SEE YOUR TRUE COLOURS.

COLOUR THEORY!

Sounds technical right? It is a module I teach my students at college as part of their Design and Apply Make up course.

Pic courtesy from Google Images.

Colour is everywhere. I'm constantly inspired by colour in everything - whether it is the sky, fashion or nature. Some of these inspirations will form the platform of the make up looks I like to create.

Let me introduce you to the COLOUR WHEEL - a universal tool that is used in many creative grounds; fashion design, art, stylists, interior design, hairdressing and make up to name some. If we go back to our preschool days, we were introduced to PRIMARY colours - red, blue, yellow. These colours can not be made. They are the base colours to a whole rainbow. SECONDARY colours are formed when we mix 2 primary colours together; eg red + blue = purple, red + yellow = orange, blue + yellow = green.

THE COLOUR WHEEL
Pic courtesy from Google Images.

COMPLIMENTARY colours are opposite each other on the colour wheel and help to neutralise colour. For example, if you have blue under your eyes, the colour opposite blue is orange, therefore you would use orange concealer under the eyes to even it out. If you have redness on your cheeks (or suffer from the skin condition Rosacea) green concealer will help. Green is opposite red on the colour wheel.

Pic courtesy from Google Images.

Want to know what colours suit you? As we flick through fashion magazines, we can clearly see that anything goes as far as colour these days. BLUE & GREEN should never be seen - yeh right! These two colours look amazing together. I call them the ADAM & EVE of colours - shouldn't be together and yet are so good together. Get my drift???

Pic courtesy from Google Images.

Regardless of the "anything goes" theory, there are colours that will compliment you and enhance your beauty.

We divide the Colour Wheel into two - cool and warm colours. How do we differentiate what we fall under? Follow my easy steps to find out your colours.

WARM & COOL SKIN UNDERTONES
Pic courtesy of Google Images.

What is the undertone of your skin colour? Usually falls under Pink or Orange. Predominantly people of English and Welsh backgrounds are usually pink undertones whilst European backgrounds tend be orange undertones. This is also the way we determine the foundation colour for you. Best way to check is by applying 3 tones of foundation on your inner wrist, that you think might be closest to your skin colour. The colour that fades into your natural colour the most, is the ideal colour for you.

Pink is more a cool colour whereas Orange is a warm colour.

Therefore, great colours for pink undertones are blues, greens, purples.

Great colours for orange undertones are orange, yellow, reds

Pic courtesy of Google Images.

Pic courtesy of Google Images.

 

 Next, look at your eye colours and follow the table below.


Pic courtesy of Google Images



Your hair colour should also be taken into consideration.

Pic courtesy of Google Images

HAIR COLOUR CHART USED BY HAIRDRESSERS
Pic courtesy of Google Images.

 

 

Finally, what looks better on you - GOLD or SILVER. Look at your inner wrist. Are your veins showing through more of a blue or green colour? The bluer the veins reflects coolness. The yellowy/green tones reflect warmth. Gold is more complimentary on warm golden tones and Silver is best with cool pink tones.

Pic courtesy of Google Images

Confused? Don't be. Make up Artists and Hair dressers are trained to help you with colour choices, as well as Design consultants.

Lets have a quick look at the RED LIPSTICK. How do you decide which is right for you, especially if you aren't daring enough to try wearing it. There are WARM REDS and COOL REDS (just to confuse you further lol). Therefore, a cool red lip - also known as a TRUE RED - is best suited to those with pink/cool undertones and the warm red - with a hint of orange through it - is best suited to orange/warm undertones.

RED LIPSTICKS
warm tones and cool tones.
Pic courtesy of Google Images.

There you have it. Embrace colour. Live a little dangerously and experiment with colours you have never worn. Bring out the real beauty with the rainbow.

Me wearing warm and cool - cause I can.
My undertones are in the middle of pink/orange therefore either or works well for me.
Colour theme here is orange and blue - warm/cool


 

SK x