The Asian Beiges, doesn't that sound like some bad 70's music group with frizzy hairdos and bell-bottom jeans? To tell you the truth, the colors weren't too far off from that decade. Okay, maybe I am exaggerating a bit about these skin tone neutrals.
After my initial haul of skin tone or nude pigments from DIY Cosmetic's sister site, I regretted not buying Oriental Beige and Shanghai Gold with my previous haul. After all, these were BEIGE or nude colors which could be used alone or mixed with other cosmetic pigments to enhance any of my cosmetic products by neutralizing any unwanted tones on the skin.
When I opened my packet of pixelated loose pigments of these Asian Beiges, I could only think of Malibu Ken; tan, flat, and to Barbie unexciting!
Oriental Beige, I am surmising, is a color ubiquitous within cosmetic products. Why? It is the typical warm peach beige appearing in the bases of many cosmetic products from BB creams to foundations. This may be the reason why the big vat (10 gallon) size is sold out at a major pigment supply place. The color isn't bad though, it is more of a satin peach beige with a soft luminous glow making it easy to mix with other colors, thus its popularity.
Shanghai Gold is actually quite a beautiful color even though the swatch below shows otherwise. The color is a luminous neutral yellow with green/gold intertwined. It can be used to add into foundation to enhance warmth and to neutralize redness.
From my previous post here are the other skin tone pigments available, and you can check out the detailed descriptions of these skin tone pigments.
I figured I should really show off these beautiful pigments better, therefore, I mixed them with Waxelene which would actually turn them into lipgloss, luminizing cream, or even a hair styling product. Here are all the pigments in their wondrous glory!
Shanghai Gold - notice the green peeking through. Oriental Beige is the nude beige.
Alexandria and Zanzibar are hard to tell apart even in swatches as you will see but Alexandria is slightly deeper in color. Celtic Beauty has blue/green glow.
Rose Gold is exactly what it is and will brighten most skin tones. Aruban Coral (skin tone pink) is a mauve base with gold for darker skin tones.
The colors swatched onto skin, un-smudged and smudged.
Now, see how they turn beige when a picture is taken at a different angle.
Why would you want these colors? Oh, I don't know because they are not the usual flat boring neutrals or beige tones. They can be used on their own or you can experiment. For any of you makeup artists out there who are on a tight budget, just buy a sample packet of each of these which cost $1.50 for about a teaspoon, and mix it into any of the foundations you need to tweak and it will give a luminous glow. Better yet, buy a product like Temptu S/B Mixing Medium and make your own foundation adjusters. For others who like to play, just dump a bit into clear polish and they will make great neutral polishes for the spring! Possibilities are endless!
Olivia
