How to pinpoint the most flattering colors for you?

If you live in muted tones or black, you could be missing a trick – often, colors can be flattering, slimming and make you stand out from the crowd.

It’s all about finding the best colors for you using color analysis. But if you don’t fancy handing yourself over to a fashion stylist, how do you figure out which colors work for you? Never fear, we’re here to answer all your questions…We sought out the wisdom of personal stylists to help you find the colors that will best enhance your natural complexion and make you feel more confident.

What is color analysis:

Color analysis is a method of determining which colors of clothing and makeup shades harmonies with a person’s skin complexion, eye color, and hair color. It’s useful to have a color analysis with a stylist or professional color analyst. In a nutshell you can use your skin tone (skin, hair and eyes) to determine whether you are warm/cool, and your overall coloring (so how dark your skin is and the color of your natural hair) to determine light/dark.

Color analysis based on your skin tone:

Once you’ve got your skin tone sorted, you can move on to asking, “What color am I?”.

You might have heard friends referring to themselves as Spring, Summer, Autumn or Winter types. But what does it all mean?

Well, if your skin tone is cool, you belong to the Summer or Winter family. If it’s warm, you have Spring or Autumn coloring. Some people span multiple groups, but one tends to be primary.

Read on to find out which color family you belong to…

Summer coloring

If you have a cool skin tone, naturally ash-toned blonde or light-mid brown hair (with no red or gold highlights), and pale blue, green or grey eyes, you have summer coloring.

Winter coloring

If you have a cool skin tone, ash-toned medium to dark brown or black hair with no red or gold highlights, and deep blue, green or brown eyes, you belong to the winter family.

Spring coloring

If you have a warm skin tone and golden blonde or light-medium brown hair with golden highlights, you have spring coloring. Spring types may have a mixture of warm and cool elements to their coloring.

Autumn coloring

If you have a warm skin tone and red, auburn, dark brown or black hair with red, gold or chestnut highlights, you belong to the autumn color family. If you are pale, you probably have freckles.

Can my color change?

Have you had your color analysis years ago, but now feel like your color has changed over time? Your primary coloring remains the same throughout your life, but going grey, coloring your hair or even getting a tan can alter how flattering certain shades appear.

A tan may cause ‘spring’ bright to appear more flattering than usual, for example, whilst your go-to ‘summer’ pastels seem to wash you out – you may even wish to consider opting for a warmer hair color to complement your holiday glow. As we age, skin and hair begin to lose pigmentation. This doesn’t change our natural coloring, but makes it even more important to know which color family we belong to, so that we can choose shades which enhance, rather than drain, our complexions.