The importance of colour
Colours are magical. They represent life. Just think about the rainbow after the rain and you’ll immediately smile. They dominate senses and impressions. When you wear colour under your face, the light reflects it upwards and can cast either flattering tones or dark shades. For this reason, it’s very important to find the colour palette that compliments your complexion, eyes and hair shade. Right colours make you seem younger and healthier and all this brings you a sense of confidence and comfort. Conversely wearing clothes of the wrong shades can make you seem less attractive and energetic and emphasizes wrinkles and spots.
Colour analysis
Colours are classified as either warm or cold according to their temperature. Cool colours are green, indigo, violet, while the warm ones are yellow, orange and red. This distinction is not always so obvious because colours can have different shades: there are therefore hot reds and cold ones, hot and cold greens whose temperature depends on the amount of warm (yellow) or cold (indigo) colour present in that particular colour shade. Now that you have understood this main difference you are ready to discover which is the dominant temperature of your complexion’s colours: look yourself in a mirror, with your face cleaned and your hair picked up, wear a white t-shirt that hides the colours of your clothes and analyze your skin, eyes, hair. Has your skin blue or yellow undertones? Are your eyes clear, dark, green, blue, or do they have gold flecks?
This is just the first step to see if your best colours are warm or cold. The second step is more complex and associates every person with a particular season, whose colours have different characteristics: Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter. These four groups give hints about the best colour palette for each person. They offer general guides which cannot be applied definitively, as there are people with characteristics that may be related to more than one season. It should also be remembered that as time goes by, your colours change and with them the traits that refer to a specific season.
Spring colour palette
If you are a spring your colours are warm, light and bright, that is to say your skin can be honey tan, pale with orangey freckles, pale or peachy. Your hair is often golden blonde, or light brown, or red-blonde. The colour of your eyes can be hazel, brown with gold flecks, green, hyacinth blue.
Your best colours have yellow undertones and can be mixes of pastels or bright, vibrant combinations. Think of the bright clear colours of spring flowers and the new season’s clear, bright shoots to get an idea of colour combinations. Among your best colours there are orange red, pale coral, pale peach, apricot, warm peachy pink, warm violet, bright turquoise, bright French navy, hyacinth blue, lime green, camel, oatmeal, beige, gold. Avoid black and icy colours. If you cannot do without wearing a black dress, match it with accessories in warm and light colours that you need to wear under your face, like a scarf, or a necklace. Your skin is perfect with a light and subtle makeup: do not overpower your delicate complexion with dark and strong shades of eye shadows and go for light shades of green and orange.
Beautiful actresses Nicole Kidman and Jennifer Anniston are two women that perfectly embody this colour type.
Summer colour palette
Cameron Diaz and Scarlet Johansson are two famous summers. If you are a summer like them your skin tone has rose undertones, is pale or pale tanned, sometimes with beige freckles. Your eyes can be grey, blue, violet, while your hair is hash blonde, silver grey, or light brown. Your colours are cool, light and muted, like those of a summer landscape at midday, when the sun rays lighten everything. Among the best colours there are watermelon red, soft fuchsia, dusty pink, mauve, light grey, pale blue, rose brown, soft lemon, soft white, soft mint green. Summers look best wearing these colours in gentle mixture, like a bouquet of garden flowers and should avoid bronzers.
Autumn colour palette
The colours of an autumn type are warm, deep and muted. Her skin has yellow or beige undertones and can be with or without freckles, tanned with rusty freckles, warm olive or copper brown. The eyes can be green, golden brown, hazel, brown flecked with gold or green. The hair is often henna, copper, deep reddish brown, auburn or red-gold. Think of Sarah Ferguson to get an idea of the characteristics of an autumn woman. And look at an autumn landscape to discover the colours that best flatter an autumn type: brown, golden camel, tan, russets, terracotta, forest green, tomato red, burnt orange, bronze, beige, buttermilk, gold, warm muted navy. If you are an autumn remember that you look best wearing these colours in tonal mixtures reflecting the appearance of the autumnal forest.
Winter colour palette
If you are a winter type, your colours are cool, deep and bright. Your skin is often pale or porcelain with rose undertones, or dull olive with dark brown freckles, or chocolate brown or blue-black. Your eyes can be bright blue, green, violet, or dark brown; your hair is often dark chocolate brown, black, platinum blonde, steel-grey or white.
To get an idea how colours flatter your complexion, think of a winter landscape: you’ll see strong and violent colours, like the white of the snow, the black of the bark of the tree, the red breast of the small Robin bird. Like in this season, if you are a winter, you look best wearing colours in blocks, creating dramatic contrast: red and black, pure white and hot fuchsia, royal blue and icy pink, emerald green and rubin red. In your palette there’s a place for magenta, silver, platinum, icy green, icy lemon, while you should avoid warm shades of colours and browns.
Snow White, Penelope Cruz and Grace Kelly are famous winters.
Pages you may be interested in:
Colorful outfits that are stylish too
Stay tuned for my next blog posts