Yellow is So Not Your Colour! Our Tips on Dressing For Your Skin Tone

We’ve all made the mistake of wearing a neon top against pale skin or taking the plunge in a yellow dress unsuited to our colouring but picking the wrong tones for our skin can make us look washed out and tired, even when we’re well rested.

Figuring out which colour suits you best can be challenging but we’re here to help! Here are our tips to decipher which colours flatter your skin the best.

Determine Your Skin Tone

Everyone has different undertones in their skin and it is important to determine if your colouring is cool, neutral or warm. Sit in front of a mirror in a room that has a lot of natural light.

Is your skin pale with pink undertones, olive with warm, bronze undertones or dark? If you are struggling to determine your colouring, test your skin against silver jewellery, which flatters cool skin with pink undertones and gold jewellery flatters warmer tones.

Once you have established your skin tone, you can begin to make better choices when you dress to impress.

Dressing For Pale and Cool Skin Tones

Many Irish people fall into this category and it can be easy to purchase colours that wash out our pale pink skin.

This navy dress from ASOS (€39.71) compliments paler cooler skin tones

If you have a cooler skin tone it is best to stick to colder colours such as blues, purples, greens and dark pinks because nude and bronze tones will overpower your pale complexion and will do little to flatter your skin.

Deep reds, maroons and pinks compliment paler skin such as this dress from Oasis (€78.19)

Bright colours such as orange and yellow overpower pale skin and wash you out so it is best to avoid them as much as possible.

Dressing for a Neutral Skin Tone

Many Irish people are quite sallow and while they may not be dark and golden in the winter, a summer holiday can encourage the bronze undertones.

This River Island dress would flatter a person with a neutral skin tone because it encorporates both orange and green shades

People with a neutral skin tone can usually blend into both categories and are usually able to pull off a wide range of colours. People with a neutral skin tone have the best of both worlds as they can usually get away with wearing bronze, gold and pastel colours as well as the dark colours that flater people with a cooler skin tone. 

Dressing for Warm Skin Tones

People with olive, gold or dark skin tones can pull of nude, bronze and pastel colours a lot easier than those with a cool skin tone. This is because these natural colours flatter the golden undertones in their skin.

This white dress from ASOS (€42.65) compliments darker tones well

Unlike people with a pale, cool complexion, people with warmer tones have an easier time wearing oranges and yellows.

People with a warmer complexion do not wear darker colours as well as those with pale skin. 

People with warmer skin tones can pull off neon and bright colours better than those with pale tones