One of the first lessons I learnt starting my media makeup course was about colour theory and colour correcting. Bare in mind I started my degree a couple weeks late... oops!
In uni we had slideshow and explanation on colour theory but when it came studio practice I realised id be using the laws of colour theory every time I do someones make-up. It’s so basic to have this knowledge and to use it to on your clients to create make-up looks best suited for their skin tone, hair and eye colour. Not only is it used to compliment these, colour correction can also be used to disguise skin imperfections such as dark circles and blemishes etc. Happy days...
Colour correcting works by cancelling out unwanted colours on your face. To cancel out a colour use your new best mate the colour wheel, look at the colour you want to correct and whichever colour is opposite is the one you will use to cancel out the unwanted colour.
So say you have a big red spot on your face that is still visible even after caking on your concealer or foundation. Opposite red on the colour wheel is green. Grab a green concealer (I use LA Girl Pro Conceal in Green Corrector) apply it onto the red area's I like to use a concealer buffer brush to do this, then when applying foundation press it on top on the area's where you've applied concealer, using a beauty blender makes this step tons easier. If you rub or swirl your foundation into your face you'll just wipe off the hard work you've done to conceal your redness. For colour correcting to cancel the other colour out they must be on top of each other. If that makes any sense?
When doing someones eyeshadow if you want to make their eyes pop grab your colour wheel and again whichever colour is opposite use that, it's the contrast between the two that makes it look bold. Another way to use colours to compliment someones eyes is whichever colours are on either side of their eye colour on the trusty colour wheel.
People have different skin tones as a make-up artist I should be able to identify what tone they are in order to match the correct foundation and concealer to their skin tone. Using the wrong tone of foundation will accentuate colours that won’t compliment their skin tone. For example using a warm tone foundation on someone with cool tones will make them look orange and visa versa using a cool tone foundation on a someone with warm tones will make them look greyish! We've all deffo seen someone out and about with orange streaky foundation... its a no from me.
This is the fruits of my labor from this lesson. I got to work on my bestie Nessa, which made it even more fun. I was grabbing her head, blowing excess products off her face and basically annoying her. Things you probably shouldn't do as a MUA ;)
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| Before colour correcting. LY NESS |
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| Colour correcting using the Zoeva 142 Concealer and Buffer Brush to apply and blend in the LA Girl Pro Conceal in the shade Green Corrector. |
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| After foundation and eyeshadow application! Im pretty sure I used a mixture of Mac Studio Fix and Kevyn Aucoin Sensual Skin Enhancer. For the eyeshadow I used the Zoeva Cocoa blend palette & Anastasia Dipbrow Pomade on the brows. So this is the end to my first uni related post which is probs full of loads of grammar and spelling mistakes but oh well :) J xo |
