Colour correcting: the candy-striped cosmetic concept proving to be the hottest new makeup trend

MakeupLifestyleEmma McCarthy

When it comes to creating a perfectly flawless complexion, smearing a paintbox of pastel-hued colours over your face doesn’t seem like the obvious solution.

Welcome to the mind-boggling world of colour correcting - a candy-striped cosmetic concept that is proving to be the hottest thing to hit your Instagram since #contouring.  

As Alexia Inge, co-founder of insider online beauty emporium Cult Beauty, confirms: “Colour correcting is officially the new contouring. Over the past couple of months we’ve seen a huge rise in both searches and sales of colour-correcting complexion products. When done well, the effects are instantaneous and incredibly addictive.”

But this isn’t about carving out a new set of cheekbones - it’s a technique designed to give you the skin of your dreams. “Colour correcting is one of the first things you learn as a make-up artist, to subtly perfect the complexion canvas before you start your masterpiece,” she says. But despite its professional background, the rules are reassuringly simple, relying on the basic principles of colour theory that contrasting colours have the ability to cancel each other out. 

As Inge explains: “Pistachio neutralises redness, peach or red cancels out the blue you find in dark circles, and lavender lifts sallowness (mostly found with olive skin tones).” 

MAC senior artist Rebecca Butterworth is another believer in the power of colour. “Green colour correctors are particularly effective on light skin tones for correcting red spots. But a word of warning - green can be too effective, leaving your skin looking grey and ashy, so use it sparingly.” 

For larger areas of rosiness, Butterworth recommends going a few shades down from Kermit the Frog green. “I find that yellow delivers great colour- balancing to red areas without the strange undertones that come with green. For covering large areas of redness or acne, a yellow primer is the most effective solution. Mix MAC Prep & Prime CC Colour Correcting Primer in ‘Neutralise’ into moisturiser and apply with your fingers for superb redness control.” MAC’s correcting line also boasts a setting powder (8) for a perfect finish. 

And it’s not just your post-gym/red-wine flush that you can get under control with colour. “Yellow is fantastic at brightening around the eye area and cancelling out the red/purple tones that can make your eyes look sore or tired,” says Butterworth. Good news for hay fever sufferers. 

As for those burning the candle at both ends, a coat of orange or peach will zap dark eye circles. And if you’re feeling a little green around the gills, try purple. “Lavender brightens and lifts as it neutralises,” advises Butterworth. “MAC Strobe Cream has a soft lavender pearl running through it, which beautifully and subtly lifts yellow/greenish tones out of your skin, leaving you looking like you’ve had 10 hours’ sleep.”

Of course, as with all the best beauty hacks, application is everything. Butterworth advises using a CC primer under your foundation when dealing with large areas, while for specific placement or intense areas of pigmentation, she suggests that we dab on our chosen colour corrector with a fine liner brush or a sponge. 

Cult brand Beautyblender has just the thing with its set of four mini correction sponges (1), each one colour-coordinated and downsized to target smaller areas of the face such as under the eyes and around the nose.  Stila’s Correct and Perfect all-in-one colour-correcting palette (4) is another no-brainer purchase for newcomers to the technique. It contains five creamy colour correctors to tackle all complexion bugbears, plus two tinted finishing powders and a handy face-map instruction manual for professional and foolproof application. 

Complexion perfectors Cover FX has also cornered the market with its Correct Click correctors (6), ranging from brick red - to counteract ashiness and dark spots in deep skin tones - to primrose, for purple patches on pale skin tones. 

For Inge, the winner is Becca’s Backlight Targeted Colour Corrector quad (9) - “they’ve been selling like hot cakes” she says - which she loves for its ability to conceal and imbue a flattering luminosity. Urban Decay’s new Naked Skin Colour Correctors (7) - coming to the UK in August - contain pearlescent pigments to offer similarly glowing results. 

If it’s just a light adjustment you need, try Clinique’s pigmented Superprimers (5) - six alarmingly coloured tubes which create a surprisingly flattering base before foundation - and target localised trouble spots with YSL’s Touche Eclat Neutralizers (2), which offer the same cult concealer bolstered by violet, apricot and green tinges. 

For low-maintenance types, things don’t get much more straightforward than Marc Jacobs’ clever Cover(t) Sticks. Each of the three shades are marbled with dual hues - pink and lilac, citron and lime or peach and caramel - for effortless application and a blurred, soft-focus finish.

And if it’s longevity you’re after, try Algenist’s Concentrated Colour Correcting Drops (3). Available in four shades - green, pink, blue and apricot - each high-tech formula is laced with alguronic acid and microalgae oil, which not only cover  the problem immediately but work  to correct it below the surface within 10 days.

ArticleColour correcting: the candy-striped cosmetic conceptMarc JacobsYSL

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