Colour Theory 101

Today let's talk about first basics: colour theory.  Understanding how colours complement or contrast with each other will help you in determining what shades will work best for your particular colouring.  These are not rules that must be adhered to or the Makeup Police will drag you away; rather, these are guidelines for enhancing or concealing features as you see fit.

All the colours of the rainbow!

I promise that colour theory isn't scary or complicated. It can be summed up like this: opposite colours contrast with each other. 


Take a look at the colour wheel.  If you look at red, you'll see that green is directly opposite from it.  This means that red and green, when placed beside each other, will contrast more sharply than red and orange will.


So for someone with green eyes, reds and purples will enhance their eyes because the green will appear more vibrant.  For those with blue eyes, coppers and oranges will make their eyes "pop". 


What about brown eyes?  Well, brown is a tertiary colour and therefore doesn't have an opposite shade in the same way that the colours in the wheel do.  Brown eyes have the benefit of being flattered by essentially every other colour.  If you want to play your brown eyes up, look to see whether you have any flecks of a primary or secondary colour in them (or if they are hazel) and choose shades that will enhance those.


Again, there are no rules in makeup.  If you have blue eyes and want to rock green shadow, go for it!  Shades that fall on either side of your eye colour will still be flattering. 


Colour theory also helps when concealing blemishes or circles.  I will be devoting an entire article to colour correction but the same principles apply: if you have redness, look for a green primer or concealer to cancel the redness out.  For blue/purple circles under the eyes, an orange or peach corrector can help to mask them.