Can Color Indicate How You Feel?

by dianakirkpatrick on August 3, 2008

News Flash!! I hear that “Nude” is the new “hot” and sexy “color” – look for it to show up in womens fashions in the coming months, both as daytime and evening wear.

Speaking of color, recently I read an interesting article on our color “sense” and how we react to different colors. Of course, colors mean different things to different people, but in general certain colors suggest a particular mood or feeling (warm vs. cool, for instance). This applies to everything from clothing and accessories to the colors you choose for your living room walls.

Here’s a list of popular colors and a short description of our reactions to each color. I’m including a brief list of some gemstones in the same color family. If you like, you can match your jewelry to the feeling you want to convey to others.

Consider RED – red is a warm color. Red is generally viewed as exciting, “hot”, dramatic, and rich. Red can run the gamut from blue/reds to orange/reds. Darker shades (burgundy, maroon) are no less dramatic and may impart a stately and rich feeling. Red gems include ruby, garnet, coral, and spinel.

Or BLACK – black is elegant and dramatic and provides a neutral accompaniment to any other color(s) you might choose. Examples of black gems include onyx and obsidian.

Or ORANGE – orange is cheerful, bold and exciting. Some gems in the orange family are carnelian, aventurine, and coral.

Or WHITE – white is great in combination any other colors you might select and provides a sense of freshness. Hematite is an example.

Or YELLOW – yellow is bright, cheerful, and warm. Yellow is also highly visible. Your choices in yellow range from delicate pastel shades to robust vibrant hues. Citrine, lemon jade, and some diamonds and sapphires are examples of yellow gems.

Or VIOLET – purple and violet are luxurious colors that remind us of royalty. Purple can vary from a shade so deep as to be almost black to delicate lavender. Two gemstone examples are amethyst and certain sapphires.

Or BLUE – blue ranges from sky blue to turquoise to midnight blue and lots of shades in between. Blue speaks of serenity to many of us. There are a huge number of gems to choose in the blue category. A few examples are turquoise, lapis, sapphires, aquamarines, and blue topaz.

Or GRAY – gray is a neutral color that goes well with most other colors. Gray is considered soothing and elegant. Again, from light to dark, there’s quite a range of shades to choose. Some gray gems include varieties of labradorite, “black diamonds,” and hematite.

Or GREEN – green comes in shades ranging from delicate pastels to neon brights and deep shades such as hunter green. Green is another popular and soothing color and one that most of us associate with nature and natural things. Examples of green gems include emeralds, jade, tourmaline, beryl, and peridot.

Or BROWN – petrified wood, jaspers, tiger eye, smoky quartz and topaz are a few examples of brown gemstones. Another color that we associate with nature and natural things, brown is casual and relaxing.

dianakirkpatrick

dianakirkpatrick

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