Make-Up Tutorial for African American Skin: How to Create a Natural Look for Day or Evening

Ever wonder how to get a beautiful natural look when working with African American skin? In this tutorial, I'm going to show you how to create an amazing natural daytime look by first analyzing the model's skin. Then I'll demonstrate how to use MUD's Deep Brown Corrector in conjunction with both light and dark foundation colors for a beautiful, natural complexion.

Get this look:

Face: We are going to create a great foundation using YG 2 Cream Foundation and YG 3 Cream Foundation, and then even out the skin tone using the Deep Brown Corrector.

Make two piles on your Stainless Steel Palette; the first one with the YG 2 Cream Foundation and YG 3 Cream Foundation mixed together equally for use on the darker areas. The second pile should be a lighter color, with more YG 2 Cream Foundation than YG 3 Cream Foundation for the highlight areas.  Mix a little bit of the Deep Brown Corrector into both piles. Make a third pile of only Deep Brown Corrector. A stand alone application of the Deep Brown Corrector will also allow us to even out the darker areas of the skin.

Using the #800 Crease Brush, apply the Deep Brown Corrector to all the dark areas of the skin, specifically around the nose area, bottom and upper lip, and under the eyes as well. Apply in a tapping motion. Tip: To pick your base color, look at the skin and pick the beautiful highlighted color of the face. This should be your base color.

Apply the mixed foundation to the skin. Start with the cheeks and the eyelids. Make sure to pay attention to the T-zone as well, applying the foundation lightly in the appropriate dark areas.

Apply Zero Loose Powder to set the Cream Foundations. Fold a Powder Puff to allow you to easily apply the product the corners of the nose and around the eye area.

Eyes: For a beautiful eye shadow, we will use the Eye Colors; Apricot, Sienna, Espresso and Onyx. Before we start with any colors, apply Zero Loose Powder under the eyes just in case any eye shadow may fall. Start with the Apricot Eye Color using the #800 Crease Brush. Apply in a pressing motion to maximize the pigment in the skin taking it all the way to the brow bone. Next move to the Espresso Eye Color, applying in a light sweeping motion. Apply theEspresso Eye Color not quite to the brow bone, to ensure that we keep our highlight. For great definition, go over the eye with the Onyx Eye Color lightly.

Now with the #210 Angle Liner Brush, we will use a wet application of the Onyx Eye Color. You could use this technique wet or dry, but I prefer a wet application.

Now remove the Zero Loose Powder from underneath the eyes using the #700 Cheek Contour Brush.

For the eyebrows start with the Rich Brown Eye Pencil, filling in the lighter areas where there is less hair.

For the lashes, we will use the Volumizing Mascara, making sure to apply it to every single lash. If you make sure to go to the root of the lash, it will create a great eye line.

Cheeks: Use the Deep Brown Corrector, dabbing it with your finger to get a nice even application to the cheeks. Just tap it in. Also apply it slightly around the hairline.

Now, apply Pumpkin Cheek Color to the cheek area with the #710 Powder Brush.

Lips: For beautiful lips, use the #310 Lip Brush and apply the Magnolia Lip Glaze to give it a hint of color. Lip Option: For another beautiful natural lip look, use the #930 Corrector Brush to apply the Java Lip Glaze.

Now, I'm going to show you how to do create a beautiful natural evening look, using techniques in evening out the skin from darker areas by a basic skin analysis.

Eyes: First you should prep the eyes. Use the YG 2 Cream Foundation and YG 3 Cream Foundation, and the Deep Brown Corrector, which I love, to cancel out any unwanted qualities in the skin.

Mix YG 2 Cream Foundation and YG 3 Cream Foundation with a bit of the Deep Brown Corrector and use the #330 Shadow Fluff Brush to apply the product to the eyelid. This is a great brush to apply foundation especially around the eye area. Apply the foundation lightly. Make sure your model is looking down during the application, because you don’t want the foundation to crease. Again you can the application of the foundation can be light.

Again to the upper eyelid, use the same #330 Shadow Fluff Brush to apply Suede Loose Powder, which has just a little bit of pigment in it. Press it in, which will make the product set into the skin.

For the next step, the Eye Colors we will use are: Pomegranate, Onyx, Midnight, and Pixie. Start with the Pomegranate Eye Color, applying the product to the entire lid, but not going all the way to the brow. Start with the lash line and work the eye shadow upward. Now use the Midnight Eye Color and in the same motion, work from the lash line up. The application of the Midnight Eye Color should be light, but if you notice, the Midnight Eye Color product will turn purple. This will make for a great smoky eye.

Next, use the #800 Crease Brush to blend; blending is key when doing a smoky eye. Make sure to leave a little bit of the Pomegranate Eye Color showing through. These colors are so awesome when mixed together as a beautiful purple.

Now using the #410 Wide Flat Brush, apply the Onyx Eye Color to the lash line, working the product upward. The #410 Wide Flat Brush is for this step because it is nice and flat.

Next, for the lower eye, repeat the same steps using all four colors that we used on the upper eye.

Use the Black Eye Pencil right at the rim of the eye for a final touch.

For the eyelashes, use the Volumizing Mascara, applying it with the #500 Mascara Brush.

For the eyebrows, use the Rich Brown Eye Pencil. Fill in the eyebrow where there is less eyebrow, using a color that is slightly lighter than the natural color of own hair. This completes her eyes.

Face/Cheeks: Use the Deep Brown Corrector directly under the eyes, applying it with the #800 Crease Brush. I like this brush for this application because it is very light. One of the biggest mistakes people make with the Corrector is that they put too much on, showing through the foundation that we will apply on top of it. We don't want to do that. Now add the foundation, and remember that less is more. There is no need to cover the whole face with the foundation, which is not necessary. Just apply to the areas that are needed.

Now using the Deep Brown Corrector, highlight the T-zone of the face and apply to the dark areas. Make sure that you don't just stick strictly to the T-zone, applying the Corrector to all the dark areas needed. It's about evening the skin - not covering the skin.

Rub some Zero Loose Powder into a Powder Puff and press into the skin. You can use the opposite side of the Powder Puff to blend everything nicely.

Use the #710 Powder Blush Brush to apply a light application of the Deep Brown Corrector as a finishing touch on top of the foundation. Remember, less is more!

Lips: To finish her look, we are using the Magnolia Lip Glaze applied with the #400 Narrow Flat Brush. Start at the corner of the lip and work your way to the middle for both the top and bottom.