Colours of Make Up Design

Orange isn't just for summer

Annika Rayman

Orange lipstick is the quirky, off-the-beaten-path sister of red. Still bold and beautiful but more free-spirited and less serious

Energy—Excitement—Encouragement. After being associated with so many “E” words, it’s a wonder that the colour orange doesn’t start with an “e”!

Standard orange, the meeting point between red and yellow, can come burnt or neon; in pumpkins or sangrias; and, of course, can be an eye-catching and complimenting colour in makeup.

When using orange in your makeup, it is important to take into consideration whether the colour pulls from its more fiery red side or its cooler side when choosing tones to work with your prospective clients’ complexions. It is a powerful colour; so, its misuse can be detrimental to a look.

Don’t confine your use of orange to summer! Though it may be associated with the tropics or hot weather, orange can be the perfect pop of colour any time of year—in daily use or for special occasions. One common use practically any skin tone can utilize orange for is as a transition shade in eyeshadow designs.

Varied shades of orange, cool and muted, can be blended with taupes, browns, and rusts to blend and blow out crease work from the most soft and sheer matte daily eye to ultra-smoky, night-out looks or even full-glitter ethnic wedding reception styles. The beauty of your client’s eyes can be amplified or even transformed with the layering and blending of the correct orange tones in their crease.

A light creamy orange, like a Creamsicle™, is perfect for clients with fair and light skin tones, where deep burnt or even sunset orange shades can work perfectly to blend out the crease on medium deep and dark skin tones. This helps to carve out and shape the client’s brow bone, changing the size and the angle of the client’s brow bone and eyelid overall, assisting you with creating whatever eye style you are trying to achieve.

The same goes for other bones in the face, like cheekbones! Orange blushes can be the perfect switch from traditional pinks or rosy tones. Clients with very fair skin that pull pink easily tend to turn quite red as the day goes on and make up wears. By lightly using an orange blush that leans more on a neutral or yellow side versus red, their blush will naturally appear as a soft “pinch-me” pink without turning ruddy or blotchy as the day goes on. Orange is an exceptional blush on redheads! For medium to richer skin tones, seeing that the cheeks and high points in the face don’t turn pink in the cold or with a high heart rate naturally, orange is the perfect solution to adding a beautifully sculpted shape to various bone structures that looks natural and compliments contouring while giving the effect of blush.

And last but not least, lipstick! Orange lipstick is the quirky, off-the-beaten-path sister of red. Still bold and beautiful but more free-spirited and less serious, orange lipstick can stand alone on a fresh, moisturized face, or compliment a welldefined eye and sculpted face for a truly unique statement look. Traffic-cone-type orange can be truly breathtaking on most skin tones, while blue-toned orange can have the same effect as its red counterpart and whiten your client’s teeth!

Hybrid colours like orange have the mixed attributes from the colours they come from; use orange to empower your clients like red does, or to inspire fun, serenity, or lightheartedness from yellow in your client’s daily life by adding it to their routine. Encourage your clients to experiment with orange, and show them the many ways that orange can easily become a part of their makeup wardrobe!

Here we have a shimmering orange blended with champagne and a toasty brown on the eyes. When the client’s eyes are open, the colours blend seamlessly and softly for barely-there definition, making her brown eyes sparkle. But when her eyes are closed, the gentle drama of the contrasting colours shine through, adding the necessary drama to her otherwise soft and natural makeup so that it matches the level of intricacy and splendor in her elaborate outfit.

Pictured here is a client who wished for a transformational look to elevate her features. The orange blush suits her medium complexion perfectly, pulling on the yellow side, to balance out the coolness of her lip and eye shades. It is also brightening, which is perfect on skins that are prone to discolouration or hyperpigmentation. Additionally, the orange plays well with the warmer tones in her hair, tying everything together for her special day.