Shopping for makeup as a woman of color can be a difficult task.

First, there’s the struggle of finding products that are deep enough for your skin tone. Then there’s the issue of buying products that seem like they’ll work, and then getting them home and finding that they don’t have enough pigmentation to appear on your skin. And those are just two examples; the list goes on.

All is not lost, though! It’s totally possible to find amazing makeup for dark skin — you just have to shop smart.

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Below, I’ll take you through my top tips for shopping for makeup as a woman of color, from base products like foundation to color products like eyeshadow and more.

Table of Contents

My Top 3 Drugstore Foundations | Nyma Tang

Cheek Products

When looking at any cheek makeup for dark skin, it is important to note the pigmentation and undertones.

Dark skin needs more pigment to pack the same punch as a lesser amount of pigment would on a lighter skin tone. Also, colors that look like a natural flush on light skin could end up looking more like a pop of color on deep skin.

Now you can use any product you feel like but if you are looking for a natural product, plums and deeper pinks are more likely to look natural than other shades on dark skin.

A beautiful option is the Sephora Collection Spice Market Blush Palette. It is a beautiful cheek palette that includes both natural blushes and a pop of color that complements a deeper skin tone. The reviews on this product are fantastic and many of the reviews recommend it for deeper skin tones.

sWith bronzers and contours, you again want to focus on the pigmentation and how dark the color is. The undertone of a bronzer or contour shade is generally the same but deeper skin needs a deeper product to create the look of a shadow.