This is the Secret to the Most Flattering Makeup *Ever*
June 16 | 5 minute read
Words by Arabella Roden
Even better? There’s a brand-new filter that marries colour analysis with makeup: the MECCA x NARS Blush filter. It’s designed to help you find your perfect shades of the newly reformulated NARS Blush powders, based on your colour ‘season’ (summer, winter, autumn or spring).
A quick explainer for those out of the loop: while there are no real ‘rules’ to fashion or beauty, colour analysis takes the guesswork out of choosing makeup and clothing (and helps reduce risky impulse purchases) by narrowing down a specific palette of hues that most flatter your natural features – that is, your hair, skin and eye colour.
Traditionally, each palette is named after a season and each season has three sub-categories to make the colours even more tailored to the individual.
Image credit: Instagram/@alarnahope
“When we test clients' colours, we’re looking for colours that brighten and enrich their skin,” explains Alarna Hope, a Sydney-based colour analysis consultant who helped create the new NARS Blush filter.
These are the hues that make you look more ‘awake’ or ‘fresh’ (and there’s no difference between colour analysis for fashion and colour analysis for makeup, Hope says – you’re the same season in both).
To identify your season, your colour analysis consultant will look at your undertone (either warm or cool), your chroma (the intensity of the colours in your features – either bright or muted) and your contrast levels, which is the difference in light and dark between your hair, eyes and skin.
While traditional colour analysis involves draping different coloured fabrics over your body, TikTok has democratised the process with filters.
“We’re all intrigued to see how we’d look with a different hair colour or with freckles, and I think the popularity of these kinds of TikTok filters has helped bring back the colour craze,” says Hope, adding, “I recommend matching your blush to your season, because bringing your colour analysis results outside of the wardrobe and into makeup will make your natural colouring stand out more.”
The NARS filter allows you to virtually try on 12 shades, organised into the four colour analysis seasons.
“When choosing NARS Blush shades for each season, I kept in mind a range of skin depths – which is why I haven’t just got one pick for each season,” she adds, continuing, “Winters could easily play around with the ‘Orgasm X’ and ‘Orgasm Edge’ hues, as well as ‘Exhibit A’ if their skin tone is very deep.”
Curious to see which new NARS Blush suits you? If you’re on mobile, click here to try the filter!
