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What is a Personal Color? Why Do You Need to Discover Your Own?

Determining your personal color is the key to unlocking your unique style. With a dedicated color palette, you can create a signature look that enhances your natural skin tone and facial features. It's a powerful way to express yourself and make a lasting impression.

Administrator

1 September, 2024

The concept of Personal Color took South Korea by storm before the Covid-19 pandemic. Most K-pop idols have since taken the test to discover their personal colors, helping them stand out.

What is Personal Color?

Personal Color refers to the colors that harmonize with an individual’s skin tone, hair, and facial features. This concept was first introduced by Swiss color theorist, Johannes Itten, in the early 20th century. He created a color system based on the four seasons, believing that certain colors complement one’s natural features better than others.

In the 1980s, author Carol Jackson expanded on this idea in her book, “Color Me Beautiful,” offering guidance to women on how to choose the right makeup colors.

Determining your Personal Color helps you develop your unique style using a customized color palette, enhancing your natural beauty and facial features.

In recent years, K-pop idols like Jisoo from BLACKPINK have embraced this concept. Jisoo’s personal color is described as a “dark, cool-toned winter,” which explains why she often sports black hair instead of brown or brighter colors.

Jisoo from BLACKPINK, with her personal color being a “dark, cool-toned winter.”

The Main Personal Color Groups

1. Spring Colors

Spring colors are fresh, sweet, and pastel-like, including shades of green, light pink, and yellow. People with spring colors tend to have warm undertones or a slightly pinkish complexion. There are three subtypes: Warm Spring, Light Spring, and Clear Spring.

Those with spring colors often have soft facial features, smaller eyes, thin lips, and a less prominent nose. When it comes to makeup, keep it minimal with sheer foundation, and light pink lips, avoiding heavy eye makeup.

For hair color, consider light shades like rosé pink, smoky pink, or coral orange. Steer clear of dark brown hair, as it may make you look less youthful.

2. Summer Colors

Summer colors evoke a cool and refreshing feel, featuring shades like sky blue, lilac, light pink, and lemon yellow. Like spring colors, summer colors suit those with delicate features and small eyes. However, the undertone leans towards cool, reminiscent of a pleasant summer breeze. Summer colors are divided into Light Summer, Soft Summer, and Cool Summer.

If you fall into this category, opt for sheer and shimmering makeup with bright shades. Steer clear of smoky eyes and dark colors, as they can age you. For hair, avoid dull colors and embrace light pastel shades or warm tones like honey, rose gold, and smoky colors.

3. Autumn Colors

Autumn colors are characterized by neutral and warm shades found in nature, such as leaf hues, sunset skies, brown wood, burnt orange, cream, and olive green. These colors suit people with warm undertones. Autumn colors are categorized into Soft Autumn, Deep Autumn, and Warm Autumn.

Unlike spring and summer colors, autumn colors suit individuals with distinct facial features, thick eyebrows and eyelashes, and thick, coarse hair. For makeup, go for warm-toned looks, emphasizing the eyes and using bold or nude lip colors. As for hair, any shade of brown will complement your skin tone, including reddish-brown, orange-brown, dark brown, or traditional black.

4. Winter Colors

Winter colors are vibrant and intense, best suited for those with cool undertones. This group is closest to the natural color spectrum, creating a sharp, bold, and memorable look. Winter colors are divided into Deep Winter, Clear Winter, and Cool Winter.

Similar to autumn colors, winter colors suit individuals with distinct facial features, thick hair, large eyes with prominent irises, and full lips.

If you identify with winter colors, embrace bold and dramatic makeup looks. Colors like emerald green, burgundy, black, gray, and cherry pink will flatter your wardrobe and makeup choices. For hair, consider dark shades like deep black, smoky black, dark ash, or dark brown.

How to Discover Your Personal Color

To uncover your Personal Color, you can take online quizzes that analyze your external features, such as skin tone, hair type, and facial structure. While these online tools offer convenience, they may not be as accurate as consulting a professional.

If you’re willing to invest, you can seek the expertise of specialists in this field, who can guide you through the process of discovering your Personal Color. Such services are becoming increasingly available in Vietnam, particularly in Ho Chi Minh City, with prices ranging from 800,000 to 2,000,000 VND depending on the level of detail provided.

GenZ youngsters are embracing the trend of discovering their Personal Colors.

These services not only offer advice on clothing and hair colors but also provide guidance on style and personalized makeup techniques for a more comprehensive understanding of your personal aesthetic.

Frequently asked questions

A personal color is a set of colors that harmonize with a person’s natural coloring (skin tone, hair color, and eye color). It is a unique color palette that can be used to enhance one’s appearance, making one look more vibrant, healthy, and confident.

Discovering your personal color is important as it can help you make more informed decisions about your wardrobe, makeup, and even hair color choices. By understanding the colors that complement your natural coloring, you can create a cohesive and flattering look that enhances your unique features.

Finding your personal color typically involves a color analysis, which can be done through a professional consultation or at-home analysis. It involves determining your undertone, identifying your color season, and ultimately discovering the specific colors that work best for you.

Wearing your personal colors can have several benefits. It can make you look more youthful and vibrant, enhance your eye color, and even give the appearance of a more even skin tone. It can also help you build a wardrobe that mixes and matches effortlessly, making getting dressed and looking your best a breeze.

Once you’ve discovered your personal colors, you can start incorporating them into your wardrobe. Consider building a capsule wardrobe with these colors as the foundation, ensuring that everything mixes and matches. This will make getting dressed easier and guarantee that you always look put-together.