Warm vs. cool colors - YouLookFab Forum

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Warm vs. cool colors

Jessikams

(website)

Veteran

This could be such a dumb question, but how can you tell if a color is warm or cool?

I have warm skin tones so I seek out warm-colored clothing. But sometimes my assumptions about what is warm vs cool prove to be wrong. For example, I assumed burgundy was warm because it was reddish. I think of pink as warm, but some pinks are blue-based. And is there such thing as a warm blue? (I think yes— peacock blue is warm to me.)

Anybody have this figured out??

Dressing

18 replies

Latest reply was from Jessikams

Lesley

Veteran

I would say there are warm versions and cool versions of every color! I don't have anything figured out beyond that, but I am following this thread to pick up wisdom from the group!

Anonymous

I have never, ever understood this. I will monitor this post to see if I can learn the difference. Thanks for posting.

Style Fan

Veteran

I have warm skin too. Sometimes I can look at a colour and tell if it is warm or cool but other times I am not sure. I put a piece of gold jewellery next to the questionable piece and then a piece of silver jewellery next to it. Then I decide which looked better. That sometimes helps.
The warmer colours have a yellow undertone (may not be the right word) and that is what I am looking for. I have trained my eye to look for that.

Mr Style Fan can tell right away if a colour is cool or warm. He has that kind of artistic eye.

Chiara

I think the problem is that the way we experience colour is always relative to other colours, and then the quality of light. So morning light is different from sunset light, and both differ from fluro shoplighting. Thus what might look warm in one context might look cool in another! This is why I find my swatch so handy, it gives me a way to compare colours, despite variations in ambient lighting.

Staysfit

Veteran

If it makes your eyes sparkle and your skin glow, the color is right for you. If not, put it back. That’s my only test —— well, for me it also has to be a color I can imagine on a particular beach scene. That way it always fits my color palette.

Chiara

If you want, have a look at the Munsell colour system- you will see, colour is more than ‘warm’ vs ‘cool’, and this can help to understand why some colours don’t work. I think this is quite a good explanation http://www.catelinden.com/blog.....and-chroma It makes the point that for some of us, warmth vs coolness is really crucial, for others it might be some other quality of colour that makes a big difference to a colour working.

Anonymous

You can go crazy figuring it out or cheat. Go to Pinterest and they have colors divided up by warm and cool, seasons (warm- fall/spring and cool- winter/summer) they also get real detailed with sub categories.

Anonymous

Thanks Efbgen. I'll see if I can find some cheat sheets.

Helen11

Veteran

I can't really tell, but I had my "colours done" a few years ago. I still use the colour swatch made for me at that session as a check for new colours. I have a few favourite shades that I can easily pick, but comparing a new item to the swatch helps me avoid shopping mistakes.

Jessikams

(website)

Veteran

What a relief to hear that others also find this confusing!

pirouette

Veteran

If your skin tone is cool should you wear cool tones or warm tones? I can’t figure that out. I find colour very confusing and mainly stick to black and white.

Suzanimal

I gave up trying to figure it out.

cindysmith

Veteran

It has something to do with the undertones. Like, some pinks are warm because they have more of the undertones from the red/yellow/orange side of the color wheel, and some pinks are cool because the undertones come from the blue/green/purple side of the color wheel.

It's a bit easier to explain when we talk about colors like purple and green, since those are a mix of warm & cool colors. A purple would be cool if it has more blue mixed in, warm if it has more red mixed in. I can't remember where I learned this, probably someplace like HGTV or something.

Lesley

Veteran

My mom was a follower of "Color Me Beautiful" (anyone remember that??) and always told me I should be a "spring," which has you wearing kind of warm pastels. Problem is, I always hated warm pastels. And honestly I don't even know what my skin tone is. I am definitely a lot more pale than I was as an 80s kid who got tans!

On the one hand, I've crafted a high-intensity color collection that I love, and I know I look good in very vivid, saturated colors, because I like how I look and get a lot of compliments in them, and yet there have been a few items in my closet from the more autumnal palette (gold, brown, mustard) which are colors that I don't really love, but I can see that I look glowy in them. Still, I always hesitate to go for that palette because the whole rest of my wardrobe is essentially a jewel-tone capsule and everything coordinates so easily, and those colors would hit like an off-key note. So I reiterate, I am listening to all the combined wisdom here!

Jessikams

(website)

Veteran

Pirouette, my understanding is that one should match undertones— a cool person “should” wear cooler colors. BUT one problem is those theories are pretty geared to white complexions, I believe- and so those of us with mixed ethnicities may have “unpredictable” or unusual skin/eye/hair color combos, which throws the whole thing off.

All I know for sure is I adore bright blue-pink and it does not love me back. Peachy pink makes me glow; blue-pink really brings out the redness around my nose and makes me look sick. Sigh.

Anonymous

It's intuitive to my eye, but/and a colour wheel will help visually clarify it for you. Undertones are what it's all about . The easiest way to see it on yourself and understand which colours are which is through lipstick. You'll be able to tell right away if a tone is cool or warm through it's blue or red undertones .

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

You look like cool tones would work better for you actually, jessikams.

ALL colours have a warmer and cooler version. Warm colours have yellow undertones. Cool colours have blue undertones. Colours are also warmer or cooler relative to each other.

Pinks can be warm or cool for example, depending on the shade. Even blues can be warmer and cooler. And yellows can be warmer or cooler.

I wear clear warm colours best, but bright white is a cool colour and my best neutral.

Jessikams

(website)

Veteran

Angie, interesting to think about colors being warm or cool in relation to each other....food for thought.