How to use colour correcting concealers on clients

Q: How do correcting concealers work to hide imperfections?

A perfect complexion is what most clients want. By minimising and neutralising imperfections on the skin or, as I like to call it, “cancelling them out”, you can hide everything from dark circles and breakouts to bruising, rosacea and even tattoos.

Multicolour correcting concealers are growing in popularity because they give this kind of coverage. These palettes have an array of concealer colours, each with a specific use and goal. If you use the colour wheel (pictured), then it becomes much clearer which colour does what and when you should apply it on your client.

The rule of thumb is the colours that sit directly opposite one another on the wheel neutralise each other. For example, green is opposite to red, so a green colour corrector will cancel out any redness caused by spots. Lavender sits opposite yellow, so a lilac shade would cancel out yellow undertones.

This is how and when you should use correcting concealers on clients: green neutralises redness and works well to hide broken capillaries and rosacea; lavender eliminates unwanted yellow undertones in the skin; apricot hides the signs of fatigue and hereditary or severe dark circles, as well as brightening sallow and olive skin; and yellow hides veins and bruises, as well as blue and purple tones in the under-eye area.

Ger Kealy Cunniffe is national make-up artist for professional make-up brands Artdeco and Misslyn Cosmetics. She works with Artdeco’s Most Wanted Colour Correcting Palette to hide skin imperfections.

Image: ©Artdeco