Without the help of a trained optician, or at the very least a friend with a good eye for fashion, choosing a frame colour for your new pair of glasses can be a bit of a daunting task. Never fear short- and long-sighted friends, your guide to finding frames that fit everything from your skin colour to your personality type is here to help remove some of the pressure of that big purchase. There are four main factors to consider when looking into some fresh new specs which are: skin tone, hair colour, eye colour, and fashion type.
Skin Tone
In the most basic sense, there are only a couple types of skin tone: cool and warm. Those with cool colouring generally have blue or pink undertones. Some examples are very dark skin with blue undertones, brown skin with pink undertones, pale with pink undertones, true olive skin colour, or medium complexions with no colour in the cheeks. Think Anne Hathaway, Courtney Cox, and Penelope Cruz. Glasses colours that tend to look good on people with cold colour tones are bold, bright colours like red and blue. They often do not do well with more natural earth tones, but can look good in them if done properly. Warm colouring has a foundation that is yellow based. People with warm skin colours tend to be very dark brown with golden undertones, medium brown with yellow hues, or pale with peach or golden undertones. Some notable examples are Cameron Diaz, Leona Lewis, and Nicole Kidman. This skin type goes well with those earthy browns, reds, and yellows, and generally clash with the bold purples, bright reds, or turquoise.
Hair colour
Hair colour and skin colour are probably the two most important factors to consider when looking at new frames. Often the hair colour can offset the skin colouring, allowing for looks that would otherwise be a no-no. For example, someone with cold, pale skin and pink undertones can still pull off the deep tortoise shell browns, golds, and blacks if they have rich, earthy auburn/red hair. Hair colour can also be broken up into the warm and cool camps, and is important to look into before going into the store.
Eye colour
Eye colouring should also be considered when looking at new glasses. Matching eye colour with glasses has everything to do with the shades of the eyes. Blue eyes can range from very pale and cold to a dark, rich blue that would be much warmer. The same can be said for brown eyes, where a light shade of brown can be very warm while a much darker shade can be a very cool colour.
Fashion type
Your glasses really have the potential to highlight the type of personality you have by matching them with your fashion choices. If you are the person who loves earthy tops, dresses, trousers, etc., then buying a pair of bright red and yellow frames doesn’t really match, even if it looks good with your skin colour. If, however, you tend to have a boisterous, flamboyant personality and you wear a lot of bright colours or bold patterns, a pair of brown frames might not do your style justice, even if they do look good with your hair.
Bearing all of this in mind, it is time to get into a glasses store and begin the search for new frames. Remember to think about your colouring as well as your personality when hunting, try on numerous potential frames, and always bring someone along who you would trust to tell you when something just doesn’t look good.