This whole color theory thing has made shopping soooo much easier for me. I now head straight to ‚my‘ colors and just happily ignore everything else. If something isn’t available in a cool+bright tone - too bad. Next! It’s not, like we don’t have an extreme amounts of choice to begin with. I actually find it liberating, to have very clear and strict criteria for what I‘m looking for now. 👍
hammypie Well, I mostly wore black/charcoal grey bottoms and brightly colored tops in winter (pink/violet/turquoise). All those colors on their own, work as well of course. For summer, I switched to navy blue and white as base colors, also combined with the above. I can wear some browns, but decided, to cull that color completely from my wardrobe. I‘ve found (to my surprise), that I actually prefer having more of a capsule wardrobe and it saves me a lot of headache, not to try and figure in matching shoes and accessories for brown as well. These are colors, I‘ve gravitated towards anyway, though, for most of my adult life. I always instinctively liked them on me. I just did, what everyone ends up doing and bought things, because they were ‚in‘ or on sale or I liked the cut of the garment....and that I don’t do anymore. What doesn’t work at all for me a yellow/orange/red and pastels of any kind - even blue. Ugh. You can Google color palettes for the types, btw. or look for other people’s inspiration boards on Pinterest, if you’re new to all this 🙂
same for me. I am a summer (cool and delicate) so I just head for the colors that suit me. why bothering paying money for something that doesn't make you look your best, regardless of the brand. I wouldn't wear worst colors even if someone paid me.
I love how passionate you sound in your new videos. You clearly know what you're doing. Thanks to you I figured out I'm probably cool and delicate. Even though everything I own is black
Yay, thank you! [Yes, I own a lot of black too for a cool and delicate lady myself....can't help it sometimes and it can be easier to find than grays!]
I am warm and muted, and I do wear muted blue quite a lot, just because I like it so much, and I never really thought it looked too bad on me, of course not as good as warm colours, but it was still fine. This explains a lot!
"Neutral colors" are a little bit like Classic Clothings , It's Amazing on their proper body type, and it's "ok/not awful" on everybody else. Still everybody would look their best in their own lines/colors. Except if you really LOVE one of these colors/line and Don't care if it's your best you should wear whatever. But otherwise the hole points of researching about this is to look our best So no point about wearing it 😊 .
Rexy Smith I love your explanation. I’m pretty new to Kibbe and almost certainly TR. I used to dress in classic lines because I enjoy looking neat and it’s a style of clothing readily available in minimalistic Sweden. It looked alright, for sure. Put together. But it also looked a bit boring and forgettable. The same clothes on a classic type would look absolutely amazing, elegant, classy, expensive... but they made me look very meh.
Neutral means no color in a color bar. There’s no such thing. One can be close to the other undertone but they’re best is sticking to their colors around their face with a scarf etc.
Please do a video for pale olive skin tones! There's no information anywhere for us, as poeple always assume olive skin tone is only dark, and it's the hardest skin tone to flatter. Whatever colour I wear I just look absolutely awful. I really hate my skin colour.
You probably watched her video but in case people read this: olive isn't one skin tone, it's on a spectrum or warm cool just like pink toned skin but I think it is more likely to be muted/delicate.
Love the long and detailed education. If this were easy there wouldn't be so many discussions about it. Making an effort to discover ones undertone makes decisions so much more simple. This was so helpful.
I think people often get confused by all this undertone thing because they are not objective enough to distinguish their best colors from colors they like the most. Most people are drawn to cool color because they are soothing and calming, not because they are true cool undertoned. Also, could you please review Carol Brailey's color system, please?
I disagree that warm undertones look fine in cool colours. I think it's when people have a tan/added sun that they can pull off most colours. When a warm toned person is not tanned they can look way off in cool colours.
I think the point is that warm undertones look waaaay better than cool undertones both wearing their worst colors (W looks fine to bad in cool colors, but C looks bad to terrible in warm colors) I do agree about tanning is another factor that adds "tolerance" to everyone's non colors It's like both value and temperature in skintone will have one that side that is more tolerant than the other one
I'm warm and radiant. Mauve is my worst color. Do that with a nude lip, and my coworkers think I'm sick and that I should to go home! I love the simplification of your system. Makes more sense for me than dark autumn. Thank you!
I watch all your video topics (& am subscribed!)- whether body types or color analysis. Your all-round knowledge is simply astounding! BUT there is a passion that I hear in only your color analysis videos that the other videos don’t showcase. It clearly is your heart’s greatest beat. As a Christian I firmly believe that God has very unique individual callings over our lives, where our passion overflows and almost can’t be tamed! So may you continue to succeed and grow leaps & bounds in your given talents & passions, and pursue your heart’s yearnings without fear 🎁
Deep autumn here. Selected a winter coat in olive as it is the best neutral for this color season. A few years later the coat wears out and it's time for something new. Medium gray is not supposed to flatter DAs but for some reason I was drawn to this coat. Surprisingly, upon trying out the gray coat, my face comes to life and my eyes sparkle. Even other people's reactions change favorably. Two reasons for this come to mind: 1. When wearing olive the focus is on the coat, whereas the gray color takes a back seat to my face, and 2. In the winter my skin is a few shades paler and more neutral. Color is strange. Sometimes trying something we don't think will work pays off.
I'm so glad you made that comment about warm undertones looking fine against most colors! I was so confused at first trying to figure out my right colors. It's been about 2 years on this journey to know that warm delicate colors are best for me! It was so confusing because mauve, pink, and dark rich( emerald, royal blue) colors also look great on me and at the time it was more of my style those darker colors, but now that I've changed things up and looked on the light side of things these light muted warm colors are definitely it for me 😍❤
I think I am getting better at this. It’s hard training yourself but once you get it starts to get easier. Our best colors don’t overwhelm us . I think it’s the difference between noticing how good someone looks before you pay attention to what they are wearing.
This whole entire video explains why "universal red lipstick"（such as mac ruby woo）are always kind of blue reds🧐 Actually warm undertone people don't look that bad in blue red lipstick.
Thanks for clarifying these points. I am the same colour family as you, cool and muted colours suit best. I have learnt that I cannot wear optic white close to my face, but still having the problem finding off whites and creams that suit . In Australia we pronounce 'Mauve' the same as 'Stove'.
I've also found that for the most part, cool colored clothes outnumber warm colored clothes by a fair margin. I think this is for two reasons. The first one, which you mentioned, being that cool colors are more universally flattering because warm undertones can get away with wearing cool colors more easily. The second being that cool colors seem to be more favored in general. It's very rare that someone's favorite color is yellow or orange. And you aren't likely going to have someone fawn over an orange dress vs a beautiful jewel toned purple or sapphire one.
Space Cowboy The reason there are more cool colors available is because more people are cool than warm. The stores stock the colors that sell best. You will most often find your colors during their season, altho stores are off at least three months and always anticipating the next season.
Jewel tones are among my favourite colors even though I'm warm and vibrant or warm and delicate. I hate orange and peach but unfortunately they love my skin 🙄
I don't think that there are more cool undertoned people, I think that people are generally more drawn towards cool colors because they have soothing and calming effects, psychologically speaking.
Hi Merriam ! I totally agree with your concept on this video. I would love to see a video on how you can tell if a color is bright or soft. Sometimes it's not super obvious especially in fluorescent store lights.
You suggested that I may be warm and delicate and I have gone on a quest to try pieces that are in those colors. The thing is, I may be a very tricky undertone. I would probably agree that olive green and some terracota type colors may be my best colors but if the warm tones go too warm or a bit brighter then doesn’t work anymore, for example, peach. I can use grey, some cool muted greens or blues quite easily. It’s like I am in a space a bit towards warm but almost in the middle. It can be so confusing! At least I know I am not a radiant one 😂
G Amorel Foster Yes I think I did. I could be confused as a cool and delicate in the winter but as soon as I get some tan, I go a bit warmer. I am a light medium olive (like legit green undertone) with blue veins😑
@@di3486 That's great that you're aware. I look grey instead of green and also get slightly warmer in the summer. So I've been wearing delicate warm colors up to last month but now my face looks super pink while my arms are still yellow and I guess it's time to move onto the blues and purples again. The best advice I can give is to have a variety of scarves and accessories for the neck to fit for each moment. Anyways, muted colors in general look better for muted skins.
That explains a lot, thank you very much. Besides that, I always wondered how most systems would say teal, burgundy and berry colors are warm and best for autumns. I do see those colors as cool and while they can look great on warm toned people they don't look bad on cool toned people imho. Or what about robin's egg blue? It is not a warm color at all. It is blue. Yet it is called a warm blue which works for warm toned people. Just doesn't really sound right to me. I also get kind of crazy about "neutral makeup pallettes" because it depends on your coloring which colors are your neutrals. Some person's neutrals will look totally off on you and vice versa. I don't understand why the makeup industry does not work that way. Anyways... Great video again :)
Last summer I bought 3 t-shirts in the primary colours: blue (cobalt), green (emerald) and red (tomatoe). Well, I thought I was doing the best purchase but it turned out that the blue one made my face like I was sick (in the summer with a tan)...now I know why, I am warm and radiant, so the cool blue doen't fit me at all.
Your new thinking on this is very helpful and easy to understand. The amount of color misinformation out there is staggering, confusing, conflicting, and ends up being frustrating when put into practice with poor results. Now I know why.
i like carol turtle’s thing, and how it encompasses skin texture and energy level. i’m a black-wearer in her system, i have that energy, but i’m cool and delicate and look way better in navy
I love your knowledge on all of this because it's always some sort of surprise when a color of the same family works on one fabric but not on another lol
It is interesting, I feel like I have seen quite a few Radiant Cools look good in most colors, because of how strong their chroma is, although they definitely look their personal best keeping to the cool end of the spectrum.
I'd love to know more about contrast, how you determine a person is high or low contrast... I'm still a bit confused! When you have black features and olive skin, it will appear to be low contrast for pale folks but for me, being familiar with this "tanned" skin, it is high contrast!! 😓
I am so obviously warm, almost yellowish and my coloring overall is soft-muted, however most of my clothes is COOL and muted, and I generally hate myself in warm colors :D so maybe I am just the living example that warm people can pull off anything, but that wouldn't explain why I hate the warm colors on myself.. I am thinking that maybe, the warm colors don't provide with enough contrast that I prefer on myself. Does anyone else have a same experience?
Again a super video! I belive I get my undertone figured out slowly with your help. I have been confused with my undertone. Now I know I am super muted as all bright colours look equally bad on me. I change my pigment with sun exposure, so it has been confusing me a lot too. Based on this video I could be warm and muted. For my eye it is not easy to tell difference between muted colours. In previous video you mentioned to use peach and baby pink to compare... But I also have strong contrast with light skin and dark brown eyes and hair so perhaps I should try once more with darker muted colours. Once more, thank you for doing amazing videos!
I really appreciate this explanation; I was starting to think that “Universal Colors” were just a cop out for color theory, in general, but this makes it makes sense! Well-done
Great argument. I agree about the unreality of neutral red or green. I remember you saying peach and cream are perfect for a warm, delicate skin like Kate Blanchet. They are delicate because of added white, not grey, right?
There's just some 'universal colours' I'd see and feel flabbergasted by even hearing that they're popular.The Fenty Beauty Red Stunna Lip Paint is famously acclaimed to be an universal red lipstick, but on me it makes my skin look more greyish around my mouth area, and just look more orange in general. Is that supposed to happen to a medium-deep cooler olive complexioned person who believes they're Cool and most likely Delicate?
Great video. I wonder if it is possible for my best colors to be warm and muted and my worst, warm and radiant? I feel like that should not happen but it's my experience and at this point the only thing that still confuses me. My best colors are earthy tones like brown, green and terracotta. I look okay in white, but dreadful in pastels. Deep muted blues and teal are easier to pull off than yellow and orange. 🤔🤔🤔
Yes! I'm happy you brought this up. I've seen this with a lot of my 'very delicate warm' clients especially. If you're close enough to neutral, warm and radiant may look worse than cool and radiant for a combination of reasons. First, the brightest yellow is just much brighter than the brightest royal blue. People will say 'oh well they are equally bright because they are both clear chroma' but we all know that's not true! Second, warm just can pull off cool colors better than cool undertones can pull off warm colors. So in combination, you may find that royal blue looks better on you than yellow. You could watch my video titled 'Cool undertone with Golden Overtone' where I sort of talk about this indirectly.
I think there is a simple explanation as to why warm undertones tend to look ok in cool colors whereas cool undertones look awful in warm colors. Blue and yellow are complementary colors and they highlight one another. If you are warm and wear something cool, the blue in that cool color highlights the yellow in your skin, so you might have this golden overtone. But if you are cool and wear something warm, the yellow in that warm color brings out everything blue in your skin and you might look like a corpse. I am exaggerating, but the idea is that yellowish overtones might be not ideal, but they look so much less sick and unnatural that blue ones.
this is what 'simultaneous contrast' actually does! and this is also why cool colors are more likely to be recommended for warm undertones than vice versa. no one in good conscience can tell a cool undertone to wear orange 'because of simultaneous contrast' but warm undertones are told to wear teal all the time 'because of simultaneous contrast'. and it does look nice on them and make them look more golden, just less even toned still!
I get so confused, but I think I’m warm and soft, but not as soft as someone like Mila Kunis. For the longest time I thought I was supposed to be cool, like what some people call deep winter, but I’m looking through old pictures of myself, and I feel like it just isn’t quite right on me. I guess I just find it hard to be objective because there’s some warm colors I don’t think look good on me, like certain yellows. I also don’t feel like I look particularly good in cream colors, but I also don’t really look good in white, but I look good in true black, but not in dark grays. I feel like I look good in both cool, and warm reds, both bright, and muted. You have such a good eye for this, and I feel like I’m just a mess with trying to figure it all out🤷🏻♀️🙈
Firstly, Ms. Merriam, you've got the face of a '90s anime character. That is a compliment, of course. You're face has intrigued me as I've tried to understand Kibbe's system. The outlines of your eyes consist of, not only rounded lines, but sharp lines. They are perfectly answer D. I won't go on, as I don't want this comment to be too long. I believe the reason warm undertones look OK in all colors (not their best, but OK) is because warm undertones are associated with good health. When we go out in the sun, our skin gets a tinge warmer. I've read as well that the skin of those who eat more fruit and vegetables have more of a yellow tint to their skin than those who eat less. So, it's associated with a healthy lifestyle, basically. I agree that there are no truly neutral colors. It is simply that, when speaking of things, we need a "starting point". "Neutral" red and green are like zero.
That's too funny I looked up some 90s anime characters and I can kind of see it. I feel like I should do a 'transformation' (with this newfound knowledge that I apparently look like one) into an anime character but the competition for that is so fierce with lots of ladies doing a much better job than I ever could I'm sure! And agreed about the warm undertones associated with health. I also heard that warm undertones have thicker skin, so maybe less blues show through it. Not sure if it's 100% true, but it's probably a combination of all these factors!
@@merriamstyle It so perfectly describes your unique face, doesn't it? I'm sure I'm not the only viewer who would be very interested in seeing such a video. 1,000 girls could do anime transformation videos 10x better than yours, but it wouldn't matter to me because I don't care to watch them. You approach beauty in a more analyzing, artistic way, rather than a "Trust me, this isn't an advertisement for overly-expensive products, 90% of which are unnecessary" way. You could maybe even find an anime character that looks to be soft gamine (as far as one can tell). I've heard that to be the case with warmer skin as well-the thing about thicker skin-and it sort of makes sense. Some types of skin adapted to be more sun-protectant (skin thickness, darkness), and some adapted to let more sunlight in (skin thinness, lightness).
Thank you for addressing one of my all time personal color analysis pet peeves--UNIVERSAL COLORS! I totally agree with you that there are no colors that are universally flattering on everyone. And, I have certainly noticed that most colors that are generally put in this so-called universal category are cool. I inquired about the reason for the predominance of cool colors noted as "universal" in another online color system. Unfortunately the analyst never responded to me, but I would have loved to have heard her explanation.
Kathleen Boyd More people are cool rather than warm. You will find the seasons skewed in favor of warm in some countries but overall more folks have cool undertones.
@@Lotus7119-9 Carla--Thanks for the insight! Are you a personal color analyst? I ask because I have heard a couple of other personal color analysts state that there are more cool than warm individuals. This can be the basis for the so-called universal colors being predominantly cool hues; but this does not alter my opinion that universal colors look good on every individual. I have not done professional color analyses so my experience is based on my observations of myself and others, and of course watching Merriam's videos where the photos are very helpful.
I think I'm warm but I've been wearing mostly "universal colors" my whole life. Didn't know they were actually my worst colors :( Thank you so much for this video tho!
Do you think Indoors lightening can mislead you into thinking you're warm instead of cool? I feel like I look extremely yellow inside even compared to other people but whenever I look photos of me taken outdoors it's a completely different tone almost porcelain with slightly pink cheeks. I've noticed cool tones look a bit yellowish under electric lights as well just not as much as I do. Is it possible to be cool undertoned but look extremely yellow under certain lights?? I'm lost. And if this wasn't confusing enough people around me can't seem to agree some say I look like snow white (I have dark hair) and others seem to think I have a tan all year long
YES! It literally looks sickly on people with cool undertones. Especially a muddy greenish beige, which can look so elevated and sophisticated on a warm and delicate person.
It would be interesting how different undertones look against perfect neutral red and perfect neutral green. I know in real life they don't exist but we can do it with photoshop, just for fun.
I have a difficult time telling what the undertones are between similar colors and also between warm and cool shades. Is there a color wheel or something similar that I can buy to take with me when I shop?
I should probably make some, but still not sure about the logistics. Would you be good with it being digital or would you prefer real life color cards? In general, the only four colors to 'worry' about are gray, brown, green, and red. Those can be cool or warm depending on the specific version of it. But all yellows are warm, and all blues are cool, and all purples are cool.
Merriam Style thank you for your reply. I would prefer something to hold on a card because I’ve searched for images of color wheels and they all look different on my smartphone. Thank you again I love your videos
once you know yours (warm/cool) you just put them against your skin. i simply extend my arm and i wrap the fabric around it a bit. two days ago i found a scarf I COULD SWEAR it was a cool green. but it looked so bad with my skin i realised it must be warm, must have yellow in it tho it didnt looked the part.
Hi Merriam, I really appreciate Your videos. But this time I think, that Your model isn t so much warm. Maybe she is more near to neutral. I am warm (much more than her) and this universal colors are to cool for me and I don t look good in them- really. So Yes, maybe she is one of this universal people. Have a great week!
Cool greens, navy blue look amazing on my skin it brightens my face makes my hazel eyes look greener but when I drape a cool yellow and a bright blue, yellow looks better even though it’s cooler. So how to figure this out if I look better in yellow vs the blue but at the same time the darker blues and greens like teal makes my skin look so much better? I tested warm yellow against cool yellow and the cool yellow is so much better. Golden yellows are no good as well
Question about Merriam Style Club : Are any of your deleted youtube videos available through club? I was looking for the video you did about Lily Cole but I can't find it anywhere.
Merriam, I love your channel and advice. I would like to express how frustrated I get every time you say warm-toned ladies look fine in everything. I'm warm and bright and *often* , when I am wearing gray, people ask if I'm sick. I'm not even exaggerating. I wonder if you feel that we look fine in everything because the grass is always greener...
Thank you, I'll try to tone it down a bit. But also it's worth noting that it's not because the grass is greener (first of all I absolutely looove my cool and delicate colors). It's really because it's the warm and delicate ladies who get mistyped the most as cool (with a lot of my clients, and with celebrity examples). Cool people get mistyped as warm way less often. And it is because cool people still look worse on average in their worst colors than warm people do (but there is variability, so please don't take it to mean that I'm talking about your personal experience, I do believe you that you look miserable in cool colors just as you say--it's a general rule of thumb, not necessarily going to be true for every single person)!
@@merriamstyle Hmmm... I like your point about warm and delicate. My sister-in-law looks fine in both peach and gray, so she has a delicate undertone (I think cool, but I'm not sure). I'm warm and radiant and always have the most yellow skin of anyone in the room, haha! I also haven't seen the sun in a little while... Again, I really enjoy your channel and advice! I just bought this beautiful coral dress with a theatrical romantic cut! I think I'll get another in yellow!
Do you think that most skin undertone/season typing puts warm and delicate individuals as "neutrals"? I have been told I'm a million different skin tones by people who gave typed me. Last person said I was neutral when I was shopping for foundation I personally think I'm some sort of muted skin tone (I thought cool) but I'm never 'grayed' by any color and I think most colors are okay on me but I prefer blues, muted reds, greens to look my best. I suppose that would put me at cool and delicate but I don't look bad in pastel yellow, I wear one jacket often and have gotten several compliments which wouldn't be the case if I was cool.. right? I don't wear most bright colors except white and black which I think looks terrific on me. Idk. Right now I just wear most muted colors and call it a day.
Another thing for warm & delicates, speakign from experience, is that we don't really have a 'shade'. A lot of people will say: 'I have a yellow undertone' or 'I have a pink undertone' or 'I am nearly orange' or 'I have a very blue undertone', but when we're talking about the topic (I do arts so me and my classmates talk about colours and undertones regularly) and we come to me, I am....What am I? Just pale, I continue joking. Probably around the palest you can be while still being somewhat warm, near cate blanchett.
I can clearly see what you’re saying in these pictures. I just tried this exact thing with a picture of myself and a background of very similar colors of fabric I found on google… I’m still stuck. I can’t see any of these distinctions on myself. 😭😂
I've had the worst time finding my undertone. I've asked friends, professionals, and I've tried apps. I get mixed answers all the time, and the most common answer is that I am neutral, but I agree with you that neutral isn't really a thing. I hadn't heard that warm tones look good in most colors before, and this makes me wonder if I'm actually leaning to warm and that's why I get mixed answers?
In theory, universal colors should be neither too deep nor too muted, and in neutral undertone and would not flatter anybody, but would not make someone look the worst either. So it's helpful when you love some item that does not come in your best colors.
I watch so many of these videos and I still have no clue. It just doesn't click in my head. I'm 55 years old and just don't get it. All I know is I look awful in mustard, olive and camel. Beyond that, I got nothing. ????? So confused.
You're probably cool then! Are you confused between cool and delicate and cool and radiant? You could try magenta vs placid blue and take a look at your skin and how it looks against the two.
@@merriamstyle my father-in-law said magenta is my color. But I also get compliments when I wear that soft, dusty pink that was popular last year. That is a contradiction, isn't it? I think I look best in royal blue but I also look good in a dusty soft blue.
I have an interesting problem that is loosely related, wondering if anyone else has experienced this - light yellow is probably my best colour, people make a big fuss when I wear it and I'm pretty sure I'm a warm undertone however my lips seem to be a cool undertone? magenta and purple lipsticks look really close to my natural lip colour. When I wear purple all over I look paler and a bit ashy 😕
I think that's quite common because the pigment in our lips is different from the pigment in our skin. I wouldn't necessarily call it a problem, but I can offer some 'solutions'! First, you're most likely warm and delicate, doesn't matter what your lip color is, it's the skin that counts, and as you say, purple doesn't look great on you, and muted yellow does--this is warm and delicate. So we can get it out of the way and say it doesn't change your best colors! Second, I would say that if you wear minimal make up, and your best colors like light yellow, salmon, olive green (you might be in between warm and delicate and warm and radiant), *and* you wear minimal make up, you'll look great! This is because even with your cool lip color, I'm sure there are other parts of your face that are also cool (maybe around your eyelids, for example). The warm colors will even your skin tone as a whole, and those cool aspects will complement nicely with the warm aspects of your coloring. No worries! In principle, purples and yellows look great together for example, so having this dynamic mixture of cool and warm to your overall coloring isn't a bad thing, it probably looks cool and interesting and draws the eye for longer! The other option is, if you're wearing more make up on a day, wear your warm colors, wear warm lipstick. Like a muted coral color, or, if that yellow that you're wearing is quite soft, wear a soft nude golden type of lipstick if it fits with the look for an overall soft look! No big deal either way! Play around and see what you like better, or switch it up day to day! Hope that helped!
It could be, I'm not sure. But maybe markers of health (like not looking gray) are cross cultural so it could be a mix. Definitely here in the US at least, the 'golden' look is culturally exalted in some ways. I'd be curious to see if people from other parts of the world think!
Here in CZ the tan, golden look is preferred, you often get called sickly if you are very pale. What just popped into my head is that maybe people subconsciously recognized the fact that warm undertones look better in more colours than cool undertones as Merriam stated, and since we wear clothes so much (lol) it could be the reason why the golden spray tan got so popular?, mainly among "westernised" populace it seems. What do you think ladies 😅, lolol
@@ju2082 I know that, historically, fair skin has been in favor in certain parts of Europe and Asia, because it meant you didn't have to work outside. And I get the impression that 'rosy'(cool) was perceived as healthier than 'sallow'(warm) in Victorian literature. But having a golden complexion does seem to be the universal ideal at this point.
@@merriamstyle I've mentioned this in a comment already, but I will repeat it here: Those with a higher consumption of fruit and veg had more of a yellowish tinge to their skin than those with a lower consumption. (Of course, those with a cool undertone didn't become warm and warm undertones didn't become bananas.) And then there is the association with the outdoors. So, I don't think it is entirely cultural.
@@unneighborlyarcades6356 Yes, agreed! I actually edited out a part where I was ranting about warmer undertones looking 'sunkissed' and that's not really a bad look in general ('bad' is subjective but looking gray is generally a sign of poorer health, so we probably think 'this person looks ill' if they are cool and they wear yellow and tend to 'risk' looking a bit grayed). And perhaps there's something to be said for the veggies--I don't tend to eat too many veggies and I'm cool. But then again I'm sure there are tons of celebrities with pristine diets who 'count colors not calories' etc and eat tons of veggies, and are also cool. Interesting to think about!
This whole color theory thing has made shopping soooo much easier for me.
I now head straight to ‚my‘ colors and just happily ignore everything else. If something isn’t available in a cool+bright tone - too bad. Next!
It’s not, like we don’t have an extreme amounts of choice to begin with. I actually find it liberating, to have very clear and strict criteria for what I‘m looking for now. 👍
Yay! The whole point of color analysis as far as I'm concerned!
Rara Avis I have the same coloring, what colors do u like the most?
hammypie
Well, I mostly wore black/charcoal grey bottoms and brightly colored tops in winter (pink/violet/turquoise). All those colors on their own, work as well of course. For summer, I switched to navy blue and white as base colors, also combined with the above.
I can wear some browns, but decided, to cull that color completely from my wardrobe. I‘ve found (to my surprise), that I actually prefer having more of a capsule wardrobe and it saves me a lot of headache, not to try and figure in matching shoes and accessories for brown as well.
These are colors, I‘ve gravitated towards anyway, though, for most of my adult life. I always instinctively liked them on me.
I just did, what everyone ends up doing and bought things, because they were ‚in‘ or on sale or I liked the cut of the garment....and that I don’t do anymore.
What doesn’t work at all for me a yellow/orange/red and pastels of any kind - even blue. Ugh.
You can Google color palettes for the types, btw. or look for other people’s inspiration boards on Pinterest, if you’re new to all this 🙂
Same. It's soo easy. You just quickly look into the shop. Not my colour palette? Bye.
same for me. I am a summer (cool and delicate) so I just head for the colors that suit me. why bothering paying money for something that doesn't make you look your best, regardless of the brand. I wouldn't wear worst colors even if someone paid me.
I love how passionate you sound in your new videos. You clearly know what you're doing. Thanks to you I figured out I'm probably cool and delicate. Even though everything I own is black
Yay, thank you! [Yes, I own a lot of black too for a cool and delicate lady myself....can't help it sometimes and it can be easier to find than grays!]
No, your video is not too long and yes, you are pronouncing mauve correctly. Thank you for your always edifying content.
I am warm and muted, and I do wear muted blue quite a lot, just because I like it so much, and I never really thought it looked too bad on me, of course not as good as warm colours, but it was still fine. This explains a lot!
"Neutral colors" are a little bit like Classic Clothings , It's Amazing on their proper body type, and it's "ok/not awful" on everybody else. Still everybody would look their best in their own lines/colors. Except if you really LOVE one of these colors/line and Don't care if it's your best you should wear whatever. But otherwise the hole points of researching about this is to look our best So no point about wearing it 😊 .
Rexy Smith I love your explanation. I’m pretty new to Kibbe and almost certainly TR. I used to dress in classic lines because I enjoy looking neat and it’s a style of clothing readily available in minimalistic Sweden. It looked alright, for sure. Put together. But it also looked a bit boring and forgettable. The same clothes on a classic type would look absolutely amazing, elegant, classy, expensive... but they made me look very meh.
Neutral means no color in a color bar. There’s no such thing. One can be close to the other undertone but they’re best is sticking to their colors around their face with a scarf etc.
Please do a video for pale olive skin tones! There's no information anywhere for us, as poeple always assume olive skin tone is only dark, and it's the hardest skin tone to flatter. Whatever colour I wear I just look absolutely awful. I really hate my skin colour.
I'm pale olive and love it! I seem to look better in winter colors in the winter and autumn colors in the summer when I'm more tan.
You probably watched her video but in case people read this: olive isn't one skin tone, it's on a spectrum or warm cool just like pink toned skin but I think it is more likely to be muted/delicate.
Plz do another ethereal essence video! I think it's such a cool topic!
it really is i want to know more about it
Yes please!!!😘
Love the long and detailed education. If this were easy there wouldn't be so many discussions about it. Making an effort to discover ones undertone makes decisions so much more simple. This was so helpful.
I’m glad you made the point about how no color is truly neutral. It is only possible in theory, as with anything truly “perfect”!
I think people often get confused by all this undertone thing because they are not objective enough to distinguish their best colors from colors they like the most. Most people are drawn to cool color because they are soothing and calming, not because they are true cool undertoned.
Also, could you please review Carol Brailey's color system, please?
I disagree that warm undertones look fine in cool colours. I think it's when people have a tan/added sun that they can pull off most colours. When a warm toned person is not tanned they can look way off in cool colours.
Yes i agree, royal blue is my absolute worst colour. I can pull off a muted blue but basically blue always looks terrible on me
I think the point is that warm undertones look waaaay better than cool undertones both wearing their worst colors (W looks fine to bad in cool colors, but C looks bad to terrible in warm colors)
I do agree about tanning is another factor that adds "tolerance" to everyone's non colors
It's like both value and temperature in skintone will have one that side that is more tolerant than the other one
I disagree warm undertone can wear blue colors and not look more yellow but cool undertones outside of cool colors look muddy even with a tan.
I'm warm and radiant. Mauve is my worst color. Do that with a nude lip, and my coworkers think I'm sick and that I should to go home! I love the simplification of your system. Makes more sense for me than dark autumn. Thank you!
I watch all your video topics (& am subscribed!)- whether body types or color analysis. Your all-round knowledge is simply astounding! BUT there is a passion that I hear in only your color analysis videos that the other videos don’t showcase. It clearly is your heart’s greatest beat. As a Christian I firmly believe that God has very unique individual callings over our lives, where our passion overflows and almost can’t be tamed! So may you continue to succeed and grow leaps & bounds in your given talents & passions, and pursue your heart’s yearnings without fear 🎁
Aw thank you SO much for such a wonderful comment
Deep autumn here. Selected a winter coat in olive as it is the best neutral for this color season. A few years later the coat wears out and it's time for something new. Medium gray is not supposed to flatter DAs but for some reason I was drawn to this coat. Surprisingly, upon trying out the gray coat, my face comes to life and my eyes sparkle. Even other people's reactions change favorably. Two reasons for this come to mind: 1. When wearing olive the focus is on the coat, whereas the gray color takes a back seat to my face, and 2. In the winter my skin is a few shades paler and more neutral. Color is strange. Sometimes trying something we don't think will work pays off.
I'm so glad you made that comment about warm undertones looking fine against most colors! I was so confused at first trying to figure out my right colors. It's been about 2 years on this journey to know that warm delicate colors are best for me! It was so confusing because mauve, pink, and dark rich( emerald, royal blue) colors also look great on me and at the time it was more of my style those darker colors, but now that I've changed things up and looked on the light side of things these light muted warm colors are definitely it for me 😍❤
aw yay!!
@@merriamstyle thanks to you ❤ you're awesome
I think I am getting better at this. It’s hard training yourself but once you get it starts to get easier. Our best colors don’t overwhelm us . I think it’s the difference between noticing how good someone looks before you pay attention to what they are wearing.
Exactly!!
I am learning so much. You are a great teacher 💜😊
This whole entire video explains why "universal red lipstick"（such as mac ruby woo）are always kind of blue reds🧐
Actually warm undertone people don't look that bad in blue red lipstick.
Thanks for clarifying these points. I am the same colour family as you, cool and muted colours suit best. I have learnt that I cannot wear optic white close to my face, but still having the problem finding off whites and creams that suit . In Australia we pronounce 'Mauve' the same as 'Stove'.
I've also found that for the most part, cool colored clothes outnumber warm colored clothes by a fair margin. I think this is for two reasons. The first one, which you mentioned, being that cool colors are more universally flattering because warm undertones can get away with wearing cool colors more easily. The second being that cool colors seem to be more favored in general. It's very rare that someone's favorite color is yellow or orange. And you aren't likely going to have someone fawn over an orange dress vs a beautiful jewel toned purple or sapphire one.
Space Cowboy The reason there are more cool colors available is because more people are cool than warm. The stores stock the colors that sell best. You will most often find your colors during their season, altho stores are off at least three months and always anticipating the next season.
Space Cowboy Clearly you are not an Autumn! I adore an orange dress!!
Jewel tones are among my favourite colors even though I'm warm and vibrant or warm and delicate. I hate orange and peach but unfortunately they love my skin 🙄
@@Lotus7119-9 I am definitely an autumn but I hate an orange anything except for the fruit
I don't think that there are more cool undertoned people, I think that people are generally more drawn towards cool colors because they have soothing and calming effects, psychologically speaking.
I love the urgency in your voice at the end 😂 i love you so much!
lol yeah I get way too serious about this stuff. :P
I love the muted blue on you! AND the cool red. Cool green is a big yes.
Yes, cool green is the best.
Hi Merriam ! I totally agree with your concept on this video. I would love to see a video on how you can tell if a color is bright or soft. Sometimes it's not super obvious especially in fluorescent store lights.
You suggested that I may be warm and delicate and I have gone on a quest to try pieces that are in those colors. The thing is, I may be a very tricky undertone. I would probably agree that olive green and some terracota type colors may be my best colors but if the warm tones go too warm or a bit brighter then doesn’t work anymore, for example, peach. I can use grey, some cool muted greens or blues quite easily. It’s like I am in a space a bit towards warm but almost in the middle. It can be so confusing! At least I know I am not a radiant one 😂
Have you watched her video about people with little skin pigment switching classification?
G Amorel Foster Yes I think I did. I could be confused as a cool and delicate in the winter but as soon as I get some tan, I go a bit warmer. I am a light medium olive (like legit green undertone) with blue veins😑
@@di3486 That's great that you're aware. I look grey instead of green and also get slightly warmer in the summer. So I've been wearing delicate warm colors up to last month but now my face looks super pink while my arms are still yellow and I guess it's time to move onto the blues and purples again.
The best advice I can give is to have a variety of scarves and accessories for the neck to fit for each moment.
Anyways, muted colors in general look better for muted skins.
G Amorel Foster ooooh the scarves is a great idea because I have the same issue with face and body having different tones.
That explains a lot, thank you very much. Besides that, I always wondered how most systems would say teal, burgundy and berry colors are warm and best for autumns. I do see those colors as cool and while they can look great on warm toned people they don't look bad on cool toned people imho. Or what about robin's egg blue? It is not a warm color at all. It is blue. Yet it is called a warm blue which works for warm toned people. Just doesn't really sound right to me. I also get kind of crazy about "neutral makeup pallettes" because it depends on your coloring which colors are your neutrals. Some person's neutrals will look totally off on you and vice versa. I don't understand why the makeup industry does not work that way. Anyways... Great video again :)
Neither fashion or tattoo industry. Most people that I know that work in these fields know nothing about color. Everyone should watch Merriam.
Last summer I bought 3 t-shirts in the primary colours: blue (cobalt), green (emerald) and red (tomatoe). Well, I thought I was doing the best purchase but it turned out that the blue one made my face like I was sick (in the summer with a tan)...now I know why, I am warm and radiant, so the cool blue doen't fit me at all.
I would love it if you made a video of which colors to avoid for every skin tone.
Looking forward to the video! I was missing your videos Merriam;) hope you had a nice break and everything is good:*!
Your new thinking on this is very helpful and easy to understand. The amount of color misinformation out there is staggering, confusing, conflicting, and ends up being frustrating when put into practice with poor results. Now I know why.
One day you have got to check out Carol Tuttle's Dressing Your Truth system and review it! That will be an incredible thing to see!
Yes!
i like carol turtle’s thing, and how it encompasses skin texture and energy level. i’m a black-wearer in her system, i have that energy, but i’m cool and delicate and look way better in navy
I love your knowledge on all of this because it's always some sort of surprise when a color of the same family works on one fabric but not on another lol
Oh interesting! I should do textures for the undertones. They exist ;)
@@merriamstyle WHAT?! textures??? Okay, a whole new world (yes I sang it).
Yes, do it, Merriam! 😊
Merriam Style do it yes!
Merriam Style Yes! Please DO textures for undertones, Merriam!
It is interesting, I feel like I have seen quite a few Radiant Cools look good in most colors, because of how strong their chroma is, although they definitely look their personal best keeping to the cool end of the spectrum.
I'd love to know more about contrast, how you determine a person is high or low contrast... I'm still a bit confused! When you have black features and olive skin, it will appear to be low contrast for pale folks but for me, being familiar with this "tanned" skin, it is high contrast!! 😓
Yess! I'd love a video on this
I am so obviously warm, almost yellowish and my coloring overall is soft-muted, however most of my clothes is COOL and muted, and I generally hate myself in warm colors :D so maybe I am just the living example that warm people can pull off anything, but that wouldn't explain why I hate the warm colors on myself.. I am thinking that maybe, the warm colors don't provide with enough contrast that I prefer on myself. Does anyone else have a same experience?
Again a super video!
I belive I get my undertone figured out slowly with your help.
I have been confused with my undertone. Now I know I am super muted as all bright colours look equally bad on me.
I change my pigment with sun exposure, so it has been confusing me a lot too.
Based on this video I could be warm and muted. For my eye it is not easy to tell difference between muted colours. In previous video you mentioned to use peach and baby pink to compare... But I also have strong contrast with light skin and dark brown eyes and hair so perhaps I should try once more with darker muted colours.
Once more, thank you for doing amazing videos!
I really appreciate this explanation; I was starting to think that “Universal Colors” were just a cop out for color theory, in general, but this makes it makes sense! Well-done
Great argument. I agree about the unreality of neutral red or green. I remember you saying peach and cream are perfect for a warm, delicate skin like Kate Blanchet. They are delicate because of added white, not grey, right?
Finally, I know why I don't look bad in any colour. I think I'm a radiant warm. I was having a hard time trying to figure out my tone.
I love your breakdowns they are really legit
There's just some 'universal colours' I'd see and feel flabbergasted by even hearing that they're popular.The Fenty Beauty Red Stunna Lip Paint is famously acclaimed to be an universal red lipstick, but on me it makes my skin look more greyish around my mouth area, and just look more orange in general. Is that supposed to happen to a medium-deep cooler olive complexioned person who believes they're Cool and most likely Delicate?
Great video. I wonder if it is possible for my best colors to be warm and muted and my worst, warm and radiant? I feel like that should not happen but it's my experience and at this point the only thing that still confuses me. My best colors are earthy tones like brown, green and terracotta. I look okay in white, but dreadful in pastels. Deep muted blues and teal are easier to pull off than yellow and orange. 🤔🤔🤔
Yes! I'm happy you brought this up. I've seen this with a lot of my 'very delicate warm' clients especially. If you're close enough to neutral, warm and radiant may look worse than cool and radiant for a combination of reasons.
First, the brightest yellow is just much brighter than the brightest royal blue. People will say 'oh well they are equally bright because they are both clear chroma' but we all know that's not true!
Second, warm just can pull off cool colors better than cool undertones can pull off warm colors. So in combination, you may find that royal blue looks better on you than yellow.
You could watch my video titled 'Cool undertone with Golden Overtone' where I sort of talk about this indirectly.
Merriam Style thank you! I will check it out ☺️
Tan or beige or rust orange look horrendous on me. Give me some bubble gum pink, medium blue, purple, and bright Snow White.
I think there is a simple explanation as to why warm undertones tend to look ok in cool colors whereas cool undertones look awful in warm colors. Blue and yellow are complementary colors and they highlight one another. If you are warm and wear something cool, the blue in that cool color highlights the yellow in your skin, so you might have this golden overtone. But if you are cool and wear something warm, the yellow in that warm color brings out everything blue in your skin and you might look like a corpse. I am exaggerating, but the idea is that yellowish overtones might be not ideal, but they look so much less sick and unnatural that blue ones.
I couldn't agree more!
this is what 'simultaneous contrast' actually does! and this is also why cool colors are more likely to be recommended for warm undertones than vice versa. no one in good conscience can tell a cool undertone to wear orange 'because of simultaneous contrast' but warm undertones are told to wear teal all the time 'because of simultaneous contrast'. and it does look nice on them and make them look more golden, just less even toned still!
If you can..please make a video like this on a warm delicate person with dark black/brown hair and brown eyes. Light to medium skin tone ?
I get so confused, but I think I’m warm and soft, but not as soft as someone like Mila Kunis. For the longest time I thought I was supposed to be cool, like what some people call deep winter, but I’m looking through old pictures of myself, and I feel like it just isn’t quite right on me. I guess I just find it hard to be objective because there’s some warm colors I don’t think look good on me, like certain yellows. I also don’t feel like I look particularly good in cream colors, but I also don’t really look good in white, but I look good in true black, but not in dark grays. I feel like I look good in both cool, and warm reds, both bright, and muted. You have such a good eye for this, and I feel like I’m just a mess with trying to figure it all out🤷🏻♀️🙈
Firstly, Ms. Merriam, you've got the face of a '90s anime character. That is a compliment, of course. You're face has intrigued me as I've tried to understand Kibbe's system. The outlines of your eyes consist of, not only rounded lines, but sharp lines. They are perfectly answer D. I won't go on, as I don't want this comment to be too long.
I believe the reason warm undertones look OK in all colors (not their best, but OK) is because warm undertones are associated with good health. When we go out in the sun, our skin gets a tinge warmer. I've read as well that the skin of those who eat more fruit and vegetables have more of a yellow tint to their skin than those who eat less. So, it's associated with a healthy lifestyle, basically.
I agree that there are no truly neutral colors. It is simply that, when speaking of things, we need a "starting point". "Neutral" red and green are like zero.
That's too funny I looked up some 90s anime characters and I can kind of see it. I feel like I should do a 'transformation' (with this newfound knowledge that I apparently look like one) into an anime character but the competition for that is so fierce with lots of ladies doing a much better job than I ever could I'm sure!
And agreed about the warm undertones associated with health. I also heard that warm undertones have thicker skin, so maybe less blues show through it. Not sure if it's 100% true, but it's probably a combination of all these factors!
@@merriamstyle It so perfectly describes your unique face, doesn't it? I'm sure I'm not the only viewer who would be very interested in seeing such a video. 1,000 girls could do anime transformation videos 10x better than yours, but it wouldn't matter to me because I don't care to watch them. You approach beauty in a more analyzing, artistic way, rather than a "Trust me, this isn't an advertisement for overly-expensive products, 90% of which are unnecessary" way. You could maybe even find an anime character that looks to be soft gamine (as far as one can tell).
I've heard that to be the case with warmer skin as well-the thing about thicker skin-and it sort of makes sense. Some types of skin adapted to be more sun-protectant (skin thickness, darkness), and some adapted to let more sunlight in (skin thinness, lightness).
Thank you for addressing one of my all time personal color analysis pet peeves--UNIVERSAL COLORS!
I totally agree with you that there are no colors that are universally flattering on everyone. And, I have certainly noticed that most colors that are generally put in this so-called universal category are cool. I inquired about the reason for the predominance of cool colors noted as "universal" in another online color system. Unfortunately the analyst never responded to me, but I would have loved to have heard her explanation.
Kathleen Boyd More people are cool rather than warm. You will find the seasons skewed in favor of warm in some countries but overall more folks have cool undertones.
@@Lotus7119-9 Carla--Thanks for the insight! Are you a personal color analyst? I ask because I have heard a couple of other personal color analysts state that there are more cool than warm individuals. This can be the basis for the so-called universal colors being predominantly cool hues; but this does not alter my opinion that universal colors look good on every individual. I have not done professional color analyses so my experience is based on my observations of myself and others, and of course watching Merriam's videos where the photos are very helpful.
@@Lotus7119-9 --Cala, my sincere apologies for misspelling your name in my first reply to you!
I see something different in many of these examples 😕
What do you see!
Thanks again for another great video. It makes me wonder what that I could be one of those universal skin tone
I think I'm warm but I've been wearing mostly "universal colors" my whole life. Didn't know they were actually my worst colors :( Thank you so much for this video tho!
yes, you're a universal person!!
Do you think Indoors lightening can mislead you into thinking you're warm instead of cool? I feel like I look extremely yellow inside even compared to other people but whenever I look photos of me taken outdoors it's a completely different tone almost porcelain with slightly pink cheeks. I've noticed cool tones look a bit yellowish under electric lights as well just not as much as I do. Is it possible to be cool undertoned but look extremely yellow under certain lights?? I'm lost. And if this wasn't confusing enough people around me can't seem to agree some say I look like snow white (I have dark hair) and others seem to think I have a tan all year long
Now I can really clean my closet. Bravo. Love your passion
In my opinion, your (and my) worst colour is beige or greenish-beige, not yellow.
YES! It literally looks sickly on people with cool undertones. Especially a muddy greenish beige, which can look so elevated and sophisticated on a warm and delicate person.
Oh my god every shade of tan looks soooooo bad on me... I'd rather wear orange than tan 😂
Can you be warm delicate but also deep autumn( bright?)
It would be interesting how different undertones look against perfect neutral red and perfect neutral green. I know in real life they don't exist but we can do it with photoshop, just for fun.
I have a difficult time telling what the undertones are between similar colors and also between warm and cool shades. Is there a color wheel or something similar that I can buy to take with me when I shop?
I should probably make some, but still not sure about the logistics. Would you be good with it being digital or would you prefer real life color cards? In general, the only four colors to 'worry' about are gray, brown, green, and red. Those can be cool or warm depending on the specific version of it. But all yellows are warm, and all blues are cool, and all purples are cool.
Merriam Style thank you for your reply. I would prefer something to hold on a card because I’ve searched for images of color wheels and they all look different on my smartphone. Thank you again I love your videos
once you know yours (warm/cool) you just put them against your skin. i simply extend my arm and i wrap the fabric around it a bit.
two days ago i found a scarf I COULD SWEAR it was a cool green. but it looked so bad with my skin i realised it must be warm, must have yellow in it tho it didnt looked the part.
Yes a color card would be perfect. Especially for the colors you listed.
@@merriamstyle color card. I need one because these internet colors are unreliable.
Another great video about colors. Well done!
Hi Merriam, I really appreciate Your videos. But this time I think, that Your model isn t so much warm. Maybe she is more near to neutral. I am warm (much more than her) and this universal colors are to cool for me and I don t look good in them- really. So Yes, maybe she is one of this universal people. Have a great week!
Cool greens, navy blue look amazing on my skin it brightens my face makes my hazel eyes look greener but when I drape a cool yellow and a bright blue, yellow looks better even though it’s cooler. So how to figure this out if I look better in yellow vs the blue but at the same time the darker blues and greens like teal makes my skin look so much better? I tested warm yellow against cool yellow and the cool yellow is so much better. Golden yellows are no good as well
Question about Merriam Style Club : Are any of your deleted youtube videos available through club? I was looking for the video you did about Lily Cole but I can't find it anywhere.
Merriam, I love your channel and advice.
I would like to express how frustrated I get every time you say warm-toned ladies look fine in everything. I'm warm and bright and *often* , when I am wearing gray, people ask if I'm sick. I'm not even exaggerating. I wonder if you feel that we look fine in everything because the grass is always greener...
Thank you, I'll try to tone it down a bit. But also it's worth noting that it's not because the grass is greener (first of all I absolutely looove my cool and delicate colors). It's really because it's the warm and delicate ladies who get mistyped the most as cool (with a lot of my clients, and with celebrity examples). Cool people get mistyped as warm way less often.
And it is because cool people still look worse on average in their worst colors than warm people do (but there is variability, so please don't take it to mean that I'm talking about your personal experience, I do believe you that you look miserable in cool colors just as you say--it's a general rule of thumb, not necessarily going to be true for every single person)!
@@merriamstyle Hmmm... I like your point about warm and delicate. My sister-in-law looks fine in both peach and gray, so she has a delicate undertone (I think cool, but I'm not sure). I'm warm and radiant and always have the most yellow skin of anyone in the room, haha! I also haven't seen the sun in a little while...
Again, I really enjoy your channel and advice! I just bought this beautiful coral dress with a theatrical romantic cut! I think I'll get another in yellow!
@@ebatdorf9991 thank you for your kind words!
Awesome. I feel the same about greens and reds, I’m no fun either. Haha. Very interesting about the warm and radiant people....
Do you think that most skin undertone/season typing puts warm and delicate individuals as "neutrals"? I have been told I'm a million different skin tones by people who gave typed me. Last person said I was neutral when I was shopping for foundation I personally think I'm some sort of muted skin tone (I thought cool) but I'm never 'grayed' by any color and I think most colors are okay on me but I prefer blues, muted reds, greens to look my best. I suppose that would put me at cool and delicate but I don't look bad in pastel yellow, I wear one jacket often and have gotten several compliments which wouldn't be the case if I was cool.. right? I don't wear most bright colors except white and black which I think looks terrific on me. Idk. Right now I just wear most muted colors and call it a day.
Another thing for warm & delicates, speakign from experience, is that we don't really have a 'shade'. A lot of people will say: 'I have a yellow undertone' or 'I have a pink undertone' or 'I am nearly orange' or 'I have a very blue undertone', but when we're talking about the topic (I do arts so me and my classmates talk about colours and undertones regularly) and we come to me, I am....What am I? Just pale, I continue joking. Probably around the palest you can be while still being somewhat warm, near cate blanchett.
Veronica Watson Pastel yellow works best on Summers.
Thank you for your enlightening videos! Your passion is both endearing and inspiring 💜💜💜
i am cool and delicate. i always stick to cool colours in general.
I can clearly see what you’re saying in these pictures. I just tried this exact thing with a picture of myself and a background of very similar colors of fabric I found on google… I’m still stuck. I can’t see any of these distinctions on myself. 😭😂
I've had the worst time finding my undertone. I've asked friends, professionals, and I've tried apps. I get mixed answers all the time, and the most common answer is that I am neutral, but I agree with you that neutral isn't really a thing. I hadn't heard that warm tones look good in most colors before, and this makes me wonder if I'm actually leaning to warm and that's why I get mixed answers?
yes, you're most likely warm and delicate. if you were cool, you'd know. ;)
@@merriamstyle Thank you so much! I'm running with that!
Mauve rhymes with drove, clove, stove. At least it does in the UK.
LOL puting back a clothe just because it's slightly cooler or warmer is taking this way too seriously
Thanks M!
Can you help us buy the right lipstick and blusher, eyeshadow colours
But I love royal blue... and even I'm warm and delicate... 🙈
Beautiful video..
That looks like Bunny Michel
I sent you a mail about this a bit ago, about how it could come that warm people look not as bad in their worst colours that cool people.
Ben je Nederlands?
@@nala3055 Nee, Vlaams.
We love your long videos!! 😍❤️
I don't know my best color, but I know my worst colors, and it's bright yellow and baywatch badingsuit red. It gives me eye cancer.
In theory, universal colors should be neither too deep nor too muted, and in neutral undertone and would not flatter anybody, but would not make someone look the worst either. So it's helpful when you love some item that does not come in your best colors.
Thank you! I learn so much with your videos!!!!
For me you look better in warm colors 😭
Woah so there's no neutral red or neutral green. Yep, I forgot that real life isn't perfect
yes I think we can come close but never really have it.
Your videos are always so informative. Please continue with your wonderful work! :)
love youuuuuu!!!! i was wondering whats your zodiac sign?
Leo! But on the cusp of cancer. :)
Merriam Style im a Leo too!!! thats why you’re a sweetheart
I watch so many of these videos and I still have no clue. It just doesn't click in my head. I'm 55 years old and just don't get it. All I know is I look awful in mustard, olive and camel. Beyond that, I got nothing. ????? So confused.
You're probably cool then! Are you confused between cool and delicate and cool and radiant? You could try magenta vs placid blue and take a look at your skin and how it looks against the two.
@@merriamstyle my father-in-law said magenta is my color. But I also get compliments when I wear that soft, dusty pink that was popular last year. That is a contradiction, isn't it? I think I look best in royal blue but I also look good in a dusty soft blue.
I have an interesting problem that is loosely related, wondering if anyone else has experienced this - light yellow is probably my best colour, people make a big fuss when I wear it and I'm pretty sure I'm a warm undertone however my lips seem to be a cool undertone? magenta and purple lipsticks look really close to my natural lip colour. When I wear purple all over I look paler and a bit ashy 😕
I think that's quite common because the pigment in our lips is different from the pigment in our skin. I wouldn't necessarily call it a problem, but I can offer some 'solutions'!
First, you're most likely warm and delicate, doesn't matter what your lip color is, it's the skin that counts, and as you say, purple doesn't look great on you, and muted yellow does--this is warm and delicate. So we can get it out of the way and say it doesn't change your best colors!
Second, I would say that if you wear minimal make up, and your best colors like light yellow, salmon, olive green (you might be in between warm and delicate and warm and radiant), *and* you wear minimal make up, you'll look great! This is because even with your cool lip color, I'm sure there are other parts of your face that are also cool (maybe around your eyelids, for example). The warm colors will even your skin tone as a whole, and those cool aspects will complement nicely with the warm aspects of your coloring. No worries! In principle, purples and yellows look great together for example, so having this dynamic mixture of cool and warm to your overall coloring isn't a bad thing, it probably looks cool and interesting and draws the eye for longer!
The other option is, if you're wearing more make up on a day, wear your warm colors, wear warm lipstick. Like a muted coral color, or, if that yellow that you're wearing is quite soft, wear a soft nude golden type of lipstick if it fits with the look for an overall soft look! No big deal either way! Play around and see what you like better, or switch it up day to day!
Hope that helped!
@@merriamstyle Wow! thanks for the in depth reply. I'm glad it's common, I thought I might have been seeing things. Love your channel Merriam ❤
Do you think this could be partly cultural? Spray tan is very golden.
It could be, I'm not sure. But maybe markers of health (like not looking gray) are cross cultural so it could be a mix. Definitely here in the US at least, the 'golden' look is culturally exalted in some ways. I'd be curious to see if people from other parts of the world think!
Here in CZ the tan, golden look is preferred, you often get called sickly if you are very pale. What just popped into my head is that maybe people subconsciously recognized the fact that warm undertones look better in more colours than cool undertones as Merriam stated, and since we wear clothes so much (lol) it could be the reason why the golden spray tan got so popular?, mainly among "westernised" populace it seems. What do you think ladies 😅, lolol
@@ju2082 I know that, historically, fair skin has been in favor in certain parts of Europe and Asia, because it meant you didn't have to work outside. And I get the impression that 'rosy'(cool) was perceived as healthier than 'sallow'(warm) in Victorian literature. But having a golden complexion does seem to be the universal ideal at this point.
@@merriamstyle I've mentioned this in a comment already, but I will repeat it here:
Those with a higher consumption of fruit and veg had more of a yellowish tinge to their skin than those with a lower consumption. (Of course, those with a cool undertone didn't become warm and warm undertones didn't become bananas.) And then there is the association with the outdoors. So, I don't think it is entirely cultural.
@@unneighborlyarcades6356 Yes, agreed! I actually edited out a part where I was ranting about warmer undertones looking 'sunkissed' and that's not really a bad look in general ('bad' is subjective but looking gray is generally a sign of poorer health, so we probably think 'this person looks ill' if they are cool and they wear yellow and tend to 'risk' looking a bit grayed).
And perhaps there's something to be said for the veggies--I don't tend to eat too many veggies and I'm cool. But then again I'm sure there are tons of celebrities with pristine diets who 'count colors not calories' etc and eat tons of veggies, and are also cool. Interesting to think about!
i really like your voice!!!
"Universal colors are not a thing"
Gtreat video :)
Nailed it!