The Style and Beauty Doctor reader Lola writes in with a couple of questions:

Question #1: “Hi Danielle, I recently stumbled on your blog!!! What can I say but thank you!!! I’m NW55 in MAC or Make Up For Ever 180/185. I wanted to know what coral colors would you suggest that I can rock and deep berry lips”

To give the rest of you a visual, a MAC NW55 MUFE 180/185 is about British singing sensation Estelle’s (pictured above) complexion. The undertones are mostly cool which means colors that are blue-based will look best. Dark skin tones also look best in highly-pigmented and brighter shades.

For cheeks, your dark skin will look great in MUFE Sculpting Blush #22:

Or try NARS Blush in Gilda:

As well as MUFE Powder Blush #18 (It looks very bright, but don’t be scared–your dark skin can take a very strong color like this without it looking as bright as it does in its container):

For the eyes, I love MAC Eye Shadow in Paradisco:

You can also wear MUFE Eye Shadow #5:

There are many ways to wear a coral eyeshadow: a single wash of color; on the lid with a brown (like MAC Twinks or Embark), navy (like MAC Nehru), dark green (like MAC Humid), or black (like MAC Carbon) smoked out on the outer V; to line the bottom waterline; or if you want to get really tropical and bright, pair it with MAC Orange and/or Chrome Yellow.

Deep berry lips not only look fabulous on dark skin tones, they also look great on all other skin tones as well (be sure to check out Fall/Winter Beauty Trend: Berry Lips). Some shades that will look fabulous:

1. Bobbi Brown Lip Sheer in Black Raspberry 2. MAC Lipstick in Cyber 3. MAC Lip Pencil in Nightmoth 4. MAC Lipstick in Rebel 5. Yves Saint Laurent Golden Gloss in #6 Golden Plum

Also check out this pretty berry shades: MAC Lipglass in Desire; MAC Lustreglass in Decorative, and if you can get your hands on a discontinued lipgass from MAC called Jewelbright (from the Ornamentalism collection) get it–it’s absolutely GORGEOUS! I bought like 6 or 7 backups up this gloss on ebay.

Question #2: “As a dark skinned woman I also find myself struggling sometimes with a little uneven skin. What can I use to even up my skintone and the same time get the ‘glow’?”

Back in April, The Style and Beauty Doctor hosted a Q & A session with Anne Thomas, CMO, Rx for Brown. Many readers contacted me about issues with hyperpigmentation. Here’s what Anne had to say:

Hyperpigmentation is usually the result of some irritation or inflammation. A key tenet of the Rx for Brown Skin philosophy is to prevent the irritation and inflammation in the first place, which is why the products are free of many potentially irritating ingredients such as alcohol, fragrance, dye, lanolin. Secondly, our Bright Skin Complex helps to minimize the appearance of dark marks on the surface of the skin. Antioxidants help to calm and soothe skin while soy has been show to help block the transfer of the melanin into the outer layers of the skin.

Definitely check out their Bright and Even Regime Set at Sephora. The range of brightening products in this kit lift off dirt, debris, and environmental pollutants to uncover radiant skin, even skintone and gently exfoliate to remove dead layers of skin without irritation. Special ingredients help increase cell turnover to uncover skin’s radiance and add a beneficial layer of exfoliants and antioxidants to smooth skin’s texture, brighten skin, and help promote uniform skintone. The kit is ideal for those with mature skin or dull and uneven skintone.

Your skin will be glowing in no time!

Question #3: “I can’t get enough of your blog, I just saw your suggestion of dark skinned ladies wearing MAC Morange. I’m not really sure i can be that bold, but is there a muted orange color instead?”

Morange looks sooooo beautiful against dark skin, but I can understand if that’s too bold for you. Try a coral gloss like these:

MAC Dazzleglass in Roman Holiday; MAC Lipglass in Lychee Luxe; MAC Dazzleglass in Euro Beat

If you love the look of a lipstick, MAC Lipstick in Ravishing looks great on dark skin and isn’t quite as bold as Morange:

Question #4: “Also could I wear Make Up For Ever #99 and if so what would I pair it with?”

Make Up For Ever #99 is a matte scarlet red eyeshadow:

Like many Make Up For Ever products, you can also use this eyeshadow as a blush. The color would look beautiful on your skin tone, but to be honest I’m personally not a fan of red eyeshadow so I’d use this as a blush. But should you decide to rock this bold red on the eyes, use it in the crease with a dark brown (like MUFE #162), a copper (like MUFE #54), or a bronze (like MAC Bronze Eye Shadow).

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If you have a style or beauty question like Lola that you’d like me to answer, contact me! Your question could appear on the site.