Pink is a versatile makeup colour that almost every woman can wear in its many incarnations; from palest baby pink, to the delicate coral at the centre of a conch shell, to the deep, shocking blue-pink associated with legendary designer Elsa Schiaparelli.
Pink is a great eyeshadow colour for green and hazel eyes. Going back to my column in September 2004, as green is opposite red on the colour wheel, shades of pink make greenish eyes “pop” most! Try Tarte Sweet Valley High, MAC Swish or Revlon Pink Opal. Wear alone with lots of mascara or pair with a great plum shade of eyeliner for extra oomph!
Pinky-peach shades work best with other eye colours; try MAC Jest or Stila Kitten.
And for darker skin tones, rich brown pinks like Cargo Columbia, MAC Mink Pink or NARS Cancan, will give the best effect.
Rosy shades of blush are recommended as you age because our skin loses natural pigments. In terms of blush, NARS Orgasm has almost become the gold standard of pink cheek colour since its’ introduction. It’s a rich, golden peachy pink with shimmer and suits many skin tones. However, the company also has a lovely pale pink called Desire. For those who prefer non-powder cheek colours, Tarte Cheek Stain is a popular, if expensive, choice and they have two great pink shades in Flush and Doll Face. Darker skin tones might want to consider truer blue-pinks in shades like Benefit’s It’s So Hard To Be Humble or Bourjois Cendre de Rose pour Brune 48.
As I mentioned in my column last November about red lipstick, pink shades are also classified as blue or orange. However, while I feel that matte reds can be carried off easily by many women, it does appear to be more difficult to wear matte or opaque pinks as well. They look almost neon on dark skin tones, and costume-y on paler ones. If that’s not the look you’re going for, try a sheer or frost formula.
MAC and NARS have some of the best pink shades currently on the market among them: MAC — Lovelorn [true blue-pink], Plink [orange-pink], Pretty Please [very pale], and Ramblin’ Rose [coral-pink]; NARS Schiap [deep blue pink], Funny Face [fuschia], and Galaxy Girl [baby pink]. Other great pinks are Lorac’s Hope [sheer pink], Bare Escentuals Sweet Pea [bubblegum pink], and Vincent Longo Foxina [bright pink].
If you’d rather have the moisture of a gloss, try NARS Frisky Summer, Beauty Buffet Kissable Lip Color in Not So Innocent, Dior Addict in Craving for Sweets, or Stila Lip Glaze in Pomegranate.
Many companies sell pearlizers with pink tones to give a boost to sallow skin. Used alone over the skin, they give a dewy sheen to the face, or you can add them to your moisturizer for a softer effect. Benefit High Beam, MAC Strobe Cream, Estée Lauder Spotlight and Red Earth Secret Potion are examples of pearlizers. Stila All-Over Color or Benefit Dandelion powder can be used as a blush, or as an all-over face powder to give a slightly pink, healthy glow if you want this effect without the “gleam” imparted by the lotions.As “Maggie Prescott” herself would tell you:’Banish the black, burn the blue, and bury the beige!From now on girls…Think pink! Think pink!”
As you probably also know, a pink ribbon is the symbol chosen by cancer societies world-wide to promote breast cancer awareness and October is breast cancer awareness month. All around the world, organizations devoted to women’s health will be holding fundraising events to secure money for research into potential cures for this disease that overwhelmingly affects women (approximately 1% of breast cancer patients are men”>.
Statistics indicate that about one in every nine women will develop breast cancer in her lifetime, and while most of them will be over the age of 50, almost one quarter of all cases are found in younger women; Melissa Etheridge (44″> and Kylie Minogue (36″> being two of the most public faces of this statistic
Early detection is the key to survival. Every woman over the age of puberty should perform a monthly self-exam. No matter how afraid you are of finding something, NOT finding something is a far worse fate. It is possible to find a tumor when it is the size of a small green pea. And finding it at that stage will save your life.
Take responsibility for your own health so that you are always “in the pink”!
I would like to dedicate this month’s column to our own CurlTalk members who have recently endured cancer. I admire their strength as they go through a very painful time, and wish them the best.
