Here’s more evidence that what I have thought concerning skin tones may not be correct (I’m so confused!):
We usually look our best – most vibrant and alive – wearing the color that is opposite our underlying skin tone. If the underlying skin tone is sallow (yellowish), choose colors that have red in them. If the underlying skin tone is ruddy (red or pink), choose colors that have yellow in them.
Of course it is true that hair and eye color further determine what colors make us look our best, but this does not change the red-yellow opposites rule.
It is interesting to note that almost everyone looks good in aqua-turquoise (a blue-green-white blend) and apricot-coral (a red-yellow-white blend).
Another intriguing fact is that few people look good in khaki and camel, both of which are devoid of red and yellow.
Help me test some of this!
- Can you identify whether your skin is sallow or ruddy?
- If so, do you find the opposite-color advice works for you?
- Anybody look hideous in aqua-turquoise or apricot-coral?
- Anybody look fabulous in khaki or camel worn near the face?
- If you couldn’t identify yellow or red in your complexion, would you characterize your skin as orange?
How confusing these all are! No wonder I just wear colors I like and not necessarily colors that look good on me.
However, to answer your questions:
I do know my skin has ruddy tones to it (I’m Irish/English & German, it can’t be avoided), though it is in a more neutrally based tone. In general, I’d tend to say I wear more cool colored clothes, and look best in them– however, some of them have red (like bright pink and dark purples!) and some are yellow based (like turquoise). But I also have a very chartruese-y yellow-green jacket that I think looks wonderful on me.
I think this advice is true of me, Rebecca. I have pink-toned skin (possibly a bit to the peach end, but definitely not yellow), and I tend to look best in warm-toned colors, like olive and spice tones. The wild cards for me–and what I had always thought pushed me into the warm/autumn camp–are auburn/warm-toned brown hair and olive/hazel green eyes. Turquoise and aqua are among my favorite colors, especially in the summer. Camel and khaki by my face are horrid, although I wear those colors often as pants. skirts, and jackets. Hmm . . . aren’t camel and khaki actually yellow-based?
I have a hard time characterizing my (very) pale, cool-toned skin skin as “sallow” or “ruddy” (and not just because I don’t like the choice of words!) …nor would I call it orange. It would probably be closest to ruddy, if anything, but I look awful in yellow. I agree that khaki doesn’t look great near the face. As for the turquoise and coral, while I included it in that colour palette earlier this week, coral just doesn’t look that good on me…
Both my hair and skin have cool tones to them. I have dyed my hair varying shades of red/auburn in the past with attractive results; with red hair (or a bit of a tan) I can pull off the right shade of coral pink. I think I will stick to cool tones + the occasional warm accent while my hair is it’s natural shade and a judicious splash of warmer tones when/if I go red and occasionally in the summer.
That’s funny, I am of the opinion that NO ONE looks good with tan or khaki near their face. It just doesn’t contrast enough with skin color.
I think I have red undertones, and I am enjoying my new tinted moisturizer that has a yellowish base color to it.
Rebecca, I’ll have to take pictures sometime and send them in. I think that color is one huge experimentation. It’s hard to even say that I look good in green, because some greens are amazing and others are pretty blah. Same with any color, in each color there are certain shades and tones that are more workable with my coloring. I tend to blues and greens but I find that some yellows and even oranges can work. Some purples are good and others not so much — at least by my eye!! The one color that doesn’t work very well for me is red, even a darker bluish red isn’t the greatest (although I like having some red, especially for the holidays), I can wear it but it’s just not the best color on me.
By the article, I would say I have redder skin and look better in colors with yellow. I do not look good in apricot or coral, except for a muted or darkened shade of coral. But I have one workout t-shirt that’s orangey and I think it works, but it’s not the best. I always thought with red hair I look good in blue but I don’t always love blue…. there seem to be no hard fast rules, or they’re difficult to pin down!
I’ve always struggled with identifying my skin colour… it would have been sallow, but I have a caplillary skin (is this what it’s called ?) and so my nose and cheeks are pinkish. I do look great in turquoise and apricot-coral, hideous in camel and khakhi.
I think there are more kinds of skin colours… for example neutral like Emily’s…
BTW the camel colour made me think of requesting you to do a piece on creams, beiges and off-whites someday. I always struggle to connect name to colour, let alone decide which ones are flattering and which not.
Oh, how about periwinkle. I think its’ awful on me, but I bet it would be good on you, Rebecca!
Can you believe it? I’ve worn MYSELF out on this topic. Time to take a break! But I will do the creams and beiges post someday. The short answer that works for me about which ones look good is: the color of a cup of coffee with more or less cream in it. Does that make sense? In other words, it needs to be a brown.
While I agree that tan and khaki are not generally flattering when worn near the face, I’m not certain what color they actually ARE if they don’t contain any red or yellow. ???
Periwinkle is supposedly one of the colors that looks good on most people. On me it’s not special. It is, however, an excellent choice for guest room walls.
I can’t identify my skin. I guess I’d say it’s got red tones, since sunburns look nice on me.
I have an oatmeal-colored sweater that goes well next to my face. It leans toward brown rather than yellow, though.
My eyes are slowly becoming more brown (as opposed to green) and I’ve noticed that as this has happened I’ve begun looking much better in brown in general. I have always envied people who can wear khaki, and they all seem to be caucasian with light brown hair. Essentially, their hair is khaki already?
Oh! My original reason for replying is that I look horrible–awful–bad–in turquoise. I’ve experimented with coral, and it works if it’s pinkish. I can’t wear yellow. I can wear washed-out and dark reds, so does that mean my skin is yellow? That would make sense….
Color fascinates me. Have you ever dabbled in painting? You learn SO much from mixing paints on canvas — particularly in discovering all the colors you have to mix to get just the right white or the right black for a particular palette! — and what you learn from all that definitely spills over into your closet.
I’m sallowish, and anything related to yellow plays nasty tricks on me. I have blue eyes and was a natural (medium, wheat) blonde until my twenties. I get away with a range of colors, though, and I think it’s because of my very mixed hair color! The overall effect of my highlighted hair is something like a golden caramel, but if you look at it up close, there are individual hairs in the mix in every shade from red to silver to deep brunette.
I can get away with warmer shades if they pull the right balance from my hair, and if I wear a more coral-leaning blush and lipstick with them; a sheer golden gloss over the lipstick makes a HUGE difference in whether I can pull off warm shades… but in general I get far more compliments when I wear shades more toward bluish/reddish tones.
I also think the underlying tones in our teeth make a huge difference in what flatters. My mother’s teeth have brownish undertones, and she has to be super careful wearing anything that accentuates that. When red starts looking really bad on me, I know it’s time to whiten my teeth.
Purple, cobalt, garnet red and a deep peacock blue/green are my best colors. I wear turquoise and coral equally well, and they are two of my summer staples. I would NEVER wear khaki near my face.
So, I’m looking forward to that beige piece 😉
Thanks for mailing me !
I think my skin tones have changed over the past year or so. Perhaps that happens with age (mid 30’s I suppose!). I used to think I was more olive – my mom is spanish and my dad is english melting pot – but lately, I am seeing so much more pink. Go figure! I can tell you that I have not liked the way I look in pink lately. Your post has shed a lot of light for me! Thanks!! Oh and btw – I love wearing white!
Hey Rebecca, love your blog. 1. Definitely ruddy here. Noticeably red/pink in the face.
2. Yes, kind of. Greens generally work to tone down the red-a trick I learned from my mom who also had ruddy complexion. I think green is the opposite of red on the color spectrum. However I look bad in most colors of yellow. I have blue eyes and naturally light blond hair and just look icky in most yellows and many beiges.
3. I look good in aqua/turquoise but do not look so good in apricot/coral.
4. No.
5. No.
I own a million peices of turqoise jewlry I love the stone. I however never know the type of clothing especially the tops to wear. My hair is ruby midnight with purple under tones. My eyes are dark blue and my skin naturally has a yellow undertone. When I changed my hair to this darl color friends and family said it looked beautiful on me and made my eyes really stand out. I figured this is the best place to ask this question because I read such great advise to the above question. Thank You to all of you who anwered (Judi)
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