A science professor is going viral for turning her makeup into a chemistry lesson

Leah Prinzivalli
For Debbie Gale Mitchell, a chemistry professor at University of Denver, a lesson plan is also an opportunity for a unique beauty look. (Photo: Twitter/heydebigale)
For Debbie Gale Mitchell, a chemistry professor at University of Denver, a lesson plan is also an opportunity for a unique beauty look. (Photo: heydebigale via Twitter)

With teachers who rap Cardi B to spice up their geography lessons or who become hairstylists to help a student in need, education these days means going beyond what’s inside the textbooks. For Debbie Gale Mitchell, a chemistry professor at University of Denver, a lesson plan is also an opportunity for a unique beauty look.

Mitchell deserves to go viral for her flawless rainbow eye makeup alone. But as she explained on Twitter, her look is scientific. “I’m a chemistry prof who loves over-the-top makeup,” she wrote. “I’m teaching spectroscopy today, so [rainbow] seemed appropriate.”

She based the shadow on spectroscopy, the study of how matter interacts with light and radiation. In layman’s terms, that means she chose her colors based on wavelength. “Colors are ordered by wavelength (λ). Longer λ was placed in the inner corner w/ λ decreasing (E) towards outer corner,” she explained. She pulled together the whole look with the help of Kat Von D’s Pastel Goth palette and a rainbow makeup tutorial from Dear Darkling.

Mitchell and her scientific approach to beauty have gotten hundreds of responses on Twitter from beauty lovers and science nerds alike. Her look has already received over 25,000 likes.

Others are wondering how to create their own chemistry-themed beauty looks.

Mitchell’s beauty experiments come in many colors. Last year, she dyed her hair blue and decided that wasn’t quite enough. “Since dying my hair, my husband’s fav joke is: “You can tell her natural hair color isn’t blue bc her eyebrows don’t match.” Jokes on him!” she wrote.

The internet has already fallen in love with Mitchell thanks to a joke on her fall semester syllabus, when she decided to list Beyoncé‘s birthday as the real reason behind her canceled class on Labor Day weekend.

We salute Mitchell for her perfect makeup — and her even more flawless commitment to her students.

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