‘Color theory strikes again’: Unfortunate partygoer opts for green face paint at Halloween do only to learn their make up looks offensive under red lighting

With Halloween right around the corner, it’s worth putting out a warning to anyone planning on wearing face paint to any upcoming parties. If you do so, make sure you brush up on your color theory so as not to accidentally offend others.

One person on TikTok found this out the hard way after opting to wear green face paint to a party with harsh red lighting. Sandy shared a video of themselves dressed as Beast Boy who, as we all know, has green skin. “Oh boy I sure do hope I don’t go to a Halloween party that only has red lighting,” they joke, before cutting to them at the party with red light all around.

Unfortunately for Sandy, the red lighting turns the shade of green their face is painted in, a whole lot darker, in fact, it almost looks like their face is covered in black paint which is obviously the last thing you’d want to do. 

Sandy’s friends can be heard jokingly referring to the make up blunder as a “controversy,” although anyone looking at them at a glance might think they were actually wearing black face which may require a bit of explaining.

Green face paint and red lighting don’t mix

Viewers on TikTok shared their own experiences making the same mistakes with one person writing, “this is exactly what happened to my brother, he went as Mr Bobinsky and now I’ve had no choice but to cancel him.” Another viewer shared a similar experience after dressing up as Elphaba from Wicked and taking photos with an instant camera which only printed in black and white.

Another viewer commented on how poor an idea it was to host a Halloween costume party with red lighting and they kind of have a point. While the red lighting may be spooky, green face paint is fairly common on Halloween, whether you’re looking to match the skin tone of a rotting zombie or you’re dressed as a witch, green is a go-to color for many costumes around this time of year.

On the other hand, red is a logical choice for lighting as it’s a color that fits with the theme of Halloween. It’s a risky combo but luckily we now all know how color theory can completely change the look of one’s costume.

So let this be a warning to anyone planning to dress up this Halloween. Avoid green face paint if you can, and if you are wearing green, for the love of god, stay away from any parties that have red lighting.