We’ve all been there: getting the concealer out to cover up a late night or an unexpected breakout to find it’s doing little to mask the imperfection – in some cases making it look worse.
It’s an all too common beauty mistake to make because if you truly want to conceal discolouration you should be applying a colour corrector first. It will cancel out the blue tone that makes up the dark circles or the redness that makes a blemish stand out and ensure you get a flawless finish.
We all have some form of discolouration, while darkness under the eyes and red, angry spots may be common for one person, redness from flushing or rosacea may be another person’s complexion concern. And then there are other bugbears like dark spots and pigmentation or sallowness and a dull skin tone as we age.
To even out the colour and tone behind these imperfections, make-up artists turn to the colour correction technique which knocks out and neutralises the colour and tone behind them - and you should be too, rather than reaching straight for a concealer. To understand how it works, we have to go back to GCSE art lessons…
What is colour correcting?
Remember learning about the colour wheel at school? Well, make-up artists still use basic colour theory to colour correct today. Simply take the colour you want to neutralise and find the opposite colour (or its complementary colour) on the colour wheel to find the best shade to cancel out the colour and camouflage.
What colour-correcting shade should I choose?
You’ll find colour-correcting makeup in a range of shades. To knock out redness from spots through to rosacea, green colour-correcting make-up should be your go-to as red and green are opposites on the colour wheel. Peach and orange sit opposite blue and purple, and so are the must-have shades for concealing darkness under the eyes. And purple cancels out yellow, so is the perfect colour for balancing sallowness.
Today, we’re spoilt for choice on the beauty shelves when it comes to colour-correcting make-up, as you’ll find colour-correcting concealers, primers, treatments, drops and setting powders to name a few. So we’ve rounded up the very best to make shopping for yours a little easier…
Best colour correcting makeup at a glance:
- Best for dull or sallow skin: Erborian CC Dull Correct - £41, Boots
- Best for redness treatment: Dr. Jart+ Cicapair Tiger Grass Color Correcting Treatment - from £19, Cult Beauty
- Best for premium colour correctors: Givenchy Prisme Libre Skin-Caring Corrector - £37, Sephora
- Best for value colour correctors: e.l.f Cosmetic Camo Colour Correctors - £4, Sephora
- Best for concealing redness: Rosalique 3 in 1 Anti-Redness Miracle Formula SPF50 - £29.99, Fenwick
- Best for colouring correcting setting powders: Jones Road Tinted Face Powders - £27, Jones Road
- Best for brightening pigmentation and dark circles: Huda Beauty Faux Filter Color Corrector - £26, Sephora
- Best for brightening dark circles on fair skin: Charlotte Tilbury Magic Vanish - £27, Cult Beauty
- Best for colour correcting primers: Clarins SOS Primers - £32, John Lewis
- Best for colour correcting foundation: It Cosmetics Your Skin But Better CC+ Cream - £32.85, lookfantastic
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Erborian CC Dull Correct
Best for: Dull or sallow skin
Turn to this violet-pigmented colour-correcting cream from Korean beauty brand Erborian, if you’re looking to perk up a tired, dull, lacklustre complexion or balance out yellowness in sallow skin. The formula is also teamed with light-reflecting micro pearls that add to its radiance-boosting abilities.
More than just bright, glowing skin in a tube, you’ll also find it soothing on the skin thanks to Tiger Grass – traditionally used in Korean medicine. Hydration comes from glycerine and vitamin E which makes sure the lightweight cream blends and looks natural on the skin.
Use sparingly, on its own or as a base for coverage.
Buy now £41.00, Boots
Dr. Jart+ Cicapair Tiger Grass Color Correcting Treatment
Best for: Redness treatment
This clever creamy treatment went viral on TikTok for a reason: it’s a must-have for anyone that suffers from redness, as well as those looking to conceal blemishes. The green-to-beige cream neutralises red tones and adapts to your skin’s natural colour – leaving behind a natural matte finish.
Use as a mask 2-3 times a week and let the skin-loving ingredients even out and revive your complexion. The hero ingredient infused in the formula is Tiger Grass (also known as Cica, or Centella Asiatica) a herbal plant extract that soothes and calms irritation and inflammation.
New to the brand is the just as effective Cicapair Tiger Grass Camo Drops that has more of a serum texture and can be used under foundation leaving a dewy finish.
Buy now £19.00, Cult Beauty
Givenchy Prisme Libre Skin-Caring Corrector
Best for: Premium colour correctors
On the luxury stands, you’ll find Givenchy has a pick of three new colour correctors that are so much more than their chic angular packaging. Packed with 90 per cent skincare so they’re beautifully hydrating and ultra-lightweight, you’ll find they blend seamlessly and feel weightless on the skin while they counteract discolouration.
First up there’s a peach shade for neutralising dark circles under the eyes, it also works well on other blue, purple or grey imperfections like veins and bruises. Secondly, there’s a green for neutralising areas of redness, whether you’re prone to flushing or looking to cover up a blemish. And lastly, there’s a blue for boosting radiance to a dull or sallow complexion.
Buy now £37.00, Sephora
e.l.f Cosmetics Camo Colour Correctors
Best for: Value colour correctors
Always offering affordable and effective beauty buys, the bestselling colour correctors from e.l.f Cosmetics are a stand-out for the brand. With five shades to choose from, there’s a solution to even out every imperfection. Packed with hyaluronic acid, the correctors are also beautifully hydrating, easy to blend and comfortable for even dry skin types.
There are standard shades like green to knock out areas of redness, peach and orange for areas of darkness and yellow for sallowness. Yet, you’ll also find a blue for balancing out orange hues of dark spots and hyperpigmentation that also works well mixed with foundation or concealer to tone down warmth.
Buy now £4.00, Sephora
Rosalique 3 in 1 Anti-Redness Miracle Formula SPF50
Best for: Concealing redness
This is a must-have for those with rosacea, couperose or hypersensitive skin that are looking to balance redness, but also works brilliantly on flushed or inflamed skin, as well as spots and blemishes. Just like its name suggests, it’s more than just makeup. It’s a clever multi-tasking formula that not only acts as a colour corrector to conceal redness but is boosted with redness-reducing skincare benefits as well as UVA and UVB protection with SPF50.
The primary active in the formula is skin-soothing and calming a-Bisabolol derived from chamomile. This is joined by antibacterial zeolite, skin-barrier strengthening panthenol and moisturising urea and shea butter. Encapsulated in the cocktail are green-coloured micro balls to cancel out redness which melt into the skin. Use instead or alongside your favourite moisturiser and as a primer for foundation – although it’s so good you’ll want to go make-up free.
Buy now £29.99, Fenwick
Jones Road Tinted Face Powders
Best for: Colouring correcting setting powders
Set your coverage for longevity, minimise shine and colour correct all in one with the new tinted setting powders from Jones Road. Tired, dull or sallow complexions should turn to pink (if you’re light to medium) or rose (if you’re medium to tanned) to knock out yellowness. If it’s pink or redness you want to counteract, there’s also a yellow face powder that leaves you with a brighter more radiant skin tone.
You can’t go wrong with these next-level powders that are ultra-fine and ultra-lightweight. They feel comfortable on the skin and won’t cake or crease – leaving you with a natural-looking finish. Plus, you’ll love how they prolong the wear of the rest of your coverage.
Buy now £27.00, Jones Road Beauty
Huda Beauty Faux Filter Color Corrector
Best for: Brightening pigmentation and dark circles
From a pinky peach to blood orange, you’ll find there’s a good shade selection to brighten the under-eye or even out pigmentation in Huda Beauty’s line-up of colour correctors. Simply dot on to areas of darkness and the peachy tones will knock out the colour you wish to expertly conceal.
The light and creamy formula blends seamlessly and is impressively long-wearing, but the colour correctors are so much more than camouflage. Enriched with first-class actives, vitamin C and niacinamide you’ll find the formula brightens and evens skin tone over time too.
Buy now £26.00, Sephora
Charlotte Tilbury Magic Vanish
Best for: Brightening dark circles on fair skin
Those with fair to light skin tones will be better suited to Charlotte Tilbury’s colour corrector, although it also comes in four shades that adapt to most skin tones. The creamy formula comes in a compact, so all you need is your ring finger to tap and blend the easy-to-apply formulation where needed.
Designed to sit well when layered with concealer or foundation, you won’t find it sitting in lines, wrinkles or creasing – leaving a natural-looking canvas. Plus, mica adds to its appeal by brightening the under-eye area to fake those all-important eight hours.
Buy now £27.00, Cult Beauty
Clarins SOS Primers
Best for: Colour-correcting primers
Create a smooth canvas for your make-up, ensure it stays in place all day and colour correct all in one with Clarins’ primer as the first step in your make-up routine. There are five to choose from, but for colour-correcting magic look to the green to balance redness, peach to soften pigmentation and add radiance to darker skin tones and pink to perk up tired or ashy complexions.
They’ve been reformulated to now also contain added skincare benefits to address each concern and keep skin feeling well hydrated. This means you’ll find you may want to skip foundation altogether as they leave such a radiant even skin tone.
Buy now £32.00, John Lewis
It Cosmetics Your Skin But Better CC+ Cream
Best for: Colour-correcting foundation
Colour-correcting creams or CC creams (as they are better known) are designed to give you both all-over coverage and colour-correcting benefits to even out skin tone. And there’s a reason this much-loved formula is the number one bestselling CC cream in both the UK and the US.
It provides a full, natural-looking coverage that camouflages the look of dark circles, dark spots, redness and scarring as well as boosting radiance. What’s more, this is multitasking at its finest with skin-loving ingredients that help it act as a hydrating serum for the skin with the likes of hyaluronic acid, niacinamide and vitamin E, as well as offering SPF50 for vital UV protection. Plus, it now comes in an extended shade range.
Buy now £32.58, lookfantastic
