Colour-correction, Simplified

The secret to concealing and correcting hyperpigmentation without entering Ash City lies in colour correction and colour theory. Understanding colour theory is key to picking your shade easily and enjoying looking at foundation swatches like a true make-up junkie. In makeup, undertones matter much more than depth. I'll be sharing some notes on what colors I pick in base products and how I come to know if they're going to work for my skin.

I have warm leaning skin (yellow undertones) with some olive (green undertones). So I love foundations that look yellow-green on swatches- they look the most natural on me.

I have hyperpigmentation around my eyes and mouth. If I apply my yellow-green foundation on these areas, they look straight-up grey. That's because these areas have increased cool tones that must first be corrected by the opposite color on the color wheel. Adding the opposite color will result in neutralisation. The opposite color may be needed in excess so that it not only neutralises the cool tones, but also shifts the equation further towards warmth, so that the neutral gray/brown tones appear beautifully warm like the rest of the face.

Eg. Yellow + purple = brown/gray (neutralised)

More yellow + purple = muted yellow! (that looks much more flattering)

Here's a simple explanation on how to go about doing that for you to keep in mind:

Dark circles have purple and blue tones because they are the result of veins that are visible underneath our thin under-eye skin. (Remember that we usually draw veins using blue color in anatomical diagrams.)

On warm (yellow) skin like mine, these purple tones, which are directly opposite to yellow on the color wheel, cancel each other and it appears grey.

And the blue tones, when seen through yellow skin, appear green. 

(Because yellow+blue=green). 

This gives the final color ie green and grey tones, that we must correct.

This can be accomplished by adding more red, which is the opposite of green on the colour wheel and also more yellow, so that the current equation, yellow+purple= grey,

shifts more in favour of yellow such that the purple hue underneath becomes negligibly less.

The concealer that will effectively colour correct this area must, therefore, be sufficiently yellow + red = orange!

For lighter skin tones pink, salmon, or peach, which are toned down versions of red and orange, will work. The deeper your skin is (or even if the hyperpigmented areas are significantly darker than the rest of your face), the closer to pure orange you will have to go to achieve complete colour-correction.

Therefore, although peach is the colour recommended for color correction for my NC35 skin, I find that a light orange works the best for my darkest areas!

Hence, I choose a concealer that looks light orange (simply put, it must be orange in hue yet match the depth of my skin tone) to conceal and colour correct my undereyes in one step. I could just use a colour corrector underneath a regular concealer, but I truly enjoy using light-orange concealers as it simplifies everything into a single step while making makeup look less cakey due to the fewer number of layers involved.

An example is the e.l.f hydrating camo concealer in the shade Medium Beige. It's my favourite concealer as it's almost full coverage and just the right shade of orange for my skin! On most days, it's the only base product I use apart from a powder to set it.

And that's all about how I color correct my hyperpigmentation.