How to: Makeup Ideas for a Formal Green Dress

Rock neutral smoky eyes and light lips with a green dress to look red-carpet-ready, like Jennifer Love Hewitt.

Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

When you're planning your ensemble for a formal event, consider a rich green dress. A rich green dress can give you a sexy, elegant look that's sure to turn heads. Deciding on your makeup look when you're wearing a fierce shade of green can be a challenge, though. If your dress is really dark or bright, you've got to be careful about the colors that you wear on your face so you don't look overdone or ashy and pale. Focusing on one feature and going light on the others is the best way to become the belle of the ball when you're wearing your green formal dress.

Eyes

For a formal event, nothing says sexy like a smoky eye. But when you’re wearing a bold green dress, it’s usually best to use neutral shades so your makeup doesn’t compete with your dress – choose several shadows in the brown or gray family and start with the darkest shade at your upper lash line. You can use a powdered shadow or a pencil liner, but blend well so it has a sultry, smudged look. Add a mid-tone shade to the lid and blend it up to the crease. Use a small pencil brush to smudge the same shade along the lower lash line, too. To up your bombshell factor, dab a light, shimmery shade in the inner corner and beneath the brow. If playing it safe with neutrals isn’t your style, go for full-out va-va-voom with a green smoky eye that matches your dress. Dark-emerald and forest-green shades are perfect for a sultry smoky eye to play up your dress instead of competing with it.

Face

Put your best face forward at a formal event by starting with a foundation and concealer that match your skin tone for a flawless, polished look. When you’re wearing a bright- or dark-green dress, though, the vivid color can make your skin look pasty and washed out, especially if you’ve got a naturally pale complexion -- that makes bronzer a must when you’re rocking a green formal dress. If you’re fair, go with a light golden shade that doesn’t have any orange undertones. For medium and dark skin, try a deeper golden tone. Grab a large, fluffy brush and apply the bronzer to the spots where the sun would naturally hit you -- your cheekbones, the bridge of your nose and your temples – for a soft, natural glow.

Cheeks

Like bronzer, blush shouldn't be skipped when you’re wearing a green formal dress since it perks up your complexion and gives you a healthy glow. Whether you’re wearing a simple, neutral smoky eye or going bold with shimmering green lids, a peachy blush looks killer with a green dress. If you’ve got cool undertones in your skin, look for a pinky-peach shade. For warm skin tones, go with a sheer coral blush to light up your face. If you prefer a more understated look for your cheeks, try a rosy tan blush and apply with a light hand.

Lips

Just like with your blush, you can’t go wrong with a peach shade on your lips when you’re wearing a green formal dress. If you’re rocking a fierce smoky eye, go with a peachy nude lipstick or gloss so it doesn’t compete with your eye makeup. But if you’re wearing a soft, natural eye look, a bold lip color can work, too. Try a classic red lip if you want to feel like a retro Hollywood bombshell. If you’ve got warm undertones in your skin, an orange red is your best bet, while a blue based red looks best on cooler skin tones. If you’re worried that you’ll look like a Christmas tree with a red lip and green dress, try a rich berry shade for your lips instead.

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References

 

Bobbi Brown Beauty; Bobbi Brown Makeup Makeovers; Robert Jones

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