Color Correctors & the Color Wheel.

Jun 29, 2016

Marleen B.

I was looking at the color wheel last week and noticed all the common colors we all know to cancel out each other. Green will cancel out red, orange (peach) will cancel out blue, lavender cancels out yellow and yellow will cancel out purple & pinkish tones. So, it got me thinking specifically about the orange (peach) cancelling out blue. According to the color wheel, looking at it the other way, wouldn't it make sense that BLUE would cancel out peach, orange or orangy brown tones. Then I remembered way back in the day that Adrian Arpel sold a blue color corrector called Anchorwoman blue. I sat on this thought for a week and decided I was going to buy it & try it on my melasma patches. Since my melasma is the orangy color family. Anyone else try a blue color corrector and if so, what problem were you addressing & how did it work for you?

Jun 29, 2016

Aurora S.

Yes, it works both ways on how they cancel each other out.
I like to use blue if my foundation is too orangey in color, a blue tinted powder.

Brown... Well brown is made by one part of blue, two parts of red and three parts of yellow.
So it's has all the primary colors, I believe that's what I learned regarding hair which is why brown hair goes from red, to orange to yellow when bleached.

If your melasma does have an orangey tone then the blue will cancel out the orange tones but it won't necessarily help with making your melasma look like your natural skintone unless you have a neutral undertone.
When you use two complementary colors and mix them you get a very muddy/neutral color.

The orange or peach corrector isn't necessarily to correct the undertone of the melasma but to help... Add warmth to prevent an ashy/grey tone when you apply a lighter shade on darker areas.
When you apply a lighter shade on darker areas it sort of washes out the warmth of your skin resulting in a grey or ashen tone.
Now, most people's skin tones will lean more yellow or pink.
If you have a pink undertone then use a salmon/pink product on dark areas and if you have a more yellow tone then use a peach or orange color(with more or less yellow depending on whether you're more honey colored or golden)

Jun 29, 2016

Marleen B.

I think I'm in between a neutral & a warm. I've been using a few tricky methods using a peach corrector and a darker concealer, to help with covering it and it works pretty well even though I have to mix two concealers to get the most accurate color match, and it works pretty well. But I'm always trying to find simpler and faster solutions. Even if I get the same results, I would like to get away with using less concealer. I guess the only way to really know, is to try it. Because like in life, practice doesn't always match theory. Thanks for the info, it well help when I start to experiment with the blue after I receive it. Wish me luck!

Jun 29, 2016

Jenni L.

The RCMA Kevyn James Bennett palette has a blue corrector for mixing with the foundation shades. It takes down orange or peach shades in foundation. You can match anyone with that palette. It's an intense blue but there is a white corrector as well if you need to lighten it.

Jun 29, 2016

Marleen B.

Jenni, thank you. I have seen a few corrector pallettes but kinda just want to try the blue one only, so I ordered it as a single. It was Adrienne Arpel's brand, 16.00 and comes with a brush. I already have a brand new Nyx palette that has yellow, green, peach, lavender & beige in it & I also have a Morphe corrector mixed palette that has the same colors plus a white, so I do have a few mixing colors if I need them. So that's why I ordered the blue as a single. I saw some no-name brands on ebay that sell the blue only for about 3.00 bucks but I felt safer buying it from a brand I recognize and besides, Adrienne's blue has a lot of good reviews. But if I like the blue and when I run out of my other corrector pallettes, I'll definitely check out the RCMA palette. I live relatively close to a store that sells RCMA. Thanks again!

Jun 29, 2016

Aurora S.

What color corrector have you been using?
If you're using a peach color on melasma it may not have enough warmth to counteract the darkness and ashiness that comes afterward.
When you use blue, you'll definitely get some ashiness cause blue is such a cool toned shade.
I only use cool tone shades to color correct when I'm trying to brighten up an area since it kinda makes things look lighter due to giving it a neutral/beige color rather than a warm beige (warmth can make a color look darker)

So... The thing is your peach color corrector should be about the same depth as your melasma not any lighter. If it's a little darker because once you add a concealer on top that matches your skin tone it'll wash out some of that excess warmth

Jun 30, 2016

Marleen B.

I've been using a peach close to my skintone & to further counteract the ashiness, I use a concealer that is darker than my skintone & even slightly darker than my melasma. That does knock out the ashiness, although I still have some melasma peeking through but it's not ashy. I have even been experimenting with the Benefit Cha Cha Tint stain (peach cheek stain) because it adheres to the skin better than a cream corrector and it has absolutely no texture to it. It is a work in progress in knowing how long to let the stain set before buffing it out. Let it set too long, then the peach will show through, don't leave on long enough, I end up buffing it away. Like I said, still experimenting with it.