The art of corrective makeup and colour correction

One of the most rewarding aspects as a makeup artist is teaching people how to create an illusion using the magic of makeup to make them feel more confident about themselves.

Over the years I have experienced many requests from colour correction, and corrective makeup procedures from camouflaging, balancing faces to covering body scars, burns, tattoos and sunburn.

When conducting a makeup “illusion” session, I include correction makeup, and colour correction makeup techniques.

Like any art form, covering up or camouflaging skin imperfections takes practice and patience.  Some of the most common skin conditions that I see for covering up and or camouflaging include;

Acne, scars, burns, vitiligo, pigmentation, rosacea, age spots, birthmarks and dark eye circles.

Corrective Makeup

The art of covering up imperfections can be achieved in many ways, with precision and lots of blending.

Corrective makeup is a technique that makes use of light and dark shades and colours to highlight and contour features, creating the effect of balance and proportion.

Dark shades always appear further away and lighter shades appear closer. By using dark and light shades in the right place next to one another you can create an illusion of shape.

A highlight, (light shade) will emphasize a feature and contouring, (dark shade) will minimize a feature.

A light colour brings an object forward and a dark colour will bring back to the foreground.

Contouring will create a shadow, the shadows will help define certain areas.

Basically think of your face from an artists’ point of view that works with a pencil.  They use light and shadow to create a 3D image effect.

Highlighting will bring light to the face and make the features more prominent, bringing them forward to the eye.

You can use the contour and highlight technique for the following areas; a lips, a wide nose, cheek bones, a round face, a long face, wide jaw, double chin and the eyes, wherever you feel the need to emphasize or hide a feature.

Colour Correction

As a makeup artist, I teach people how to select the proper colour correcting formula and techniques to create a flawless finish without bringing attention to a problem area.  A colour wheel can help determine which colour of concealer to use best on your blemish or correction area.

You will need to colour correct the problem first.  So colour correction means to use a colour that is opposite from the one of the problem in order to cancel it out.  So check the colour wheel to see what colour corresponds to the “problem area”.  So for example if you have acne and it’s red in colour, you would use the opposite colour on the wheel to cancel it out.  In this case it would be green as it is the opposite colour.  You can use this “rule” for further areas of concern.

People who have scars or burns can also benefit from colour/camouflage makeup, bringing less attention to their imperfections.  If you apply this theory, then you can make your concealer work better for you.

Colours that will help with imperfections;

Violet, Purple & Blue Concealer = For neutralizing yellow skin tones and combatting dull complexion and hyper pigmentation.

Orange & Peach Concealer = For people with darker skin tones who have bluish dark circles under their eyes.

Pink Concealer = For people with lighter skin tones who have dark circles under their eyes.  Also brightens overly olive and sallow skin tones.

Yellow Concealer = For dark purple bruises, veins, and under eye circles.  Also great for redness around the nose and mouth.

Green Concealer = For redness, acne, birth marks, rashes and rosacea.