How to go bold and brighter
Wild neon makeup colors can enhance your looks
Spring and summer bloom with a vibrant array of indulgent color: a fanfare of fuchsia, sunshine-yellow, neon-orange and bright purple in wildflowers, lilies, agapanthus and more. But see all of those fantasyland hues in a makeup tube and you might think only someone living in a fool’s paradise would put them on her face.
You’d be wrong. Makeup masters know how to use wild colors as tools to camouflage and enhance looks. You don’t have to be an art major (or Mother Nature) to figure out how to use them too. And don’t worry: Often what looks bright in the tube appears much more neutral when applied to the skin.
“Yellow can help conceal a bluish bruise or mild red tone on the face,” says celebrity makeup artist Nick Barose, known for working with Lupita Nyong’o. “Sometimes on brown-golden skin that’s not too dark I use it to brighten up under eyes.”
Other tricks: “Use green to neutralize redness,” he says. “If you have redness from rosacea or sunburn, dab a bit over the redness to neutralize it, then add foundation on top. I love using orange to kill off a bit of blue cast in the skin, especially on darker skin that sometimes has a dark cast around the mouth or under the eyes. Purple neutralizes yellowness — sallowness in the skin — to help brighten up the complexion.”
In general, be light-handed with bright, color-correcting products and, unless they’re specifically meant to be used all over the face, use them only on the specific areas. “And they’re meant to be worn under foundation,” says Barose.
“Really bright blush can be blended down using a sponge to get a sheer pop of color,” Barose says. “But in general, the darker the skin, the brighter the color you can use. The key [is to] be light-handed when using bright colors to create a subtler look. On lips, instead of applying it full-on, dot it on the lips, then blot to create a stain effect. On the cheeks, for example, sometimes I’d use bright orange like Nars Blush in Exhibit A [$30, www.narscosmetics.com], but tap part of it off from the brush before applying it to the face, and then I use a shimmery liquid highlighter on top to make the color less bold.”
Nars has a makeup collection this season developed with fashion designer Christopher Kane called NeoNeutral — bold, neon colors such as the Nars Illuminating Multiple in Violet Atom ($39, www.narscosmetics.com).
The colors look “shockingly neutral” on the skin, the company says.
Smashbox and Make Up For Ever both have rainbow-like selections of colorful concealers and color-correcting primers. The season is also full of bright lip shades and nail colors in pale yellow, lilac and vibrant peach that you can wear as modern neutrals.