Colour analysis
Colours for medium skin tone
This is your palette
Medium skin – the beige tile in our quiz, between light and olive – does not decide warm or cool on its own: it leans one small step warm, as every skin answer but porcelain does, so your eyes, hair and skin settle it together, and a check at the mirror after the result has the last word. What it does favour is softened colour at a middle depth, so with the rest of your answers it most often leads to True Autumn, then to Soft Summer or Soft Autumn. Red hair keeps it in True Autumn every time, black hair takes it to a Winter, and grey hair softens it to Soft Autumn or Soft Summer.
What it says about your colouring
On its own, it leans warm.
It softens the colours that suit you.
It reads mid-depth.
The palettes it leads to most often
Colours to try first
- Burnt Sienna
- Warm Rust
- Dusty Blue
- Soft Periwinkle
- Warm Terracotta
- Soft Ochre
Pieces in these colours
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ShirtBurnt SiennaAmazon ↗
DressWarm RustAmazon ↗
ShirtDusty BlueAmazon ↗
DressSoft PeriwinkleAmazon ↗
ShirtWarm TerracottaAmazon ↗
DressSoft OchreAmazon ↗The photo shows the colour and the cut, not the product the search finds.
Tips
- Start in the middle of the scale. Colours of medium depth with a little softness in them – warm rust, sage teal, dusty blue, moss green – sit easily on medium skin. Icy pastels tend to wash it out and stark black near the face tends to look heavy, so keep those for trousers, shoes and bags.
- Place beige itself with care. A top in exactly your own shade blurs where your skin ends and the garment starts; go a step lighter – warm ivory, oatmeal – or a step deeper – camel, warm taupe – and the same neutral works. Nude shoes are the exception: there, matching your own shade is the point, because it lengthens the leg.
- With red, blond or light brown hair, start with the Autumns. True Autumn’s warm rust, burnt sienna, golden ochre and deep teal come first; if they feel loud, Soft Autumn’s terracotta, moss green and wheat gold say the same thing more quietly. Your white is warm ivory rather than optic white, and gold or bronze usually sits better than bright silver.
- With grey hair the result moves to the soft side, to Soft Summer or Soft Autumn, and brown hair or blue, green or grey eyes can take it there too. To find your side, hold Soft Summer’s ash rose and dusty blue under your chin in daylight, then Soft Autumn’s terracotta and muted teal. The pair that makes your skin look even rather than grey or yellowish is yours.
- Black hair changes the picture. Next to medium skin it adds contrast, and the result moves to True Winter or Deep Winter, where clearer colour suits you: cherry red, cool cobalt, royal purple, emerald and deep sapphire. Here pure white and real black work near the face, and silver tends to beat gold.
How to find your palette
Colour analysis reads three things in your colouring: warm or cool, light or deep, clear or soft. The quiz asks about your eyes, hair and skin, looked at in a mirror by a window in daylight. It never photographs or scans your face, and the palette it finds is yours to keep.