The Color Basics

Curious about what “Your Colors” are? Have you ever tried something on and felt like your face was shining or maybe you felt dull? Color can do that. And finding “Your Colors” is the answer!

Let’s talk about what goes into finding these colors. At a high level, it is composed of a few components:

• Skin Tone

• Eye color

• Contrast

• Preference *

Skin Tone

Skin tone is defined as the color of your skin varying from light to dark. When we are considering skin tone, we are not only looking at the color of the skin, but also the hue, your vein, and base or original skin color. This is the starting point of finding where you sit on the skin tone scale. Generally, there are three categories of skin tone: Cool, Neutral, and Warm.

The best way to determine this is by looking at the inside of your wrist to determine your vein color: Blue, Green, or Blue/Green.

Then you want to do the white T-shirt test. Wearing a white T-shirt, no make-up, and facing natural light, you can determine further undertones in the skin like Pink/Rose, or Golden/Yellow.

Eye Color

Once you have found your skin tone, it’s important to layer in your eyes as they greatly impact your overall appearance. We wanna make those eyes shine!

Eye color is also known to be an indicator of skin tone but is not always accurate. For instance, lighter eyes, like blue and green, tend to have cool undertones whereas people with brown or black eyes tend to have warmer undertones. But there is more to consider, like flecks (typically gold or brown), or an icy, smoky appearance that can also give off warm and cool tones.

Contrast

Composed of a scale from High to Low contrast this attribute helps layer in additional information about the best type of color saturation that suits you. This is also something to consider from what is your natural contrast vs what is your current contrast. Things like dying your hair and tanning can affect this attribute.

Simply, if your hair is lighter than medium brown you would be categorized as a light-medium contrast and typed as a Spring or Summer. Adversely, if you have hair darker than medium brown then you will most likely be classified as medium-high contrast and typed as Winter or Autumn.

Preference *

Not a lot of science here but I think just as valuable of a point. For some, there are colors that just make you happy but might not fit within the delegated season that best accentuates your features. As a stylist, this can often be one of my favorite topics to approach because there is always a solution - sometimes you just have to be a little creative. My number one suggestion is to use that color as an accessory (think: Bag or Shoe) that is not near your face. That way you not only get to wear it but also see it all day long!

And if that doesn’t work for you and you really need to drape yourself in that bright orange - then I say go for it! If it makes you happy, you will glow.

*This is a high-level overview of what to expect to be analyzed in a KWC Color Consultation. If you are interested in knowing what your colors are, click the button at the bottom of the page, and let’s talk! Mention this blog and you will get $50 off your color analysis! (Can be done in-person- or virtually)