Along with the spring and the new semester, the season for people to decorate themselves has arrived. Unfortunately, there are some people who are not familiar with methods for proper styling. By taking personal color tests, people are able to know which color is the most suitable for them. Therefore, the Sungkyun Times (SKT) will talk about different color types, the importance of personal colors, and things to remember regarding personal colors.
Personal Color Wave
-What is a Personal Color?
A personal color refers to a color that perfectly fits an individual’s body color. People can know which color of cosmetics, clothes, and jewelry is suitable to their skin tone by their personal color. Not only skin color but also various factors such as hair or pupil colors can help to decide a personal color. Johannes Itten, a Swiss artist of the early 20th century, first used the concept of personal colors based on the four seasons. His purpose was to draw better portraits rather than to make the best image, which is the important purpose of personal color these days. He once said, “Color is life, for a world without color seems dead,” which emphasizes the importance of colors. Nowadays, various kinds of personal color tests exist everywhere. In an offline test, people can wear a white cloth and get tested under natural light. Prices vary based on the number of people being tested, and it usually costs between 70,000 won and 150,000 won. Recently, people have also been able to conduct personal color analysis tests online at home. They can find their personal colors quickly and simply for free, while it does not guarantee accuracy.
-Types of Personal Colors
Typically, personal colors are divided into four types based on seasons and undertones.
1 Warm Spring Tone: People with this tone have a young, bright, and energetic image. They look good with colorful hues, and they are recommended to style like the clear image of spring.
2 Cool Summer Tone: People with this tone a have clean and cheerful image. Pure, cool, elegant, and sophisticated styles are suitable for them.
3 Warm Autumn Tone: People with this tone make others feel comfortable by giving a graceful and luxurious image. Compared to the warm spring tone, this tone consists of darker and more turbid colors.
4 Cool Winter Tone: People with this tone have a strong and urbane image and harmonize with cold colors, which can be guessed from the name. Typically, people who seem to be charismatic and unique have this tone.
Currently, personal colors are divided into more details such as light, soft, deep, or mute tones. Looking up the representative celebrities for each personal color might be helpful for better understanding. For instance, the representative celebrity for a warm spring tone is Lim Yoonah, an actress and a member of the famous K-pop group, Girls’ Generation. Son Ye-jin, a famous Korean actress, has a cool summer tone, and Jennie, a member of BLACKPINK, has a warm autumn tone. Lastly, Kim Hye-soo, also a famous Korean actress, is famous for having a cool winter tone.
-Diversification of Beauty Products and Contents
As a lot of people are paying more attention to personal colors, many beauty products are being released separately for cool and warm undertones. For example, the popular cosmetic brand Too Cool for School released a new version of contour cosmetics in August last year, which targets people with a cool undertone. The new version removed the previous reddish tone and added more grayish colors. Furthermore, various cosmetic products such as dyes, foundations, and eye shadows are produced for different skin tones these days. Video content based on skin tones is also being released on YouTube. There are diverse types of makeup videos with titles like “Cool tone make-up videos” or “What if a warm-toned person tries cool-toned make-up?”
Positive Effects of Personal Colors
-Creating a Positive Image
First impressions play a crucial role in building relationships with others. Since people do not know internal characteristics and personality at first, external factors usually decide the first impression. By matching the outer appearance with personal colors, people can make the best images for themselves, and it helps them leave a good impression. Moreover, personal color can also have positive effects internally. With better styling, people can be satisfied with themselves, and it can lead to increased confidence and self-esteem. When people want to refresh themselves, they usually change their nail color or hairstyle. Like this, by knowing their own suitable colors, people can keep their mood up and be confident with themselves as well. According to Nam Chae-min, the CEO of Chaemin Your Own Image, an offline personal color test center, she feels proud when people can decorate their internal and external images with their personal colors.
-Saving Money and Time
It is highly possible that people who are aware of their own personal color will purchase the products or clothes that suit them well. Before, they may have bought products that just seemed pretty, only to regret after knowing that those products do not fit well. Thanks to personal colors, however, they can mix and match suitable colors while shopping, and this helps save money and time as well. People become assured with which colors they harmonize with, and this prevents excessive consumption. People who used to buy almost everything as the season changes because they do not know what matches them well can save money since they would not purchase the products that do not suit well. For example, if nude-colored products are in style, people who know that they do not look good with that color will not purchase such products. Also, people can choose and buy products in a short time rather than making impulsive purchases. Even people who have difficulties in decision-making can quickly finish shopping since they have narrower ranges of choice after knowing their personal colors.
-Alleviating the Flaws
Best personal colors can act as light reflectors or illuminators. On the contrary, excessive or inappropriate color usage can disclose the flaws and make skin tone darker. Proper color usage can enliven skin tone and images like a filter in photos. In May last year, Hye-ri, an actress and a member of the K-pop group, Girl’s Day, uploaded a video of having an offline personal color test on her YouTube channel. When a brown color, a typical warm-toned color, was placed under her face, her skin tone became darker, and dark circles under her eyes were emphasized. On the other hand, when the blue color was put under her face, it fit well, and most of the flaws faded away by making her skin tone much brighter. Like this video, it shows how important personal color is in alleviating flaws.
Precautions of Personal Color Test
-Recommend Offline Test for a More Accurate Result
Nowadays, people tend to believe every piece of information related to personal color tests on the internet. Since various smartphone applications provide self-personal color tests, people have more opportunities to try online tests. However, it is important to keep in mind that the information and contents of online tests are not perfectly correct, and objective evaluations may be impossible through the online test. Since the application is impossible to truly evaluate the skin tone with a photoshopped picture and people can be subjective when answering the questions online, it is more recommendable to take the offline test. During an online test, people tend to answer what they want to be rather than what they really are. However, with offline tests, an expert compares different colors with the skin in person. It guarantees more objectivity and helps to get much more trustworthy and balanced results.
-Do Not Be Obsessed with Results
After taking a personal color test, people tend to completely suit them according to the results. However, people should know that a personal color only acts as an illuminator, and it only affects top clothes, not the bottoms. Rather than being obsessed with the results, it is also good to try various colors when decorating yourself. Personal color only means that people look better with certain colors and does not mean that other colors are not suitable at all. Therefore, people might also try different colors to enjoy various styling.
Nowadays, a lot of people are paying attention to decorating themselves in a better way. By recognizing their personal colors, people will surely be able to fulfill their confidence with a good appearance. As the new season starts, let's start changing our images perfectly with personal colors!