With Christmas just days away and New Year’s Eve the following week, makeup tutorials have become a must for lessons in lips, eyes, face, and all things holiday beauty. Beauty guru and influencer Nyma Tang has been a major player in the world of How-To videos for the perfect makeup for any occasion.
And with more than 1 million subscribers on YouTube, and nearly a half million followers on Instagram, she has easily become the go-to influencer for ladies (and gents) with deep melanin-rich skin tones. It’s because she she knows her stuff. And as a Black woman with gorgeous rich chocolate-hued skin, she’s passing that knowledge on.
Tang shared some of her tips on how to successfully achieve flawless holiday makeup looks.
Tip 1: Understand your undertones.
“There are lots of variations of shades, like different pinks, different purples. But if you find the ones that work for your undertone, you’ll feel more confident and more comfortable experimenting with them in that sense,” she told ESSENCE. “I did a soft glam makeup tutorial recently and in order for [my eyeshadow] to still have that pop but also still feel neutral and soft glam, it had to fit my undertone. And even though it’s a very neutral, very monochromatic look, you still have to find a way to make your undertone work. So first thing is just to truly identify your undertone. It’ll make experimenting so much easier and so much more enjoyable.”
Tip 2: Understand what complements your skin tone and what doesn’t.
“I wouldn’t go out and wear a pale pink blush, not ideally, because it’s very hard to find a pale pink blush that works on my skin tone. So unless I did find something like that, that’s not my go-to. I wouldn’t immediately gravitate toward the pale pink blush in that sense. So, it’s really what complements you and your skin tone and also what you’re comfortable with experimenting with.
Tip 3: Experiment with colors, a lot!
“I am literally the queen of red lipstick, obviously that’s the first shade that I ever made in collaboration with MAC. I am obsessed with it. It’s literally my go to, either that or nude. And I’ve obviously started experimenting, playing a little bit more with pinks and purples on my eyes. I think coral is making a comeback, like a really nice red-orange coral. And I think pink could be really cute if it’s done right.”
“I don’t think that there’s a wrong or right way to do color, especially on dark skin. And also you kind of have to pick and choose where you want to pop. If I’m wearing a bright red lip, I’m not going to put purple on my lid, it’s going to clash. Or if I’m doing a very glittery eye look and a very detailed, intricate eye look, I’m just going to keep it very simple on the lips.”
Tip 4: When it comes to concealer, learn to layer.
“I recently found out that layering concealers works best for me. So I’ll start with like skin tone concealer and then I’ll see if I want to go up another shade to brighten. But I think everyone sometimes just jumps straight into three shades lighter than your foundation and three shades darker than your foundation. And then you’re stuck trying to blend out this mess. You’re blending for like 900 years and nothing’s changing. But if you worked your way up to it, you’d probably be able get it down with a little bit of practice.”
Tip 5: Primer is for more than just foundation, especially for long nights.
“Give yourself enough time to get ready, that way you won’t skip any steps. Priming is definitely important for those long events. Make sure you prep your skin really well, and also you have to find what primer works for your skin type. If you’re going to be doing a full matte lipstick exfoliate your lips, then go in with a really good hydrating mask. I love the Kiehl’s butter lip cream mask and the new one that just came out from Tatcha.”
“Do the lip masks before doing your entire makeup. [At the end] take off the lip mask, but leave just the tiniest bit on your lips and then go over it with your matte liquid lipstick. You’re going to lose a little bit of long wear, but you’ll have your lips in the morning. And to take it off I would not recommend a wipe, use a face oil.”