Colorimetry Test: Which Colors Suit My Complexion Best?

Colorimetry is the art of identifying the colors of clothing, accessories, and jewelry that best enhance your face. What color to wear to look better, to appear less tired, and more radiant? We often choose the colors we like but rarely the shades that suit us. Be careful, we are talking here about all the tones framing the face, descending to the waistline. Beyond that, the colors of skirts and pants, tights, and shoes have no impact on your complexion. To identify which colors suit you best through the colorimetry test, here’s how to perform the colorimetry test at home.

Every woman should perform her own colorimetry test because there are no ready-made rules that place you in a category (and that's quite reassuring). Indeed, you are unique and your colorimetry depends on several elements of your face:

• your skin type, more or less reactive;
• your skin tone and whether you tend to tan;
• the color of your eyes;
• the oval of your face.

Overall, the best colors to wear near your face depend on how your blood flow reacts at the level of your skin, your eyes, your dark circles, etc.

To carry out your colorimetry test:

1. Ask for the help of another person for more objectivity (and to avoid choosing only the colors you usually like);
2. Position yourself in front of a mirror, facing the natural light from a window (or even better, outside);
3. Gather several colors: clothing, scarves, shawls, towels... all textiles can be used;
4. Neutralize all "parasite" colors, otherwise, your eye will try to match the colors:

• Cover your torso with a white blouse, a white garment (not off-white)
• Add a white headband to the top of your forehead 
• Completely remove your makeup from your face and eyes
• Remove all jewelry (earrings, piercings, and even rings).

You are ready to start your colorimetry test.

Each color family contains cool tones and warm tones. The difference lies in the presence or absence of yellow in the colors. Thus, baby pink and fuchsia pink are cool while salmon pink is warm. Sky blue is cool while turquoise is warm. Duck green is cool while pine green, bottle green, and khaki green are warm.

A colorimetry test always starts with two fabrics: gold and silver, warm and cool.

Place the silver fabric around your neck, tucked into the blouse, like a tied table napkin. Observe your face and add the golden fabric and observe.

1. Radiance of the complexion: does the color give you a bright peach complexion or on the contrary, does it accentuate the shadowy areas (hollows of the cheeks, dark circles, temples) giving you a sad and tired appearance? 
2. Oval of the face: does the color soften the shadows under your jaw, perfectly defining the shape of your face, or on the contrary, does it weigh down your face, shrink your neck, and give you a sullen look?
3. Brightness of the eyes and teeth: the right color for you will brighten the whites of your eyes and whiten your teeth, while the wrong color for you will tend to gray (silver) or yellow (gold) your gaze and smile. That would be a shame... 
4. Imperfections: does the color mask the imperfections of the face (redness, dark circles, skin texture) or does it accentuate them, despite makeup?

Now you know which type of colors, warm or cool, give you a radiant complexion, reduce imperfections on your face, highlight your eyes, and shape the form of your face. Watch out for the shadows created under the oval of your face that dull your complexion, as well as the colors that yellow the whites of your eyes. 

Let's move on to the colors that suit you best.

Each color has its warm version and its cool version. Create pairs of pink, orange, blue, green, purple, gray, etc. and test both versions by placing the two fabrics under your face, just like silver and gold. 

Check your first diagnosis, namely whether you are more enhanced by warm or cool tones, and discover which colors suit your complexion best. 

Then, refine your diagnosis with soft or intense colors based on your tan and your age using our previous article on colorimetry that helps you define your season: are you a summer, autumn, winter, or spring woman? Take the test and discover your personalized color palette.

Good news: take the colorimetry test once and for all. The result will remain valid for your entire life.

Here are some colorimetry guidelines based on the color of your eyes and your complexion. But be careful, these are not absolute truths. The best way to identify the colors that suit your complexion best is to take your personalized colorimetry test.

There is a good chance that cool shades will suit your pale face best to make your complexion even more radiant and luminous.

Among the colors that suit your complexion best: baby pink and fuchsia pink, raspberry pinks, cherry reds, burgundy, glazed chestnuts (forget camel and beiges), black, bright pale green, duck green (and no bottle green or pine green or khaki), metallic light gray, royal blue, electric blue, and even navy blue, not to forget lilac purple.

Do you have a light complexion that does not tan and hazel eyes? In other words, a warm brown with a hint of yellow. Perhaps your iris even has golden flecks?

In this case, your face will likely be better highlighted by warm shades like camel, petroleum blue, turquoise blue, orange reds like poppy red, rust red, candy pink, and salmon pink up to coral, chick yellow, and pine, bottle, and khaki greens.

Women with golden blonde hair leaning towards ash, with light green eyes and a pale complexion that does not tan, should rather tend to wear cool colors, in harmony with their natural facial tones.

So, like brunettes with dark brown eyes, lean towards light cool shades or intense dark colors, preferably metallic, that do not contain yellow.

You now know which colors suit your complexion best. This in no way means you have to get rid of half of your wardrobe. If some tops, shirts, sweaters, and tank tops do not feature the colors defined by your colorimetry test, you can always match them with a pretty shawl in the "right" shade or an accessory in tones that enhance your face.

Indeed, your "best" colors concern the clothing to wear on the upper body but also all the accessories to wear around the neck (scarves, shawls, necklaces, etc.), on the ears (earrings) and on the head (beanie, hat, hair jewelry, headband, etc.), not to mention the colors of your makeup and the color of your hair if you dye it.

If you find that certain shades are too bright and tone-on-tone with your light complexion (like a very pale green on your white skin) and that the focus is only on the garment, consider accessories like a chic black necklace to temper this excess light.

Good to know: if you tan in summer, adopt brighter and more intense colors, while always staying within your color range (warm or cool). As you age, lean towards softer shades, still within your colorimetry.

To put your knowledge into practice without delay, take a look at the eshop Les Petits Imprimés and have fun finding which pieces would best highlight you. To go further on the topic of colorimetry, our complete guide might interest you.