By BB Curtis

Life can be hectic, unsettling, confusing, disheartening, and downright overpowering.  There are issues at home, issues at work, and issues with or surrounding people we love.  We are expected to do too much in too little time.  We get less and less sleep, either from having too much to do or because our minds are constantly trying to figure out what we can do to make things right and never really relax enough to get some solid sleep.  We suffer physical and emotional pain for ourselves and for those we love.  We just have too much happening!

When we already feel down, tired, and maybe depressed, it is that much harder to accomplish what we must.   We fall further and further behind creating more stress.  It’s time for a change!

Have you ever had a really rough night’s sleep and looking in the mirror in the morning was painful?  You were awake several times during the night because you were kind of half-sick.  Your skin was a pasty gray; there were bags under your eyes; your hair was limp; you felt like crap.  So you jumped in the shower and took a little extra time with your makeup, making sure that it complimented the clothes you’d decided to wear.  Since the hair wouldn’t comply, you pulled it back in a decorative clamp.  You put on your favorite suit – the one that has always elicited at least a couple of compliments.  You made a concerted effort to make yourself look better so that you’d feel better.   You left the house feeling as though you could make it through the day – maybe not take over the world, just get through the day gracefully.  Guess what.  It worked.  Several people at the office told you how refreshed you look, and they knew what a rotten day you’d had yesterday.  How do you do it?  You are amazing.

Then, there’s the reverse.  You get up in the morning, feeling rather jaunty.  You take a little extra time primping because you know that it’s going to be a better day than usual – you feel great!  You decide to wear your hair down today because it is just too pretty and full of life to pull back.  You put on that new suit on which you splurged and spent too much — the one that is that oh-so-in-vogue shade of green.  You get to work, and everybody to whom you speak asks if you’re feeling all right, telling you that you look tired and your coloring isn’t very good.  Now your great day is in the toilet.  Even though you felt wonderful, now you’re sucked dry, tired, and worn out with no drive for the day.  The power of others’ opinions got you.  Ok, so we’re all human.  When our friends and associates tell us something, we internalize it.  Our minds run right with it, and we allow ourselves to be carried along.

However, they didn’t lie to you on either occasion.  On the day that you really felt horrible, you did some things that helped your appearance.  On the day that you felt good, you did some other things that reduced your natural vibrancy.  How do you make sure that every day you look your best?  What are the things that you can do on a regular basis to make you fabulous?

The first thing is to determine whether your skin’s undertone is cool or warm.  If you’re unfamiliar with this concept, there are some easy ways to determine this. 

1. What color are the veins on the inside of your wrist?
   1. Greenish = Warm
   2. Bluish to purplish = Cool
2. What is the color of your nail beds when you are not wearing any polish?
   1. Peach = Warm
   2. Pink/Reddish = Cool
3. Which color, when placed close to your face without any makeup, makes your skin look healthy?  Using natural sunlight gives the best results.
   1. Peach  = Warm
   2. Powder Blue  = Cool
4. If you get a mixture or results here, you have neutral undertones and can wear either cool or warm colors.

Now you can choose proper colors to help with a healthy glow instead of the wrong colors making you look sallow and a bit sickly.  Warm skin tones generally have yellow undertones (think of the heat and color of the sun) while cool skin tones have bluish undertones (like the blue of cool water). These color choices apply to all the colors you wear, including makeup, polish, hair color, and clothing.  

In the first example above, the color of the suit (which had received compliments from others already) is more than likely compatible with your skin tone, bringing out a more healthy appearance even under less-than-perfect circumstances.  In the second example above, the stylish green shade could be either yellow-green or blue-green.  If you have warm skin tones, the blue-green does not enhance the natural you.  Likewise, if you have cool skin tones, yellow-greens will not bring out the best you.  In both cases, you will tend to appear tired; and your skin tone will not look especially healthy no matter how good you feel.

Most of this is quite simple:  Warm folk should choose both makeup and clothing colors (especially those that are right next to the face) that contain some yellow – yellows, oranges, yellow-greens, orangey reds, browns, olives, khakis – and steer clear of colors containing blue.  Cool folk should choose both makeup and clothing colors (especially those that are right next to the face) that contain some blue – blues, violets, blue-reds, blue-greens, black – and steer clear of colors containing yellow.

Playing it Safe in Your Closet

Once you’ve determined what colors are best for you, it’s time to clean out your closet and delete the colors that don’t enhance your natural beauty.  There is no reason to keep things that make you look unhealthy and/or overly tired for no reason other than them being incompatible with your skin’s undertone.  If you’re lucky enough to have a friend who is a cool to your warm or vice versa, and you wear virtually the same clothing sizes, clean out your closets and trade.  If not, there are plenty of charities in need of donations.  You are doing both you and them a favor.  This is also a good time to get rid of any makeup that makes you look more like the walking dead than the vivacious goddess you were born to be.

Trim Down Your Shopping Time

You can now save time when shopping for clothing.  Before you begin your shopping trip, make a list of the colors that enhance your skin tone.  At the store, eliminate all colors that do not benefit you and look only for those that magnify your natural beauty.  In the long run, you will be more pleased with your purchases since they will accentuate your coloring, helping you to look your best at all times.  Do the same when choosing makeup shades – foundations, blushes, eye shadows, nail polish, etc.  You’ll find that you will save not only time but money by choosing user-friendly colors and shades.

Hair Color and Style

If you are 30 or younger and are not looking to make your way up the food chain, if you are a showgirl or have a lounge act in Vegas or Atlantic City, or if you are in a situation where you don’t have to comply with corporate standards, this may not apply; however, there are a couple of basics about hair that should be mentioned here.  In the movie Working Girl, Melanie Griffith’s character states, “If you want to be taken seriously, you have to have serious hair.”  This pretty much tells the tale when it comes to corporate America and more traditional professions.  In addition, shorter hairstyles or those that pull the hair away from the face do not drag down your face and do not accentuate bags and wrinkles around the eyes, giving a younger look.  A style that accentuates your bone structure should be chosen.  It is usually best to consult a professional stylist to get ideas, opinions, and a good cut. 

If you color your hair, keep hair colors as close to real shades as possible (the same exceptions apply here as to hairstyles).  Colors that have yellowish tones – golden blondes, strawberry blondes, auburns, and chocolate and golden browns – are more attuned to warm skin tones.  Cool-toned women can choose mink to platinum blondes, ash browns, and black to blue-black.  It is generally a good idea to keep the color intensity in tune with your natural skin tone.  Darker skin can handle darker hair colors in most cases.  Generally speaking, avoid extremes. 

Again, consulting a professional can be very helpful. 

There are, of course, some exceptions such as being a cosmetologist/colorist/stylist or working in another specialty career such as a tattoo artist or other less mainstream professions. 

Once you’ve got your new look going, and you’ve eliminated the colors that are not helping you put yourself in your own best light, when the cruddy stuff happens you will be in a better frame of mind to handle it.  By the way, cleaning out your closet and your bathroom or vanity drawers will make you feel better too.  These are two steps toward simplifying your life, which is, in itself, a stress reducer. 

Live well.

 © Bobbi Bartsch Curtis, 2022, All Rights Reserved.