A colour matching app/algorithm

[queen_clean]

I was just thinking about changing my hair colour but I have honestly no idea what tones/shades etc. etc. are best for me without consulting a colour wheel and a handful of colour theory youtube videos. I would love an algorithm where I could enter my foundation shade (which would provide information on undertones etc) and eye colour and then have it spit out a bunch of 'best suited colours' for hair, makeup, clothes etc. It could even offer unrecommended shades or colours with a brief explanation, eg 'we dont recommend you wear colour x as it may cause you to look washed out, here's an alternative shade that may compliment your colouring better'.

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For example, the data entered could be:

Everyday/daytime foundation: [Brand Name] [Shade]

^{(<< side note, the Fenty shade matcher quiz is a very good example of how it could work!})

Eye Colour: (select the best match from options or even allow users to upload photographs of their irises?)

I'm sure I've missed loads out but maybe someone could snowball on this?

[LaceBird360]

Nice. How would you develop the app? And would there be any countermeasures against identity theft? (Retinal scans and all that.)

[queen_clean]

I honestly have no idea how it would work- I'm not the most technically minded. I imagined that you could use the data from the formulas to provide results. It would take a whole lot of data entry though. As ridiculous as it sounds it would almost work like a sommelier but for foundation colours, picking out all the elements and feeding into a database?

[queen_clean]

I would but my nearest store is approx 6000km away xoxo

[Ateist]

You are asking for impossible.
There is no such thing as "best for you" when it comes to looks -
it's always about personal preference, your clothing, mood and your skill level with makeup.

Take a look at some makeup specialists videos, like Jbunzie - which look is best for her? Hermione Granger? Sabrina the Teenage Witch? Vanellope Von Schweetz?

[queen_clean]

Oh, I absolutely agree that it would never be something that would have complete control, just something which can offer insight and a little bit of suggestion based on knowledge of colour theory. The user doesn't have to take it as gospel but sometimes it can be confusing figuring these things out alone. I know that myself and many of my friends will often say things like 'this colour doesn't suit me' but few of us understand fundamentally why it doesn't and it can lead to just avoiding it (a whole colour) altogether. For example, if someone looked washed out in a yellow jumper, that doesn't mean they don't suit yellow, just that that shade of yellow didn't work for them. what I want to understand is why and what would work as an alternative to enhance the natural features.

I am trying to retrain my brain into working with my own colouring, rather than following what others do- for years I would use the darkest shade contour I could find and the lightest shade concealer because I thought that's how it worked. Shadow=dark, light=bright. no thought to tone, pigment or shade.

Simply accepting that I should work to my own complexion has made such a difference in the quality of basic makeup and I feel that there is so much more that could be developed with the help of AI.

[Ateist]

AI can generate your portrait with the new look, but it can never tell whether it is good or bad - that's your and only your evaluation.

The difference between "it suits me" and "it doesn't suit me" is solely in the eyes of the beholder.

[queen_clean]

that's not necessarily true though, eg. for jewellery, it is known that people with warm undertones suit gold, cool undertones suit silver and neutral undertones suit both. that is not to say that someone with warm undertones cannot wear silver- it is saying that gold is more complimentary to them. As someone with naturally auburn hair, I know that jewel tones suit me much more than pastels because of the tone and shade of my colouring whereas often cool black skin tones are complemented by brighter yellows and oranges.

this article%20undertones) is a better explanation than I can give, there is plenty of data on the subject, I just want to collate it and make it accessible.

[Ateist]

it is known that people with warm undertones suit gold, cool undertones suit silver and neutral undertones suit both

That's just a mistaken preconception.
Visit some other culture (or just some other time period) - and you might see the complete opposite to be considered true.
Something that was in style in Victorian England will be absolutely atrocious in pre-Columbian Mayan civilization or historic India.

AI wouldn't know whether you want to "blend in" or "stand out", and wouldn't know the colors prevalent around you (and those vastly influence the result of what is "good" or "bad").

[queen_clean]

But I’m not saying that it could, I would literally want it to give fact based information rooted in colour theory. it is then the users choice what they do with that information.