10 Top Colour Correctors Recommended By In-House Beauty Enthusiast

As the name suggests, you are correcting the colours of an area which in this case, is your skin. You correct the discolourations so that base products have a neutralised base to work upon and there's no greying or darkening. Basically, you are evening out the palette for your complexion products to work on. Discolourations could be anything that's not the same colour as your natural skin tone such as dark circles, redness, pigmentation, shadows caused by hollowness or sallowness. Colour correctors work on the same logic of colour wheel theory of how certain colours of how opposing colours cancel out each other.

Now, in makeup's context, these are the usual colours worked with for correction:

For redness: Neutralise red and pink tones with a green colour corrector.

For dark circles and dark spots: Use a peach colour corrector if you have fair skin, or a deeper hue of orange if you have medium to dark skin.

For sallowness: Balance out unwanted warmth with a lavender colour corrector.

For orangeness: Now, this isn't a skin discolouration but rather a product shade flaw. Most medium toned foundations tend to be too orange so a blue pigment will helps neutralise it if you wish to make use of that particular product.

When concealer or foundation is applied directly on the skin, it will turn grey if you don't apply an orange or peach corrector to balance the darkness (or bluish-purpleness in case of dark circles) of the discolouration. The usual suspects for Indian skin are the area around your mouth, temples, around the nose and under eyes which gives the appearance of what I jokingly call 'raccoon eyes'. The warmth from the peach or orange corrects and cancelsout the deep tint and give you an even canvas before going over with your concealer and foundation. But, peach or orange? Which one do you use?

It all boils down to your skin tone. Peach is more suitable for fair to medium skin tone while orange is meant for medium to dark skin tone. Fair skin tones should lean more towards a salmon pink while deep skin tones can try a red one if orange runs light for them.

If the peach corrector runs light for you, get the orange one instead and use less quantity so you don't end up with an orange under eye. Blending is key when colour correctors are being used because you want to use just the quantity that's needed otherwise you will end up using double the quantity of concealer and foundation to cover the tinge of colour left by the corrector.

Pro Tip: Set the colour corrector with a super light dusting of loose powder before going in with your concealer. This will set the colour corrector pigment and help avoid mixing with the concealer.

The e.l.f. Cosmetics Camo Color Corrector has become a favourite of content creators online since its release. A hydrating, lightweight, and long-lasting colour corrector, it features decent pigment. The thing about this one is that it's great for light colour correcting but if you have extremely dark under eye circles or pigmentation, you will have to build it by layering. It's available in four colours in India— orange, peach, yellow and green. The peach one is a little light so I wouldn't recommend buying it for medium skin tones, get the orange one instead and sheer it out if it runs a little deep for your skin tone.

Nykaa Rating: 4.4/5

LBB Tip: Their Putty Color-Correcting Eye Brightener is also decent for correcting under eyes if you are into cream formulations.

This colour corrector has totally changed the game. It’s creamy, with just enough pigment and doesn’t crease quickly so you have enough play time to apply your concealer over it and set everything in place. The shade ‘Lychee’ is the perfect shade for Indian skin tones since it’s the perfect tone of orange that’s neither too light, nor too dark. Well, you can always trust Huda Kattan to give us exactly what we want and if you don't mind investing a little more, I will recommend giving this one a go!

Nykaa Rating: 4.5/5

God bless Smashbox for making sure we have a smooth supply of the OG Becca colour corrector. There’s nothing as failproof as this one on the market! Becca’s famous Backlight technology infuses the peach and apricot-toned colour correctors with light-reflecting illuminators that deflect light away from dark under eye circles which means it looks beautiful post concealer application. Since it comes in a pot packaging, you can either dab it on with your fingers or use a small brush for precise application. We love that the shades are Indian-skin tone friendly so you will find your match with ease.

Nykaa Rating: 4.2/5

Another pot colour corrector for makeup that sits well on the under eyes. The Bobbi Brown Correctors melt effortlessly into the skin and give just the right amount of tint of colour to cancel out discolouration. The three shades available on Nykaa are brown-girl friendly if your skin tone runs medium to dark, however, light skinned folks might have to give this a miss.

Nykaa Rating: 4.5/5

Probably the most popular colour corrector on the list, the LA Girl Pro Concealer in colour correcting shades are every beauty guru’s ride or die. The blendable liquid formula, non-budging finish and opaque coverage make it a hit among those with extremely dark circles and discolouration. In our opinion, get this one in the orange shade only if your dark circles need heavy duty correcting cause it’s very pigmented. A defo reco for beginners looking for a failproof but budget-friendly option.

Nykaa Rating: 4.4/5

We have heard only good things about this liquid colour corrector from Kay Beauty. Reviews say that it blends like a dream, doesn’t leave annoying cast of colour behind and does a fab job at cancelling out the darkness (speaking about the peach and orange colours in particular). The peach shade works well on most medium skin tones so definitely give this one a try if you are looking for something a little matte.

Nykaa Rating: 4.4/5

This cream colour corrector has an irreplaceable position in Indian MUAs makeup kits. It is your typical cream colour corrector with oodles of pigment that corrects even the most peskiest dicolourations. This one's for special days when you want to cover certain troubled areas on the skin before going in with a sheer foundation or skin tint for an even finish. Also, if you have extremely oily skin, get the Supracolor one in place of the Dermacolor since that's more mattifying.

Nykaa Rating: 4.2/5

House Of Makeup Spot On Color Corrector is another great budget buy. A little goes a long way since the formula is thin but pigmented. It blends like a dream and is buildable too in case you need more correcting. The best part? It doesn't settle into creases and also doesn't make the concealer cake up which is just fab! There are three shades to choose from.

Nykaa Rating: 4.3/5

For folks with extremely dry under eyes and skin, the new Simply Nam Hydrafit Colour Corrector is a great fit since it has that high emollient content with hydrating ingredients like hyaluronic acid, rosehip oil, and marula oil. It does claim to be a full coverage product so start with using a dot and apply more if required. The blend on this one is great but miss this if you have oily skin.

In line with NARS' Radiant Creamy Concealer, their Radiant Creamy Color Corrector is a bang on product that gives you just the right amount of colour correction that sits well under most liquid and cream concealers. Another thing to note is that the custom applicator is super thin so you can target smaller areas to cover (like acne spots) with ease. It feels like nothing and blends amazingly well to dry down into this beautiful skin-like finish but the shade range is a little too limited for us to give it a 10/10.

If you want to test waters before investing in a product, start with the Insight Cosmetics Pro Concealer Palette for getting into correcting makeup. It's cheap, does the job and gives you the option to play with multiple correcting shades for practice. These cream colour correctors have satisfactory pigment and you can blend different tones to correct your areas of concern which makes it beginner-friendly.

Nykaa Rating: 4.4/5