When Celebrity Hairstylist Sarah Potempa Dyed Her Hair Pink, Her Makeup Routine Completely Changed
December 31, 2019
Dyeing your hair can sometimes be an impulsive decision, and if you’re anything like us, you’re all for it (have fun with it — it’s only hair!). But when it comes to actually sporting your new hair color, other details of your beauty routine may be affected, too — especially your makeup. It wasn’t until Beachwaver founder and celebrity stylist Sarah Potempa decided to take the plunge with bubblegum pink hair that she realized the gravity of her decision on her new makeup choices, and her relationship with pigments and palettes changed for better or worse.
“Since I was a teenager, I’ve been obsessed with hair as art,” says Potempa. “Playing a lot of sports growing up, I was the girl braiding everyone’s hair before the games — I experimented so much with styling my sister’s hair and my own that it naturally turned it into my career.” And with that career came the Beachwaver empire — the next generation of hair tools — as well as killer celebrity styling and red carpet gigs.
But what started as a love of styling soon turned into a love of color for Potempa, and she prides herself on the gorgeous blonde hair she was always known for. “I was really set on having a ‘look,’” she notes. “And with that consistent hairstyle, I was able to play around with all different types of makeup. I loved wearing bright lips of all shades from orange to hot pink to classic red. This always worked with my bright blonde hair.” This all changed when Potempa dyed her hair pink — bright bubblegum pink. Not only did this mean shopping for an entirely new makeup routine, but it also meant a lot of trial and error with product color choices.
“When you change your hair color, you need to adjust your makeup to reflect those tones,” Potempa says. “It’s an exciting time to explore new varieties of shadows, contour, blush and especially lip colors. The best way to see what works is to try, but my advice would be to do complementary colors and tones.” This means that depending on your newly dyed hue, you may need to pull out that color wheel and avoid conflicting eye, lip and cheek shades.
“If your hair is cool-toned, like pink, purple or bleach blonde, then you want to focus on cool-toned lipsticks like soft pink, bright bluish-red or hot pink,” says Potempa. This also translates to your eye look, where smoky liners and pinky shadows work the best. On the contrary, “if your hair is warm-toned, you can focus on brown, gold and taupe eyes and a variety of warm lip colors, including orange-red and creamy warm pinks,” she suggests.
As for her bubblegum-chrome switch, she turned to her Instagram friends with pink hair for makeup inspiration. “I also found I needed to avoid any orange or dark warm lipsticks as it clashed with the pink,” says Potempa. “And for blush and highlighter, the iridescent lighter pinks are better than the golden hues.”
Potempa also notes that with one color change comes many more, and she’s gotten used to being flexible. “Every time the pink color fades, it affects the makeup, but it makes it a fun challenge to try different tones!” she says.
Switching up your hair color can be a lot more involved than the initial decision. But Potempa definitely believes it’s worth the trials, tribulations and ever-changing lipstick swiping — and that, more than anything, is something we can get behind.
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