How to work out which colours suit you

Go into your wardrobe and pick out the clothes in the colours you wear most often. Don't choose on the basis of whether that item of clothing actually suits your shape or if it cost you an arm or leg. This is about how the precise shade of a colour works with your face.

Take the pile to a full-length mirror in good daylight and sort by colour. Make a pile of blues, reds and so on. Taking one category at a time, put each item up against your face - and see what it does. Do your eyes look brighter? Your dark circles worse? Does your skin look radiant or does it go totally flat? You will soon know which shades of which colours are best for you.

Once you have your final pile of shades that suit you best, go to our colour charts to find out which section (Cool and Bright, Warm, or Mid Tones) you belong to. We are not looking for a perfect match here, but you should have at least four of the colours from one of the sections in your pile.

Left Trinny in navy; a bad choice because it does nothing for her complexion and highlights the black circles under her eyes, even though she has had a good night's sleep.

Right Sea green blue is one of Trinny's best colours. It lifts her complexion, brightens her eyes and complements her hair.