Morena Makeup Tips to Highlight Your Skin Tone

Gone are the days when wearing makeup meant going up to two shades lighter and dusting on blush that makes you look gray instead of flushed. Our collective awakening to the beauty of the Filipina skin tone (and the gazillion other colors of skin that exist in the world) has led to a more personalized approach to cosmetics. If you’re brown-skinned and love wearing makeup, here are some tips on doing makeup for morena skin.

It sounds basic. However, many women are unaware that they’re wearing the wrong shade of foundation. There are two tell-tale signs that your morena skin and foundation don’t match. First, your face and neck are not the same color that they look disconnected. Second, you use the same foundation shade year-round. Your skin doesn’t stay the same shade the entire year so neither should your makeup base.

Ever since the ‘80s, you've heard that swatching on your jawline will help you get your best match. However, note that foundations in that decade were quite heavy and opaque. While the method can still work, you could also take a more sheer formula that agrees with your skin’s natural undertones. This way, you don’t have to worry about such a stark contrast. Sheer and dewy looks more modern, anyway. It also makes it easier to remove makeup at the end of the day.

Morena makeup doesn’t have to be complicated. Keep in mind that morena skin usually has warm undertones so let that knowledge guide you in selecting your products. For blush, this means going for warm shades like peach, cantaloupe, orange, and punchy berries for a glowing, morena look.

These shades will look very bold in the pan, and you might worry that they’ll make you appear clownish. They won’t. Just lay them on sheer with a fluffy brush, swiping upwards from the apples of your cheeks to your temples. Forget the old makeup trick of sucking your cheeks in and swirling the brush on the hollows of your face. Yes, this gives your face angles, but it can also make you look older. In modern makeup, the higher the blush, the closer to God.

One fun part about being a makeup-loving morena is that you can wear a burgundy lip and not look like you’re still hung up on MCR’s breakup. On morena skin tone, the effect lipstick would give depends on its formula (sheer, matte, crème, gloss, etc.) and the application, not the shade. If you want a gothic look, make sure to use a lip liner to create a defined dark lip. If you want it to look more contemporary, dab it on like a stain and top with a gloss. 

Count yourself lucky because you can pretty much look good in any shade of lipstick. Generally, however, choose nudes closer to your lip color so you don't look pale. For more vivid shades such as pink and orange, remember that the bolder the hue, the better it looks on you.

Some people believe that having morena skin means more protection from UV rays. There is truth to this. According to the National Institutes of Health, UV rays react with melanin, your first natural defense against sun damage. However, melanin can only absorb some of these UV rays, not all. So, you still need to wear sunblock to protect yourself — yes, even if your makeup products like face powder already have SPF.

After cleansing and doing your skincare, apply POND'S UV Hydrate Sunscreen over your face primer. It protects the skin against UVA and UVB rays as well as collagen. It also hydrates the skin, prevents photoaging, and provides a good base for makeup.

Using highlighter is the easiest way to get glowing. Keeping in mind your undertones, choose a highlighter on the warm gold or bronze side, which will look more natural on your morena skin. Silver or pastel shades can end up looking “frosted,” so you should use them sparingly.

Choose your morena makeup wisely but don’t forget to have fun. At the end of the day, makeup tips are just suggestions — it’s you who makes the rules.