Beauty / Spring Beauty Brilliance: Give Your Brown Hue A Boost Of Coral With These Key Tips!

Spring Beauty Brilliance: Give Your Brown Hue A Boost Of Coral With These Key Tips!

Beauty Apr 02, 2019

by Meena Khan | Features Editor - Beauty

Coral is orange’s little cousin but this shade is a power player all its own. Coral’s inherent sensuality works well with South Asian skin tones opening up our faces and freeing us from winter. Give your brown hue a boost of coral this spring with these tips!

Earlier this year, Pantone declared Living Coral as the colour for 2019. It is a fresh, vibrant shade that serves as a panacea to the depths of grey imposed by a stark, Canadian winter. The colour is a bundle of contradictions as it is soft yet lively, energetic yet relaxing, and so I asked myself: Could this shade work on South Asian beauties such that we can become Coral Cweens?

I am pleased to report that coral like other members of the rainbow is interpreted vastly, and that there are soft to deep shades that give its big cousin, namely orange, a run for its money.

The approach to coral make-up, like the energy this colour projects, is to use a light hand and focus on dabbing, swirling, blending and tapping the products. Every South Asian complexion is beautified by a coral infusion and even if the lips are pigmented, you just need to use a heavier formula to deposit colour, or if your skin is darker just swirl two layers of blush, rather than one.

SKIN — SOFT FOCUS

Coral is inherently delicate, so it needs to be used in conjunction with a radiant complexion that employs lightweight make-up which is only spot-applied. Spot application means you dab on a few millilitres of foundation where there is unevenness, discolouration or pimples. I love the Dior Backstage Face & Body Foundation (40 shades available, so South Asian beauties are covered!), because it is a lightweight product that lends itself to being tapped on trouble spots. In my case, I have a smattering of brown spots on my left cheekbone and darkness at the corners of my lips, so after washing my hands with soap, I take a half teaspoon of product and dab it onto these areas until it disappear. I then apply a liquid concealer, and my complexion is perfected without looking like I have donned a IG mask.

**Give Your Brown Hue A Boost Of Coral With These Key Tips: Dior Backstage Face & Body Foundation**. Photo Credit: www.dior.com

The next step is to add a subtle glow, and set my complexion for a coral infusion. I am thrilled that Laura Mercier launched a glow version of its legendary Loose Setting Powder in Translucent and Medium-Deep (again, all South Asian beauties are covered) because its fine-milled grains set foundation set and impart a lit-from-within glow. I love to dab my big fluffy brush and dab in my cheeks, around my mouth and under my eyes. The powder infuses my complexion with a soft energy that signals that I am moving on from winter.

THE CORAL KISS

I was delighted to discover that coral lips have a come a long way from the Miami Beach look of the sixties during which the shuffle-board set rocked it. Today’s coral shades have a warmer depth and instantly flatter deeper skin tones. Moreover the formulae are less opaque and juicier, so they infuse the mouth with sensuality and wetness.

The following lip shades are so impressive that I actually start my coral infusion from the lips upwards, rather than the classic route of eyes downwards.

These are my lip recommendations for South Asian beauties:

Everyday Beauty:

For an easy lip look that is swipe-and-go, and perfect for a Saturday shopping or Sunday brunch.

Lightly Pigmented Lips:

Try Shiseido LacquerInk Lip Shine in Coral Sparkle, which is a medium, bright coral that veers towards a soft orange works best.

Medium-Pigmented Lips:

Burt’s Bees Liquid Lipstick in Coral Cove is fantastic because it is warmer shade that veers toward a deep coral, and the formula stands out on pigmented lips.

Deep-Pigmented Lips:

Fresh Sugar Coral is perfect. This balm, not only hydrates, its richer pigment delivers a deep coral that is mere shades away from a maturing Sicilian blood orange.

Boardroom Beauty:

If you want a sophisticated lip that works in the boardroom I found two excellent options.

Light-To-Medium Lips:

If your lips are light-to-medium-pigmented then Charlotte Tilbury Matte Revolution in Sexy Sienna is ideal because it straddles the region between coral and pink, so it is quite bright and fresh, and the matte finish delivers a powerful pigment punch.

Deep Lips:

I recommend Clé de peau Refined Lip Luminizer in Sweetie Darling, an intense coral that flirts with a brash tomato tinge.

GETTING CHEEKY WITH CORAL

The cheeks are incredibly important for the coral infusion because of their prominent placement. The concept of a light hand still applies, and in this step you communicate freshness. I recommend using a blush brush to dab the blush along the pathway of the cheekbones, rather than swooping from cheekbone to temple. The latter technique runs the risk of looking sharp, and hyper-defined which is not the aesthetic of the coral infusion look.

As the variety of lip shades demonstrates, there are many takes on coral, and this also applies to the cheeks. Keep in mind that sometimes the name of a product could be far-removed from coral but when mixed on certain skin tones, the impact is coral-ful.

For Fair Skin Tone:

If your skin tone is on the fair side, I recommend the Shiseido InnerGlow CheekPowder Blush in Alpen Glow 06, a refreshing summer time interpretation of coral whose softness works beautifully with classic South Asian undertones such as olive. It adds light and opens up the face; which is refreshing after months of wearing make-up that is designed to withstand Arctic winds.

For Medium Skin Tone:

Laura Mercier Blush Colour Infusion in Peach is a winner. The powder can be layered on lightly, and the shade reminds me of picture of the Great Barrier Reef with a sophisticated touch. Note that the name of the product is Peach but on my medium skin it is a great coral.

For Deep Skin Tone:

I suggest Burt’s Bees Blush in Bare Peach because the powder delivers pigment and it is infused with a soft gold finish that brings out bone structure in a subtle, tasteful manner. The coral infusion look is not about harsh, defined IG beauty, rather it is a great example of sensual make-up, and this blush lifts the cheekbones like the mighty columns of the Acropolis.

I SPY SOME CORAL EYES

The eyes take a backseat in this look but it does mean that our dark peepers have no role. The eyes are anchors that make the coral infusion look ideal for work-and-play. For example, for the day, I like to define my upper eye line with a deep brown liner and then define the eyelashes with a thick, volumizing mascara. I recommend dark brown because its defines the eyes without the harshness that is inherent with black liner. Coral works well with the earthiness of dark brown, rather than the unforgiving sootiness of black.

A neat way to switch up the eye look for the night , is to replace the dark brown liner with a popping ice sky blue shade such as Marc Jacobs Highliner Gel Crayon in Blue Me Away. Coral and blue are two colours that beautify the ocean, and this combination also works in the coral infusion look.

EMBRACE YOUR CORAL CWEEN

South Asian beauties are often associated with strong, unforgiving shades that are more about flash, than sensuality. Coral is orange’s little cousin but a touch of coral infusion adds freshness and lightness to all South Asian beauties.

Main Image Photo Credit: www.lauramercier.com

Meena Khan | Features Editor - Beauty

Author

Meena (@meenalaregina) always loved the idea of exploring the non-conventional idea of beauty. Having grown up as a pimply chubby teenager, she wanted to see the change in the world that best reflected your uniqueness as well. Her well-received collection of blogs where she tries on various beauty p...

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Spring Beauty Brilliance: Give Your Brown Hue A Boost Of Coral With These Key Tips!

by Meena Khan | Features Editor - Beauty

Meena Khan | Features Editor - Beauty

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