Your Step-by-Step Guide to Color Correction

Choosing a flesh-hued concealer is hard enough as it is—does that shade really match your skin tone exactly? After all, you don’t want whatever you’re trying to cover up, like dark circles or dark spots, to stand out even more, do you? That’s where color correction can come into play. Beauty junkies are going crazy over color correcting concealers—and for good reason. But color correcting can seem like a daunting beauty task: We’re supposed to picks shades of purple, orange, and green concealers, too? While it may seem crazy to apply rainbow-colored concealers all over your face, we promise: There’s a method behind the madness. 

Here’s how it works: Color correcting is a buzzy makeup technique that can be used to conceal your skin’s imperfections via a whole slew of colorful hues. Think back to when you learned about the color wheel in your middle school art class. You probably were taught that certain colors opposite each other cancel each other out—and that same principle applies when it comes to color correcting.

Now, you don’t need to be a makeup pro to nail this technique—all you need is to learn how to color correct properly. Not sure where to start? We don’t blame you: It can seem a tad bit overwhelming, to say the least. Luckily, we’re here to break down the art of color correction for you. Follow our easy step-by-step guide to color correction—consider this your mini cheat sheet. Don’t worry, you can thank us later!

our best color correcting concealers

Before you start color correcting, you’ve got to find the right concealer! The L’Oréal Paris True Match™ Color Correcting Crayons come in five shades that can help disguise the appearance of everything from dark circles to redness to discoloration. Our best pro-tip to make the most out of these color-correcting crayons? Use sparingly while applying to targeted areas, building as you go. Just make sure to blend well and follow up with your regular concealer or foundation so that you don’t walk out of your house looking like a polka-dotted pastel queen.

HOW TO COLOR CORRECT

Confused by the different shades of concealer you can color correct with? Allow us to break things down for you.

The colors: peach, bisque, and orange
Use them if you have: dark circles
Instead of worrying about stepping out with dark circles for the world to see, just reach for a color correcting concealer in the peach family. Use peach if you have a fair to light skin tone, bisque if you have a light to medium skin tone, or orange if you have a medium to dark skin tone. Counteract the appearance of purple and blue tones under your eyes by applying color correcting concealer in an upside-down triangle over your dark circles and blend.

The color: yellow
Use this if you have: discolorations
If you have any discolorations (like dark spots), use the yellow color correcting crayon from our collection. Yellow can help to counteract discolorations on your cheeks, forehead, chin, and just about any place you need it to. Remember—a little goes a long way, so use sparingly.

The color: green
Use this if you have: redness
When you have redness, you might want to hide from the world and stay home all day. But you can help cancel out the appearance of redness with green color corrector. Green is the opposite of red on the color wheel, so it can help neutralize the appearance of any skin redness.

The Ultimate Step-by-Step Color Correction Makeup Routine

Now you officially know just how beneficial color correcting can be, and you know which colors do what, so all that’s left is learning how to pair it all together.

Step 1: Prime your skin. If you want your neutralized look to last, your best bet will be to start your makeup routine with a primer. If your goal is to achieve the look of glowing skin, use the L’Oréal Paris Infallible Pro Glow Lock Makeup Primer; if you’re more of a matte girl, try the L’Oréal Paris Infallible Pro Matte Lock Makeup Primer.

Step #2: Neutralize the appearance any discolorations. Once you’re done with primer, color over your discolorations with your color correcting concealer crayon of choice. For ultimate coverage, use the L’Oréal Paris Infallible Blend Artist Concealer Blender to blend the concealer onto your skin.

Step #3: Apply foundation. Squeeze some of the L’Oréal Paris Infallible Pro Glow Foundation or L’Oréal Paris Infallible Pro-Matte Foundation onto the L’Oréal Paris Infallible Blend Artist Foundation Blender and stipple across your forehead, cheeks, nose, and chin to create an even-looking complexion.

Step #4: Apply concealer. To help brighten the look of your complexion, draw upside down triangles under your eyes using the L’Oréal Paris Infallible Pro Glow Concealer. Use a makeup blender to gently blend in concealer.

Step #5: Set your makeup. Now that your skin looks positively flawless, set it with the L’Oréal Paris Infallible Pro-Sweep & Lock Loose Setting Face Powder. Be sure to use a fluffy brush when applying your face powder for a seamless finish.

Next up: 5 Places on Your Face to Apply Concealer.