How to choose your perfect colour

Image consultants Color Me Beautiful help you find the right shades for you

Bridal and wedding colours

When choosing your dress, it can help to know which shade of white will make you look your best and which shades you’d do well to avoid. Going for the right shade of white will make all the difference. Ivory and creamier shades of white are best for warm types while light types can go for a purer, fresher bright white.

When choosing your colour theme for your wedding, you’ll need to consider more than just your table decorations. The colour or colours you decide on will run from the flowers in your bouquet to your table centrepieces right through to the dresses your bridesmaids will wear.

You might be tempted to choose your colour based on current fashions (remember all those peach bridesmaids dresses from the 1980s?), but it’s advisable to choose your overall colour theme depending on what suits you. You’ll be having your photos taken surrounded by your chosen colour all day after all.

As a general rule, cool types should go for lilacs and pale blues while deep and warm types can go for bolder colours such as brighter reds.

Don’t panic though, if you’re heart’s set on red and you’re a cool or a light type as you can still go for red, just make sure it’s the right shade of red for you. Soft types should choose soft or pastel shades while clear types can wear more contrasting colours.

What kind of colour?

The first step to the perfect colours is to find out what colour type you are. There are six types of colouring:

• warm
• cool
• light
• deep
• clear
• soft

Warm types have warm yellow undertones to their skin. They are generally redheads, strawberry blondes and people with freckles.

Cool types are the English Roses who typically have blue or grey eyes, pink undertones to their skin and grey or ash blonde hair.

Light types generally have paler skins and bright or light blue or green eyes and blonde hair.

Deep types have darker skins. They will have deep brown eyes and can take strong colours. They can wear black but should avoid bright or light whites.

Clear types will have bright eyes and dark hair and can wear a lot of contrast in their colours.

Soft types have a soft blend of colours and generally look better in softer shades. Bright colours can overwhelm them.

People can get the wrong idea about what shades they can wear because they’re unaware of their colour type. For example, if you’ve ever thought you can’t wear red because it simply doesn’t suit you, then you’re wrong. You just need to wear the right shade of red for your colour type. Finding out which type you are will open up a whole palette of possibilities for you.

Women in black

If, like many people, you feel safer wearing black then you may be fooling yourself. Black can be slimming but it’s also a difficult colour to wear for many people when it’s worn close to the face, as it can be overwhelming for most colour types. Deep types can carry it off but light and cool types should try to avoid wearing too much black.

Your true colours

Finding out which colour type you are is just the start. Once you know which type you are, you can find out which colours and shades will bring out your true colours and work to your advantage. You’ll be able to apply these rules from your clothing to your make‐up to always look your best.