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Ditch The Black This Autumn

Most people have black in their wardrobe, some have little other colour in there. But it isn’t always the most flattering of shades, particularly as we get older. It has a tendency to cast shadows around the jowls and highlight fine lines and wrinkles.

So what shades can we introduce into our wardrobe in place of black?

LIGHTS (Cate Blanchett)

Your look is light and delicate and wearing black close to your face can make you look tired and unwell. Try swapping this out for medium grey or rose brown. The key is to mix these with lighter shades such as pastel pink or light apricot.

DEEPS (Catherine Zeta Jones, Michelle Obama)

You do actually get black in your palette as your look is dark and strong and you carry it well. However, it’s easy to ‘play it safe’ but your wardrobe could end up lacking variety. Aubergine and dark navy are sufficiently deep to balance out your look and will add interest to a monochrome wardrobe. Lucky you, you can team these with other deeper or even lighter shades.

WARMS (Sarah Ferguson)

Black looks very flat against your rich, golden look. Bronze and Chocolate are far more flattering shades for you to play around with. You can enhance these colours further by adding other yellow-based shades to them, such as amber or lime.

COOLS (Judi Dench)

As with Deeps, you have a very strong look and black therefore features in your palette. But try charcoal or teal which looks wonderful against your pink skin tone. You look your best with some contrast so team with icy blue or rose pink.

CLEARS (Courtney Cox)

Your overall look is contrasting (very dark hair, bright eyes) so this is another strong palette. Black can be exchanged for dark navy or charcoal and for maximum impact team with lighter, brighter shades such as light aqua or blush pink.

SOFTS (Kate Winslet)

With your mousey/light brown hair and soft, muted eyes, your look is very blended. You will always look better in medium depth colours so black isn’t one of your better shades. Try pewter and cocoa and wear these tonally with other colours of similar depth. Sage (an on-trend shade this year) and light periwinkle will work particularly well.