Hair

Your most flattering hair color can actually be found in old photo albums. That childhood color naturally complements, rather than competes with, your skin tone. Best of all, it requires little or no maintenance.

Wardrobe

“Some colors work for all skin tones and hair colors, because they fall in the middle of the color spectrum, meaning they’re not too warm or too cool,” says Leatrice Eiseman, the author of The Color Answer Book (Capital Books, $20, www.amazon.com) and the director of the Pantone Color Institute, the international authority on color. Below is a list of those universally flattering colors, along with their official Pantone names and numbers. (Pantone color books can be found at your local art-supply store, www.pantone.com, or www.amazon.com.)

Eggplant
Eiseman calls this color (Pantone 19-2311 TC) “the perfect purple” because it is extremely versatile, almost like a black, a dark brown, or a navy.

True Red
Designer Bill Blass once said, “When in doubt, wear red.” He was right. Not only does red stop traffic, but it may also make you a winner. In a study conducted at the University of Durham, in England, researchers found that athletes who wore red in combative-sports competitions were more apt to win than contestants wearing other colors. This winning shade (Pantone 19-1664 TC) flatters everyone because it “resides in the center of the color spectrum, in between a cool cherry red and a warm, orangey tomato red,” says New York City makeup artist Sonia Kashuk.

Indian Teal
Shades on opposite sides of the color wheel enhance each other, which is why strawberries look so good packaged in green containers, Eiseman says. It’s not surprising that this teal (Pantone 19-4227 TC) — the opposite of pink — brings out a healthy flush in the skin. Plus, it’s more versatile than a bright, summery turquoise, so you can wear it well into the fall with black, brown, and other neutrals.

Mellow Rose
Sorry, Pretty in Pink fans, but Molly Ringwald did not look all that great in her bubble-gum pink prom dress. She should have opted for a more sophisticated shade, somewhere between a light pink and a peach (like Pantone 15-1515 TC, which looks more like a neutral than a pastel). The subtle color highlights the natural flush of one’s face, says Kashuk, giving anyone who wears it a glow. No wonder Kashuk recommends a similar shade of lipstick to all her clients.