breakdown of color rages

i find that most women don’t understand how to choose colors that work with their natural undertones.  age, seasons, and other factors can effect your undertone and the appropriate color ranges.  this is why many of us have a foundation for the summer and a different one for the winter months.

darkcomplexions.com is an awesome resource for african-american women.  the site features “makeup and beauty advice for women with dark complexions from “perma-tan” to “nearly night”.”  here is a great breakdown of color rages from the site.

if you find that red, blue, pink, and lavender look good next to your skin, and that yellow and orange do not, you are cool toned.you should wear mostly colors that are blue, purple, maroon, and various shade of red, pink, and lavender.  you would also likely look very good in combinations like black and silver.  in jewelry, you should wear polished silver, white gold, rubies, rhodolite garnet, rhodochrosite, rose quartz, and blue topaz or zircon.  you may also want to try pink gold.
if you find that yellow, orange, and apricot colors fit you and blue doesn’t, and that maroon or red makes your skin color look too strange, you are warm toned.you should wear earthy or sunny colors like yellow, gold, brown, green, apricot and orange.  yellow gold looks the best on you.  you can get away with some silver if it is a little brassy or “tuareg silver”. the gems that suit you best are citrine, honey amber, honey apatite. sunstone, emerald, and the more orangey carnelian agate.  rutilated quartz with gold needles also make fabulous pendants for you.
if you find that some cool colors and warm colors look great on you, but some across both types don’t, then you probably have a mixed tone.  mixed tones are actually usually warm toned people with thin skin surfaces, or variant through the seasons.  if you’re medium to dark warm, but you sunburn or people can tell when you blush, this is you.mixed tones are somewhat hard to match for, but generally during the summer you will fit a specific tone, either warm or cool, because your skin will be dark enough to cover the blush. you can wear both cool and warm colors, but test everything against your face before you buy it.  also remember that colors that suit you in summer may not suit you in winter.  you may be a warm in summer but a cool in winter or vise versa. gems that suit you well are salmon pink sapphire (pink ruby), darker spessartite garnet, dark green tourmaline, and color change alexandrite.

the author of the site, nicole lasher, wrote a wonderful article giving even more detail, including:

more color guidance in color bubbles:

click on a bubble for more information about your skin tone.

cool dark	cool medium	cool light
warm dark	warm medium	warm light	mixed tone