Beauty Q&A: Uneven Skin Tone

Q:Hey,
My problem is I have very uneven skin.My t-zone is light but everything else is dark around my mouth eyes and hair line. So I wanted to know what was the best skin regimen to tone and even out my skin. My biggest issue is that my top lip is significantly darker than my bottom lip so I find it hard to wear colored lips. Help!

-Shoshana

A: Hey Shoshana,

It sounds like you've got an issue with "uneven" skin tone that is very common among women of color.

As I mentioned, most women of color are more than one shade on their faces, especially on the other edges of their face and around their mouth and chin. This isn't necessarily uneven skin tone, as the variation can be very minimal. If yours is more noticeable or is really bothering you, there are some skin care products you can use to even out your skin tone. One line that comes to mind is Dr. Susan Taylor's Rx for Brown Skin. Her Bright and Even Regimen Set, $55 contains glycolic acid and soybean extract to even skin.

You can also use makeup to even out your skin tone, by using two shades of foundation, a trick lots of makeup artists use. A favorite
foundation of mine that would work great for this is Make Up For Ever Invisible Cover HD Foundation, $40. This super light foundation gives a seamless finish, so you can easily blend two colors together, or wear one shade that is closer to your T-Zone and seamlessly blend it out to the edges of your face.

As far as your uneven lip color is concerned, I feel your pain! There really isn't much that can be done to the skin, but you can even it out with make up. I recently came across a genius product from Smashbox that does just that. The Nude Lip Liner, $16 comes in four shades to match any lip color, so that what ever lip gloss or lipstick you apply goes on true! Try it in Dark to match the darker color of your lips, or Medium to match the pinkier shade. Genius, I tell you!

Good Luck!