What are your Colors?
In 1980 a book was written by Carole Jackson called “Color Me Beautiful”. She wrote that each of us has a unique skin tone. Find the best colors to complement your skin tone and bring out your special beauty. Jackson studied the art of color and its application to clothing, makeup and hair. She set up classes to help women determine their colors by analyzing each persons coloring or skin tone to give her a color palette and teach her to use this guide for shopping for clothes, makeup and hair color.
The people in her class were divided into four (4) groups; Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. Each group has its unique and harmonious colors.
- 1. Spring- delicate colors with warm yellow undertones
- 2. Summer-pastels and soft colors with blue undertones
- 3. Fall-warm rich colors with golden undertones
- 4. Winter-primary and cool icy colors with a blue undertone
I went to one of these classes in 1984. I turned out to be a Winter and was given my color palette with a cosmetic guide and a How to Shop for your Winter Colors guide. I still go by this palette today (unless I change my hair color). Let’s determine your colors by taking The Color Test.
Step 1. What is your color history?
Select a group of colors below that you feel are the most flattering to you in general.They may be right but may also be the “in” colors for the season and not necessarily the right colors for you. Pick the group that has brought you the most complements in your lifetime.
WINTER: Navy, Black, White, Red, Shocking Pink, Gray
SUMMER: Soft Blues, Rose-Brown, Rose-Pink, Navy, Lavender, Plum
SPRING: Golden Brown, Camel, Peachy Pink, Peach, Light Blues, Golden Yellow
AUTUMN: Dark Brown, Camel, Beige, Orange/Rust, Gold, Moss/Olive Green
Do the colors you selected suit you? Now let’s determine your skin tone.
Step 2. What is your skin tone?
The tone of your skin comes from three (3) pigments; melanin (brown), carotene (yellow) and hemoglobin (red). In a particular combination these three pigments give you your unique skin tone. Summer and Winters have blue undertones, as Spring and Fall have yellow. If you compare your wrists and palms with other people you can often see that you are mostly blue or yellow. Take a piece of white paper and hold it under your wrist and palm for comparison. Are you blue or yellow? If you have freckles are they charcoal (blue) or golden brown (yellow)?
Because your skin tone is mot always obvious, here are more complete descriptions of various types of coloring that typify each season including hair and eye color.
WINTER
Skin: Look for blue or blue-pink undertones; winters are those with taupe-beige skin ranging from light to dark, rosy or just plain beige. Most olive-skinned, blacks and Orientals are winters. A winter may also have very pale skin with dark hair like Snow White. They do not have rosy cheeks and their appearance will improve dramatically with a pink toned blusher.
Hair: Most Winters are brunettes with light brown to dark brown hair and some with a touch of red highlights. Blue-black hair is typical among Winter as is salt and pepper to silver gray. Winters often gray prematurely and often gray attractively.
Eyes: The Winter woman usually has dark eyes including hazel, gray green, gray blue and dark blue. A blue or green eyed winter generally has white flecks in their iris or a gray rim around the iris.
SUMMER
Skin: Look for blue undertones with visible pink in their skin. They are usually very fair and look pale without a blush. They are blonde or were blonde as a child. Skin tone is a rose-beige from light to dark.
Hair: Blonde now or as a child ranging from towhead to ash blonde to dark ash. When she grays it darkens to a mousy color. Some brunettes are Summers they range from light to dark with ash overtones. If she gets a lot of sun she may get red highlights in her hair. The brunette summer grays to a blue-gray or pearly white tone. Summer women often highlight their hair to bring “life” to their face.
Eyes: Summers are often blue, green, aqua or light hazel. They may also have a gray rim around the iris and white flecks inside the iris. A few summers have light brown eyes or intense blue eyes.
AUTUMN
Skin: Look for golden or even ruddy undertones. Autumns are more orange than blue.Autumns come in three varieties; ivory or peach creamy skin, redhead with fair to light skin usually with freckles and the golden-beige brunette whose skin ranges from medium to deep copper (the latter with black hair). Many Autumn’s need an orange toned blush to make their pale skin come alive.
Hair: Maybe golden blonde as a child, Autumns darken as they age and carrot tops with auburn or red brown hair. Many Autumns may be brunettes with gold or a metallic red cast. Autumns should color their gray because it usually comes in a yellow-gray.
Eyes: Most Autumns are brown or green eyed. Their brown eyes are dark to topaz and their green eyes sport gold or brown flecks in their iris. Some might have clear green eyes like glass or olive cat like eyes. They might also have vivid aqua eyes, but not true blue or gray blue in color.
SPRING
Skin: Look for yellow undertones with skin that is either creamy ivory, peachy pink or peach-beige. Freckles come naturally to her, though some have that “peaches and cream” complexion. Springs have rosy check that flush easily. Rosy checks can confuse us with the Summer skin tone so look at the parts of your body that do not tan and see if they are peach or truly pink. They have aliveness to their skin tone and usually are extremely fair.
Hair: Golden blonde, strawberry blonde, taffy-red or golden brown but some Springs have very dark brown hair and few are carrot tops. Gray does not arrive gracefully and you will need to dye it to its youthful color.
Eyes: Springs eyes are usually blue, green or aqua. Some are clear as others have a golden cluster around the pupil. Many have blue eyes that appear gray from a distance and have a sunburst of white coming from their pupil. Some are brown-eyed springs, but they are always golden brown to topaz and hazel eyes contain green or gold.
Once determining your season you need to know which colors work best for your skin tone. Here are the colors for each season:
WINTER: *Pure White *Lt. True Gray *Med True Gray *Charcoal Gray *Black *Gray-Beige (Taupe) *Navy and True Blue *Icy Colors: Green, Yellow, Aqua, Violet, Pink, Blue *Primary/Gem Color: Sapphire Blue, Ruby Red, Emerald Green, Amethyst *Lemon Yellow *Hot Turquoise *Chinese Blue *Lt True and True Green *Pine Green *Shocking Pink *Deep Hot Pink *Magenta *Fuchsia *Bright Burgundy *Blue-Red *True Red
SUMMER: *Soft White *Rose-Beige *Cocoa *Rose-Brown *Lt Blue Gray *Charcoal Blue-Gray *Grayed Navy *Gray-Blue *Powder Blue *Sky Blue *Med. Blue *Periwinkle Blue *Pastel Aqua *Pastel Blue-Green *Med. Blue-Green *Deep Blue Green *Light Lemon Yellow *Powder Pink *Pastel Pink Rose *Pink Rose *Deep Rose *Watermelon *Blue-Red *Burgundy *Lavender *Orchid *Mauve *Raspberry *Soft Fuchsia *Plum
AUTUMN: *Oyster White *Warm Beige *Coffee Brown *Dk Chocolate Brown *Mahogany *Camel *Gold *Med. Warm Bronze *Yellow-Gold *Mustard *Pumpkin *Terra Cotta/Rust *Deep Peach/Apricot *Salmon *Orange *Orange-Red *Bittersweet Red *Brick/Dark Tomato Red *Lime, Moss, Olive, Jade, Forest Green *Bright Yellow-Green *Chartreuse *Grayed Yellow-Green *Turquoise *Teal and Deep Periwinkle Blue
SPRING: *Ivory *Buff *Lt Warm Beige *Camel *Golden Honey *Med. Golden Brown *Lt. Warm Gray *Lt Clear Navy *Lt Clear Gold *Bright Golden Yellow *Pastel Yellow-Green *Med. Yellow-Green *Bright Yellow-Green *Apricot *Lt Orange *Peach *Clear Salmon *Bright Coral *Warm Pastel Pink *Coral Pink *Clear Bright Warm Pink *Clear Bright Red *Orange-Red *Med. Violet *Lt and Dark Periwinkle Blue *Light True Blue *Light Warm Aqua *Clear Bright Aqua *Med. Warm Aqua
Makeup:
Winter: Bright Colors: Blue reds, true reds, bright fuchsia for lips Clear Pinks for cheeks, Beige foundations Eye Shadows in silver tones; soft aqua, teal, taupe, charcoal blue-gray
Summer: Dusty rose colors to strawberry and shimmering pink for lips Soft Rose for cheeks, sand to rose beige foundations Eye Shadows also w/silver tones; cool blue, light lavender, cool pink
Autumn: Terra Cotta, Cinnamon, Warm Honey or Brick Red for lips Terra Cotta for cheeks, Honey to golden beige for foundations Eye Shadows in Honey, Sage and Olive in gold tones
Spring: Warm Colors: Coral pink, clear salmon or frosted watermelon Apricot or Clear salmon for cheeks, Ivory or warm beige for foundations Eye Shadows in Peach, Warm green or champagne
12 Tips for Efficient Shopping with your Colors - 1.Shop your colors using neutral colors for basic pieces; navy, black, browns
- 2. Say “NO” to clothes that are no your color
- 3. Recognize when a bargain is not a bargain
- 4. Be Aware of this seasons “IN” colors and the colors that you want to buy
- 5. Find a salesperson that looks like your season
- 6. Find a store that carries your colors and styles
- 7. Spend money on clothes you wear the most
- 8. Dress appropriately
- 9. Develop a shopping routine
- 10. Make a List
- 11. Clean your closet
- 12. Select a major purchase twice a year.
Find which designers you like and which stores carry them. Personally I love INC. at Macys. Some designers size 8 fits like a 12 and visa versa. If you get to know your designer's clothes and how they fit on you, you may be able to buy clothes without trying them on.
Shopping can be fun and knowing your colors can make it easier, faster and more rewarding. You will look Fabulous in your colors.
