The golden rule of looking good in what you wear is all about your personal color temperature. Color temperature essentially tells you whether you look better in warm (peachy, golden, honey) tones or cool (blue, silvery, rosy) tones. Now, there are lots of different ways that people determine color temperature, such as whether you look better in silver or gold jewelry, the color of the veins inside your wrist, but the best way is to consider how colors around your face make your skin look. A warm-toned woman who wears a lot of cool ash colors may look yellow or washed out, while the same woman in golden ivory or blush will look rosy and awake. On the other hand, if you’re a cool girl wearing mustard or golden-orange, you may look sallow, even if you have perfect skin. It’s this clashing of warm and cool tones that can make an otherwise great outfit look wrong.
When you find your correct temperature, it makes an enormous difference in how you dress every day. If you have warm undertones, you will be amazing in shades with yellow or golden undertones such as camel, terracotta, golden beige, olive, coral and dark brown. These tones do not fight with you, but instead help you shine. If you have cool undertones, you will shine in shades with blue, rose and silver undertones such as lavender, rose quartz, gray, navy and white. If you have on the wrong temperature too close to your face, it makes the skin look dull and dark circles look more prominent. The right temperature makes your eyes pop, your skin look clearer and your entire appearance is smooth and vibrant.
One of the things that I like about knowing your temperature is that it takes some of the pressure off but does not restrict you. You don’t have to keep up with the latest fads, nor do you have to purchase items simply because they’re popular. What you have is a core of colors that will always look good on you no matter the time of year or where you are. A warm will amass a wardrobe of camel coats, olive pants, and terracotta tops that can be mixed and matched, whereas a cool will stockpile navy jackets, taupe sweaters, and blush jewelry that always looks put-together. This can take the clutter out of your wardrobe and give you the freedom to not have to think about why a certain outfit “doesn’t look good today.”
Your temperature helps with layers and embellishments too. Jewelry works the same way: if you’re a warm, you’ll shine in gold, bronze and rose gold. If you’re a cool, you’ll shine in silver, platinum and white gold. Even makeup: if you have warm skin, you’ll know that golden foundations and peach blushes are your go-tos. If you have cool skin, you’ll know that rose everything is your jam. When they all match — your clothes, your jewelry, your makeup — you’ll get that enviable “put together” effect. You’ll look confident and comfortable in your own skin.
Ultimately, being true to your temperature is a form of intimacy with yourself. It shifts getting dressed from a wrestling match into a meditation on your essence. And it results, over time, in the creation of a wardrobe that doesn’t pit itself against you but serves you, allowing you to be its foreground, all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and entirely yourself. It’s not about having your clothes noticed; it’s about being noticed, warts and all, while wearing your clothes.