How to Choose Colors to Flatter Your Skin Tone

An important part of choosing the right colors for your wardrobe is to pick the ones that flatter your skin tone. Below are tips on what colors to choose and which ones to stay away from.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Determine Your Skin Tone

1. Decide which season most accurately describes your complexion. People - and skin tones - can be divided into "seasons," depending on their skin tone.

2. "Winter" complexions have blue or pink undertones. Skin can be pale white, yellowish-olive, or dark. Winter people are generally brunettes, with deeply colored eyes. Many Asians and African Americans fall into this category.

3. "Summer" complexions, like winter complexions, have blue or pink undertones. Skin is pale and pink. Summers are often natural blondes or brunettes with pale eyes.

4. "Autumn": Autumn complexions have golden undertones. Many redheads and brunettes with golden brown eyes fall into this category.

5. "Spring": Spring complexions have golden undertones and are usually creamy white or peach. Spring people generally have straw-colored or strawberry red hair, freckles, rosy cheeks, and blue or green eyes.

Choose Clothes to Flatter Your Skin Tone

6. "Winter": Winters should wear colors that are sharp, stark and clear. White, black, navy blue, red and shocking pink all go well with winter complexions. For lighter colors, wear icy tones rather than pastels. Avoid subdued tones like beige, orange and gold.

7. "Summer": Summers should choose pastels and soft neutrals with rose and blue undertones. Lavender, plum, rose-brown and soft blue suit summers well while black and orange do not.

8. "Autumn": Autumns should select colors with golden undertones, like camel, beige, orange, gold and dark brown. Avoid colors with blue tones, like navy.

9. "Spring": Springs can wear warm colors like camel, peach, golden yellow and golden brown. Avoid dark, dull colors.

Tips & Warnings

• It is often difficult to discriminate summer from winter, and autumn from spring. Remember that winters are usually brunettes while summers can be natural blondes. Springs tend to have pale eyes while autumns have dark eyes.

Who Can Help:

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[stylejedi]

on 5/27/2009 This article is very helpful but I wish you could have had some pictures as well.

[kayla369]

on 3/29/2009 i am for sure a winter. brown hair, brown eyes, med-skin tone, and all those colors do work best on my skin tone, yellow does too. do you think i could go blond without washing my completion out too much? considering it's not a "sharp, stark and clear" color?? maybe a cool or warm color would make a difference???

[sa5ra]

on 11/3/2008 I'm a winter but I've always wanted to be an autumn because I like those colors more.

[faishca]

on 12/29/2007 hi! i have soft beige skin, medium brown hair and eyes. Im a lil confuse which is which. Is there anyone who can help me personally for free?

[gongxian]

on 8/22/2007 I am definitely an autumn, brown hair - brown eyes -asian background - tans easily. But I can wear teal and deep blue green, and even seafoam when I have a tan. It is true dark navy does not look good on me, but everyone is a little different, most people don't fit perfectly into one category or another. Garnet, salmon, saffron and forest green also go well with my skin tone. Peach, lemon yellow and neon green are to be avoided.