lipstick to make it look browner, deeper or redder, depending on the shade of the pencil. For a shinier finish, use lipstick as a base for gloss.

To make lips look fuller 
Apply a highlighter slightly above the natural contour of the Cupid's bow. Apply desired shade of lipcolor. Using a lip liner in a shade that matches lipcolor, follow the outer dimensions of the lips and trace around the lip line. Dab gloss on the center of lower lip.

To make lips look thinner 
Blend foundation or concealer lightly over the edges of your lips. Dust translucent powder over the area. Using a nude lip liner, outline lips within the natural lip line. Fill lips with a pale shade of lipstick.

Have a beautifying day!

Heather - Avon Independent Representative

Eye Makeup Tips

Optical Illusions
Play with light and dark shades of eyeshadow to enhance the size of eyes or to bring eyes further or closer apart.

 Bring wide-set eyes closer together

Apply darker colors at the inner half of your lids, closest to the nose.

Make close-set eyes appear wider apart

Highlight inner corners with a light flesh-tone liner and shimmery pearl shadow.

Make small eyes look bigger

Line lower lids with a nude or very light color liner to make the whites of your eyes brighter.

Make eyes really pop

Add a pale iridescent shadow in the center of lids and line lower inner lids with a white liner.

Have a beautifying day!

Heather ~ Avon Independent Representative

Face Shaping Tips

Face Shaping:
You can use foundation or pressed powder to accentuate your best features and minimize the others. All you need are 3 different shades: Base – a shade that matches your skin exactly. Highlight – a shade lighter. Contour – a shade darker. The Highlight shade brings features forward. The Contour shade makes them recede.

Narrow your Nose
Highlight down the center of your nose to the width that you want to appear, then place contour on either side of the nose. Blend well.

Soften a heavy jawline
Shade around square jawline to make that area recede and create a more oval shape. Blend borders with a base shade.

Get high cheekbones
Shade round cheeks to make them recede, then highlight top of cheekbones to make them more prominent and lifted like those of a model. Blend base to borders…beautiful!

Have a beautifying day!
Heather ~ Avon Independent Representative

Campaign 4 Specials

Campaign 4's catalog is now avaialable. Check it out at my website.

There are some great specials this campaign including:

FREE Beauty Bonus 5-Piece Collection (a $50 value) with purchase of ANEW CLINICAL Lift & Firm Pro Serum!

FREE Cleanser (a $9 value) with select purchase of Solutions Ageless Results Skincare!

Clearskin® Skincare Sale: 2 for $6.99 on select items! Mix or match. SAVE up to 46%!

Free direct delivery with $30 order. Enter FS30REP at checkout.If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me!Have a beautifying day!Heather ~ Avon Independent Representative