Spring skin tones, which are warm, often belong to women

How To Choose The Color Of Your Prom Dress

Prom night is your chance to shine, and by choosing the right set of colors for your prom dress and ensemble, you can make not only your figure and your dress look fantastic, but your face, skin and hair as well. Use your skin's natural hues influence the dress color or pattern you choose. A dress which matches your skin's natural tone will make you appear more vibrant and glowing, while the wrong color can make you appear sallow, sleep-deprived or pale.

Determining Skin Tone

Before choosing a prom dress color, you must first know your skin tone! Skin tones are broken down into two main categories: cool and warm. People with cool skin tones have pinkish-blue undertones to their skin, while those with warm tones have golden undertones. The easiest way to determine which type you belong to is to wash all makeup from your face, then alternately hold silver and gold foil up to your face. The right metal will make your face appear glowing and healthy, while the wrong color will make your skin look grayish and washed out. Silver looks best on cool skin tones, and gold looks best on warm tones.

Once you've determined whether your skin tone is warm or cool, you'll need to find out which season you are. Winter complexions (cool) are typically pale white, yellowish-olive or dark, typically belonging to people with brown or black hair and dark eyes. Inversely, summer complexions (also cool) also have blue or pink undertones, but people with these complexions tend to have hair which doesn't contrast their skin tone as much; most summer-complexioned people are natural blondes or brunettes with light colored eyes.

Spring skin tones, which are warm, often belong to women with creamy ivory skin, freckled pink skin, or darker, suntanned skin coloring. Most people with spring skin tones have strawberry blonde or light red hair with blue or green eyes. Autumn complexioned skin tones have golden undertones which are more bronzed or orange-colored than spring tones. Women with ivory or dark, beige or golden brown skin tones, dark red or brunette hair and brown eyes often fall into this category.

Colors for Winter Tones

Winter complexioned girls have a lot of options when it comes to choosing the best prom dress colors; winter skin tones tend to look best in intense, rich colors such as navy blue, crimson, hot pink and black, but lighter colors such as bright white or fluorescent pastels look great too. Winter complexioned girls should avoid prom dresses in earth tones, which may make them appear pale or sallow.

Colors for Summer Tones

Summer skin tones look most stunning in cool, muted colors and pastels such as baby blue, rose, lavender, plum and even pale yellow. Intense, harshly contrasting colors and earth tones tend to make summer skin tones look washed out.

Colors for Spring Tones

Girls with spring skin tones tend to look best in prom dresses with pale, soft colors such as camel, yellow, ivory, kelly green, coral and sky or aqua blues. Spring complexioned girls should avoid dresses with colors that are too harsh and contrasting, such as black, stark white and dark brown. Girls with spring complexions look stunning in the kind of flowing, soft floral patterned fabrics and soft pastels which are popular this season.

Colors for Autumn Tones

Girls with autumn skin tones should look for prom dresses in rich, earthy or spicy colors such as olive orange, gold, rust red, dark brown or a rich gray. Autumn colors always work well on autumn skin tones, but prom dresses in excessively bright colors and blue tones should be avoided.

Beach Wedding Dresses Don't Have To Be Plain Or Boring

Many couples are considering alternatives to the usual church wedding and for some, this means marrying on a beach. Beach weddings are intimate and highly romantic, but they also offer other wonderful perks which many people are a little surprised to discover.

One of the joys of a beach wedding is that everything gets to be scaled down to a more serene and unique level. With the beautiful scenery as background, you can spend more time working on the vows that you will be saying to each other. You can also spend more time choosing the wedding outfits, and for the bride that means finding her beach wedding dress! Whether you are marrying on distant shores or having a more casual affair at your local beach, choosing the perfect dress is every bit as important and deserves all the attention and consideration you can give it.

One of the best parts of a beach wedding is that no aspect need be expensive. As a matter of fact, when choosing your dress, the biggest question is probably what type of dress do you want to wear - do you go with a more traditional gown or something less formal?

Regardless of the type of dress you decide on, every bride wants it to be uniquely hers. It's the little details that will really make you fall in love with your wedding dress. Here are some creative ways you can incorporate to help make your dress your own:

- Tie a wide silk ribbon, chiffon sash or cummerbund around your waist. For a little added punch, use a color other than your dress color. For instance, if your dress is white, how about contrasting the waist band in ivory or champagne - you could even coordinate it with one of your wedding colors. This is a particularly good option for evening dresses for girls a second wedding when you don't want to wear a totally white dress.

- Try a dress of a different color other than white - like champagne, blush pink, baby blue, or even something vibrant like red!

- If an entire dress in red is too dramatic for you, but you like the idea, how about an accent of color around the neckline, hem or waist? This is really a great idea to play up the season of your wedding - red for winter holidays, maybe women designer clothes gold for fall, or turquoise for summer.

- A basic dress can be embellished with embroidery, possibly with a little pale color in the design. You could add some pearls, Swarovski crystals, sequins, colored rhinestones, or chiffon fabric flowers into the design.

- If you are adventurous, you could alter the hemline. A high-low design where the dress is knee length in front and floor length in back is a popular style for the flirty look of a tropical wedding dress. Out on the beach you might not want a simple plus size wedding dresses full length dress, so perhaps you might consider shortening it to tea length for a more casual wedding dress feel.

You can truly be creative with your beach wedding dress and it can still be quite affordable. But, if you love the look of the basic little dress with only a smattering of flowers in your hair, then this should be what you wear.

Remember, your dress should be a montage boutique by mon cheri reflection of who you are and it should also reflect the environment you are marrying in. A beach wedding embraces a love of nature and this should come through in your wedding dress.

There are no rules for a casual beach wedding dress, so feel free to express yourself and make your dress a special one, just for you.