Colors can generally be divided into two categories: “warm” or “cool.” The color of your skin, hair and eyes determines whether your coloring is warm or cool, which can then be used as a guide for choosing clothing and makeup.
For eyes, warm colors are green and brown. Cool colors are gray, blue and blue-green.
Warm hair colors are anything with a golden or red tone. This includes honey blonde, strawberry blonde, redhead, golden brown, caramel, reddish brown, auburn and copper. Cool hair colors have a slightly ash undertone. This includes ash brown, ash blonde, platinum blonde and blue-black (black hair with a slightly bluish undertone when the light hits it). Hair without a noticeable gold, red or ash tone could be considered neutral. This would include shades of black, brown and blonde with no other tones.
Skin with peach or gold tones is considered warm. This includes skin coloring ranging from ivory, to fair with a hint of peach, yellow or gold, to olive, to golden tan, to deep golden brown. Cool toned skin ranges from fair with a hint of pink, to pinkish-beige, to chocolate brown. Skin that is a true beige or brown with no peach, gold or pink tones would be neutral.
For many people, their eyes, hair and skin will be in the same color family. If you find that some aspects of your coloring are warm and some are cool, then you should experiment with different colors to find what looks best on you. If your overall coloring is neutral, then you will likely look equally good in both warm and cool tones.
What follows are makeup and clothing suggestions for the different color families.
Cool tones:
Eyeshadow: pink (but be careful, because some shades of pink can make you look like you’ve been crying), gray, silver, taupe, beige, chocolate brown, purple, blue, and turquoise.
Blush: pink, pinkish-beige, pinkish-brown, mauve, red, and plum.
Clothing: (with a slight bluish undertone, sometimes called “cherry red”), pink, blue, lemon yellow, teal, turquoise, mint green, forest green, any shade of blue, purple, black, white, gray, burgundy, and chocolate brown. For jewelry, silver is a good choice.
Warm tones:
Eyeshadow: peach, caramel, golden brown, copper, gold, and olive green
Blush: peach, golden brown, copper, and reddish brown.
Clothing: red (with a slightly warm undertone, sometimes called “tomato red”), orange, peach, golden yellow, olive green, golden brown, reddish brown, and ivory. Good choices for jewelry are gold or copper.
For foundation, most companies have shades that are fairly neutral, although you may find some that lean more toward one family than the other. To be certain of getting the color that’s right for you, consider trying a foundation that is divided into warm, cool and neutral colors. Brands include L’Oreal True Match, or any foundation by Cover Girl or Prescriptives.
A word about eyeshadow: it is best not to choose an eyeshadow shade that is the same as your eyes. Using a different color will really make your eyes “pop” from the contrast. For example, if you have blue eyes, don’t use blue eyeshadow. Instead, consider taupe or pinkish-beige.
If you are still unsure about which color family looks best on you, a fool-proof method is to try them out. For example, apply cool makeup to one side of your face, and warm to the other. Have a friend take a picture, or look at yourself in the mirror, covering one side with a sheet of paper, then the other. If the makeup on one side of your face seems to compliment you better than the other, then that is your best color family. If both sides look equally good, then you may be neutral.
Don’t consider these to be rules, but rather guidelines. Many people prefer to choose from a wide variety of colors, whenever the mood strikes them, regardless of the color family. However, if you want to play up your warm or cool coloring, then the tips in these article will help you do that.
