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If you’ve been living under a rock, you might’ve not heard about the viral “contrast makeup theory” trend floating around on TikTok, made famous by French makeup artists.
If you’re anything like me, you might not be comfortable with experimenting with products outside of your favorite Mac blush and Maybelline mascara combo. Which is completely fine! But like I said, learning about why certain looks complement our faces in different ways might influence the way we view makeup in general. After all, isn’t that the point of makeup? To enhance the beauty we all have already? If you’re intrigued, let’s get into what exactly this theory is and what it means for the makeup girlies. Additionally, we’ve dropped some of our must-have products to achieve a look for every contrast.
The color analysis-driven trend was introduced by TikTok user @alieenor, a French makeup artist who posts content related to the beauty industry online. In late September, she dropped a video explaining the theory which has everything to do with color analysis for light, medium, and deep skin tones. Similar to the “color season” trend that popped off earlier this year (but slightly less confusing), the theory focuses on every facial feature that an individual has. That’s right. Hair, eyelashes, eyebrows, lip color, skin tone, and more. This concept likely started trending because makeup artists targeted viewers who might think their makeup isn't "makeupping" the way they want it to, and the contrast theory probably has something to do with it.
She blesses the confused girlies with a greyscale TikTok feature that allows you to choose between light, medium, and deep skin tones, depending on which one you have. Then, there are three options along a sidebar: High contrast, medium contrast, and low contrast. Each option allows you to best match your face in real-time to the options given to you on the filter. She uses herself as an example, where she determined that she would be considered a medium contrast because she has a fairly light skin tone with light reddish-brown hair. If someone were considered a low contrast, they would likely have features that all sort of “blend in” with one another or rather have similar tones. She uses Taylor Swift as a low-contrast example. If that sounds a bit confusing, we’ve linked the video below.
Now, let’s delve deeper into what each contrast level means for you and your makeup routine, and what products might be suitable for your overall look.
High contrast makeup has everything to do with the stark difference between an individual’s skin tone and their other features like hair, eyebrows, lashes, and lip color. TikTok user @alieenor uses Anne Hathaway as an example of this, explaining that her pale skin tone and dark locks have “a very high difference of value”, where the contrast between features almost comes off as a bit harsh. She adds that high contrast is very common in women with fair skin tones who have very dark hair, which then emphasizes the lightest parts of their face.
To complement this, she recommends intense smoky eyes and dark lips to lean into that contrast difference. This makes a lot of sense. As a high-contrast woman myself, I struggle with using pale pink products and rosy eyeshadows because they do not emphasize my features but rather make them blend together, which does not work if we’re prioritizing facial harmony. A French woman like Ailéenor of course recommends a red lip, but particularly for women with high facial contrast. Adding intensity to your makeup will make your already-intense features pop even more, thus complementing your face rather than working against it. We’ve listed some products we highly (see what I did there) recommend for high-contrast makeup looks.
Medium contrast is a bit more complicated. You have that intensity, but it isn’t all there. There’s some facial harmony, meaning there are select features that don’t have a stark contrast between them. But what exists are also features that push against that harmony with darker, possibly harsher contrast values. If you’re confused, refer back to the helpful filter Ailéenor provided in her video above. Basically, instead of reaching for intensity, you’re looking to balance out your face.
Soft bronzing is your best friend. Warming up the face to provide a bit more cohesiveness is the key to medium contrast makeup. Medium contrast individuals might find they have darker brows than the tresses that fall from their head, so keeping the intensity low on the brows is a must. Instead of an intense black mascara, run and grab a warmer brown shade. This way, your makeup is not taking away from your features and instead, is complementing what you’ve already got going on. Check out some of our favorite products that might help you achieve this medium-contrast makeup idea!
This type of contrast is all about the idea of “less is more”. If you’re using the filter Ailéenor provided, you’ll notice that as a low-contrast individual, you will not see stark differences between your hair, skin tone, eyebrows, or lashes. They all fall under some similar shade to one another, which means that you’ll be going for soft glam instead of intense glamour.
Ailéenor mentions that low-contrast individuals likely have the most facial harmony because the shades of their features do not contrast one another. Instead of a dark brow fighting for its life on a fairer skin tone, a strawberry blonde brow lies gently upon it. Instead of a bright blonde brow and deeper skin tone, you’d find a darker brow to that is similar in hue. She calls this makeup look “ethereal” because you’re going for a lighter makeup look that doesn’t call attention to itself. Of course, do whatever you feel your best in! We simply found this type of color analysis very interesting and thoughtful, so we thought to share it with those who haven’t heard about it yet. If you’re a low-contrast woman looking for your next product, check out our list below.
