What Is Color Correcting? | Birchbox Mag (2024)

FAQs

Is colour corrector enough? ›

But if you have redness, dark spots, or stubborn under-eye circles, you'd also benefit from a color corrector. Unlike your flesh-toned concealer—which covers up imperfections—color-correcting makeup uses the principles of color theory to neutralize unwanted tones for more even-looking skin.

Purple brightens dullness and evens out sallow, yellow skin. Yellow conceals dark purple or blue discoloration. Green color corrector hides red blemishes, blotchiness, and sun spots. Peach cancels dark circles, especially under the eyes.

Color correction is the first step, and it involves fixing issues with the color of your footage so it matches how hues and tones appear in the world. The goal of this technical process is also to match the colors between each of your video clips so they are unified.

Benefits of color-correcting makeup

Color-correcting is an incredible technique that, as the name implies, allows you to actually correct different tones in your skin by neutralizing them, as opposed to just covering them up with foundation or concealer.

Color corrector is the perfect way to achieve blemish-free and smooth skin without needing full-coverage foundations or concealers, but it's essential to understand how they work to use them effectively.

The key is to use a small amount at a time and blend well as a little can go a long way. You should never see the color of the corrector on your face. What you should see is the opposite color slowly being blended away creating a more neutral shade.

Peach and Orange Color Corrector

Dark circles tend to have a bluish undertone, so shades of peach and orange are ideal for canceling them out. Those with lighter skin tones should reach for a peach color corrector.

According to Quinn Murphy, a celebrity makeup artist and host of In My Chair podcast, the best way to counter dark circles is to apply some variation of orange.

Peach: A peach corrector is used to minimize blue undertones for light-to-medium skin, especially for under eye circles. "Those circles peaking through are actually blue. If you have darker skin, you can use orange for this purpose," says celebrity makeup artist Katie Mellinger.

One of the most obvious signs that you need color correction is when your hair color appears uneven or patchy. This can happen for various reasons, such as uneven application of hair dye, using an incorrect color formula, or even due to previous damage that prevents the hair from absorbing the color evenly.

Why is color correction so expensive? ›

Well friends, color corrections tend to take up the entirety of a stylist's day. This often means seeing less clients, which in-turn means making less money that day. Some color correction appointments can take up to 6 hours or more, and the stylist has to use mass amounts of color to achieve the desired tone.

Primary color correction is the first step in a traditional color correction workflow which involves applying tonal range and color corrections to the entire raster or image (Figure 1). Primary color corrections usually start with spreading out the tonal range to its fullest natural extent.

If we look at red, the color opposing it is green. When red and green are combined, they neutralize each other (i.e. cancel each other out). So, whichever color you are looking to conceal/neutralize, find the corresponding color on the color wheel.

For light skin, a yellow, peach or purple-based concealer will cancel out the gray tones created when concealer is layered over the shadowy areas. On deeper skin, use bright orange or red first, followed by a neutral or yellow-toned concealer.

Green Colour Corrector

It is very effective to reduce the appearance of redness on your skin. If you have an angry pimple, with redness around it, just apply a light layer of green colour corrector from your colour corrector palette to cancel it out. It also helps cover blemishes and acne marks.

“Color correction should always be applied after skincare and before foundation and concealer,” she notes. “Using a small brush to pat on, and a damp beauty sponge to stipple is the easiest way to apply color corrector.”

In some cases, you may also choose to use both concealer and color corrector. “You need color correctors if you're trying to conceal discoloration. Concealer alone won't do the trick because the color needs to be neutralized initially before coverage,” explains Badro.

Absolutely, color correctors can be a daily staple in your makeup routine, especially for persistent concerns like under-eye circles or redness. The key is to use a light hand and blend thoroughly.