Some colors are classy and some colors… well, they’re just not. The colors you choose can have a profound effect on how others see you. The first one, and one that I usually talk about most, is the absolute truth that different colors worn next to the face can and do affect the way your skin appears.
Let’s take orange, for example. When one wears orange, a number of things happen. First, when people see the person who is wearing this color, their eyes attempt to balance out this harsh color by casting another shade to neutralize it. The way eyes neutralize strong colors is by casting the contrasting color over the area. In this case, it’s blue. Because blue whitens and makes pale, it has a pretty terrible effect on the healthy glow and coloration of the skin. Pale, anemic looking skin is the collateral damage of wearing orange.
Another detrimental thing that happens when we wear colors that have a lot of yellow hues in them is that the yellow in the fabric can tend to make our skin more yellow. This is because our skin’s surface is also somewhat translucent and therefore it slightly reflects the hues that surround it. (Kind of like blue eyes looking bluer with a blue shirt.) So, wearing orange brings out an unhealthy yellowish hue.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: orange is simply one of the roughest colors to wear next to the face. Hardly anyone can pull it off without looking paler and taking on an unhealthy orange hue. When magazines try to sell us all the latest orange fads, they use some pretty elaborate filters to make the models look ok with it, and even then, they look orangey (we’re just all used to the Oompa Loompa looks these days).
Color theory is a fascinating topic of study and there are so many interesting things to learn about how colors interact with one another, with light, and how they affect us. The early impressionist artists were keenly aware of these phenomena and began to incorporate them into their pieces for various effects. They had to work within the rules of color to have the desired effect. This is what we have to do also.
The colors that are the most classy and look the best next to most people’s skins are bright colors in the cool family (about 90% of the human population has cool undertones so the pigments aren’t clashing and cool bright colors are the most flattering).
Choose any blues ranging from turquoise blue, peacock blue, periwinkle, Chinese blue, royal blue, and up to Navy. Cool purples, reds, magentas, fuchsias are also universally flattering. In the green family, be sure to select bluish greens also. Emerald and forest green are examples. White and black are great options, but use brighter lipstick and accessories with black because it can tend to be pretty stark on some people. The only yellow that doesn’t seem to cause negative effects is a very light chiffon yellow.
Here are some fun examples of bright cool colors you can always use:
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