Does Your Colour Type Change When You Are Suntanned?
It is one of the most frequent questions I get asked during presentations and in summer.
"Does my Colour Type change in summer when I am suntanned?"
No. Your Colour Type is the same no matter whether you are pale or suntanned. You are still the same person with the same genetic code and the very same three dimensions of colour. Having said that, there are two points to take into consideration.
Value contrast
On some people, there is little difference between their “normal” skin colour and the suntanned colour. Other people observe a significant jump in the depth of their skin tone from pale to suntanned. If you belong to the letter category, meaning there is a significant difference between the value of your skin (on a value scale) in winter and summer, your value contrast might change when you are suntanned. The value of your skin might shift from your “normal” to a slightly darker value. As a result (and if everything else stays the same), your personal value contrast might slightly diminish when suntanned (assuming your complexion determines the lighter of the two values in value contrast). In that case, you should adjust the way you combine colours from your colour palette to reflect the latest value contrast.
However, let’s not jump to this conclusion too fast. That is why I wrote “if everything else stays the same”. If your suntanned skin gets significantly deeper in value AND your hair (due to the sun) gets significantly lighter in value, then, overall, your value contrast may end up being the same as before! Therefore, always examine your value contrast holistically.
Summer Sunshine
Surrounded by the summer sunshine, it may happen that your tolerance for slightly (and I stress slightly) warmer colours increases. What does it mean? By how much? Well I would say by 1 to 10%. Colours that are ever so slightly warmer than your ideal colours might be worn with less negative impact on your skin-tone during those warm, sunny, golden glow days. This is especially true if your second-best Colour Type is warmer then your actual Colour Type.
For example, Soft Autumn with his second best Colour Type Warm/True Autumn will wear Warm/True Autumn clothes better when suntanned and surrounded by the warm summer sunshine (keeping in mind that Soft Autumn colours will always be his best colours). Cool/True Summer, who wants to wear a Light Summer pink top that is slightly warmer than her Cool/True Summer pink, should wear it in summer rather than in winter.
In conclusion, your Colour Type does not change with suntan. However, what may slightly change is your value contrast as well as your ability to pull off slightly warmer colours with lower penalty. This doesn’t mean that your Colour Type has shifted to the warmer Colour Type. Oh no! All I'm saying is that your ability to pull off ever so slightly warmer colours may increase when you are suntanned and surrounded by the summer sunshine. This is because under the warm and glowing light around you everything may seem slightly warmer including yourself. The stress is on the words might and slightly.
I hope you have a great summer filled with sunshine, fun and happy memories!