Trending: The Art of Color Correcting

When it comes to our skin, everyone suffers with imperfections, the annoyance of redness, drab and dull skin, dark circles that make you look like a zombie some mornings. However have no fear, there is a solution. Color correction has been around for quite some time but has had more of an emphasis these past few months. Your average flesh tone concealer has stepped up its game and several various colors have been developed to target your certain problem areas. At first it can be a little overwhelming and confusing trying to decipher why you would want to apply the same colors you once used to color a coloring book all over your face. Honestly it has a similar artsy concept that lands us back at the color wheel Mrs. Fancher introduced to us years ago. You use the colors that are placed across from each other on the color wheel, aka contrasting colors, to cancel each other out. As an example, red and green on the color wheel are a crossed from one another; therefore a green tinted concealer will diminish redness. Taking this concept and applying it to your make up routine will help to blur any discoloration.

Green Concealer:

As I mentioned before green can be used to diminish redness. Whether you have a pesky pimple or rosy cheeks, adding a small amount of green concealer, or even a primer prior to foundation, will work wonders. For a small area like a blemish, use the concealer to be able to target and camouflage the area. If you have more of a red complexion overall, or maybe you’re suffering from sunburn or rosacea, put a thin coat of primer on your bare skin before makeup application.

Purple Concealers:

Purple tones are directly across from yellow on the color wheel. If you notice your complexion looks a little dull and maybe even looking like it has yellow undertones, this would be the best color for you. If you want an overall coverage of your complexion, then apply a purple face primer to your entire face. The purple will make your skin appear more radiant. If you suffer with more of just spots of discoloration, you can use a spot treatment concealer.

Pink/Red Concealer:

These shades can be a little tricky to pin point because they have a further range of color. However the red or pink toned concealers work the best at combating against blue/green tones because they have a blend of orange, yellow and red with in them developing their color. Those warm toned colors are across from the blue and green side of the color wheel. If you have dark circles a concealer will combat the blue tones and it can also make Olive skin tones look replenished.

Yellow Concealer:

Yellow concealers have a similar concept since yellow is also a warm tone. Blue and purple hues are linear to the yellow portion of the color wheel. If you have a bruise, veins under the skin or even dark circles the yellow will cover it up. It also makes a good base for your eye shadow if you have veiny eyelids and yellow primers also give a good base for foundation and will make your face look brighter.

“White” Concealer:

I would steer pretty clear of a WHITE pigmented concealer, just because none of us want to end up looking like Casper the friendly ghost, although a concealer a few shades lighter than your natural skin color or foundation color is an essential. It really works wonders for highlighting parts of your face like your nose, cheek bones, forehead… anywhere you want to add a little light. When you use this technique and add in a darker color contour or bronzer, you can give your face a sculpted appearance. You can also apply a lighter shade to your under eye to brighten that area as well, especially if you have dark circles.

Neutral Concealer:

If you are aiming to stick to the basics or you don’t have much experience with make-up and aren’t ready to step into the colorful world of concealers, a flesh toned concealer will do the trick. Any sort of blemish can be can be veiled by a dab of concealer. Most concealers already have a thicker texture, so only applying a little bit over top of a pimple and blending it out should do the trick. This type of concealer can also be used on any area of your face and is not specified for certain problems, so if you want to spend your money on a more expansive product, this would be your best option.