Saturday, July 25, 2009

Warm Skin Tones vs. Cool Skin Tones

Warm or Cool - Does it matter? Yes, it does! At least for women it does.

If you're wearing the wrong make-up, hair color or clothing colors, you will look older than your age, washed out, sick, tired and drained. Knowing your colors makes a world of difference in your appearance!

Here's how you could tell your skin tone:

If the viens on your inner wrist are blue, you're a cool. If they are green, you are a warm.

You could also pull your hair off your face, remove your make up and examine your skin tone by putting a white towel or piece of paper close to it. If it reflects blue or red, you're a cool. If it reflects yellow, you're a warm.

Most people are cools. Cool skin tones are pale, pale pink, ruddy white, brown with pink undertones, olive (Asian/Hispanic), bronze or black. Cools can have light blond, ash blond, light to dark ash and natural browns and black hair. Their eyes are blue, grey, dark brown or black. Scandinavians and many other Europeans, Africans, Asians and Hispanics are cools. Their coloring could match exclusively or show drastic differences. Examples would be an Asian woman with olive skin, black hair and eyes matching exclusively or a Norwegian woman with very dark hair, pale skin and light blue eyes which reflects a drastic color difference (between hair and eyes).

Warm skin tones could be pale porcelain with invisible golden untones, peach or a golden brown appearance. Warms are nearly exclusively of European descent. Natural hair colors for warms are golden blonde, red, auburn and light to dark golden brown. Warm eye colors are green, amber, hazel and golden browns.

For Cools - Use a pink-based foundation with dramatic, jewel colors for eyes and clothing that runs close to your face. You look great in basic black and white. Stay away from gold, auburn or red for hair color and gold jewelry. Stay with the ash blonds and brunetts, blacks and platiums for hair and silver jewelry! It may be a good idea to have your colors done professionally to determine whether you're a Cool Winter or Cool Summer.

For Warms - Use a yellow-based foundation with lots of red, green and gold clothing that runs close to your face. You look great in deep browns and creamy whites. Stay away from ash tones for the hair and silver jewelry. Stay with golden blond/brunette shades and orange-based reds and auburns for the hair and gold jewelry! It may be a good idea to have your colors done professionally to determine whether you're a Warm Spring or Warm Autumn.

Cool Celebrities - Oprah, Michelle Pfieffer, Gloria Estefan, Michele Kwan, Cher, Jacklyn Smith, Marlo Thomas, Cindy Crawford, Catherine-Zeta Jones, Winona Ryder, Demi Moore

Warm Celebrities - Molly Ringwald, Nicole Kidman, Sara Furgeson

Eye Myths

Debunking the Myths:


Myth #1 - Brown is the most common eye color.

Untrue! Contrary to popular belief, black is a real eye color and most of the world's population has black colored eyes. Asians and Africans do as well as many from their shoot-off races. Brown eyes are visible in color, solid with golden or red specks (remaining solid) and originated in Europe with the white race. For anyone other than European to have brown eyes, they must have European admixture in their ancestry.

Myth #2 - Only white people can have blue eyes.

Untrue! There are many Africans and Asians with blue eyes. (See pictures under "blue eyes".) They appear to be fully black or Asian with bright blue eyes. There are entire tribes in Africa and South America with black skin, blond hair and blue eyes. Many argue this is a natural occurance in these people. I believe, from my study, that it's due to European admixture in their ancestry.

Myth #3 - Blue eyes see better than brown eyes.

Quite the contrary. Brown eyes see better at night and at a distance than blue eyes. However, blue eyes tend to see colors better than brown eyes.

Myth #4 - Wearing glasses all the time will make you dependent upon them.

Wearing glasses constantly will not make you dependent upon them. Refractive errors may increase with time but that is not due to wearing glasses. It may be just a natural occurance with age.

Myth #5 - There are no such thing as black eyes.

There certainly are black eyes, and they are the world's most common eye color. Asians and Africans possess this beautiful color.

Myth #6 - Reading in dim light causing poor vision.

Untrue! It could cause temporary eyes strain that is completely reversed after your eyes are rested.

Myth # 7 - Eating carrots will increase your vision.

This is based upon Vitamin A in carrots. Your source doesn't have to be carrots per se. It could be any source of Vitamin A. However, too much could cause damage.

Myth #8 - Sitting too close to the TV or computer screen could cause eye damage.

Untrue! Neither has been known to cause any eye damage.

Myth #9 - Looking at a total eclipse of the sun is safe with protective devices.

Untrue! You should never, ever look directly at an eclipse or the sun itself. That could cause eye damage.

Myth #10 - There's nothing you could do to prevent vision loss.

Maybe not a few centuries ago but certainly now there is. See a doctor whether you're having problems or not. You should have a yearly exam as a preventative measure. You would be surprised at how much could be avoided with proper care.

Mixed Eyes

This may be tricky for some so I'll try to keep it simple. I in no way mean to insult you. Just dealing with the public on eyes an eye color on a daily basis, I'm quite aware that the average person believes he knows much more than he does and is usually wrong. So here it goes regarding mixed eye color:

Very Light Mixed Eyes - Any of the following combinations: blue, green and/or grey. The colors must be mixed together for it to be a true mix. The eyes appear to change colors according to lighting.

Light Mixed Eyes - Any of the above combinations mixed with brown. This could be blue and brown; blue, green and brown; green, gray and brown; etc. The eyes appear to change color according to lighting.

For Very Light Mixed or Light Mixed Eyes, you may call them a "blue mix", a "green mix", a "grey mix" and even a "brown mix" if you'd like. However, these particular mixes are never, ever properly called "hazel" because hazel is a color of its own.

Mixed Eyes - Mixed Eyes are the above with a balance of both light brown and dark brown pigment. In other words, green eyes with an equal balance of light brown and dark brown mixed or blue, grey and green eyes with an equal balance of light brown and dark brown mixed. The eyes appear to change color according to lighting.

Hazel Eyes - Hazel Eyes are the only Medium Mixed Eye Color, and they are in the middle between blue eyes and black eyes on the Scale. Hazel eyes are usually light to deep brown with a small or signifcant admixture of golden, red and/or green pigment that becomes well seen and prominate in brighter lighting conditions such as sunlight. Looking closely at a hazel eye, you could see the lighter colors throughout. However, from a distance, they appear to be brown.

In conclusion, everyone's eyes look darker from a distance. To know your true eye color or the true eye color of another, you should look at their eyes in direct sunlight - Not just sunlight but direct sunlight.

If your eyes are blue, green and brown, you could call them a "blue mix" or a "green mix". If your eyes are grey, green and brown, you could call them a "grey mix" or a "green mix". If your eyes two-tone green and brown, that is a "green mix". BUT if your eyes are gold and brown, your eyes are hazel. If your eyes are red and brown, your eyes are hazel. If your eyes are gold, red and brown, your eyes are hazel. And if your eyes are gold, red, green and brown, your eyes are hazel. What hazel eyes could never be is any mixed shade of blue, grey or two-tone green.

PLEASE SEE MY POSTINGS ON HAZEL EYES AS WELL AS THE OTHERS.



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Friday, July 24, 2009

Black Eyes

For as many years as I've worked in the eye profession, I've heard people say, "there's no such thing as black eyes." That's false, untrue and ridiculous. Of course there are black eyes. And black eye color is the majority in the world. Those of the Sub-saharan African and Asian races (and their shoot-off races that have NO European admixture) possess black eyes.

Black eyes are just that - black. They show no coloring other than pure black. There is no visible brown, gold, red, blue, green, yellow or grey. They do not change according to lighting as they are solid in color. There are no highlights to that coloring. To look into a dark brown eye, you could see visible brown coloring. To look into a dark brown eye, you could see highlights of other colors such as some gold or red specks or a "cherry" tone to the dark brown. To look into a black eye, you see none of that.

Black eyes, although common, are quite pretty. We have sold several pairs of black contacts over the last few months. There's an interest in this coloring. However, many people with black eyes do approach us for all shades of brown and hazel contact lenses.

The only way a white European could have dark eyes is if they are brown, not black. Black eye coloring is preserved for those of African and Asian races only.


Black-Eyed Gentleman

Black-Eyed Woman

Black-Eyed Child

Black-Eyes

Black-Eyed Girl

Black-Eyed Man

Brown Eyes

Deep, mysterious, intriguing, hypnotic, enticing, striking and sexy . . . Big, deep brown eyes. Angelina Jolie covers her blue eyes with brown contacts. Davina Requal does the same. Kristin Stewart had to cover her green eyes with chocolate brown contacts every day while filming Twilight. The lucky ones already have them! There is nothing more interesting in terms of eye color than brown eyes.

Brown eyes range in color from light, chestnut, chocolate, honey, golden, amber to dark. Hazel eyes are considered brown eyes as well but they have siginifcant gold and red specks as well as some green specks and some have green circling around the iris. Hazel eyes are brown eyes with a twist that appear to change color according to the lighting. But true brown eyes are a solid color with visible brown (even in dark brown eyes). They may have visible golden and/or red specks, but the color stays solid in all lighting conditions.

Brown eyes originated in Europe. They were the very first mutation for the white race in European coloring, along with light skin tones and brown hair. "Old Europeans" all had brown eyes. Similar looks are today in Catherine Zeta-Jones and Sean Connery.

Contrary to popular belief, most of the world's population does not have brown eyes but black eyes. (And yes, there is "such a thing" as black eyes being totally black color with no other visible color whatsoever.) In Europe, brown eyes are dominate in parts of Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, France and Britain. They are considered a real thing of beauty in Ireland where many people have green or blue eyes but wish for chestnut or chocolate brown instead.

Brown eyes are also found in the Middle East, North Africa and South American popluations. However, this is only from white European admixture. It's impossible for an African or Asian to have brown eyes without such admixture as they naturally have black eyes and brown eyes are exclusively European in nature.


Note:

Recently, there has been a change with regards to colored contacts. In the eye industry, we call it "brown-eyed desire". When colored contacts first came out, we were bombarded with people wishing to change their brown eye color to green or blue. However, over the last several years, we have been bombarded even harder with people wishing to change their blue, grey or green eye colors to a gorgeous shade of brown. I happen to be one of them. I own a pair of chestnut brown eye contact lenses to cover my dull grey eye color. Even movie stars have picked up on this craze. When asked why, I've received so many answers from wanting a mysterious look to wanting their eyes to stand out more to wanting the depth that brown eyes creates. Brown eyes are also associated with sex appeal, loyalty and sheer excitement. Do a search for brown eyes, and you will find that most people prefer them to any other eye color.


Brown Color Contacts

True Brown Eye

For your Brown Eyes

Brown-Eyed European Girl

Reddish-Brown Eyes

Brown-Eyed Little European Girl


Celebrities of Full European Descent w/Brown Eyes:


Brown-Eyed Stevie Nicks

Brown-Eyed George Clooney

Brown-Eyed Jessica Simpson

Brown-Eyed Elle McPherson

Brown-Eyed Antonio Banderas

Brown-Eyed John Morrison

Brown-Eyed Jeff Corwin

Brown-Eyed Nathan Kress

Brown-Eyed Sara Evans

Brown-Eyed Catherine Zeta-Jones

Brown-Eyed Cindy Crawford

Brown-Eyed Natalie Wood

Brown-Eyed Josh Duamel

Brown-Eyed Rudolf Martin

Brown-Eyed Josh Hutcherson

Brown-Eyed Jaclyn Smith

Brown-Eyed Jennifer Love Hewitt

Brown-Eyed Sandra Bullock

Brown-Eyed Kate Moberly

Brown-Eyed Marie Osmond

Brown-Eyed Donnie Osmond

Brown-Eyed James Doohan

Brown-Eyed Molly Ringwald

Brown-Eyed Ellen Page

Brown-Eyed Sean Connery

Brown-Eyed Lea Thompson

Brown-Eyed Jennifer Garner

Brown-Eyed Susan Lucci

Brown-Eyed Ashton Kutcher

Brown-Eyed Lori Laughlin

Brown-Eyed Miss Norway

Brown-Eyed Lindsey Shaw

Brown-Eyed Jennifer Esposito

Brown-Eyed Diane Lane

Brown-Eyed Mary-Louise Parker

Brown-Eyed Leighton Meester

Brown-Eyed Drake Bell

Brown-Eyed Kate Jackson

Brown-Eyed Qwen Stafani

Brown-Eyed Candace Cameron

Brown-Eyed Lindsay Davenport

Brown-Eyed Katie Holmes

Brown-Eyed Katija Pevec

Brown-Eyed Danielle Panabaker

Brown-Eyed Roddy McDowall

Brown-Eyed Judy Garland

Brown-Eyed Mary Stuart Masterson

Brown-Eyed Emma Watson

Brown-Eyed Chelsea Cooley

Brown-Eyed Jared Padalecki

Brown-Eyed Britney Spears

Brown-Eyed Jamie Lynn Spears

Brown-Eyed Lisa Jakub

Brown-Eyed Princess Victoria (of Sweden)

Brown-Eyed Prince Carl Philip (of Sweden)

Brown-Eyed Queen Sonja (of Norway)

Brown-Eyed Prince Hakon (of Norway)

Brown-Eyed Ari Behn (Danish Member of Royal Family of Norway)

Brown-Eyed Princess Ingrid Alexander (of Norway)

Brown-Eyed Danica McKellar

Brown-Eyed Jim Carrey

Brown-Eyed Rachel Bilson

Brown-Eyed Valerie Bertinelli

Brown-Eyed Alyssa Milano

Brown-Eyed Judy Garland

Brown-Eyed Matthew Lawrence

Brown-Eyed Joey Lawrence

Brown-Eyed Masiela Lusha

Brown-Eyed Chyler Leigh

Brown-Eyed Joan Jett

Brown-Eyed Julia Roberts

Brown-Eyed Minka Kelly

Brown-Eyed Sergio Castellitto

Brown-Eyed Wrestler Steven Borden

Brown-Eyed Jerry Trainor

Brown-Eyed Burt Reynolds

Brown-Eyed Jackie Kennedy

Brown-Eyed Ann Wilson

Brown-Eyed Joyce DeWitt

Brown-Eyed Paul Michael Levesque

Brown-Eyed Kevin Rowland

Brown-Eyed Matt Hardy

Brown-Eyed Brigette Nielson

Brown-Eyed Loni Anderson

Brown-Eyed John Cusack

Brown-Eyed Sally Fields

Brown-Eyed Sandra Bullock

Brown-Eyed Christina Ricci

Brown-Eyed Renate Cerljen (2009 Miss Sweden)

Brown-Eyed Georgia Karabinis

Brown-Eyed Sandra Bergenstrahle

Brown-Eyed Chevy Chase

Brown-Eyed Kristin Davis

Brown-Eyed Brittany Ashton Holmes

Brown-Eyed Sarah Palin

Brown-Eyed Keira Knightly

Brown-Eyed Thomas Sangster

Brown-Eyed Snow White :)

Brown-Eyed Victoria Stilwell

Brown-Eyed Slavena Vatova (Miss Bulgaria)

Brown-Eyed Penelope Cruz

Brown-Eyed Ben Barnes

Brown-Eyed Giovanni Ribisi



Brown-Eyed EurAsian (white admixture)

Brown-Eyed Mixed-Race Woman

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Hazel Eyes

Hazel eyes are actually the most misunderstood eye color. First of all, they are a medium mixed color - brown with small lighter admixtures but only certain admixture, not just any. They fall on the Scale right down the middle between the lightest blue to cole black. And hazel eyes are light to deep brown in color. If you've ever seen a "brown-eyed person" "claim" to have hazel eyes and reacted with, "they look brown to me" that's because hazel eyes ARE brown eyes . . . with a twist . . . a golden, reddish twist.

There's a modern North American misconception about hazel eyes. Pure hazel eyes are only golden brown and/or reddish brown. Pure hazel eyes have a deep brown iris with small or significant gold amber and/or red/orange specks throughout the iris with some eyes having slight green specks and/or a dark green outline (circle) around the iris. Also there may be a gold amber and/or red/orange ring around the pupil. What hazel eyes could never be is a blue, grey or significant green mix with brown. This has been known for centuries in Europe and its colonies. However, over the last century, people in North America began misusing the term "hazel" by inaccurately calling any mixed eye color hazel.

Hazel eyes are of indo-European origins and appear to shift in color from deep, chocolate brown to a light gold, amber or honey color depending upon lighting conditions. There may be a green tinting as well for those with green specks. However, green is in no way a requirement for hazel eyes as pure hazel is only brown, red and gold.

It's possible for those of Middle East and Central Asia to have hazel eyes. However, it is due to white admixture in their ancestry as hazel eyes are dominate in Europe and those of European ancestry exclusively.

True Hazel Eyes coloring in regular lighting.

True Hazel Eyes in bright lighting.

True Hazel Eye coloring in direct sunlight.

Pure Hazel colored contacts. (Click "pure hazel" and "green" on left side to see the difference.)

Pure Hazel colored contact chart.

Hazel Eyed teenager.

Hazel Eyed little girl.

Hazel Eye in normal lighting.

Hazel Eye in sunlight.

Hazel Eyes in song.

Reddish Hazel Eye.

Make-Up on a Hazel-Eyed Woman

Hazel Contact Lense Live.

Kelly Clarkson's Hazel Eye.

Hazel Eyed woman.

Pretty Hazel Contact Lenses.

Hazel Contacts - bottom left.

European Hazel Contacts.

Definition of Hazel Eyes Explained.

Reddish Brown is Hazel Eyes - Explained.

Hazel Eyes and Brown Eyes - Discussion

Hazel Eyes defined as Golden Brown.

Another Hazel Eyes defined as Golden Brown (under "Eyes")

Pure Hazel Eyes as opposed to "Green Hazel" Eyes (properly called a "green-mix).


European Heritage Celebrities With Hazel Eyes:

Hazel-Eyed Anna Paquin

Hazel-Eyed Kelly Clarkson

Hazel-Eyed Pat Benatar

Hazel-Eyed Alice Joyce

Hazel-Eyed Alissa Jung

Hazel-Eyed Gabe Nevins

Hazel-Eyed Sela Ward

Hazel-Eyed Hilary Duff

Hazel-Eyed Gale Robbins

Hazel-Eyed Harrison Ford

Hazel-Eyed Glenne Headly

Hazel-Eyed Lindsay Wagner

Hazel-Eyed Heidi Klum

Hazel-Eyed Melissa Gilbert



So, in conclusion, hazel eyes are deep brown in dim or regular lighting. They are golden/amber and/or reddish/orange in direct sunlight. And sometimes, there may be a slight green tint. What hazel eyes NEVER are is a grey, green or blue mix! See, hazel eyes are named after the HAZELNUT!

A hazelnut could be brown!

A hazelnut could be gold!

A hazelnut could be red!

And a hazelnut could even be a little bit green!

But what a hazelnut could NEVER be is blue or grey!

If your eyes are a blue-brown, they are a blue mix. If they are grey-brown, they are a grey mix. If they are a green-brown, they are a green mix. If they are blue, grey, green and brown, you could take your pick. If they are gold and brown, they are hazel. If they are red and brown, they are hazel. If they are gold and red and brown, they are hazel. If they are gold and red and green and brown, they are hazel.

Hazel is a color of its own. And you could see your true eye color by looking at your eyes in direct sunlight.

Amber Eyes

Gray eyes are the lightest of all human eye colors and amber is the rarest human eye color. It's even more rare than green color. Amber eyes were the second mutation from black color eyes with the appearance of white Europeans. The first mutation from black-color eyes was brown eyes, then amber, then so on. Therefore, amber eyes obviously originated in Europe and are found, mainly, in Italy, Germany and Switzerland.

Amber eyes should not be confused with hazel eyes as amber is a solid gold color that does not shift in appearance to any other color.

This color is more common in animals and rarely seen in people of any race other than white.

Amber-eyed woman.

Amber-eyed wolf.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Green Eyes

Dark green eyes, almost as mysterious as deep brown eyes, are a rare occurance. Most green eyes are a lighter, more translusent shade. They are a rare eye color in humans (only 1.5 percent of the world's population has them) and found, mostly, in Northern and Central Europe as well as Northern Italy and Greece and from those of Celtic and Germanic heritages in other places of the world. However, green eyes are also a natural occurance in people of West and South Asian origin as well as North Africa and India. With that said, they are believed to have originated in in South-Central Europe.

Sub-saharan Africans and those heritage thereof and other Asians can have green eyes if they have white (Caucasian) admixture. However, occurances without such admixture is not usually possible.

Green eyes have been associated with magic and witchcraft for centuries. In the Middle Ages, many green-eyed red-headed women were accused as witches and executed because of their beautiful coloring. It just so happens that there are more green-eyed women than men, and it's been that way throughout history. Since cats were associated with witchcraft and many had piercing green eyes, women with that coloring were thought to have the mark of the devil. We've come along way since then, and green eyes are much more desired than blue eyes in today's world.

Green-Eyed Indian Girl.

Green-Eyed Asian Girl.

Green-Eyed Asian Man.

Green-Eyed Black Girl.

Green-Eyed White European.

Green-Eyed White European II.

Blue Eyes

Blue eyes came into existence with one individual mutation approximately 6,000 years ago. This special person lived in the Mediterranean or Black Sea Region. Some speculate the modern Near East but evidence points to an Indo-European background so many experts agree that the European Mediterranean or European Black Sea is most likely.

Blue eyes are considered a light eye color. They could be different shades of blue from a very pale, transulsent shade to a deep, rich blue. Some blue eyes appear to shift in color from blue to green to gray. If your eyes tend to do this, look at them in the direct sunlight to show your true eye color.

Blue eyes are most common in Northern and Central Europe with many occurances in Southern Europe and European colonies such as America, Canada and Australia. However, they could be naturally found in the following places: Middle East; North Africa; and Central, West, South and East Asia.

Some Swedes, Norwegians and Finns have Mongol admixture but remarkable blue eyes. This is evident in their features showing their Asian ancestry while their blue-eyed blond coloring resembles the European admixture. Finns - Swedes - the blondest people in the world with the highest Asian DNA of any European area. However, even though blue eyes are found naturally in populations other than European, it's unlikely that Swedes, Norwegians or Finns obtained the blue-eyed gene from anywhere other than Europe.

Sub-saharan Africans and other Asians can have blue eyes as well. However, it's due to Caucasian (European but not necessarily) admixture from both sides of the subject's ancestry for this to occur.

It's important to note that blue eyes are the minority in the world and are drasically continuing to decrease in numbers. It's important to preserve them as it's important to preserve all traits of every race and sub-culture.

Blue-Eyed Swedish Man

Blue-Eyed Swedish Girl

Blue-Eyed Finnish Woman

Blue-Eyed Black Child.

Blue-Eyed Asian Child.

Blue-Eyed Asian Man.

Blue-Eyed Danish Man

Grey Eyes

Even though Grey Eyes are considered a darker shade of blue, they are actually the lightest of all eye colors because they have the least amount of melanin. Looking closely at a grey eye, you could see it's clearly lighter than the average blue. Grey eyes are seen mostly in Northern and Eastern Europe such as Finland, Russia and the Baltic countries and, of course, their descendants.

Grey eyes appear to shift in color between grey, green and blue. This, again, is due to the fact that the grey eye is extremely light and reflects the colors surrounding it.

Grey eyes are of indo-European origins and could only be found naturally in people of European heritage. It is possible for those of Asian and African races to have grey eyes. However, it is due to white admixture marked on both sides of the subject's family ancestry.


Grey Eyes - Black person w/Grey Eyes from white admixture

Grey Eyes - Non-white person w/Grey Eyes from white admixture

Grey Eyes - White gentleman w/Grey Eyes