Can All Skin Types Pull Off Color?

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There's no doubt about it -- color is HUGE this spring, from retro bright neon colors to warm tangerines, brilliant blues and vivid yellows.

But after talking to a co-worker recently, as I wore a bright tangerine dress last week, I realized not everyone can  wear color if they have paler (some Caucasian) skin tones. This particular co-worker told me that she wishes that she could pull the look off, but felt that the color would wash out her pale skin.

I told her I wasn't so sure about that (maybe not a bright tangerine dress, but use color as an accent with things like scarves, belts, shoes, etc). Here's what I do know: NOTHING looks better on brown skin than color (I take that back, maybe a bright, crisp white).

We are fortunate enough that our brown skin is truly a canvas, and colors are our palettes. From the lightest of the light to the darkest of the dark, our rich undertones can pull off just bright colors with no problem. Usually, the darker the person, the more bolder color they can pull off.

Appreciating What We've Got
So often, there is a secret wishing and lament of how our bodies are different than Caucasians (our thick lips, full hips, beautiful backsides and kinky hair). I get it. When you grow up being the "minority" there are times that you just want to be like everyone else.

But since all I've ever been, and know how to be, is a Black woman, there's no need in me now wishing my natural hair was straighter, my chocolate skin was lighter, my African body type waifier, my ass was smaller, or my big nose was pointier.

As I tell my daughters, we have naturally what other races pay thousands for, for free -- melanin-kissed skin that doesn't wrinkle as easily, pigemented skin where tanning is an option, not a requirement, backsides that Kim Kardashian had to pay for, thick lips that don't need any collagen and hair that doesn't need weave to make it appear fuller.

Do You Accept Yourself?
It's called self acceptance. Certain aspects of your personality? You can change that. But unless you go under the knife and get major plastic surgery, certain body parts aren't going to change drastically, even with weight loss. And after nearly 40 years of being a Black woman, it's a message that we all need reminding of -- to like and work with what we've got, because no wishing in the world will make us something else.

This is what my older self wishes I could have told my younger self: Oh, how I wish that I felt this way when I was about 13, when I remember telling my grandmother that I was too "dark" to wear bright clothing. Sad to admit it even now, but maybe it was the many times that I was teased on the playground for my complexion that explains why I internalized that and felt that way then.

That's part of the reason why I especially gravitate to bright colors now because of my earlier rejection of them -- that, and because they look good on me! It's also why I'm particularly glad that we've come to accept our natural hair. It's a small start, but at least it's a start.

Do you struggle with self acceptance? What does your older, wiser self wish you'd have told your younger self? Do you think all skin types can pull off color?