Color Correcting has taken the beauty community by storm! I’m honestly not sure what set it off, but all of a sudden all the makeup companies started coming out with their own array of correcting products. I didn’t jump in on the new trend originally, but after receiving these products from Smashbox, I decided to give it a whirl and see if it makes a difference on skin who’s main issue is just undereye circles and acne — teen skin, essentially! 🙂
This week is all about the young adults, haha! I didn’t realize until this week that I would have two posts, back to back, that are meant for teens. Woops, I hope you don’t mind! And find them both super helpful!
Color Correcting for Teens: Is it Necessary?
When the color correcting trend first exploded, my initial thought was “do I honestly need all that correcting?” If you’re new to my blog or weren’t aware, I’m 23 years old with oily, acne-prone skin. So while I do have fine lines starting to show up (maybe I smile too much? lol) I really don’t have many issues outside of the occasional red spot and dark under eyes. (I got a baby. No need to explain the undereyes 😛 )
As I mentioned already, Smashbox sent me four colors from their color correcting pencil line and I’ve been playing around with them for a few weeks to see if they really make a difference and are necessary for my skin. Because as young adults I feel like we worry more about keeping the oils from breaking through our makeup than any sallow or dark areas of our face. But should we be? Let’s take a look.
Picture 1: My before picture. 😮 As you can see I have some rather noticeable dark circles and redness around my nose, as well as a few red spots from little pimples wanting to come up. The only thing that I’ve done are my eyes and applied a primer to my face.
Picture 2: I used the Peach shade right where my dark circles are and dotted the Green anywhere that I had redness. So around my nose, on any acne spots, and then on the apples of my cheeks I always have a bit of redness. The Lavender stick is for dull and sallow skin…and I honestly didn’t need it, so didn’t try to use it.
Picture 3: And after! All my face makeup is now applied: foundation, concealer, setting powder, contour, and blush. 🙂 What do you think?
Before I go into whether or not I think color correcting for teens is necessary, just look at these swatches of the Smashbox Color Correcting Sticks. I hope you can see just how creamy and pigmented these pencils are — I love them! And they all blended out beautifully and once they set…they’re set! They set rather quickly, so I tend to do one area at a time, make sure it’s blended out well, before I apply any more to another spot. Because it doesn’t move the rest of the day!
So do I think that color correcting for teens or young adults? Honestly…yes and no. 😛 Let me explain! If you have lots of redness and/or dark undereyes, than using a peach and green color corrector would be great — or an orange, if you have darker skin. I doubt a teen would need any sort of purple or lavender. But if you suffer from acne that likes to be red for a while before finally coming up, a green correcting stick just might be your new best friend!
Do I think you need to color correct every day? No. Especially if you don’t have super red spots or dark under eyes. Check out THIS POST — on this day I did not use any sort of color correcting except for a lighter concealer under my eyes, and as you can see I didn’t need it. And, as I always like to see it, my little spots and imperfections are what adds up to make me beautiful and uniquely ME. 😉 But if you have a super special occasion — your prom dance, for instance, I think it would be fun to use these color correcting to go for that flawless face. 🙂
What do you think about this current trend? Is color correcting for you??
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Thank you for your support!
Renu says
I haven’t actually got the hang of colour correcting. I tried using a green concealer and thought it looked bad so I went back to my usual yellow. Maybe I need to watch a few tutorials and try again.
Katie Garvin says
Green can be tricky! I always use it VERY lightly, and only DIRECTLY on the red. Then a dab and blend it out before following it up with another regular concealer on top. Youtube tutorials are really helpful for that! 🙂
Emily Draher says
Great post! These look so creamy and nice – I may pick up the green one to counteract my redness around my nose and on my chin!
Katie Garvin says
I loved how it concealed the red around my nose. It worked really well for that! 🙂
Lacquerexpression says
Great review! I feel like the popularity of color correcting is cyclical and I’ve yet to jump aboard!
Katie Garvin says
Yes, and it just recently exploded again. I feel like moreso than ever before! It’s great when you need it, and for special occasions, but not something I think that you need for every day.
Erika says
It’s been a long time since I was a teen but I could have most definitely used some colour correcting, especially for my hereditary dark circles.
Katie Garvin says
i’ve never had really bad dark circles, until the birth of Olivia. But I had plenty of redness! 😛
Nichole says
Oh to be 23 again 😉
Katie Garvin says
😉
Kelly Walker says
Great post, Katie! Using color correcting pencils would allow very precise application to the areas of color that need to be neutralized. I am far from a teen but might have to pick these up for myself!! 🙂
Katie Garvin says
Yes, that is a really neat thing about these pencils as opposed to a concealer wand. It works so well for me 🙂
Jenne - Polished Pathology says
Such a great post, thank you for showing me the before and after pics of how they work! I need to pick some up.
Katie Garvin says
You’re very welcome, glad it was helpful!
Nina says
Wow!!!! Very impressed! I will have to check these out!!! Thanks for sharing!!!
Katie Garvin says
You’re welcome, girl! 😉
Shipra says
I was a teen when you were born lol! Well, pre pre teens. You look great, and I love all your tips – may need to check these babies out! 🙂
Katie Garvin says
Thanks, it’s always fun to try the whole concealing, contour, highlight and go full glam! 😉
Esther says
you dont seem to be puffy though under your eyes. and you have brown dark circles my circles are quite puffy and tend to be a lighter brown color sometimes with purple and blue tones in it so what should i do. i also have these little undereye wrinkles that my concealer seems to settle in. and i am about your age. 🙂 should i try liquid instead of cream. I have been using korress concealer which is quite creamy and thick.
Katie Garvin says
No, I don’t really have issues with puffy eyes unless I had a really rough night with the 6 mo old. 🙂
Peach works well for me, but my undereye circles aren’t as intense. If you have really dark blue undereyes, try going for a more orange color concealer. Try using it in light layers so that you can easily apply foundation and a highlighting concealer on top and here won’t be any odd orange tones peaking through.
I personally have never used the Korress concealer, but if it’s rather thick I think that might be causing some of the creasing. An affordable option that’s a thin concealer with good pigmentation is the Maybelline Fit Me Concealer. I love that one and use it on my undereyes to brighten them every day. 😀
As for the wrinkles, I totally know what you mean Esther! I have those, too! So annoying, because they cause creasing so badly and all the time. About the only way I can get the creasing to not be AS bad is to make sure I’m using an eye cream on a daily basis, and then after I finish blending in my under eye concealer I INSTANTLY go in with setting powder and “bake” the area, leaving a good layer of powder on the under eyes for several minutes before dusting it off. I still have fine lines, but they’re not as severe or noticeable.
I hope this helps you, Esther! If you have any other questions, please don’t hesitate to ask!