does our skin colour change when we get older?
does our skin colour change when we get older?
Here are a few questions I am frequently asked…
"I had my colours done years ago. Do you change colour as you get older?"
"My skin and hair have changed, so am I now a different season?"
The answer is NO.
You cannot physically change your skin colour, but our skin naturally becomes muted as we age. Our complexion gets paler, and our hair loses its pigment, gradually replaced by grey. We must reflect on how we approach the colours of our hair, make-up, and clothing to ensure we enhance our appearance and make the most of these changes.
cool skin colouring
Here we have Fiona. She is an example of a person with cool-coloured skin and hair. She has been analysed as a seasonal WINTER. Her colour characteristics are cool, deep, and bright.
When Fiona was younger, her hair was very dark; now, as she is older, grey has appeared mainly around the top and sides of her hair, staying dark at the back.
To look her best, she needs to continue wearing her winter colours from her palette, ensuring she is looking dramatic, strong, icy, steely and contrasty. She also needs makeup to match her skin tone, a cool, pink blusher, cool eyeshadows, and black mascara.
Let’s look at these four pictures and discuss her hair colour options -
PIC 1 - If Fiona were to go grey completely, this could work, as grey is a cool, steely colour. However, it depends on the formation of the hair colour. It looks fantastic if there is an overall look of black and white; hence, looking contrasty. However, due to the skin muting, winters can look faded, losing their contrast.
PIC 2 - We get it! It is a real pain having dark hair and white roots. The regrowth comes through within two weeks! To stop making this so visible, people dye their natural hair a lighter shade, usually a warm blonde. This makes the white regrowth less visible.
If you have cool skin colouring, this is a no-no! Can you see in the picture that the warm blonde reflects warmth onto her skin, making her look yellow and not being authentic with her natural skin?
PIC 3 - When your skin gets paler, so should your hair colour. Dyeing your hair the colour it used to be looks hard, solid and unnatural. Tinting your hair the same colour as when you were younger is a no!
PIC 4. YES!
This is our magic trick that is a winner!
Due to more grey coming through over the years, Fiona looked faded and muted. We devised a great solution to honour her colour characteristics, to make her look natural, and easy to maintain. We kept the natural grey hair but added some random darker pieces (one shade lighter than her natural hair colour). The dark tone pulls out the contrast from her eyes, eyebrows, and skin tone. Fabulous!
warm skin colouring
Here we have Annette. She is an example of a person with warm-coloured skin and hair. She has been analysed as a seasonal AUTUMN. Her colour characteristics are warm, deep, and muted.
When Annette was younger, her hair was darker, with a lovely glow of warmth running through it, linking with her skin and eyes. As she is now older, grey has started to appear randomly through the head, and her skin is paler.
To look her best, she needs to continue wearing the autumnal colours from her palette, ensuring she looks rich, earthy, burnished and tawny. Her makeup needs to match her skin tone, a warm salmon blusher, warm eyeshadows, and brown mascara.
Let’s look at these four pictures and discuss her hair colour options -
PIC 1 - Here, Annette’s natural darker hair connects with her eyes. She is wearing one of her warm colours to connect with her colour characteristics.
PIC 2 - Here, we see some grey appearing. Some blonde highlights have been put in to reduce the contrast with her natural colour. This doesn’t work; she looks too light and loses her natural darker hair colour. Also, the primary, contrasty colours do not link with her natural warmth.
PIC 3 & 4 - Here, we can see how wonderful she looks with the right colours against her face, matching her natural hair and eyes.
We suggest adding some natural darker tones for depth in future hair colouring. Additionally, incorporating warm golden and coppery shades to maintain those lovely characteristics.
Unfortunately, warmth disappears when you are warm colouring. We strongly advise you to return the warmth to look glowing and radiant.
If you are going grey and looking washed out and unsure how to tackle this with your colouring, clothes and makeup, why not have a colour analysis to give you all the answers.