Skin tone

[MoonLightFairy]

Do you take this into account when dying your hair a different color? I'm pretty lost about this.....wondering how cut and dry it is. I'm pretty darn sure I'm cool, but they say you shouldn't do golden tones :doh: I naturally have golden highlights, my hair was golden when I was younger. And I dyed my hair a goldeny color before and looked fine. Unless I'm getting what is considered gold wrong??
So....is this really something to follow? Or is it more complex than cool or warm?

[Neneka]

You can also be neutral or anything between really cool and really warm. I am no expert in this but yeah, there is more than just two options. There is more about this (it's about seasonal analysis and there is a lot about skin tones): http://www.thechicfashionista.com/seasonal-color-analysis.html

I am kind of lost with this too. I seem to always try the wrong things first. :lol:

[cranberrymoonz]

I'd say look into seasonal colour analysis before you try anything. It is quite complicated, but it's quite accurate, very helpful and a lot of fun!
Colour typing is more than cool or warm. You should also look into darkness/lightness and brightness/softness. Remember that the hair colour that suites your colour type best is your natural colour. Don't go more than two shades darker or lighter or more than one shade warmer or cooler than your natural colour.
I'm not a professional but I'd like to colour type you. You will need to post a picture, though;)

[Tristania]

With me it seems to vary. I'll look yellow-ish one day, and neutral or even rosy the next. Trying to determine my skin tone gives me a migraine.

[cranberrymoonz]

With me it seems to vary. I'll look yellow-ish one day, and neutral or even rosy the next. Trying to determine my skin tone gives me a migraine.

To determine your colour type you need to look at more than just your skin tone. IMO I find it very hard to find out one's season just by looking at skin tone. Try these things:

- eye colour: grey, grey-blue or brown-black eyes indicate a cool colour type, anything brown, hazel, green or greeninsh-blue indicates a warm colour type.
- lip and cheek colour: are your lips coral-ish or purple-ish? When you pinch your cheek, is it coral or rosy?
- hair colour: is it ashy, does it have golden tones or red tones?

There's a chance that you are a soft-muted. That means that you have cool and warm characteristics, e.g. ashy blonde hair but tan skin and brown eyes. in such a case, your dominant characteristic is not cool or warm(you can wear both warm and cool colours), but softness or lightness. Make sure to look into that too.

[panffle]

I think I'm more of a neutral tone (though people say I am warm simply judging by the color of my veins), still, I find that golden tones make me look really dull, so I go for more cool tones. If your hair was golden before and it looked fine, then golden is fine for you! Don't stress over it too much. You'll know when it doesn't look right.

[Anje]

It's definitely worth finding someone in person who can look at you and determine such things. Some people get good and can tell you pretty easily what your coloring is, or at least tell you warm/neutral/cool. Of course, some people are more extreme than others -- I'm pretty strongly warm-toned, to the point where most drugstore makeup looks pink or gray on my skin.

[Andrea H]

To be honest I've never strayed too far from my natural colors, but I've always been drawn to warm hair tones(like my natural color). I'm pale and I believe neutral/cool toned, but I always look better in warm tones/earthy colors. So I suppose I do take into consideration my natural coloring when dying(which I rarely do) yes. :)

[torrilin]

You should take your coloring into account... but most of us do not have coloring that is very cut and dried.

I have hair that a stylist would describe as light or medium ash brown. As an overall description, that's fairly accurate. But my hair has natural highlights that are platinum blonde, and natural lowlights that are tough to tell from black without a side by side comparison. Some strands look reddish or various shades of gold too of course. It's really varied and does not give a strong impression of being obviously cool or obviously warm all the time. (from what people tell me, if I'm outside and there's even a hint of sun, it basically goes off like it's a gold sparkler :P )

My skin is pale and pinkish. That said, a lot of makeup products wind up looking almost peptobismol pink on me. Human skin tones (even ones as cool as mine) are naturally fairly warm colors, and if you're going to err to one side or the other, chances are it's better to err towards warm for foundation.

My eyes are blueish greenish greyish. Not a hint of brown, but not the sort of electric blue that stays just one color either.

Just looking at me, most consultants seem to lean towards a Spring or Autumn type for me. Actual right type? Winter. Color consultants usually preach the virtues of a silver/gold comparison test. I look good in both, to the point where my signature glasses style is silver or gold wire rims... and I'm blind as a bat so I wear glasses every day, for pretty much every moment where I'm awake. It often winds up that my skin makes silver or grey frames look like gold, and gold frames look more silvery.

On me the thing that makes it easy to peg a season is red lipstick. Cool reds look good. Brown based reds look good. Warm reds make me look sick. Since I'm relatively pale with relatively dark hair, the more saturated the red, the better.

While a color consultant would say I should never dye my hair red, it actually works fairly well. Platinum blonde works too, even tho by rights it shouldn't (and it does wash me out rather). Going into the light brown with golden highlights range works on me too. Straight up golden blonde probably would look a bit like strawberry blonde on me. But dark ash brown is an easy way to get a "me, only better" look. It takes my natural high contrast coloring and amps it up.

[HylianGirl]

You should take your coloring into account... but most of us do not have coloring that is very cut and dried.
I have hair that a stylist would describe as light or medium ash brown. As an overall description, that's fairly accurate. But my hair has natural highlights that are platinum blonde, and natural lowlights that are tough to tell from black without a side by side comparison. Some strands look reddish or various shades of gold too of course. It's really varied and does not give a strong impression of being obviously cool or obviously warm all the time. (from what people tell me, if I'm outside and there's even a hint of sun, it basically goes off like it's a gold sparkler :P )


I dont know what I am either xD My hair seems like what you color is described, looking from general pictures, it seems ashy brown, but I have some natural golden highlights and many individual strands that are golden, almost blond, yet they are only visible upclose or with sunlight. So my hair is ashy brown from far awat or without the sun, and golden brown with it or upclose ^-^

I have very pale skin though (I don't really like the sun x.x), and I honestly don't know it's undertone, I see no pink nor yellow in it x.x (I guess it's peachy?) although I have hazel eyes. I guess I tend to warm, but I do look good in many cool toned colors, like when I wear black or purple. However I heard people say red really suits me.hm... I guess I tend to warm, but no completelly (yellow doesn't suit me at all!)

[leslissocool]

Some people can pull off certain colors! I'm a bold color kind of person, I look good with winter bold colors but for some odd reason I pull off the gold and greens. I have an olive skin, I don't really blush much so I always thought I had a warm skin tone (yellow) but then I really look amazing with blue-black hair which is close to my natural hair color (which is almost black, my hair is thick and super dark).

[MoonLightFairy]

You can also be neutral or anything between really cool and really warm. I am no expert in this but yeah, there is more than just two options. There is more about this (it's about seasonal analysis and there is a lot about skin tones): http://www.thechicfashionista.com/seasonal-color-analysis.html

I am kind of lost with this too. I seem to always try the wrong things first. :lol:
Thanks for that link.
Although I'm still confused lol Lots of info there, but I will try and figure out my season(s)

I've broken it down to being a Spring or Summer...
I wanna say light summer or warm spring or light spring....

[sarelis]

I don't know what I am, I have light olive skin, hazel eyes and naturally very ashy dark blonde-medium brown hair. All I know is that henna looked utterly dreadful on me!!

[torrilin]

I dont know what I am either xD My hair seems like what you color is described, looking from general pictures, it seems ashy brown, but I have some natural golden highlights and many individual strands that are golden, almost blond, yet they are only visible upclose or with sunlight. So my hair is ashy brown from far awat or without the sun, and golden brown with it or upclose ^-^

Yeah, that's pretty standard.


I have very pale skin though (I don't really like the sun x.x), and I honestly don't know it's undertone, I see no pink nor yellow in it x.x (I guess it's peachy?) although I have hazel eyes. I guess I tend to warm, but I do look good in many cool toned colors, like when I wear black or purple. However I heard people say red really suits me.hm... I guess I tend to warm, but no completelly (yellow doesn't suit me at all!)

Instead of trying to go by warm or cool, think about your contrast level. Black and white is a really high contrast combination. Tone on tone is lower contrast. With my dark hair and pale skin and bright red obsession, it's pretty obvious that I like and look good in high contrast. Even my version of calm and subtle is still pretty high contrast (like my version of "spring pastels" is navy blue with ballet pink or mint green accessories...). Winter and Autumn are both high contrast seasons. If you look at the colors for Spring, you can build really high contrast outfits with it too... and where people see me as a Spring, that's exactly what I've done.

Another way to look at it that might be more accessible is clear vs muted. Bright red is obviously a clear color. Maroon or dusty rose would be more muted. Since my skin is pale, the maroon is still pretty contrasty, despite being muted, and it looks good. Dusty rose is more blendy, and doesn't look very good. Powder blue? Ew. Navy blue? Yay! Royal blue? YAYAYAYAY!!

Something you often see is a blonde woman looking very chic and put together in an outfit that's all shades of beige or khaki or cream. That is someone who is extremely muted in coloration. Soft colors that all blend together. A lot of natural blondes can literally wear any random shade of beige or khaki they feel like. Layer 'em up, it'll all look good. If I try the same thing, I look dead.

I like high contrast colors. I like clear colors. While I like both warm and cool colors, I generally lean towards cooler shades like blue red or kelly green rather than tomato red or acid green.

[SleepyTangles]

Everyone agrees that yes, skin tone should be taken in consideration, but I'm afraid general rules only work for "well defined" types.
For example my skin is pinker than many and yellower than others: its like a combination of pink, yellow, neutral and peach, so go figure...:confused:.

Since I'm mostly cool and quite pale, I've tried to dye my hair a burgundish mahogany... and then discovered that this made me look sallow and washed out. Copper and bronze tones make my skin look fresher and healthier and to make my features pop. Plus, I am overall a "muted" type, too, but I feel and look considerably better in crisp, vibrant jewel tones. Teal, violet, spring green... I love brights. Even sable and browns needs to "crisp" tones to work on me, muddy muted colours looks sick.


I'm afraid everyone has different solutions... my own advice is to try everything first. Like lipsticks.

[MissAlida]

I didn't really care about it until my hair turned burgundy from henna, and it looked AWFUL against my olive skin. I never tougth that such a subtle change of color (I had auburn before- a more orange-ish dark brown) can mean so much. Thankfully, I did rid myself from the burgundy and I am back to auburn. It's good to take into consideration your skin tone before you dye your hair. Better safe than sorry, IMO.

[Arachnid]

I’ve never really thought about my completion before reading this so I took a look at the thechicfashionista link but still couldn’t decide, I just think I look pale. I had the idea to use a photo of myself in natural light, and used paint, use the sample tool and paint brush to make a palette of my completion (hair, skin, cheeks, lips, eyes).
I found I have neural-muted completion, peach (warm) lips and cheeks, yellow/olive skin (cool) and dark brown eyes with black flecks (cool) and neutral hair (my natural hair is light mousy brown but too dark to be blondette, I miss my blondette hair I had when I was a child)
This fits well with the clothes I find look best on me. It also explains why henna red looks good on me despite my cool (yellow, olive) skin and my roots look really nice against the red too (makes growing out the henna much easier). the henna red gives me a warmer autumn look.

[MoonLightFairy]

When I thought I found one or two that would be me the colors they said that would look bad on me aren't true!
I think I look best in black and white. So I guess I'm just going to have to experiment.

[Rosetta]

I've come to think these seasonal colour classifications are definitely more confusing than they are helpful... I used to believe in them, and I'm categorized as summer - soft summer, to be more precise. It fits reasonably well with my clothing colours, but not what comes to hair colours. Cool-toned hair colours don't suit me at all, whatever the colour (dark ash blonde, mahogany/burgundy, etc.), I need warmth in my hair colour (yes, by now I'm sure about this, after years & years of experimenting!) Not too much warmth though; e.g. henna often appears too orange for me. Also, I've noticed lighter tones are really not for me, whether in hair colours or clothes - I need bold colours! So I've lately come to question the whole point of the seasonal classifications, at least for me personally. I know what suits me better than a theoretical analysis about what should suit me! ;)

[jacqueline101]

I used to dye my hair years ago and did what ever color I liked. I'd say to look natural I'd go by your skin tone.