VALLEY recently explored “The Makeup Archetype Quiz” which showed us eight makeup archetypes: natural, elegant, gamine, ingenue, classic, modern, dramatic and romantic. This quiz was brought to Western attention by YouTuber Dear Peachie, who was inspired by Chinese beauty trends to compile the quiz.
Just as a reminder, you can find the quiz here! The graph below represents the archetypes, take note of which one you found to be most accurate to you!
Now it’s time to delve deeper into the intricacies of your beauty blueprint. Your quiz results offer a window into your unique aesthetic preferences, guiding you toward makeup techniques and styles that best complement your features and reflect your individuality — however, keep in mind that these results are not all-encompassing! The makeup you choose to wear is yours before all else, so if you disagree with this quiz, that’s totally okay.
With that being said, let’s get into the results!
The Ingenue Archetype
If you have the ingenue archetype, you might have more rounded and moderate angular lower visually weighted features. People who fit into the ingenue archetype generally have more gentle, delicate and almost juvenile features. The makeup associated with this creates an overall visual impression of delicate and youthful femininity to enhance such features!
You might want to try:
- Softer, more rounded or straight brows
- Adding matte highlighter or powder to the inner cheeks and center of the forehead
- Not having distinct nose contour
- Using a lighter shade of blush on the apples of your cheeks and then a darker shade at an angle on the high of your cheekbones
- Lipsticks that are a similar shade to your natural lips
- Lip gloss over the top of this natural base color
- Eyeliner in the inner corner of your eyes
- Coral or pink eyeshadow
The Gamine Archetype
The gamine archetype usually presents with a low to moderate visual weight. Facial features are shaped more angularly, so they present with a high level of neoteny and youthfulness but less femininity than ingenue types. The makeup styles associated with this archetype can be more cool, boyish and airy or they can be softer grunge-like.
If this is your archetype, you might want to try:
- Foundations with a more matte finish
- No heavy contour or bronzing
- Straight or slightly lifted sharp arch on the brows
- Bushier brows for a more effortless look
- Blending out your eyeshadow towards the inner corner of your eyelid
- Short wing to slightly extend eye shape
- Skipping mascara
- Slightly overlined lips, with nude and warm brown shades
For a grungier, more feminine look with this face type, try:
- Jet black eyeliner, with brown gel liner in the inner corner and lower lash line
- More mascara on the lower lashes
- Nose contour only to the tip of the nose
- Darker lip shades
The Natural Archetype
The natural archetype falls perfectly in the middle of the graph — neither too visually weighted nor unweighted and neither too round nor too angular. This archetype gives the impression of being casual, easygoing, gentle and friendly. The makeup styles associated with this type of look are what you’d call the “no-makeup makeup” look.
You might want to try:
- Airy and light base makeup products
- Color correcting techniques on uneven skin spots
- Contour on the side of the face, cheekbones and jaw
- Matte powder on the T-Zone of the face, on the under eyes and on the brow bone region
- Blush on the middle of the cheeks — pink blushes on lighter skin tones and warm coral shades on darker skin tones
- Fluffy, straight brows
- Light brown and beige eyeshadow shades
- Lip shades that match the undertones of the blush and eyeshadow colors
The Elegant Archetype
Those fitting the elegant archetype can be described as being gentle, serene, graceful and delicate. They have more rounded facial features and moderate visual weight. The makeup associated with this style is more formal — giving the impression that you are deliberately styling yourself and putting work into your appearance. Some sub-styles include French girl makeup or Korean-inspired ladylike makeup styles.
If you fit this archetype, you might want to try:
- Brows that are thicker in the middle and thinner towards the end
- Contour on the sides of your face
- Matte powder on the center of the cheeks and your under eyes
- Applying blush starting from the center and brushing upwards on your cheekbone in an angular manner all the way up to your temples
- Sculpting the nose with contour and highlighter
- Lighter eyeshadow tones on the overall eyelid and darker tones within the crease
- Slightly thick eyeliner to bring attention to the eyes with smaller lashes for a balanced look
However, for a more French-inspired look:
- Use lightweight foundations like tinted moisturizers or skin tints and minimal concealer
- Very little contour, only as needed
- Heavier blush for a rosy glow, applied as mentioned above
- Brown eyeshadow on the upper lid
- Lengthening mascara
- Choose between either a bold red lip with no eyeliner or a subtle lip with eyeliner
The Romantic Archetype
The romantic makeup archetype can be best described as mature, alluring and womanly. Those with this archetype have softer and rounder features similar to the Ingenue archetype, but they present a more mature sensuality as opposed to the more innocent, fleeting look of the Ingenue.
If you find yourself fitting into this archetype, you should try:
- T-zone and cheeks brightened with matte powder
- Base makeup products with a dewy finish
- Pink or coral-tone blushes applied to the cheeks, chin and temples
- Contour only on the right and left jaw areas
- A mix of more round, doe-shaped eyes and elongated, feline, siren eyes — use different eyeliner styles to achieve this
- Eyeliner in the inner corner
- Long, wispy false lashes and mascara on lower lashes
- Vibrant lip colors with a glossy finish
The Classic Archetype
This archetype has facial features with a moderate to high visual weight. Similar to the natural archetype, they are neither very angular and sharp nor very round and soft; instead, there is a perfect balance. However, in differentiating the two we see that individuals with the classic archetype typically portray an air of decorousness, conservatism and formality. There are usually no vibrant colors or shimmers involved and no need for a particular facial feature to stand out the most.
You might want to try:
- Foundation to even out the skin tone
- Lighter, rosier colors blended from the apple of your cheeks to the cheekbone as well as on the tip of your nose
- Brows filled upwards
- Minimal eyeshadow, with darker shades on the outer corners as well on in the inner corners
- Eyeliner only on the outer half of the lower lash line
- Upper lash line eyeliner smudged to appear less harsh
- Lip shades close to your natural shade
The Modern Archetype
The modern archetype includes people with facial features that are more angular, with moderate to high visual weight. This archetype appears immaculate, bold and confident. Quite a lot of Western makeup looks and trends fall into this category as a result of this boldness. Their general focal points are either a combination of bold eyes and bold brows or bold eyes and bold lips.
If you fall into this archetype, try:
- Brightening the center of your face with concealer or powder
- Using nose contour
- Blush swiped across cheeks as well as the center of the chin
- Shimmer highlighter on the cheekbones and other high points of the face based on the desired glam-ness of the look
- Eyeliner in the inner corner with an elongated winged liner
- Dramatic, wispy false lashes or volumizing mascara
- Eyebrows with a sharper arch for more of a focus on brows but straight brows for more of a focus on the lips
The Dramatic Archetype
This makeup archetype is similar to the modern archetype, however, it shows itself in a way that emphasizes dignity, intensity, extravagance and charisma. It also gives equal focus to all features on a face, whereas in comparison the modern archetype tends to only focus on one or two at a time. The makeup that this archetype can get inspiration from is heavily inspired by Thai makeup trends that have gained traction in recent years.
Here’s what you could try:
- Matte foundations
- Facial and nose contour with highlight at the high points of the face
- Blush placed in a more global manner — from the cheeks to the nose all the way up to the high of the cheekbones
- Fluffy eyebrows with a soft arch
- Light-colored matte eyeshadow
- Eyeliner drawn on with a dark brown shade with a brush instead of liquid eyeliner, although that can be applied as well over the top
- Lips lined with lip liner and filled in with saturated but not necessarily vibrant colors
- For a more cold, fierce makeup look — bold lips like dark cherry reds and maroons
So there you have it, the eight makeup archetypes! Tag us with photos of you having tried these makeup looks @VALLEYmag on Instagram!
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