What is Colour Theory?
In the artistic realm, colour theory is the science and art of using colour, how humans perceive colour and how different colours mix to match or contrast each other. Using some basic colour theory rules, you can easily find which colours best suit your natural shades and tones!
© Pixabay
Warm, Cool or Neutral?
Is your skin warm-toned, neutral-toned, or cool-toned? One important thing to note is that skin tone is not the same as skin shade, for example someone with a pale skin shade can have a warm skin tone. The easiest way to determine skin tone is to look at the veins on the outside of your hand. Veins that appear bluish indicate a cool tone, veins that appear green indicate a warm tone, and veins that look somewhere in the middle indicate a neutral tone!
Do not confuse skin tone and colour!
©Manucurist
COOL-TONED
Look for darker colours such as gray, brown, burgundy, greens, navy and bold shades of blue. Focus on colours that are concentrated on the cool end of the colour wheel - these include purples, greens, grays and blues.
Are you cool toned? Go for colours on the cooler end of the colour wheel! Rich shades that mix dark and light.
Colours to avoid? lighter pastel shades or bright neons can work against your skin tone... this doesn't mean to avoid colour but just to look for shades that mix dark and light. Instead of opting for a bright coral.. look for for something closer to a cool toned coral like a gingery-pink shade (We recommend Green Flash Bois de Rose)
Neutrals: rather than stark white or light beige, choose something with a richer colour profile like carmel, khaki or slate gray. (Check out: Green Flash Hollyhock, Green Flash Khaki, Green Flash Anthracite)
Other colours to try for Cool-Toned skin: Green Flash Aubergine, Green Flash Lilas, Green Flash Ultramarine, Green Flash Amande, Green Flash Lisa Lilas, Green Flash Dark Pansy, Green Flash Poison
WARM-TONED
People who are warm-toned tend to have an easier time working with most colours and shades, however to compliment your tone the best you may want to opt for shades that are more towards the brighter or darker end of the spectrum as opposed to something in the middle.
Neutrals: pure whites, pigmentent darks like black, navy blue or deep chestnut (Green Flash Snow, Green Flash Dark Night and Green Flash Chestnut)
Colours to Avoid: If you have noticeable green or yellow undertones, it may be best to avoid shades of these colours as well as colours very close to your skin tone as it can end up clashing or washing you out.
Other colours to try for Warm-Toned skin: Green Flash Hortencia, Green Flash Bird of Paradise, Green Flash Dark Night, Green Flash Red Coral, Green Flash Blossom, Green Flash Mint, Green Flash Sunset.
NEUTRAL-TONED
Anyone with this tone gets the best of both worlds! Both warm-toned and cool-toned shades will mostly work for you! Try to avoid shades that match your skin exactly as it could wash you out. Neons like Yellow or Green may also be harder tones to wear for neutral toned people.
Try: Green Flash Crème, Green Flash Clay, Green Flash Mimosa, Green Flash Petit Pois
To go one step further, you can match nail colours to your phototype. This includes not only your skin shade, but your eye colour and hair colour. These prototypes can be broken into 4 categories: Summer, Autumn, Winter, Spring.
Also, check out our Colour Theory Quiz for curated colors!
At the end of the day, no matter what skin tone, hair colour or eye colour you have, you should ALWAYS try, wear and feel confident in whatever colour you like! Feel free to push the colour boundaries and experiment with tones… maybe you will find a new favorite!
