Are black clothes aging you?

It's renowned for it's slimming quallities, but is black secretly letting us down?

It's the fashion rule followed by women around the globe: To instantly ‘drop' a few pounds, wear something black. But it would seem our streamlined silhouette could be costing us something else.

According to colour consultants, wearing black can dramatically age the face by highlighting dark lines under the chin, shadows around the eyes and wrinkles on the cheeks.

While the widely believed theory that black gives the appearance of a slimmer figure still stands, experts believe that wearing the colour directly next to the face can make a person look ill, washed-out and considerably older.

Colourist Jules Standish says: ‘The majority of British women will not look young and healthy with black against their faces.'

The colour detracts from the healthy-looking golden hue by ‘flattening' it and bringing out darker patches on the face, she continues to explain. ‘The effect can be as serious as making a woman feel drained, self-conscious and introverted.'

Items to steer clear of are dark scarves, hats, polo neck jumpers and jackets or coats with high collars.

But before you throw out your favourite LBD, be assured that there is a solution. ‘You can easily temper the effect by a splash of colour around the neck in the form of a scarf or chunky jewellery, or a low neckline,' continues Standish.

‘Alternatively, try this simple test. Hold the colour up to your face, stand in front of the mirror and look for dark lines under the chin, shadows around the eyes or lines on the face that are highlighted.

‘If there are no dark areas, you can probably wear black close to your face - otherwise, change your ways.'

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