03-09-07

　　When you look good, you feel good about yourself. Studies show that people who feel good about themselves are happier, more confident and more productive than people who don’t.

One often-overlooked key to looking your best is wearing the right colors—the colors that flatter your natural skin tone.

Wearing the right colors will make you look healthier and more attractive. Not everyone realizes that colors can be arranged into four basic categories. Finding the color category that flatters your skin tone is a fairly simple process.

Know Your Skin Tone

The first step is to determine whether your complexion is cool (blue-based) or warm (yellow-based). Skin tones are then further broken down into four types, named for the four seasons: Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. (See color chart 1.) If your complexion is cool and bold, you are classified as a Winter.

“Anyone with naturally black hair and dark eyes is a Winter,” says Studio Classroom teacher Pam Osment, who is also a color consultant. “Asians are often surprised to realize that they have blue undertones in their skin, but they do.”

Find Your Best Colors

Once you know your “season,” you can zero in on the color category that is best for you. Winters, for example, look best in bold, blue-based colors, such as true red and royal blue. “My Asian clients have been surprised to realize which colors they shouldn’t wear,” says Pam, “like the browns, the golds, the yellows, the oranges. They’ve also been surprised to find out the colors that they can wear—like the fuchsias, the reds, the bright blues. These colors look absolutely beautiful on them.”

Be Bold!

Pam’s advice to Winters? “Be willing to try bold colors! You do have the complexion to carry them off.”

Why should a Winter avoid warm colors, such as brown? “The wrong colors bring out the shadows around your mouth and eyes,” Pam explains. “They make your teeth look yellow and cast an overall pallor on your complexion.”

And when you wear the right colors? “You’ll look healthier and more attractive.” So wear the colors that best suit you, and enjoy the confidence that comes from knowing you look your best!

来源：空中英语教室