OMG... you beautiful... this should be a snap for you!

Naimah is a beauitful dancer from out of MD I believe and she is darker.... I don't know anyothers off the top of my head. But I could easily see you with very vibrant colours like blues, turquiouse, purple. People with darker eyes can wear almost anything as long as it is vibrant... bla I gotta go easy on it to try to make the blue pop. The best vibrant I get is pink, which I hate despite how it makes the eyes pop.

I wouldn't push your hair to far up on your head either, it frames your face nicely... if you did pull i up I would leave some tendrils down, or do the sweeping bang thing to the side, part of it depends on your hair type... that plays a big part so don't try to force it to something that it hates. I love the ring-let look. But I have no patience to try to tame my hair, so I spike it, curl it and nine times out of ten for my 'look' I pull it back in cornrow twist things to give it more ass to put fake hair, dreads or braids in.... thats just what I found my hair is happy with. Play with it, take other styles and utilize them and tweak them till they fit you. =) that's how most of us do it. take al ittle here and there... add our colour and our flair and off we go. If it falls out go try something else or a different way.

I always get dressed up for class hair make up etc etc, good way to see what works, easy feed back and always helps set the 'mood' makes me feel more pre-pared mentally for class too. ( I got brand-new red eyeshadow. did it once, looked like I got punched in the face, the girls in class were like... well it could be good but that isn't it.... the next week it worked better after I tried something different!) MI torment my roommate too, we get beer put on a movie or a fight on Spike and play make up so I have ideas ( prior to me moving in she owned... one compact, one mascara wand and an eyelash curler... she now puts on her own HIP make up! on her own!!! I is so proud of her) she is a good sport about it though.

good luck! =) post pictures of your experiments please!

Pics of Naimah! viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm

i take a lot of inspiration from "home" - west africa. the stuff those broads do is SICK. all sorts of face paint, in cool and meaningful symbols (look them up so your face says the right thing!), dot-dot-dot, and loads of face-framing beadwork. then there's east africa, with the heavy eyes, more dot-dot, and black lipstick (can you say tribal goth?). hope this gives you a start point. it certainly did me!

I think jewel tones would look good on you, like vibrant greens, blues and purples. You could play up your eyes or lips or both, although the "normal" makeup rule is in general is to only do one or the other. Go with whatever you like.

As for hair, not my strong point I'm afraid. ^_^ Although I do agree that you would suit having your hair tied back with tendrils hanging down. You could perhaps have it back in a bun and put flowers/hair sticks into it.

Here are a few pictures I think might help a little bit with makeup. They are not tribal per say, but they are definitely dramatic and will give you a starting point I think :)

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Don't be afraid to use lots of color on the eyes. You'll want to ofset this with lots of eyeliner/smoky shadow around the lashline. Your natural texture will make it easier to add stuff like flowers and hairsticks. If I am assuming correctly about your hair you can wash and dry in a high ponytail ( or two) for starters . Or let it dry naturally with not too much product for lots of body. Then make an updo or partial updo and start adding stuff to that. I have just below shoulder length natural hair (which equals GIANT fro! :) ) afro puffs or loose buns will look fancy with a little bit if deco. Feathers are great for drama. Craft store cruising in the floral and holiday department is where it's at!!! DAY

Oooh - and when I worked at a hat shop, I noticed that women with darker skin looked GORGEOUS in vibrant colors that I dream of wearing but never look quite right in - here's a link to the headpiece I made (you'll see what I mean). It's a beautiful tribaret/vaudeville style headband/headdress, but my skin does nothing for it. You're lucky. It's the "Dreaming of Brazil" Headdress:

www.thegypsykiss.com/GypsyAr...ses.html

Good luck!

www.youtube.com/watch

Here is my idol, Donna Mejia, she has your skin tone I believe. Her makeup is actually rather natural and her hair simple. Her costume accents her wonderfully.

Hope you find her as inspirational as I do :)

Naimah looks like a human Bratz doll. She is flawless! Naimahraks.com or Naimahraqs.com
She is also on my Myspace pro and has tons of cool pics there! She is very versitle. And also see Danielle Flowers. She is freaking great! She is in the NJ areas. Ummm....also google BOCA Fest. (Bellydancers of Color) Also check out Frankee Sunshine in Clinton, MD. She has many ideas and workshops on styling up.