The deeps are often easily spotted by their dark hair and dark eyes. If you're a natural blonde or have pale eyes, then you can be certain you don't belong to the deep and cool nor the deep and warm. Typical hair colors are deep auburn to chestnut to dark black to blue black. The skintones, however, have a far broader range; you'll find alabaster deeps, olive deeps, beige deeps, caramel brown deeps, cocoa brown deeps, to very dark skinned deeps, to mention some. The common denominators, though, are the deep and rich overall coloring.
The deeps are truly radiant in black and jewel tones, but also in lighter colors such as ivory and taupe. However, when picking an outfit, they should refrain from wearing only light colors. They should opt for dark colors instead, or a dark + light combination. Dark and bright colors are very flattering to deeps, such as teaming black with turquoise or chili. The deeps are also possibly the ones who do dark makeup the best. Where red lips and darker eyes would overwhelm most people, the deeps have the depth to pull it off. However, not all makeup looks suit them; very light, pale and powdery makeup tend to suck the life out of their vivid coloring.
Keys:
Deep and rich. Dark eyes and hair.
Neutrals include, but aren't limited to:
Black brown, taupe, coal, dark navy, pewter, black
Deep basic palette:
Soft white, ivory, butter, stone, chocolate
Black brown, taupe, coal, dark navy, pewter
Lime, moss green, ivy, turquoise, teal
Emerald, spruce, forest green, cornflower, true blue
Royal purple, purple, damson, blush pink, true red
Scarlet, chili, burgundy, aubergine, black
Slightly cooler. Common skintones are olive, beige, dark brown, blue black, alabaster, ivory, cool beige and cool brown, however a slightly cooler bronze isn't a rarity either. The eyes are deep, and deep brown, ebony, hazel or olive. Like the eyes, the hair is dark: dark brown, black, blue black, or even a very dark auburn. The deep and cool looks absolutely brilliant in colors such as peppermint and dark teal, whilst colors like tomato red and mustard are less fortunate.
Some celebrity examples:
Eva Longoria (pictured), Penelope Cruz, Alek Wek, Cher, Susan Lucci, Rachel Bilson, Jada Pinkett Smith, Kim Yoon Jin, Anne Hathaway, Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, The Jonas Brothers
Add-on colors:
The deep and warm have the defining characteristic of "deep", but are also warm in their overall coloring. The skin can be golden brown, honey brown, dark brown, ivory, bronze, warm olive, warm beige or merely golden. The hair is deep, in colors such as deep auburn, chestnut, dark brown or black. Like the hair, the eyes are deep, and often reflect the warmth in the deep and warm's coloring: Hazel, dark brown, ebony, golden brown or rich olive. Like the other tonal groups on the warm side of the spectrum, a golden ring or golden flecks in the pupil are common. The deep and warm looks glorious in colors such as mahogany and evergreen, but cannot successfully pull off the cooler colors of the deep and cool; like candy pink and berry pink.
Some celebrity examples:
Leighton Meester (Pictured), Sophia Loren, Kim Kardashian, Julia Roberts, Jessica Alba, Eva Mendes, Natalie Portman, Raquel Welch, Hillary Swank, Daniel Dae Kim, Denzel Washington
Add-on colors:
Mustard, camel, golden brown, mahogany Coffee, olive green, evergreen, salmon pink Dark salmon pink, tomato, rust red, pumpkin
The two soft tonal groups, soft and cool and soft and warm, are the most misdiagnosed of all the seasons/tonal groups. Misdiagnosed as people believing they are a light spring rather than a soft and warm, for example, or misdiagnosed as people believing they are a soft, as they feel like their coloring is neutral, and they don't know where else to put themselves.
The dominant characteristic of the soft groups, are the fact that they appear, well, soft. Very low in contrast, with eyes, skin and hair often blending together, and their skin seems almost neutral, both in hue and saturation. You'll find soft groups among all races. However, they tend to be light-medium/medium/medium-dark in their skin color. They are rarely, if ever, really dark, nor are they pale and delicate like the lights. Their hair is often described as mousy, their eyes are soft and sometimes referred to as muddy, and their skin has an opaque, velvet-like look. However, their coloring isn't boring! It is soft and understated, yes, but they are fortunate enough to suit a wide array of colors - as long as the colors aren't too bright. Personally, I like to call the softs chameleons - they seem to be able to pull off a lot of looks.
When choosing an outfit, the softs look their best when the outfit is tonal/low in contrast. That means, no bright, high contrasting outfits such as a fuschia top with a black jacket. No, instead opt for colors that blend with each other. Softs best colors are soft in chroma/clarity/saturation and medium intensity (intensity referring to lightness/darkness). Dusty, softly saturated colors like sage and coal blue looks great, whereas hot pink and royal blue are examples of too bright colors. Very light or very dark colors are also overwhelming, to choose a soft white, buff or stone rather than stark white, and charcoal rather than black.
Keys:
Soft, muted, neutral.
Neutrals include, but aren't limited to:
Pewter, stone, charcoal Light navy, rose brown, taupe
With the old seasonal analysis system, the soft and cool was often misdiagnosed as a winter, due to not fitting elsewhere. However, the soft and cool is far softer and more muted than any winter (bright and cool, cool and clear, deep and cool). The skin looks quite neutral, but looks better in somewhat cooler colors. Ivory and beige are common skintones, but rose brown and light cocoa aren't unusual either. The eyes are usually soft blue, chocolate brown, hazel, gray green or gray blue. The eye patterns are soft and smudged, echoing their whole coloring. The hair is often described as mousy, devoid of natural highlights; ranging from dark blonde to a medium brown or, when older, a medium gray. Due to this, subtle highlights be very flattering, whereas solid dyes can look flat. The soft and cool will look better in amethyst and soft fuschia than the soft and warm's olive green and light salmon pink.
Some celebrity examples:
Jennifer Aniston (pictured), Sarah Jessica Parker, Jessica Biel, Miley Cyrus, Vanessa Williams, Viggo Mortensen
Add-on colors:
The soft and warm is usually lighter than the soft and cool, and is often misdiagnosed as a light and warm. However, whereas the lights are recognized by their delicate skin and fair features, the soft and warm are far more neutral, more medium in intensity, softer in chroma/clarity and the whole coloring is heavier and dustier. The soft and warm are very neutral, but favors slightly warmer colors. The most common skintone is beige, but it isn't uncommon for them to have a cooler overtone to their skin. Their eye patterns are soft and smudged, and common colors include, but isn't limited to, hazel, soft amber, chocolate brown, soft blue, blue green, grey green or topaz. Like all fall groups (which is soft and warm, warm and muted and deep and warm), a golden ring around the black of the eye is common. The hair color is, as stated earlier, often described as flat or mousy, lacking natural highlights, ranging from a golden blonde to dark blonde to medium brown. The contrast between the features is low, so the best colors are soft, dusty and blended. The soft and warm looks great in rust red and light gold, but doesn't suit the seafoam green and rose which flatters the soft and cool.
Some celebrity examples:
Drew Barrymore (pictured), Gisele Bundchen, Molly Sims, Ashley and Mary Kate Olsen, Kim Raver, David Beckham
Add-on colors:
Cream, camel, light gold, golden brown
Light moss, yellow green, olive green, dark salmon pink
Salmon pink, rust red, light peach, peach
The cools are dominated by one particular feature: The lack of warmth in their skin, hair and eyes. Putting warm colors like mustard or chili up again the face of a cool, will make them look downright awful. Their hair colors range from ash blonde to blue black, their eyes from light gray to blue-green to black, and their skin from alabaster white to a very dark brown. However, what all these variations have in common, is the fact that they are all variations on a theme: Having predominantly cool undertones, no warmth whatsoever!
One easy way to discard the possibility of being a cool, is by holding an orange-based color up against your face. If it doesn't look like you have fallen on your face and aged 10 years in doing so, you don't belong in either of the two cool-dominated groups. If you are a cool, heaps of blue shades awaits, as well as a myriad of grays and blue-based pinks and reds.
Keys:
Cool colors, no warmth in skin, hair or eyes
Neutrals include, but aren't limited to:
Coal, spruce, teal
Light gray, medium gray, dark navy
Bright basic palette:
Soft white, taupe, pewter, icy green, rose beige
Coal, black, light gray, medium gray, dark navy
Dark blue green, spruce, pine, teal, light teal
Icy blue, light aqua, duck egg, sky blue, light viola
Cornflower, sapphire, royal blue, purple, dark viola
Blue red, baby pink, dark rose, dark pink, cassis
The cool and muted are first and foremost recognized by their lack of warmth in their skin, hair and eyes, but also by the fact that they are light, and compared to the cool and bright; soft/low in contrast. Ash blonde to ash/cool brown are the most common hair colors, with white and cool gray being dominant among the elderly cool and muted. Common eye colors are blue, gray blue, gray, gray green, but may also be blue green or a cool brown. Rose beige, a soft pink and alabaster are frequent skintones, but a cool light brown and beige are also existent. When choosing colors, the cool and muted should steer away from all warm colors, in addition to very bright colors, as the former will make them look sick, and the latter will be overwhelming and look unnatural. Opt for cool shades instead. Soft, yet not very dusty. Although black appears in the basic palette, the cool and muted should avoid wearing it up against their face. Instead, try coal, dark gray or dark navy. The cool and muted looks better in amethyst and eau de nil than stark white and cyclamen.
Some celebrity examples:
Sarah Chalke (pictured), Linda Evans, Paulina Porizkova, Kimberly Williams, Candace Bergen, Creed Bratton
Add-on colors:
The cool and bright are dominantly cool, but are also known for the clarity of their skin and eyes, as well as higher level of contrast than seen with the cool and muted. Their hair is naturally dark, ranging from dark ash brown to blue black, to silvery gray, salt 'n' pepper or white with the elders. The eyes are clear, not as clear as the high vattage brights' eyes, with eye patterns that remind of spokes of a wheel. The eyes may be dark, like a deep blue or almost black, or a bright blue, turquoise or blue-violet. The skin may be rosy pink, clear olive, ivory or alabaster white, to various hues of cool brown. However, no matter what skin or eye color, the cool and bright needs contrasting, strong colors, and should avoid warm, dusty, pastel-like colors. When comparing their own colors to their sister season, the cool and muted, the cool and bright looks better in, amongst others: black and fuchsia rather than lavender and seafoam green.
Some celebrity examples:
Lauren Graham (pictured), Brooke Shields, Shania Twain, Rihanna (bordering on cool and muted when pale), George Clooney
Add-on colors:
Obviously, people who belong to one of the light color groups, have light features. Light hair, light eyes, and more or less light skin. Blonde is a common hair color, and depending whether one leans towards the cooler end (light and cool) or the warmer end (light and warm), it can be anything from light strawberry to ash to golden. However, you will also find some light brunettes, here. When getting gray, the color is more of a golden gray (light and warm), or a cool or blonde gray (light and cool).
Besides being light, the lights have low-contrasting features. Their eyes, hair and skin blends softly, and have a delicate feel. Often, they feel like filling in their eyebrows, as they often can be very fair. Lights should not overdo their makeup, though, as very dark brows and heavy makeup tends to look clown-like. A lights' worst enemy, would be hard, dark colors; they will simply seem to swallow the light person.
When choosing an outfit, go for light color combinations, or light + dark. For instance, an ivory colored top and a cocoa colored jacket. The lights are fairly neutral, and are therefore often taken for a soft season. Lights would be silk, whilst softs would be velvet. It is also worth mentioning that lights have a hard time getting a natural tan, as they easily burn in the sun.
Keys:
Light, delicate.
Neutrals include, but aren't limited to:
Taupe, cocoa, stone, pewter
Light basic palette:
Soft white, taupe, cocoa, stone, pewter, Ivory, cream, light gray, medium gray, butter
Sage, apple green, light blue green, turquoise, light teal
Mint, light aqua, petrol, sky blue, light viola
Cornflower, light navy, violet, purple, pastel pink
Dusty rose, blush pink, geranium, light apricot, rose brown -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Light and warm
Appears quite neutral, but leans towards the warm side. Often a peaches 'n' cream, ivory or pale beige complexion. The eyes are often blue, blue green, aqua, light green or a very light hazel, and are usually brighter than seen with the light and cool. Although the light and warm are, as the name implies, on the warm side, its somewhat neutral nature allows it to borrow some cooler colors like blush pink and turquoise as well. However, the light and warm looks better in lemon yellow and coral, than in seafoam green and icy pink.
Some celebrity examples:
Kate Hudson (pictured), Scarlett Johansson, Blake Lively, Renee Zellweger, Owen Wilson
Add-on colors:
Appears rather neutral, but leans towards the cooler end of the spectrum. Softer and more delicate than the light and warm. The eyes are often a soft blue, gray or blue gray, but light green also occurs. When comparing the eyes of a light and cool to the eyes of a light and warm, the former seems hazier and softer, as if looking at them through a sheer, pale veil. When putting together an outfit, the light and cool should keep the color combinations light and low in contrast, as high contrasting, dark outfits look both unnatural and unflattering. The light and cool shares many colors with the light and warm, but suits, to mention a couple, bluebell and lavender better than light moss and salmon pink.
Some celebrity examples:
Naomi Watts (pictured), Jodie Foster, Michelle Pfeiffer, January Jones, Anderson Cooper
The warm group are split into two: The brighter and lighter warm and bright, and the darker and more fall like warm and muted. Their main common feature, is the abundance of warmth in their skin, hair and eyes.
The warm groups are the place where you will find most natural redheads. However, you find brunettes and blondes here too, albeit their hair colors have a warm, golden or reddish, cast.
Their eyes can range from blue to brown, but you rarely find black brown or grey eyes in either group.
The warm should aim for warm colors, colors with a yellow, orange or red undertone. Cool colors make them look ill, and should only be used if wanting to look believable for a sick leave. ;) The warm and bright should opt for more saturated, lighter and brighter colors. Not neons, but vivid shades such as buttercup or chili. The warm and muted looks the best in more muted colors and color combinations, colors you would see on a day in October; mustard, olive green, rust.
Lighter and brighter than the warm and muted. Their eyes are clearer, and can be warm green, teal blue, turquoise or a clear light hazel. Ivory or porcelain are common skintones, and various shades of reddish or golden blonde to ginger red hair often occur. The overall look of the warm and bright, are lighter, clearer and more delicate than the warm and muted, thus should the deepest colors be switched with lighter ones. People who are warm and bright, suit coral and spring green better than forest green and pumpkin orange.
Some celebrity examples:
Nicole Kidman (pictured), Amy Adams, Sarah Ferguson (duchess of York), Reba McIntyre, Conan o'Brien
Add-on colors:
The warm and muted have a deeper look with less contrasts. Their eyes are softer, often topaz, hazel, amber brown, warm green or a muted teal. Like the warm and bright, red hair isn't uncommon, but the warm and muted often have darker hair, such as auburn, dark golden blonde or a darker red. They should avoid all light outfits, as well as steering clear of very bright pieces of clothing or accessories. Forest green and pumpkin orange look great, whereas coral and spring green are a tad too bright.
Some celebrity examples:
Julianne Moore (Pictured), Lindsay Lohan, Tilda Swinton, Marcia Cross,
Add-on colors:
Mustard, camel, golden brown, mahogany Coffee, olive green, evergreen, salmon pink Dark salmon pink, tomato, rust red, pumpkin
Brights (I'm talking color here, not levels of intelligence) have one defining feature, which enables us to separate them from any other tonal season. Their eyes are very bright, sparkly and striking. The whites in their eyes are very white too, and the pupils are often green, light blue, topaz or even almost purple. Of course, you do find brights with brown eyes too: Often a very dark brown (a striking contrast to the stark white whites in their eyes), or a golden amber color
The bright and cool, often have dark hair and naturally very dark lashes. The bright and warm often have dark hair too, but here you will also find blondes.
It might not make much sense, but the bright's skin, are often very clear. Not as in translucent, but they don't have that velvety quality to their skin as the softs do, nor the delicate skin of the lights.
The brights should aim for bright and saturated colors. Think stark white, black, turquoise, scarlet and cyclamen. Dull colors will shut down their overall brightness. By opting for high contrast light/dark color combinations like black and white, their bright look is balanced. If wearing a faintly saturated top, opt for some bright colors up against your face.
Royal blue, dark navy, charcoal
Purple, brown black, black
Bright basic palette:
Soft white, ivory, light lemon yellow, pewter, brown black Light gray, taupe, charcoal, dark navy, mint Apple green, evergreen, emerald, green turquoise, light teal duck egg, light aqua, sky blue, cornflower, Chinese blue Royal blue, purple, dark viola, true blue, true red Scarlet, blush pink, ruby, light apricot, black
Often overall lighter than the bright and cool. The skin is slightly warmer/more golden, and blonde hair are more common. The bright and warm looks better in salmon pink and yellow green than berry pink and dark teal.
Dark, solid colored hair are quite common. The skin has a cooler cast, but isn't cold enough to be labeled cool and clear. The bright and cool looks better in berry pink and dark teal than salmon pink and yellow green.
Some celebrity examples:
Megan Fox (pictured), Courtney Cox, Liv Tyler, Alexis Bledel, Ian Somerhalder
I daresay it's a fair chance you've experienced having a friend who looks absolutely ravishing in a color. Smitten by this, you might have grabbed all the similarly colored pieces in your favorite shop, hoping to capture some of the spark your friend had in this particular color. However, when standing there, in the dressing room, you find yourself devastated as your skin look more like mud than sparkling fairy dust, your eye bags look like hammocks, your eyes look dead and your hair dull. Why, you even look like you've gained a couple lbs! Why? Is it just the fact that your friend is so darn pretty?
To that last question, I think the truth lies elsewhere. If a color looks awesome on your friend, and dreadful on you, the most likely explanation is that the color is one of the key colors in your friend's color palette, and one of your definitive worst choices. You and your friend are most likely quite different in color. Some people have warmer undertones in their skin, whilst other people have a definitive cool undertone. Some people have bright sparkly eyes which are enchanted by saturated clothes, whilst other people's eyes are more subdued and hazy, and look far better in softer shades.
Now, let's take a look at the singer Taylow Swift in the pictures to the right. On the left hand side: Her blonde hair, slightly golden, flatters her peach 'n' cream complexion. Her light eyes shine bright, and she looks young and fresh. Her light and warm makeup looks great, and despite the fact she's wearing gold eyeshadow, it looks remarkably natural. Now, this time, take a look at the girl on the far right. Believe it or not, but it's the same girl. This time, however, her dark hair and clothes completely shuts down her bright, light and sunny coloring. She looks older, and not in a sophisticated way, shadows appearing all over her face. Sure, the lighting in the pictures are different, but you don't get nasolabial folds and dark shadows under your eyes just like that. Her skin looks drained for life, and she looks bland, I daresay. If you keep reading, I'll elaborate on the differences in coloring in the paragraphs below.
Seasons and colors
In the late 70's, a woman named Carole Jackson started a color frenzy. She wrote books where she told us that all the people in the world could fit neatly into 4 groups. She described each group as the 4 seasons: spring, summer, fall and winter. The seasons represented what was common within the groups. The springs were light, warm and bright, like rays of sunshine in May. The summers were cool and soft, like white sand and the Caribbean sea. The falls were warm and saturated, although not bright, like a pumpkin, or falling leaves. The winters were cool and bright, dark like the night in winter, yet sparkling white as the snow.
Jackson's method sounded neat and easy. The less groups, the less hassle! Her books were like the Holy Grail to some people; yet to others, her ideas failed to impress. What Jackson didn't account for, was the fact that the world does actually have more variation than the downright stereotypical characters she sketched for each group. Where did the people go who were both warm and cool, for instance? Naturally, as many felt left out, the seasonal craze seemed to cool down. However, in the late 80's and early 90's, a company named Colour Me Beautiful (CMD for short) decided to kickstart the adoration of color analysis again, this time with a more refined method. The tonal color analysis. This time around, the seasons were still intact, but they split each season into three sub-groups (or tones):
Spring: Bright spring, warm spring, light spring Summer: Light summer, cool summer, soft summer Fall (autumn): Soft fall, warm fall, deep fall Winter: Deep winter, cool winter, bright winter
Basically, each tonal group could be described like this: The bright: Bright and clear, wears saturated colors well. Intense, sparkling eyes, clear skin. Contrasting hair and skin. The bright spring leans towards the warm end of the spectrum, and the bright winter towards the cool end. The warm: Dominated by warmth in their skin, hair and eyes. You will often find the typical redheads here (note: Freckles is not an indicator of warm skin, despite often being found on redheads). Skintones range from golden to peachy to porcelain. The warm spring is a lot brighter than the warm fall, which is decidedly softer and deeper. Compare the months May to September, or oranges to pumpkins. The warm fall often has a golden ring around their pupils. The light: Fair skin, light eyes, delicate complexion. Little contrast. The hair is, more often than not, light. However, not all lights are blondes. You will not find the raven haired in this group, though. The light spring is clearer and brighter than the light summer, which is hazier, like ice cream or looking through a sheer veil. The cool: Dominated by lack of warmth in their skin, hair and eyes. Skin can be anything from the fairest alabaster to deep blue black, but has no obvious warmth. The cool winter is clear and deep, and looks stunning in black, stark white, pine green. The cool summer is just as cool, but more muted and has less contrast between hair, skin and eyes. Think pastels rather than icy colors, or blue bell over Chinese blue. Very saturated colors overwhelm the cool summer. The soft: Very little contrasts. Soft, muted skin. However, not to be confused with light spring or light summer; the softs are more velvety looking, heavier. Mousy brown hair is common, and their eyes are soft and hazy; can sometimes appear muddy. The softs look very neutral, and can therefore pull off a lot of looks. However, strong, stark, bright, colors overwhelm them and make them appear dull. The soft summer is often confused with a winter, and the soft fall is often confused with a light spring. The deep: Deep, dark eyes, dark hair. Skin can be any shade. The deeps should avoid bleak and dusty colors, which will draw the life out of them. Instead they should opt for rich, deep shades. A lot of Asians and black people are categorized as deeps due to dark eyes and hair being common. However, as mentioned in a later paragraphs, they too come in all colors, and should not be brushed off easily.
With this method, they were certain the included a broader array of people. Now, the person who was both cool and warm, which seemed neutral, and earlier had been misdiagnosed as a winter, could be identified as a soft summer, to name an example. When I'm doing my online color analysis, I use this method, except I use CMD's new names:
Bright spring - Bright and warm
Warm spring - Warm and clear
Light spring - Light and warm
Light summer - Light and cool
Cool summer - Cool and muted
Soft summer - Soft and cool
Soft fall - Soft and warm
Warm fall - Warm and muted
Deep fall - Deep and warm
Deep winter - Deep and cool
Cool winter - Cool and clear
Bright winter - Bright and cool
I do wish to stress, though, that I don't think of CMD's method as complete. There are still people who doesn't fit into any of the neat little boxes. People are far too complex to be labeled that easily! Just like in the field of personality psychology, people debate whether a few generalized boxes are enough to make assumptions, or if a nearly unlimited specter are needed to be able to map out human beings. There are more complex systems than CMD's (Beauty for all season's Color Alliance system claims to have approximately 4 million different combinations... They use different numbered charts, compare the different charts to your eyes, your skin and your natural hair color, and plot them into a computer. Frankly, I got pretty much the same results when being analyzed as a "True Quartz Summer" in this system, as a "Cool summer" in CMD's system. Perhaps I'm just a stereotype, though!). There are also companies out there who borrow from New Age-philosophies, claiming your personality relies on what season you are (obviously, I don't believe in this. Not by any means.), whilst other companies claim to be oh-so-scientific and very accurate.
Back to generalization: Color analysis have widely been criticized for being too general when it comes to blacks and Asians. What a lot of color analysts seem to forget, is the fact that not every Asian has golden skin, black hair and dark brown eyes (Asia in a whole continent, after all! You can't possibly say the Indians and the Japanese look alike!), and not every black person has dark brown skin, nearly black eyes and black, curly hair. No, people of all races come in all packages. I have seen African-Americans who are obvious soft summers/soft and cool, and East-Asians who are bright springs/bright and warm. Even if a person have dark eyes and dark hair; that doesn't necessarily mean that person is deep and warm or deep and cool! This is where test draping is key. I'll get to this later on.
How can I tell which tonal group I belong to?
A good place to start, is to try to find out whether you lean towards the warm or the cool end of the spectrum. Trying to pinpoint your tonal season at once is hard, unless your season are very obvious. One way of finding whether you are cool or warm, is to stand barefaced a couple of feet away from a mirror, in a well-lit room, with a stark white piece of paper under your face. Shut your eyes for a couple of seconds, then open them. Did you see the paper or your skin first? If you saw the piece of paper, you might belong to the warm end, whilst if you noticed your face first, you may belong to the cool side. While this isn't a foolproof method, it turns out to be quite effective for a lot of people.
Another way, is to flip your arm and take a good look at your wrist. What color does your veins appear to be? Blue/purple-ish? Perhaps more green? Or maybe a mix? Blue/purple veins are an indication of belonging to the cooler end, while greener veins indicated warmth. A mix is more neutral, which may mean you could be one of the more neutral tonal groups.
If you have something in gold and something in silver, like a pair of bracelets, wear them, once on each arm. If you suit the silver better, you lean towards the cool, and vice versa.
Take a look at your eyes. What color are the whites of your eyes? Stark white, or more muddy? Now, how about your eyes? Clear and sparkling with a pattern that may remind you of the spokes of a wheel, or perhaps soft and blended? Hazy or bright? Golden or grey? Dark or light? I often put an emphasis on the natural eye color when doing an online color analysis because more often than not, they can be great representatives for the descriptions of each tonal group. Such as soft, grey and hazy might be a light or cool and muted, or sparkly with bright eye patterns and stark white whites often turn out to be a clear.
The general consensus, is that test draping is key to finding your perfect colors. After all, this is the thing color analysts do after taking a good and hard look at you! Test draping basically means standing in front of a mirror, preferably barefaced with your hair pulled back (if dyed), putting different colored fabrics around your neck. I find the second you go from one color to the next, to be the moment when you see if the color is right for you or not. Basically, a good color lightens up your face, seems to have the magical power to diminish dark shadows and soften wrinkles if you have some, the whites of your eyes and your teeth appears whiter and clearer, your eye color are enchanted, your hair seems shinier, your skin seems fresh and you look healthy. When wearing a wrong color, the effect might be subtle, yet noticeable (like something is simply off), or dramatic (like looking tired or sick). When wearing makeup in your worst colors, the color appears to "sit on you", and look clown-ish. Wrong colors cast dark shadows on your face and accentuate wrinkles, unevenness in the skin, dulls down your hair and eyes, might make your lips look more yellow, and makes you look older - not in a wise way, more like a worn out way. Therefore, put your best colors closest to your face for best results. Anything below the waist won't have that effect on your face, and the area is thus called the "free zone". So, if you look as awful in orange as me, yet love the color, why not wear orange nail polish, orange shoes, or perhaps even an, ghasp, orange pair of jeans?
Examples of colors to test against each other:
Salmon pink or terracotta (deep and warm) vs fuchsia or burgundy (deep and cool)
Light moss green or camel (light and warm) vs aqua green or cocoa (light and cool)
Light mango or medium blue (warm and clear) vs pumpkin or jade green (warm and muted)
Soft white or lavender (cool and muted) vs stark white or royal purple (cool and clear)
Blue green or burgundy (soft and cool) vs olive green or mahogany (soft and warm)
Warm pink or true blue (bright and warm) vs magenta or royal blue (bright and cool)
Below is a couple of videos (Note: This isn't me in any of them nor are they my videos) showing the effects a good color and a not-so-good color can have on your face:
How do I distinguish between a warm and a cool color?
A warm color is red, orange or yellow based. A cool color is blue based. Examples of warm colors are lime green (a yellow based green), brick red (an orange based red) and cream white (a yellowy/beige white). Examples of cool colors are turquoise (a very blue based green), blue red and stark white. However, do bear in mind not all yellow colors are warm, and not all blue colors are cool. Lemon yellow is an example of a cool yellow, and parisian/prussian blue is an example of a warm blue. There are also some colors which are considered quite netural, due their equal mixture of warm and cool. Examples are teal and purple.
I have freckles. That means I have warm undertones, right?
This is a myth which should be put down. Freckles are genetic, and a result of increased concentrated/unevenly spread melanin and a consequence of sun exposure. Some people have more orange freckles, some are grey, some are brown, some are even black. The redheaded freckled stereotype probably derive from the fact that people with a lot of freckles have the recessive MC1R (melanin-activating peptide receptor) gene variant. People with red hair have two copies of a recessive gene on chromosome 16. This in turn, causes a mutation on the MC1R protein. MC1R plays an important role in regulating hair (in animals: fur) color, and controls the type of melanin which is being produced. It turns out that approximately 80% of all redheads have a dysfunctional MC1R gene, which in short means that the gene overproduces the yellow/red phaeomelanin. Because of their usually fair skin, they lack the melanin levels to prevent UV-induced damage, which makes the skin sensitive to the sun's UV-rays (which is a reason why redheads often get a sunburn rather than a tan). Everyone may freckle (except albinos, which lack pigmentation in their skin), but fair skinned people freckle easier due to their skin being more sun sensitive. Red haired people have more sensitive skin. The more sensitive your skin is to the sun, the easier you freckle. Sensitive skin comes in a myriad of colors (although, as stated, fair skin is commonly more sensitive).
I know I have a cool undertone, but I have read it's possible to have a warm overtone! Help!
The undertones in our skin is what is important when figuring out what colors we look good in. By test draping and doing the exercises above, you determine your undertone. Your overtone, however, is the shade which lies on top of your skin. It's not the dominating color which can bring forth glow or gloom (the undertone does this) in the skin, and is often a temporary status. Imagine being sweaty and tomato red in your face after running like crazy. That's your temporary overtone. Imaging being sick, looking sallow. Temporary overtone again. What about tanning? Well, the undertone decides the shade of tan you turn. Look at the overtone as a sheer layer, or veil. The upper layer is what is turning darker, but the constant undertone is what decides whether you turn more red, more golden, more orange, etc.
However, overtones aren't always temporary. You might always appear to look pink, even though your eyes, hair and color draping screams warm! Therefore - Choose colors according to your undertone, and pick foundation that flatters your overtone. Choose a more yellow foundation if your overtone is more yellow, no matter what your undertone is like.
Ok, let me try to narrow the explanation down further:
Undertone: Refers to your ability to wear certain colors. Your best colors, harmonize with your undertone. Your undertone is either cool, neutral-cool, neutral, neutral warm or warm.
Overtone: The top layer. Choose color according to undertone, not overtone.
Therefore, due to the various overtones, color analyzing by looking at only the skintone is impossible, in my eyes. However, when test draping, the skintone is the determining factor. When wearing the right colors, you see how the undertones bring life and glow to the overtones, and that's how you see what colors you suit.
So why is it that certain skintones, or overtones, are more common in some tonal groups than others? Well, my non-scientifically proven answer to that, is that some overtones are more sheer, thus letting more of the undercolor through. For example, when having a warm undertone, the overtone can be a light peachy, sheer tone, resulting in a peaches 'n' cream complexion; a skin tone often associated with those who are light and warm. Other times, the overtone may be more opaque, letting less of the undertone through. And if the overtone looks different than the undertone, that may be a faint answer to why an obviously warm person has rosy skin. Of course, there may be better, more scientific reasons to why we have the colors we have, but I won't dig deeper into that yet. Note: By sheer overtone, I don't mean that the skin itself is transparent!
How do I use my palette?
The easiest way is to find pieces of clothing or accessories which blends with your palette. Does the color resemble one or more of the palette colors? You could also try to match the colors up completely, but that often proves to be harder than it looks! Use the palette as a guideline.
