How to find your colours: The trend making people rethink their wardrobe
People have jumped on a colour wheel trend that makes understanding which colours suit you a lot easier.
It works by each individual getting their own colour mood board, so they always know what colours to wear, to get the best out of their natural colouring.
For some, lilac will be ideal for making skin look healthy, while for others it’ll leave them sallow.
Fitness influencer Grace Beverley shared her result on TikTok, writing: ‘Last night TikTok told you to do your colour wheel and that you’re a light spring.
‘Therefore, you can only wear lilac for the rest of your life.’
‘Light spring’ is just one of the many colour categories.
Megan Watkins, head stylist at SilkFred, and colour consultant Maria Macklin say it’s easy for anyone to find their perfect hues.
Understanding skin tones
It’s not about your hair or eye colour, rather it’s all about your natural skin tone.
Maria says: ‘Colour analysis is based on science, where a colour palette is matched to your skin undertone.
‘As skin pigmentation is in the subcutaneous layer, it doesn’t change with age or tanning – meaning, if you’re analysed correctly, you’ll be in a position to use the same colour palette for life.
‘Many people think it’s just about your hair or eye colour.
‘For instance, you may dye your hair from brunette to blonde but you’ll most likely find that you still suit the same colours if you’re aware of your colour palette.’
You can go to an expert for a colour reading for the most accurate result, but there are tricks you can also try at home to get a better idea of your personal palette.
Maria says: ‘The most accurate analysis is done in person, in natural light, in front of a mirror.
‘The client removes all make-up and fake tan and if they have a colour in their hair that is covered too.’
She doesn’t believe in the ‘vein’ test that’s typically recommended, as the science of colour is much more complex than that.
First think about whether you skin tone is ‘warm’ or ‘cool’.
Getting the hue right
Once you have a better grip on your skin tone, it’s time to think about colours.
Maria says: ‘If you have yellow undertones you’re best wearing warm (yellow-based) colours and if you have blue undertones you’ll look best in cool (blue-based) colours.
‘It’s also wise to look at the clarity of the skin to determine whether you need bright, highly saturated contrasting colours or muted, soft colours.
‘That pinpoints your colour season.
‘Silver metals and hardware suit cool tones and gold coloured metals and hardware look richer on warm colours.
‘It’s also interesting to note that primary red sits comfortably everywhere and is the one colour that harmonises with every other colour on the colour wheel.’
On TikTok, you’ll see plenty of stylists categorising people into seasons (spring, summer, autumn and winter), with variations such as ‘light spring’, ‘true summer’, ‘deep autumn’, ‘soft autumn’, ‘true winter’… the list goes on.
As one person wrote on a ‘deep autumn’ video: ‘The more colour family videos I watch, the more confused I get.’
The key thing is to figure out whether warm or cool colours work best against your complexion – then you can see which season variety you belong to if you want to go deeper.
Don’t get too bogged down though – this is meant to make fashion choices easier, not more complicated.
Just knowing cooler shades suit you better, for example, will be a big help when shopping for that new summer dress.