Choosing the correct colour for Indian skin is tricky! What looks good on the mannequin may not look good against your skin. So here’s a basic and pretty simple guide to getting it right every time you walk out of the door.

Make sure you pick clothes in colours that flatter your natural skin tone. Generally cold colours (blue, green, purple) work with pale skin tones and warm colours (brown, rust, orange and few shades of yellow) complement dusky skin tones. Neutral colours like black and white suit mostly everyone.

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Never drape yourself in metallic tones of gold, silver, copper or dark shades of grey, navy-blue and black in the peak of summer. Opt instead for colours that are easy and soothe the eye– like white, pastels or certain shades of blue and green.

Always wear lighter colours in the day and darker ones in the night. This means you need to wear pastels and shades of white, ivory and beige for lazy afternoons, hectic days at work, Sunday brunches and short weekend leisure trips. You can go bright but not dark. Keep the blacks, reds, darker shades of brown, grey, blue, green, purple and all the jewel tones exclusively aside for partying, dining or going out at night.

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‘Fiery pink’ is said to be the single most preferred colour for Indian skin tones, with designer Malini Ramani describing it as the magical Indian colour. Pink, with its soft tone and brightness, adds radiance to the Indian skin. Designer Abdul Halder says, “Pink brings a glow to the face.”

Since we have many different skin tones in our country, a colour that can be somewhat moulded to different variations is desired by designers. Fiery pink works well for fair skin and a toned fuchsia pink is good for wheatish skin tones. Pink also complements the dark skin tones.