What's Your Color?

Is there a particular color that makes you look radiant?
Are there colors that make your best friend look amazing, but which make you appear all washed out?

Do you notice how some women look radiant all the time? If you look at them carefully, their features are no prettier than everyone elses yet they know how to look their best all the time.

The secret lies in their choice of color as much as it does in the cut of their clothing. They know what colors make them look amazing and wear only their best colors. You wouldn't catch them in shades that are unflattering on them.

Not everyone looks fabulous in fuschia. Some women look fabulous in shocking pink while others look gaudy in that exact same shade.

Some women look wonderful in earthy browns while others look sickly.

Black might flatter most women, but on a handful of people, that color makes them look all washed out.

Color Families

The variations of each color can be divided into 2 basic color families. The warm colors and the cool ones.

Warm shades are basically any color or shade with golden or yellowish undertones. Earth tones like brick red, browns, oranges, peaches, gold and leaf greens are warm colors.

Cool shades are basically any shade with blue undertones. Pure colors as in the exact colors for the rainbow are cool too. Blue, black,fuschia, watermelon red, true red and silver are cool colors.

If you have warm skin tones, that is, your skin has golden undertones, you look radiant in warm shades but cool colors tend to make you look all washed out. Peach skin, golden skin, golden beige, golden brown, ivory and golden tan are warm skin tone.

If you have cool skin tones, that is, your skin has bluish undertones, you look stunning in cool colors but warm colors make you look muddy. Olive skin, ebony skin, porcelain white skin and anyone whose skin with bluish undertones has cool skin tones.

The classic way to find out your skin tone is to put a piece of plain white paper beneath your wrist and look at the innerside of your wrist. Are you able to see any underlying blue or yellow tones? If you can spot bluish tones on your skin itself, you have cool skin tones. If you spot golden undertones on your skin, you have warm skintones. Note that olive skin falls under the cool category.

Another way to see your skin tone is to take colorful scarves and drape them around your face in front of the mirror. Take a bright blue scarve, a pale blue scarve, a bright orange scarve and a peach scarve. Drape one scarve at a time around your face and note whether the color brings out your natural radiance or makes you look all washed out.

Which is your best color?

• Bright Blue - you have cool skin tones and look great in deep, rich or bright cool colors. Colors that suit you include fuschia . black . silver . burgundy . cobalt . emerald . white . indigo . magenta . blue .
• Bright Orange - you have warm skin tones and look amazing in strong warm colors and rich earthy shades. Your colors include brown . ivory . gold . coral . rust . scarlet . chestnut . turquoise . periwinkle . apricot . olive . charcoal . camel . green .
• Pale Blue - you have cool skin tones and look wonderful in muted cool colors. Some of your best colors would be grey . silver . rose . navy . lavender . white . pink . lilac . blue . mauve . jade green . lemon . taupe .
• Peach - you have warm skin tones and look best in soft warm colors. Go for peach . brown . ivory . gold . lime . periwinkle . apricot . sand . camel .

Warm skin tones look great in earthy shades which the safari look uses a lot of. If you have warm skin tones, get safari style clothes because these are in your colors.