Discover your color palette and your style type.

Makeup Guides Are Finally Here!

8/23/2021

For several years, my readers have been asking for makeup guides for each of the 63 style types. I started doing the research necessary to create these guides in 2017, and I'm finally done!

Your makeup's color palette comes from your color season. But two women with the same color season won't apply makeup the same way to look their most beautiful.

Have you ever wondered why certain makeup trends -- a matte lip, a cat eye, contoured cheeks -- just don't work for you, even when you know that the colors you're using harmonize with your skin?

The reason is that the lines of your face, which determine your style type, harmonize with certain makeup looks and not others.

Not everyone looks harmonious with fuller lips.
Not everyone looks harmonious with contoured cheekbones.
Not everyone looks harmonious with a smoky eye.
Not everyone looks harmonious with delicate, plucked brows.

Here are two pics of me in two different makeup looks. In both pics, I'm wearing Soft Autumn colors. But I think you'll agree that I'm lovelier in the pic on the right than the pic on the left.

My style type is Ethereal Natural, and the pic on the right shows me in an Ethereal Natural makeup look.
The pic on the left is a look with elements of Classic, Romantic, and Dramatic -- all essences that are unimportant for me.

On the right, my skin finish is less powdery and matte, my eyebrows are less intense, I'm not wearing foundation, my makeup's overall level of contrast is lower, and my overall impression is less made-up. These are all features of an Ethereal Natural makeup look.

Now, if I were a Romantic-Dramatic-Classic, chances are I would look gorgeous in a more matte, more made-up, higher-contrast look. Angelina Jolie is a Romantic-Dramatic-Classic, and that kind of makeup look is gorgeous for her:

It's interesting to note that Jolie and I both have the same Soft Autumn color palette. Yet because the geometry of her face is Romantic, Dramatic, and Classic, her best makeup look is much more sexy, intense, and traditionally feminine than mine. My best makeup look combines Natural's no-makeup aesthetic with Ethereal's lightness and delicacy.

The makeup guides are about 30 pages long. Here's what each guide includes:

Specific, illustrated instructions for how to express each of your essences in the following aspects of your look:
- overall contrast level
- color
- lines and blending
- skin finish
- contour and highlighting
- eyes
- brows
- cheeks
- lips
Ideas for how to combine your essences to create your makeup look
Several full-color examples of your style type's makeup look, with annotations explaining how each example expresses your style type.

Guidance for how to determine which of your facial features corresponds to each essence

Since I expect a high volume of initial orders, please allow UP TO A WEEK for your makeup guide to be delivered by email. All guides will eventually be instant downloads; at that point, you won't have to wait. :-)

Order your makeup guide here!

35 Comments

8/23/2021 06:29:46 pm

So excited for this and will definitely purchase!

P.S. I agree with Romantic Dramatic and Classic for Jolie but also wonder if she has a non-negligible amount of Ethereal. To my eye she looks at least as good next to Romantic Ethereal Dramatic as Romantic Dramatic Classic. She often dresses classic and has a fairly symmetrical face with fairly proportional features, but I wonder if she also just a bit of Ethereal delicacy and otherwordliness. I'm not sure how much you've thought about style type and heritability, but I think Marcheline Bertrand has a good good bit of Ethereal, maybe Romantic Ethereal Classic, and I think I see some of the Ethereal in Jolie, albeit to a lesser degree.

Sola

8/24/2021 01:30:51 am

Agreeing with Ethereal Dramatic Romantic for Angie. I thought she looked fitting as the glorious winged Maleficent (before and after transformation) though they did exaggerate her Dramatic cheekbones with prosthetics.

Amanda

8/25/2021 12:48:06 am

I think she is able to pull off almost any role, but I remember her in the movie Mr. and Mrs. Smith. She wore a lot of classic pieces and it looked so good on her in that movie. She really looks good in the understated classic sheath dresses in that movie and I think that a typical ethereal style requires a lot of heavy styling, but I do think she may have a little bit of ethereal just not that much like classic in my opinion. She did look beautiful in the movie Alexander in the grecian look.

Kim

8/24/2021 01:22:31 pm

Fun! Can't wait. (And it's totally true that I cannot wear some very popular makeup styles. For example, a hard, glossy black cat eye looks bad on me. Smear it and it looks great! Is that because I've got a big dose of "Natural"?)

8/27/2021 11:17:56 am

Wow, this Makeup Guide was a revelation! It explained so much of what works and what doesn't work for me, as an RDC. Blush has never looked good, despite years of trying different techniques; it always looked off. But I see it's because I have very dramatic cheekbones, so when they say "the apple of your cheek," I'm like...what apple, where? My guide just affirmed that contouring alone works for me (which is what I prefer and practice anyway). I felt so SEEN. I can finally let blush dreams go, along with many other looks that don't work for me. I wish I'd had this guide about 30 failed makeup products ago! [slow clap for Rachel]

Rachel

8/27/2021 08:07:17 pm

Oh gosh, this is so gratifying to read! These guides ended up involving a ton of work and in the end I still wondered whether they'd be helpful. I'm so glad that you feel seen!
:-))))

8/27/2021 04:04:28 pm

My guide is amazing! And I greatly appreciate the use of various skin tones. A game changer IMO!

After reading through my guide... I am shock of how much people are defaultly trained to apply makeup Romantically. I figured more obvious things like a rich red lip or dark smokey eye was Romantic. But the R blush application- that’s literally how I & most people are taught to apply it. And that’s the only way most people know to apply it. Long lashes, full lashes, or falsies look mascara... that is the only way mascara is marketed. Same deal with the highlighter & brows...

I hope for a day when R is no longer the “traditional” femininity, as you called it in this post. Or at least, women will not feel as if it’s the style they’re always expected to wear. (Especially if they don’t have R and don’t like the style.)

8/27/2021 08:11:12 pm

I'm thrilled that the guide was helpful to you! And during the process of making these guides, I noticed the same thing as you about Romantic makeup -- almost all the makeup looks women are taught to create these days are at least a little sexy. Wet lips, smoky eyes, and fake lashes seem to be de rigeur. I hope my guides can offer non-Romantic women more alternatives to these choices.

Melina

8/31/2021 04:22:48 am

I'm in the opposite situation, kind of - as a dominantly Romantic woman, I feel finally vindicated in my makeup style! Which is usually seen as "too much", especially in comments by other women... Same as my dressing style. :/ I'd even disagree in that IMO, it's Natural which is nowadays seen as the the default style - nude lips, barely-there makeup, nude this-and-that... And even more in clothes, of course (everyone's expected to wear jeans, t-shirts & "loungewear" - blah! ;)).

8/31/2021 05:08:13 am

Hey, don't knock my loungewear ;D

9/1/2021 04:03:31 am

KC, well, we all here know that that type of wear actually suits *very few* of us ;)

9/1/2021 05:30:14 am

I'd live exclusively in pajamas if society allowed, so I feel lucky to have style essences that favor supercasual clothes! On the downside, I'll never achieve Hollywood icon glamor--Romantic and Classic are the worst styles on me :P

9/6/2021 04:14:26 am

Well, for my part I'd live exclusively in medieval / 17th to 19th century fashions if society allowed! ;) And supercasual styles are the worst on me...

9/8/2021 09:13:33 pm

Maybe if you told people question your style that you're a historical costume model... ;)

9/8/2021 09:14:48 pm

Sorry, "people *who* question your style."

9/10/2021 04:31:46 am

KC, LOL :) But the thing is, today's society at large is actually more tolerant of going around in pajamas (let's face it, typical loungewear / sportswear isn't very different to that) than any actually feminine clothes, like the mentioned medieval / 17th to 19th century fashions... Sadly.

Lexie

8/29/2021 07:45:42 pm

Love the guide! Could you do one where ethereal is the base and romantic secondary? I noticed that the romantic ethereal is heavy on romantic but romantic is more like a compliment to my ethereal not the other way around. I feel a bit lost especially as a soft summer

8/31/2021 04:25:38 am

Lexie, I think there is one that is just Ethereal, that could be very helpful? :) Even though it's not your only essence, but if it's the dominant one, that might be the best for you?

Micaela

8/30/2021 02:05:37 pm

Thanks, Rachel, these are so thorough! I’m wondering if anyone here can recommend some lip products for an ENI dark winter. I’d really like to try an ingenue lip (light pink and glossy), but recommended lippies for dark winter are so dark. What shades of pink would look light, but appropriate, on a dark winter?

8/31/2021 05:03:59 am

I feel you--I'm a True Winter ENG, and many of the usual TW recommendations turned out too strong, dark, or unnatural. And you have dainty Ingenue in your mix instead of my high-contrast Gamine, so you probably require an even lighter touch with your makeup!

After much trial-and-error, I was lucky enough to find a tinted lip balm by Burt's Bees called Sweet Violet that is now my go-to--it adds an little color boost to my face, but you can barely tell I'm wearing anything. I think this pinky-violet color skews TW, though, so I'm not sure if it'd work for you. I can't recall anything that looked like a surefire DW pink in the Burt's Bees line off the top of my head, but you could take a quick look through their products and see? (In-person at a store, if possible--website images can be misleading :p) Maybe you can find a workable berry pink--that sounds like a good shade to start with for DW (though berry pinks can also be Summer or DA, so you'd have to test before buying if possible).

If all else fails, I recommend the lip drape kit from Elea Blake: it'll help you find your ideal undertones in lighter colors. This can narrow down viable lipsticks (or maybe lipGLOSS would be better for Ingenue, especially combined with Ethereal?) at stores, and the Elea Blake site is also set up to help you find makeup products that match your draping kit results.

Good luck--hope you find something!

8/31/2021 05:22:36 am

How exciting! I should have enough budgetary leeway soon to get the ENG guide (though I'm so curious about other styles that I'm suppressing an itch to collect all 7 of the pure essence guides :p). I already have an MLBB I'm happy with, so I'm most looking forward to recommendations for eyes and cheeks. I seem to be in the same boat as VG--blush never seems to work quite right for me, and I don't have apples-of-the-cheeks either. Contouring and highlighting is easy with the planes of my face, and I've gotten compliments on it before, but the difficulty there is finding makeup shades that aren't too bronzey for my TW coloring. And I hope there's a trick to properly-done Gamine eyeliner--black liner really brightens and enlarges my eyes, but since they turn down at the outer corners, I sometimes end up looking like a Tim Burton heroine!

8/31/2021 09:56:35 pm

KC,
I saw your note above, and I just wanted to pass along that for contouring I use NYX So Taupe blush (matte). I'm a DW and I know many other fair-skinned winters in our FB group Ioved it for contouring as well. It's a very cool, almost purple-ish taupe and it mimics my natural shadows perfectly. Give it a try if you have a fair-medium skin tone and want something that isn't too bronze or warm. :)
-VG-

8/31/2021 10:34:33 pm

VG--Thanks for the recommendation! I'll check it out next time I'm shopping for makeup :)

9/8/2021 01:23:35 pm

Hey Rachel! Just wanted to let you know that you have posted the same cover image for NGI & RN on the makeup shopping page.

9/19/2021 04:38:06 pm

Thank you!!

9/24/2021 04:32:49 pm

No problem! Also- I know this is a random ask… but I was wondering if you know the style ID of Alexandra Shipp? I get compared to her a lot, but I think we’re so similar looking that I can’t objectively determine her ID!

dia

9/13/2021 03:56:37 am

Do you think it’s possible to reverse-engineer your type from the makeup recommendations? I’m mostly confident in my makeup choices, but keep going back and forth in clothing types.

9/14/2021 03:52:36 am

I think so, but then you'd have to have all of the makeup guides, or at least all of the pure types ;)

9/14/2021 03:55:11 am

But if you mention makeup preferences / flattering styles here, we can maybe combinedly try to reverse-engineer things for you :)

9/22/2021 04:07:37 pm

Oh, thank you! Let’s see... •skin: light coverage foundation or tinted moisturizer. Natural to semi-matte texture. No glitter or shiny/dewy. •blush/bronzer: NO. My face is naturally darker and redder than my neck and body, so more color is overwhelming. I only use blush/bronzer/contour after full-coverage foundation to bring dimension back to my face, otherwise it looks like a mask. •brows: naturally sparse and straight, I fill them in a bit w/brow gel. Can go a little heavier for pictures but looks harsh IRL. •eyes: matte to slight shimmer. No chunky glitter. Medium to dark, Dark Winter colors. Concentrated close to the lashes, blended but not TOO blended. A dark waterline is good, but I don’t usually bother b/c it’s a headache to remove. Winged liner is ok but can look too crisp. •lashes: thicker is better than longer, but that may just be my glasses lenses speaking! •lips: natural finish untinted balm if i’m doing darker/brighter eyes. For lighter eyes I can go matte to satin opaque medium to dark DW lips. Anything less than opaque collects in my lip lines. Gloss: NO.
What do we think? I have a type I’ve been exploring the clothing lines of but there’s still something off. I do wonder if my DW coloring is making me think i’m more Dramatic than I am.

9/23/2021 02:44:41 am

Hmm... My first impression is that you definitely lean toward masculine styles, and I don't see much that indicates Ingenue in your mix, so you can probably rule that one out. Being able to pull off a dark waterline + needing dimension in the face after foundation's on + a tendency to emphasize either lips or eyes but not both + ability to pull off darker makeup shades within your palette indicate that you probably do have some Dramatic. The overall light touch you seem to require in much of your makeup (foundation coverage, brows, and lip balm) also makes me think Natural is a good candidate for you. Slight shimmer on the eyes, satin finish on the lips, need for some blending, & possibly thicker lashes may indicate you have a bit of Romantic or Ethereal? Or, if by "slight shimmer" you meant a pearly finish, then the previous factors would probably indicate Classic instead. I believe Rachel said winged eyeliner is usually an RG thing, so that's an outlier considering nothing else is jumping out as Gamine to me; since you say the winged effect can look TOO precise (G likes sharp lines), that may be another point for Romantic.

My personal recommendation (others may give different advice, so definitely take mine with a grain of salt) would be to start with Dramatic-Natural combos and see how adding in Classic, Romantic, or Ethereal work for you.

9/23/2021 06:06:36 am

Ah, KC already beat me to it (I only saw your 2nd comment now, dia), and gave great advice, too :) As she said, DN is where I would start, and go from there.

This is so interesting, as I'm also learning things this way, as we go along, like that needing countouring is D! Makes sense, as countouring & bronzer are something I've never really been able to do, i.e. they don't suit me... (I'm RIE with possibly one more minor essence.) And false lashes are probably R (right?) - just recently started using them, now I don't know how I could have lived without them until now! ;)

9/25/2021 04:19:13 pm

Thank you both! This is validating to hear. I’m going to pick up a DN guide- I think I’ve spent too much time on Pinterest and it’s led me astray.
I had a career change and need to build a whole new work wardrobe- it’s so hard to figure out the basics! Maybe I can just start with a DN base for now and tweak it as I go.

9/19/2021 04:37:39 pm

It might be possible. At least, when I’d finished doing research for the makeup guides and I had determined what the best makeup was for my own type (Ethereal Natural), it explained why a lot of makeup looks had never worked for me. So if I were coming to the guides without knowing my style type, but knowing what makeup did not flatter me, I could potentially rule out a lot of style types. Gamine and Dramatic in particular would have been very easy to eliminate. :-)

Carol link

9/22/2021 12:33:01 pm

So relate to this. Hunch for my situation is Natural/Ethereal with a touch of D. Blush?! Haha! Red glossy lipstick? I look like I'm in drag! But a glowy look plus a touch of very blended black liner, and I feel myself coming back into focus.

Happy to see the current 90s redux. :) Yes, Angelina Jolie... I wonder if part of the fascination with her appearance has to do with the juxtaposition of her types.

I like the idea of reverse engineering.

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Makeup Guides Are Finally Here!

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