Basics

[sowjiii]

Hello Beauties, 

Looking for basic skin care and makeup tips or videos for indian dusky skin tone. Am a newbie in this. Right now I have few items suggested by random sales persons. Not sure how to use those correctly, tried few videos but got white cast on the skin after using foundation(Bobbi Brown) and it’s  different near lips( I have more pigmentation in that part).  Don’t want to spend more money on it. 

These are the products I have with me: 

1. Bobbi Brown Long-wear weightless foundation

2. It Cosmetics CC+ 

3. Lakme 9 to 5 CC ( 04- Almond)

4. Sephora smooth+ blur primer

5. Kiss Beauty 24hr long lasting primer

6. sephora translucent setting powder

7. e.l.f putty blush -pink

8. Few darker lipsticks 

9. Vanicream moisturizer 

10. Snail Serum

Can someone guide me on this journey ? Looking for glow and natural look. Thanks in advance.

[CattyT3]

Hello - fellow desi here - I have olive skin tone.
I will tell you that honestly, my worst makeup items I have ever picked up and eventually thrown out from hating them on me so much are the ones sales people would color match me to. It is basically impossible for them to understand our golden browns. I've had clinique, bobbi brown, sephora, and bare minerals counters all unable to color match me with their products over the years. But both my ideal foundations have been sold at Sephora for years (one just got discontinued in my shade) - I just had to get samples of them myself and see the result of how it makes my skin look and feel. I'll go in steps below letting you know what I do/ don't recommend for our unique skin:

Skin preparation:
I love snail skincare products too, and Vanicream is great to not be offensive to the skin, good choice. Your tinted SPF (cc cream) I will say it might be that if this is not the right shade/ tone, it might contribute to the look of your base makeup looking more light on you. But if it isn't an issue then no problem. Just make sure you use enough and reapply SPF even over makeup to help your hyperpigmentation at the source.
I will give a link to an Indian dermatologist who has helped me on my skin journey: https://www.youtube.com/@vanitarattan

Color correcting (hyper pigmentation covering):.
If you find that beneath your base makeup you still see the hyperpigmentation on parts of your face, a color correcting item (there are different types like liquid or cream formula) to apply a thin layer on the discolored parts and then go in with your base makeup (like foundation and concealer). NARS Radiant Creamy Liquid Color Corrector is a popular one, and their concealer is one I want next as I swatched the formula and I've never had a truer concealer match and the formula is very lightweight but covering. Another popular brand these days is Live Tinted, they have a color correcting pencil that might be convenient to begin using. Going by your SPF cc cream shade, color correctors that are peachy-orangey may be your best matches.
You might find that this, or dotting concealer on spots you want extra coverage on, or even mixing concealer and foundation together for application might work for you to get the base finish you want. Play around with it and see what works for you, you may find you don't need a color corrector by tackling the hyperpigmentation in skincare or getting the right foundation/ concealer for you.

Skin tone matching products:
Unfortunately, we cannot rely on store people to guide us well - that is why we end up either too orange, too grey or too yellow. We must hunt for products with our own eyes.
I personally found Bobbi Brown makeup doesn't agree with my color, always made me look too dead looking, and their concealer I had about 10 years back was horrible formula and and only made my undereye darkness look more obvious. Once I tried 2 samples from Sephora - for the Armani Beauty Luminous Silk Perfect Glow Flawless Oil-Free Foundation and Urban Decay Stay Naked Weightless Foundation - I found my skin tone matches after years of bad matches. I don't need much coverage and only tiny dots of texture if I have breakouts some times, so if you are looking for foundation to be full coverage and/ or make a lot of texture even looking, I cannot comment on that.
The IT cosmetics CC+ is what a makeup artist used on my aunt and mother for wedding function makeup for a very natural base makeup look, so I assume they have the right shade/ tone for your skin for this to not be the issue for white cast. The only thing I can think is that your foundation is just not a match for your skin, as a translucent powder wouldn't contribute color payoff on your skin. You can buy cheapish foundation color pigments to mix with foundation to correct the color and tone as you need. But it might be a hassle and could end up costing as much as simply getting a new foundation might. LA Girl has pigments I use to correct a dark orange toned foundation for my skin. It is a learning curve to get the skin color right for you, so it is a personal choice. 

This makeup artist I found on Instagram, but here is her youtube - she tests a lot of products and shows techniques to tackle skin issues many desi people struggle with including hyperpigmentation https://www.youtube.com/@makeupbymonicaa

Otherwise, the products you use for color is all personal choice, and it's good you take good care of your skin to help keep it an healthy as possible. Do message if you want specific recommendations on any product type - I have tested quite a lot of things now and know plenty of formulas that are no-gos for brown skin!