Wearing jewelry is one of the ways to enhance beauty, but choosing what to buy can sometimes be challenging. Not all kinds of jewelry can look good on everyone. One piece may look better on one person but look bad on the other. Here’s a guide to help you determine whether that piece you’re eyeing will look great on you or not:

Know Your Skin Tone

Since most jewelry generally sit on your skin, knowing your skin tone can help you pick out the best ones for you. People have different skin tones, and different kinds of jewelry will match them. Here’s how you can determine what your skin tone is:

• Reaction To The Sun

The way your skin reacts when under the sun can help you determine your skin tone. If you have an outdoor wedding, like on the beach, you’d want to pick jewelry for a wedding that will bring out the best in you for that special day. So, before you go walking down the aisle under the rays of the sun, know your skin tone first.

If your skin burns or turns red when you stay too long under the sun, then you most likely have a cool skin tone. It’s because you lack the pigment melanin. If your skin tans or deepens in color without burning then you have more melanin in your skin, which means you may have a skin tone that’s either warm or neutral.

• Look At Your Veins Under Natural Light

Turn off the lights and move to your window or under a shade. Look at your skin, or more specifically on areas where your veins are visible, such as on your inner wrists. If your veins appear to be green, then you have a warm skin tone.

If your veins are more along the lines of blue or purple, then you have a cool skin tone. But, if you can’t determine whether they’re green, blue, or purple, then your skin tone may be neutral.

Metals That Match You

The different metals used on jewelry will look different on different skin tones. It’s why you need to know your skin tone first. Model turned designer Suzanne “Q” Evon, makes unique sterling silver and gold jewelry so if you want to shop from her collection, you’ll need to know what best suits you.

• Warm Skin Tone - Yellow metals look great on you. The best colors that match you are classic gold, rose gold, brass, and copper.

• Cool Skin Tone - White metals will flatter you. White gold, silver, or platinum look best on you. 

• Neutral Skin Tone - If you fall on the neutral skin tone category, you’re blessed. White or yellow metals will suit you no matter what.

Gemstones That Match You

Aside from precious metals, jewelry can also come with gemstones. It can increase the aesthetic of the piece. But since gems also come in many different colors, here are the ones that match you according to your skin tone:

• Warm Skin Tone - Earth colors look best on warm skin tones. Brown, orange, turquoise, and yellow complement the yellow undertone of your skin. Choose gemstones such as sapphire, emerald, topaz, moonstone, garnet, jade, and peridot.

• Cool Skin Tone - Bright colors such as red, green, purple, and blue best suits you. You can pick gemstones such as amethyst, ruby, aquamarine, tourmaline, and fluorite. These colors and stones will make your cool skin look lively.

• Neutral Skin Tone - As usual, any color would look great if you have a neutral skin tone. You can wear bright or earth colors if you please. Diamonds look great on every skin tone, so if you want to play safe, then that’s what you should pick.

Additional Tips

• Your natural hair color can also help determine your skin tone, although it may not be as accurate as the vein or sun test. Redheads and blondes tend to have cool skin tones while brunettes usually have warm skin tones.

• You can also use white paper or cloth to determine your skin tone. You have to hold it up next to your face and look for your undertones. If it appears yellowish, then you have a warm skin tone, but if it has blue undertones, then you have a cool skin tone.

Final Thoughts

The guide above is only to give you an idea of which jewelry may look good on you, but it’s not a rule set in stone that you have to follow strictly. Wear what you think looks good on you. If you feel confident in wearing any metal or color, then go for it.