Wearing makeup is a wonderful way to express yourself through your personal style. Exploring different makeup looks can also be a lot of fun, and when you coordinate your makeup with your outfit, it can do a wonderful job of tying your look together.
However, it can be hard to strike the right balance for yourself when trying out new makeup looks and trends. You may end up wearing too much of a certain product or, conversely, not enough of it. It may also be difficult at first to choose the shades items like lipstick and eyeshadow if you don’t know exactly what kind of result you want to achieve. Fortunately these are easy to fix!
Fortunately, the “rules” of coordinating makeup with your outfits aren’t as complicated as some people may think. It’s all about highlighting certain details of your clothes and matching them with specific aspects of your makeup. So do some closet shopping and put together an outfit or buy women leggings to pair with a graphic tee or whatever strikes your fancy. Then try these tips for coordinating your clothes with your makeup.
Tone Down Eye Makeup with Loud-Colored Clothes
You may be fond of sporting bold colors in your clothing, but you don’t have to match these with your makeup palette. For example, if you’re wearing a blue sweater, you don’t need to pair it with blue eyeshadow. Try wearing contrasting, but toned-down eyeshadow hues that go well with the rest of your outfit.
If you’re wearing striking colors, going for the color blocking approach, and or sporting loud patterns on your outfits, it’s best to use neutral eyeshadow shades like brown, beige, gold, or soft pink. A muted makeup palette looks great with bold outfits because it keeps the ensemble from looking either too busy or too one-dimensional.
Play Up Your Eyes with a Neutral Outfit
The opposite applies when you’d rather wear an outfit that primarily features neutral shades, like black, brown, or grey—when you’re going for neutrals, bust out the colorful eyeshadow. For best results, do some research on what colors work best with your eyes. Makeup artists recommend gold hues for those with blue eyes and a purple eyeshadow palette for green eyes.
In addition to these color combinations, smoldering or smoky eye makeup goes well with many different neutral outfits. Add some more panache to your bold eyeshadow look by incorporating shades like bronze, navy blue, or plum.
Distribute Colors Evenly Throughout the Ensemble
If you want to avoid going “overboard” on a particular aspect of your ensemble, whether it’s your clothes or your makeup, find a way to distribute color evenly throughout your look. This includes not only the colors in your clothes, but in other elements like your jewelry, belt, purse, or other accessories.
Try pairing a rich berry shade of lipstick with the ruby gem necklace you have on. Or if you’re wearing a red belt with your animal print dress or leggings, balance it all out by rocking a bold red lip. And why not try an all-black outfit with turquoise earrings and eye makeup? This will surely brighten up your face and make your entire look more elegant.
You can also pick out small details in your clothes to highlight with your makeup look. If your dress has gold elements, use this as inspiration and wear gold-toned eyeshadow or apply glimmering bronzer on your cheeks.
Avoid Matching Your Clothes and Makeup Too Closely
While the colors in your outfit should serve as references for what makeup colors to use, you don’t always have to match your clothing and makeup hue for hue or pick a dominant color to deck yourself out with from head to toe. Your goal should be to blend the colors evenly together and to sport a little contrast where it’s needed.
For example, if you want to wear a purple outfit, it doesn’t mean you’ll have to wear purple lipstick, blush, and eyeshadow, too. Instead, consider using a variation of that color on your eyes and your clothes while keeping the rest of your makeup simple. Wear soft pink lipstick and some neutral eyeshadow with a bolder or darker pink dress.
Use Lipstick to Make a Statement
As far as makeup goes, you can always rely on your lipstick to make a statement. Keep this in mind for the next outfit you put together. For bright-colored clothes, opt for a soft pink or neutral shade of lipstick; on the flip side, pair toned-down clothing with eye-catching and distinctive lip hues. A simple outfit consisting of jeans and a tank top, for example, can be glammed up with striking lip colors like candy apple red, berry, hot pink, and coral.
Pay attention to the finish of the product as well as the shade, as a lipstick finish can either enhance or diminish the look you want to achieve. Matte lipsticks can help you achieve both subtlety and vibrancy on your face, while satin-finish or glossy lip products will make your lips look healthy and well-moisturized. Take time to swatch your lipsticks and see what kind of finish goes best with the outfit you want to wear.
Take inspiration from these basic “rules” for coordinating makeup and clothing, but once you get a feel for what looks good and what doesn’t with certain outfits, feel free to experiment some more. More importantly, have fun when styling your clothes and trying out different makeup looks, and use both to eke out a personal style that’s well and truly yours.
