The Colour Wheel

I often meet people who ask me how to coordinate the colour of their make up with the rest of the outfit. Sometimes, they even get confused which are the colours that suit them. To determine which side of the colour spectrum you should go for, I suggest you cleanse your face and hold up a pink and a peach towel against it. See which colour suits your complexion best.

Peach: you probably have tanned/dark skin so warm colours suit you best.

Pink: you are probably fair, so go for the cool colours.

Both: you probably have fair skin with brown/black hair. Both warm and cool colours suit your complexion so don't be afraid to expirment.

Now back to the colour coordination. Personally, I like to think of make-up as an accessory so if for example I'm sporting a bright red lip, I keep the outfit simple with just a pair of button earrings and a delicate bracelet.

To coordinate colours, it is a good idea to take a quick look at the Colour Wheel. The color wheel is a chart of colors of the visible spectrum that is used to show how colors relate to each other. It is made up of three primary colors, three secondary colors, and six tertiary colors or intermediate colors. Primary colors (red, blue, and yellow) are colors that can not be mixed by any other colors. Secondary colors (purple, green, and orange) are formed by mixing two primary colors together. Tertiary colors (red-violet, blue-violet, blue-green, yellow-green, yellow-orange, and red-orange) are formed by combining a primary color with an adjacent secondary color. Here is an example of a colour wheel. I chose this as it has a broad spectrum of shades so you get a better idea.

Keep in mind that opposing shades counteract each other. This is very important when for example, you want to conceal dark circles under your eyes. The circles are usually a bluish tinge, so go for an orange-based concealer depending on your skin tone. The same goes for concealing red pimples or acne. A green-tinged concealer works best since it counteracts red.