While winter is all about those dark, berry lips and protecting chapped skin, summer is when we experiment with more adventurous makeup, and colours audacious enough to match our tans. We’re not talking about switching to a darker foundation and bronzer either: industry trends are starting to point towards more celebratory, vibrant colour palettes that unlock your playful side and can be built up for both fantastical and elegant evening looks. As the market leads us towards saturated colours and increasing artistry when it comes to blending, it can be daunting to figure out exactly how you’re going to integrate these new shades into your own particular style. Fortunately for us, Patty Kamarinos, an esthetician at Ritual Hair, Skin and Beauty, was able to give us tips on how best to master colour from her 17 years of experience as a makeup artist:
Before painting your face, you need to achieve a good base, so the first step to using colour is often about evening out your complexion. Those compacts with disjointed pastels in green, lavender, salmon and terracotta are actually colour correctors meant to help you prime your skin before more ambitious highlights or strobes, and even before concealer and foundation. When in doubt, remember that the logic follows the colour wheel: green undertones cancel out redness, yellows combat the purples of bruises and distressed skin and ochres and peaches cancel out the cool blues that contribute to the appearance of dark circles. “That lilac colour is used to brighten up the skin, especially the centre of the face,” says Kamarinos, admitting that she herself seldom uses the purple powder when there are so many more enjoyable highlighters in the market. The powders should be dusted on very lightly to prevent caking, and do remember that less is so much more; there’s no point in completely blocking out the natural blush of your face with green powder and then building it from scratch with store-bought pigment. Find the palette that works best for you, or if your skin concern is very specific, buy only the corrector colours you need. Try: Becca Backlight Targeted Colour Corrector in Peach ($34).
