Colour correcting tactics: Covering all the bases of your foundation

Dullness, redness, dark circles... whatever your complexion complaint, there’s a colour correction product to help. Katie Wright explains the hues to choose.

OF all the make-up trends that have exploded thanks to online beauty vloggers, ‘clown contouring’ has got to be the strangest.

It involves painting five (or more) different cream colours in specific areas of your face then blending them in before applying foundation.

Pre-blending, it looks, quite literally, like a clown — but this drastic technique is actually based on some very sound beauty logic: using what might seem like extreme colours can help remedy all kinds of complexion irregularities, you just need to know where on the colour wheel to focus.

From concealing dark spots to veiling redness, these are the colour correcting tactics for every eventuality...

FIND PEACH PERFECTION

If you have pale or medium skin and suffer from blueish or dark circles under your eyes that just won’t budge, try a concealer that’s peach rather than cool skin-toned — the warm undertones will counteract the darkness.

“Two words come to mind when talking about the application of your concealer... ‘Magic V’,” explains Benefit make-up artist Lisa Potter-Dixon.

“Start from the inner corner of your eye and draw a ‘V’ under your eye with your chosen product. Take the bottom of the ‘V’ lower than you think, approximately to where your cheeks start.

"Take the end of the ‘V’ up to the outer corner of the eye then blend upwards, under the lower lash line. By using this top tip, you will hit every under eye problem in one go.”

One shade doesn’t necessarily fit all, however — use a compact or palette to blend your perfect peach.

* Benefit Boi-ing On the Double, reduced from €24 to € 21.60 ( www.debenhams.ie )

* Lancome Le Correcteur Pro Professional Concealer Palette reduced from €39 to €19.50 ( www.boots.ie )

* Korres Wild Rose Colour Correcting Cream Light Shade 30ml, €31 ( www.debenhams.ie )

ADD SOME ORANGE ZEST

Even warm and olive complexions can be prone to greyish patches or dark circles, particularly when you’re tired or overworked, but a dash of orange under your base can make all the difference.

Dot or brush the product on then use a beauty blender sponge to diffuse the pigment; it’ll lend your complexion added warmth when you apply foundation or BB cream on top.

Some of the best orange shades can be found in colour correction palettes, and that way you can play with different hues and find out what works for you.

* Yves Saint Laurent Touche Eclat Neutralizer in Apricot, €35 (Boots.ie)

* Stila Correct & Perfect All-In-One Correcting Palette, €41.60 ( www.FeelUnique.com free p&p)

SAY YES TO YELLOW

If bleary red eyes are your enemy and you have pale skin, say hello to yellow — a sherbety type to be precise, like Benefit’s Lemon Aid.

“This yellow shade helps neutralise redness on the eyelid,” says Potter-Dixon, noting that the cream acts as a primer too.

Lemon yellow can also be really effective on darker skin tones if you have purplish eye bags.

* Benefit Lemon Aid, €24 (boots.ie)

GET THE GREEN LIGHT

Remember in school when you learned about the colour wheel and how red and green are opposites?

That’s why green is such an important shade in colour correction, because a lot of complexions are prone to redness.

Whether it’s due to rosacea, spots, or if you’ve overdone it in the sun or are prone to a flushed face, a dash of mint (on paler skin tones) or moss green under your foundation will put paid to rosy patches.

“Also avoid red blushers if you’re prone to flushes,” Potter-Dixon recommends. “Try a coral shade instead.”

* Cover FX Correct Click in Green, €17.90 ( www.spacenk.com )

* Smashbox Colour Corrector Primer— Adjust, €33 (boots.ie)

* Max Factor Colour Corrector Stick, €13.99 in green (boots.ie)

THINK PINK

If you struggle to tan, even at the height of summer, sallowness is a common complaint, and that’s where the pink and purple shades of colour correctors come in.

Lilac neutralizes yellow, giving you a more perky and even complexion.

Dot a violet cream across your forehead and cheekbones, then blend out, or use a primer with pinkish undertones over your entire face.

* Yves Saint Laurent Touche Eclat Neutralizer in Lilac, €35 (Boots.ie)

* Hourglass Ambient Light Correcting Primer in Mood Light, €40 (Space NK, Grafton Street, Dublin)

MIX AND MATCH

The simplest way to correct your complexion?

Rather than focusing on one shade, choose a product that comes with neutralising properties built in.

Stila’s One Step Correct Colour is a multitasking skincare product that nourishes and brightens.

The cloud-light formula comes with tones of green, lavender and peach to give your skin an instant lift.

The Body Shop’s Instaglow, available in three skin-boosting shades (bright, warm or peach), doesn’t look very pigmented in the tube but delivers a subtle sheen and can be used alone or under foundation.

* Stila One Step Correct Colour Corrector, €31.60 (boots.ie)

* The Body Shop Instaglow CC Cream in Peachy Glow, €23.50 ( www.thebodyshop.ie )