Tips For Using Colour To Look Your Best

Most people have either predominantly cool tones in their natural colouring or predominantly warm tones and it is important to identify these in order to choose the colours that you should wear. See if you can identify your colouring from the descriptions below….

Warm skin tones

Caucasian People


There is often a creamy or golden look to the skin and they often tan well. They may have freckles. Alternatively the skin may be very pale and creamy and in this case will generally burn easily.

Hair colour can be brown with reddish lights, red, auburn, strawberry blonde or sandy. Hair can also be grey.

Eye colour is generally brown, hazel, bright blue or green

Black People

Skin may be a light golden brown or have a creamy look. It can also be a tone between bronze and mahogany sometimes with freckles.
Hair can be golden brown, brown/black or brown with chestnut lights.

Eyes may be a warm to deep brown, hazel or amber brown.

Asian People

Skin may have an Ivory look or have golden beige or bronze skin tones, sometimes with freckles.

Hair will be golden brown, dark brown or somewhere between auburn and chestnut.

Eyes may be a warm to deep brown, hazel or amber brown.


Oriental People

The skin may be a golden beige to bronze.

Hair is usually golden brown, chestnut or dark brown.

Eyes may be a warm to deep brown, hazel or amber brown.

Colours to wear





Think gold and fire.

If you have warm tones you will look your best in tomato red, turquoise, apple green, peach and coral.

For neutral colours choose brown, camel, tan, marine navy, rust and terracotta. Choose cream rather than white. White will look too stark and can make you look washed out.

For jewellery choose gold, creamy pearls, wood, amber and tortoiseshell.

Of course these colours are not the only ones you can wear. They are just some of the shades that will suit you best. There are many more that you will find once you get used to choosing colours with these guidelines.


Cool skin tones

Caucasian People


If you have a cool skin tone, you will often have a pale skin with no freckles or just a few freckles. If you have some freckles they may be an ashy colour rather than a golden colour. Your skin may have a rosy or pink look to it and may look translucent.

Natural hair colour for people with cool skin tones ranges from ash blonde through to ash brown. All hair has some red in it but cool people won’t have enough red to give an auburn look.

Your eyes will be brown, green hazel, blue hazel, green, blue, greyish brown or rose brown.

Black People

Skin tones in cool toned black people are generally rose brown, cocoa, to dark brown or blue black.


Your hair will be quite dark, black, blue black or ash brown.

Your eyes will be a rose brown, grey brown or ash brown.

Asian People

In Asian people cool skin tones can have a pink look, or be a rose or greyish beige, rather than golden.

Your hair is often blue black, brown black, dark brown or a chestnut shade.

Your eye tones are rose brown, grey brown or ash brown.

Oriental People

In Oriental people cool skin is often a rose beige or it may look a little sallow.

Your hair is generally quite dark, blue black, black or brown black.

Eyes are generally a rose brown or a grey brown.

Colours to wear to look your best



Think cool rivers, silver, ice and ash.

Royal blue, cobalt blue, blueish green, blood red or blue red, maroon, lilac, cerise.

For neutrals choose white, any grey, navy, or black. Brown needs to be a rose brown rather than a warm brown.

For jewellery choose bright silver, platinum, white pearls, black pearls and cool stones.

Of course these colours are not the only ones you can wear. They are just some of the shades that will suit you best. There are many more that you will find once you get used to choosing colours with these guidelines.