Dark, dusky, fair, and pale. Most of us are familiar with these skin colors. But there’s one skin color we may not know very well — light olive. Light olive skin is often mistaken for a golden tan. But despite the similarities between them, there are very defining differences between the two.
But this widespread ignorance makes it slightly tricky to pick the right makeup for light olive skin. Let’s learn more about light olive skin and how you can pick the best makeup for light olive skin.
What Is Light Olive Skin?
Olive skin tone is characterized by a natural green pigment visible beneath the skin surface. In light olive skin tones, along with the green pigment, the pale and neutral undertones like cream and beige are also more pronounced. Some people with light olive skin even have yellow or blue undertones.
How Do You Know If You Have Light Olive Skin?
Light olive skin is generally more common among people of Central Europe, Mediterranean, or South American descent. However, it’s hard to figure out if you have a light olive skin tone. Even those who are deeply tanned or incredibly fair can have this skin tone.
So, if you qualify for one or more of the below points, there are high chances of you having this skin tone.
#1. You have a greenish-yellow skin undertone, slightly similar to the color of olive. Sometimes, it can even be a mix of blue and yellow undertones.
#2. If you’re fair, you struggle with sunburns that seem to be as common as the sun itself. But once the sunburn fades, you’re left with a beautiful tan.
#3. You tend to scar easily after an injury.
#4. Your skin gives off a slight pink glow mixed with a yellow-green tint that’s visible under your skin surface.
#5. During the dry winter weather, your skin appears grey or ashen.
Makeup For Light Olive Skin
Here’s a list of the best makeup for light olive skin that’s sure to make you look gorgeous.
Foundation
The right foundation not only offers you a flawless base for the rest of your makeup, but it also helps conceal your blemishes, dark circles, and other imperfections. But since most foundations have a tinge of pink and yellow in them, they can clash with the underlying green pigment of your light olive skin. Here are some products you can try that would suit light olive skin.
#1. Marcelle BB Cream Illuminator
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This tinted BB Cream from Marcelle is a moisturizing beauty balm filled with self-adjusting pigments. Not only does it blend perfectly with almost all skin tones, but its additive and irritant-free formulation can also hydrate and moisturize your skin. Ingredients like aloe vera, chamomile, and other antioxidants come together to give you a radiant and glowing complexion.
One of the best alternatives to mainstream foundations, it can work great on your light olive skin. This luminous skin enhancer is fragrance-free, non-comedogenic, and oil-free. Along with evening out the skin tone, it can also reduce the appearance of imperfections and smoothen texture.
#2. Make Up For Ever Ultra HD Foundation
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Make Up For Ever is an ultra HD foundation cream that can work great on your light olive skin tone. This buildable foundation has one of the lightest yellow-based colors and can thus effortlessly blend in with your elusive green pigment.
Along with providing a light to medium coverage, this oil-free formula offers a demi-matte finish and can cover your imperfections well. It’s suitable even for sensitive skins, and the product comes with a pump to ensure bacteria-free makeup.
#3. Camera Stick Foundation by True + Luscious
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True + Luscious is a brand known for producing foundations that cater to a wide range of skin tones. This full-coverage cream foundation is non-comedogenic and comes with a hydrating formula. Not only does this cream seamlessly blend into your skin to offer a perfect airbrushed outcome, but it also comes in various shades.
From porcelain and ivory to light and deep beige, you have several shades to complement your warm or neutral undertones. Dermatologically tested, vegan, and plant-based, it is suitable for all skin types, from oily to dry to combination skin.
Concealer
When it comes to hiding your acne spots or covering up imperfections, nothing can beat a good old concealer. Hyperpigmentation is an annoying problem faced by most people with light olive skin. A good concealer can not only deal with this issue but also offer your skin a radiant glow along with camouflaging dark under-eye circles. Here are our best recommendations.
#1. NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer
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NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer can help conceal all the blemishes, dark spots, and imperfections of your light olive skin perfectly. Its crease-proof formula is light, thin, and creamy and offers a luxurious dry-matte finish.
Non-comedogenic and dermatologically tested, this fragrance-free creamy texture sets into your skin quickly to offer a long-lasting, medium to full coverage. You can also use it as an eyeshadow primer to conceal your under-eye circles.
#2. Dermablend Cover Care Concealer
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Dermablend’s Cover Care Concealer is waterproof, fragrance-free, and dermatologically tested. It comes in a wide range of shades to suit different skin tones and colors.
Not only does it cover under-eye dark circles but it also provides 24-hour hydration, high coverage, and a natural matte finish. It comes with an XL applicator with a soft, spongy brush and can last for months.
#3. Neutrogena Skin Brightening Cream Concealer
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This skin brightening cream concealer from Neutrogena has a luxuriously lightweight formula infused with vitamin E antioxidants and peptides. This non-comedogenic cream can conceal all your skin imperfections including dark circles, blemishes, and acne to give you a creaseless matte finish.
You can also use it on your under-eye area. As it comes in various neutral undertones and shades, it can be perfect for your light olive skin.
Blush
From giving your skin a lush, youthful glow to highlighting the cheekbones, a perfect blush can lift your light olive skin’s complexion and make it stand out. From mauve to rose to peach, there are several choices when it comes to blush shades but finding the best one for your light olive skin can be a little tricky. Here’s our list of some highly recommended blushes.
#1. Glo Skin Beauty Blush
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Just like its name, this highly pigmented, talc-free blush can give your skin a healthy and natural glow. It comes in a non-comedogenic antioxidant formula with a wide variety of shades and tones.
Along with adding a pop of color, it can also define your cheekbones and give a pretty peach finish to your light olive skin. Though the amount may look too little as it comes in a small container, a little goes a long way, and you can make do with one box for months.
#2. Rimmel London — Lasting Finish Soft Colour Blush
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This long-lasting soft finish blush from Rimmel London has a creamy powder formula that can give off a natural-looking flush of color.
With light pink undertones, it can give your skin a subtle peach blush and a soft golden shine. It blends into your skin easily to give you a smudge-resistant, buildable pigmentation.
#3. Bobbi Brown Blush
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Bobbi Brown Blush is perfect to give your skin a healthy-looking natural flush. It has some pink tinges with warm undertones that blend seamlessly into your skin.
Long-wearing and pigmented, just a light dab is enough for a shimmering flush of color.
Lipstick
While a nude, light shade of lipstick can look great on ivory or porcelain skin tones, on your light olive skin, it may make you look ashen. To enhance your already subtle and soft skin color, you need something bright and flattering. So, swap those soft violets, peach pinks, and light plum with dark coral, pink rose, or wine-red colors. Here are our recommendations.
#1. Nars Lipstick — Dolce Vita
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This dusty rose-colored lipstick from Nars is long-wearing and warm. A perfect color for spring and summer, this can enhance your light olive skin complexion and leave your lips looking plump and moisturized.
It’s neither too sticky nor too pigmented and can even improve your lips’ condition with regular use.
#2. Maybelline Color Sensational Lipstick — Divine Wine
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From nude and pink to red and plum, this sensational lipstick from Maybelline comes in various shades and colors. However, its Divine Wine shade with burgundy red color is gorgeous and can complement your light olive skin beautifully.
With a hydrating formula and soft creamy texture, this lip color is long-lasting and dries to a subtle matte finish.
#3. Mac Satin Lipstick — Twig
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Mac Satin is a fantastic lipstick that’s creamy and long-lasting. The shade Twig has a chic rose color with light brown undertones that can complement your olive skin beautifully.
It has a moisturizing formula and offers a subtle sheen and shiny satin finish.
Light Olive Skin Makeup Tips
#1. When it comes to foundations, steer clear of the ones with hints of pink and yellow in them. It may not pair well with the underlying green pigment of your light olive skin.
#2. Avoid bright pink or brown-toned blush. Go for peach, mauve, and rose-colored ones instead.
#3. When it comes to eye shadows, golden brown, bronze, shiny copper, dark plum, and forest green are some of the gorgeous options you can try. And if you’re feeling a bit adventurous, try teal colors or a deep navy blue.
#4. For lipsticks, bright tones like dark rose pink, deep coral, or wine red would work great.
#5. Avoid bronzing your face.
Light Olive Undertone Struggles
Besides struggling to find the right makeup products, here are a few known struggles of people with light olive skin undertones.
#1. Oily skin with olive skin tone may look greasier
#2. Skin discoloration
#3. Easily tans
#4. Hyper-pigmentation
A Few Parting Words
Finding the right makeup for olive skin is hard enough. But finding the right ones for light olive is no less than a Herculean task. It also doesn’t help that the cosmetics industry fails to consider light olive skin while formulating makeup products. Hopefully, you can find the right one from this list of the best makeup for light olive skin.
