Beauty
Colour Contrast Is The Beauty Theory You Need To Know For Effortless Makeup
Hitched/Pinterest
Beauty
Colour Contrast Is The Beauty Theory You Need To Know For Effortless Makeup
Have you ever put on your favourite lipstick, brushed your cheeks in a rosy glow, and perfectly lined your eyes, but your makeup looks off? Spoiler: it’s probably not your products (or skill) that are at fault.
When it comes to picking out makeup, it’s easy to gravitate towards the trendiest new formulas or a beloved lippie shade that’s coming back in style. But you might be doing yourself—and your products—a disservice by not aligning with your makeup contrast.
Makeup contrast is a concept first introduced by makeup artist (MUA) Aliénor on TikTok. In a video, the French MUA explains that there are three contrasts—high, medium, and low—rooted in how your hair, skin, and eye tones work together. A high contrast, for example, has a more noticeable colour difference between the skin and hair.
The biggest goal with makeup contrast is to create harmony on the face. Your features aren’t competing with one another because the tones and shades complement each other. Though there are nuances to creating the perfect balance, largely depending on what contrast you are, Aliénor says it’s all about seeing beyond just the makeup you’re wearing. When you do your makeup according to your colour contrast, you can look beyond individual parts of the makeup and "see the whole person," she explains in a video.
How do I know what my colour contrast is?
The easiest way to determine your personal colour contrast is to use the TikTok filter created by Aliénor. Select your skin tone (light, medium, or deep) from the filter then try out the different contrasts. Whichever one matches your features the best is what you should take your cues from.
Low Contrast
Typical features:
No drastic contrast between hair, skin, and eye colours.
If you’re looking at a low contrast person in greyscale, there is no strong difference between the hues. In other words, your hair, skin, and features softly blend.
According to Aliénor, no makeup-makeup is perfect for those with low contrast. “You want fresh makeup that’s the same intensity of your skin tone,” she says. A bold smokey eye with a light lip, or a ton of face makeup, can pull the eye to individual parts of your face rather than you as a whole.
Celebrities with low contrast:
- Taylor Swift
- Elle Fanning
- Mariah Carey
Medium contrast
Typical features:
Often dark eyebrows, dark eyes, medium hair.
Medium contrast can be the trickiest to style. Aliénor says you might have to “tweak” your makeup strategy depending on what you’re wearing to create a balanced look. Dark clothes, for example, pair best with a natural lipstick and some light eye makeup. “It draws the eye to your whole face, not just the eye or lip,” she says.
Adding extra dimension to your face with light makeup helps to create a more unified look for medium contrasts.
Celebrities with medium contrast:
- Emma Watson
- Jessica Alba
- Zendaya
High contrast
Typical features:
Lighter skin to darker hair ratio.
For high colour contrast, there’s typically a harsher difference between the skin, hair, and eye tones. To balance out your makeup and prevent you from looking washed out, Aliénor recommends adding some intensity to your look. This could be an Italian-style smokey eye and a diffused red lip, or go for more intense charcoal smudging.
The artist stresses that adding more colour doesn’t have to mean always wearing a full-face—simply try wearing a delicate red lipstick and soft blush to the cheeks to brighten up your features.
Celebrities with high contrast:
- Anne Hathaway
- Liv Tyler
- Margaret Qualley
THE 5 CHARACTERISTICS OF A HUMBLE PERSON
Comments