Colour theory is changing the beauty industry; it could elevate your makeup routine too

The ancient Greeks had their kosmetika – interestingly, the root word for cosmetics. (Source: Pixabay)

After the first modern foundation was created in 1935, it took almost seven decades, as per Allure, for formulas to start looking and feeling like skin. “It took even longer for foundations to be made for darker skin tones because only four colourants were used to compose a foundation shade: white, yellow, black and red,” Balanda Atis, director of the face and multicultural beauty lab at L’Oréal told Allure.

If your skin tone was wheatish, you only had the option of wearing a lighter foundation, which came with the risk of making you look like an errant child experimenting with their mother’s makeup. It was only when brands like Fenty Beauty started mass-producing foundations in almost 50 shades for different skin tones that most people finally began to find something that suited their natural skin tone.

Colourism in beauty industry

Why did it take so long for these foundations to be made in the right colours for everyone? The answer lies in colourism – or the discrimination based on a person’s skin colour – in the beauty industry.

Mausam Gandhi, bridal makeup artist and founder of Makeup by Mausam Academy, explains that because of inaccurate or insufficient knowledge, people were shortchanged and had to contend with products in a limited range of shades.

“The brands, too, didn’t feel the need to produce more shades since no one was speaking up about it. Over the last few years, people have started to notice the lack of range in shades via Instagram and other social media platforms. That’s when so many brands over the world started giving more choices,” she says.

 

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According to a long-term research-based project at Harvard University, skin-tone bias, different from racial bias, “often reveals an automatic preference for light-skin relative to dark-skin.”

A 2010 study by CNN showed that these biases are conditioned into us early in life as shown by children of all races pointing to fair-skinned cartoon characters when asked to identify those who were “pretty and smart”.

Up until a few years ago, the brand ‘Glow and Lovely’ was ‘Fair and Lovely’ and was marketed as a cream to lighten one’s skin tone. This bias in the beauty industry is increasingly being scrutinised and done away with using the colour theory.

What is colour theory?

A trend on social media fast gaining traction, colour theory is an integral part of makeup artistry, according to Isha Yogi, senior lecturer at personal styling and image consultancy, PearlxStudio.

“Similar to how a painter uses a palette to bring their canvas to life, makeup enthusiasts utilise colour theory to enhance their features and express their personal style,” Yogi says.

Pooja Walia, makeup artist and director of Pooja Walia Studio, explains that it is first important to understand your skin tone well, as using the right makeup depends on your knowledge of colours and understanding of the colour theory.

For instance, if your face has red spots on it, you can use green to neutralise the same as green lies opposite to red on the colour wheel. Or if you don’t have sharp cheekbones, Walia says, you can create an illusion of sharpness by using a lighter hue against them and then a darker colour underneath – a process now famous as contouring, thanks to Kim Kardashian’s 2010 Twitter post showing her heavily contoured face.

Circa 2010, Kim Kardashian made contouring famous with this picture. (Source: Kim Kardashian/ Twitter)

So, how can you use colour theory to create the perfect look? Here’s a bunch of tips from makeup experts:

Colour correction to remove discolouration

Yogi explains that understanding complementary colours (those opposite to each other on the colour wheel) allows makeup artists to correct undesirable tones on a person’s skin.

As mentioned earlier, a green colour corrector can neutralise redness, while an orange corrector can minimise purple-blue pigmentation under the eyes. By strategically applying these shades, a person’s skin tone can be balanced and evened out.

Use darker and lighter colours to contour

Contouring involves using lighter and darker shades to manipulate the perception of facial or body features. Yogi explains that lighter shades create highlights, giving the illusion of volume or lift, while darker shades create shadows, adding depth to or concealing certain areas.

According to Walia, you can even use contouring to eliminate double chin. Darker hues are applied to add depth to the eye socket crease, she points out.

Lighter shades for lighter skin tones and darker for dark

Gandhi says the easiest way to understand what shades to opt for is by going for lighter shades for lighter skin tones, medium shades for medium skin tones and deeper shades for deeper skin tones. “A nude for lighter skin would not be the same as a nude for a deeper skin tone,” she mentions.

Nude, nude pinks and corals work best with lighter skin tones, while rust, reds and nude browns work for medium skin tones. Reddish brown, deep nude and mauves can be chosen for deeper skin tones.

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