by Victoria H

Created on: May 28, 2009

Understanding how color works is a very important to makeup application.

Primary Colors are the fundamental colors that cannot be obtained by any mixture. There are only three primary colors, Blue, Red, and Yellow.

Secondary Colors are made by mixing equal amounts of two primary colors. Yellow + Red= Orange. Yellow + Blue= Green. Red + Blue= Violet.

Tertiary Colors are made by mixing equal amounts of a primary color and a secondary color, but they must be right next to each other on the color wheel.

Another concept that is very important with makeup is called complementary colors. Complementary colors are directly opposite each other on the color wheel.
When mixed together these colors cancel each other out to create a neutral brown or gray color, but when you place complementary colors side by side you make both colors seem brighter, which gives a greater contrast.

You usually want to base the color of your eye shadows looks to be complementary to your eye color.

Cool and Warm Colors
In order to be a makeup artist you must know the difference between cool and warm colors.

Cool colors suggest coolness, and are dominated by blues, greens, violets, and blue-reds. But reds can be both cool and warm. If the red is blue based, it is cool. If the red is orange based, it is warm.
The same kind of thing can happen with greens. If a green contains more gold, then it is warm. If a green contains more blue, it is cool. Whenever most colors have a blue base, they will always be a cool color.

Warm colors range from yellow to gold through the oranges, red-oranges, most reds, and even some yellow-greens.

There are three main components to consider when picking colors to use. These three components are skin color, eye color, and hair color.

Skin Colors Warm Cool
Light Skin Yellow, Gold, Pale Peach Pink or slightly reddish (rosy) undertones
Medium Skin Yellow, Yellow- Orange, Red Olive (yellow-green)
Dark Skin Red, Orange-Brown, Red-Brown Dark Olive, Blue, Blue-Black, Ebony

For a person with a light skin tone, you can use light colors for a soft, natural look, but using medium to dark colors will give you a more dramatic look.

For a person with a medium skin tone, medium colors will create an understated look, but by using light or dark tones will give you more contrast and appear bolder.

For a person with a dark skin tone, dark colors will be most subtle, but medium to medium-light or bright colors will be vivid.

If you want to use a color that is lighter than your skin tone, look for translucent, shimmery colors.

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