What is color correcting?

We have something that really is crazy cool for you today– have you ever heard of "color correcting concealers"? I remember the first time I found out about these when I was in high school, I was completely fascinated. I spent hours watching youtube tutorials trying to figure out exactly how they could go on your skin tone color (green or blue?!) and end up blending in flawlessly– no bright colors in sight, just a perfectly balanced skin tone.

What was this, magic?

Now years later, I am happy to say that I have had my fair share of color correcting concealers and have fallen in love with their crazy color-bending properties since those “early” days.

Here's the breakdown

The concept of color correcting is actually pretty simple. It goes like this: Remember the color wheel from art class? (In case you’re a little rusty, here’s one below!) 

Complimentary Colors

The general idea is that every color has “complementary color” (hint: this is the color directly across from it on the color wheel!)  that essentially cancels it out– for example, if you mixed pure yellow with pure purple, they would cancel each other out and become neutral. As it turns out, we can use this idea to our great advantage when dealing with color correcting concealers. Need to cover up redness around your nose or mouth? Using a green color correcting concealer will cover up the red, and cancel it out perfectly! Now look again to the color wheel - find purple - directly opposite is the complementary color of yellow.  See it? Same idea with covering up purple or blue-tinged under-eye circles– a yellow or peachy concealer can do wonders depending on your coloring. So, you’ll be happy to hear that we carry a full range of these wondrous color correcting super-concealers– all made with pure mineral pigments and natural, safe ingredients, of course!

 Woops! Bright Eyes Pink is Missing on our swatch!

Color Corrector Cheat Sheet:

• Green Corrector–  hides redness, acne, rosacea, spider veins, sunburn and port wine stains. (In fact, not only will it hide, it will help heal as well due to the zinc oxide).
• Yellow Corrector – hides blue/grey circles under your eyes, blueish bruises and under eye circles.
• Pink Corrector– brightens up dull or tired skin and hides brown spots.
• Peach Corrector- for darker skin tones, and works wonders for hyperpigmentation and neutralizing dark circles. It even works for dark spots and sun damage.
• Catnap Corrector – the perfect shade to help give you that rested look that we sometimes so need.
• Blue Corrector - helps balance and tone down yellow, sallow skins. Blue concealer can help reduce fake tan disasters.

Color Correctors in Action

I use one of my personal favorites (our Bright Eyes Pink!) to combat my under eye circles whenever I need an extra “boost” (so… pretty much all of the time!). I get dark circles under my eyes extremely easily, even when I’m well rested I will often find them paying me a visit! Luckily, they are easy to cover up, and I think you’ll see how they are the perfect example of why using a color correcting concealer is so important!

 

Application Triangle I always apply my concealer in a triangle under my eyes (before patting/blending it in) because it brightens up my whole face and doesn’t leave an obvious color difference between my under-eyes and the rest of my cheeks like simply filling in under my eyes does. (P.S. for a full tutorial on how to apply loose mineral concealers, look no further than this helpful post on just that from Lisa!)

 Can you see the difference? This is my face with nothing but the Peachy Concealer under my eye on the left!

 Next, I wanted to show you the difference between simply using a skin colored concealer and using a color correcting concealer. On the left, I used Bright Eyes and on the right, I used the Fair/Medium Concealer and then finished up with my mineral foundation routine as usual. Notice how much better the Bright Eyes Concealer covers and corrects the gauntness and the under eye area overall? I mean, dang– I didn’t even notice how big of a difference it makes until looking back over these photos!

 Lesson learned. Respect the color correcting concealers. They truly do make a big difference– and you can rest easy knowing that all of our concealers here at Simple Beauty Minerals are not only super effective but super safe (especially important for anything you are putting in that delicate under-eye area!). And plus, we always list ALL of our ingredients so you can be sure!

 No under-eye circles for me thanks to the Bright Eyes Corrector! ;)

 

 

Abby is a photographer and blogger who never says no to a hot cup of tea or a new shade of lipstick. She lives in Monterey, CA with her husband where they enjoy hiking, cooking/eating everything vegan, and basically living the (neat and tidy) hippie dream. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lisa's Note: Flesh toned concealers work wonderfully for touch-ups during the day. And of course, as we are all different, you may not have any need for a color corrector and your under eye, one-or-two-shade-lighter-than-your-skin flesh-toned concealer may be just right for you. How do you know? Experiment. Play. Ask for samples with your order in the notes section at checkout.