The variety of human skin colours is immense, but we have very few words to describe that range of colour in detail. For that reason, I would have to say the most common skin colour is brown.
Normal skin color varies from white to pink, and to yellow, brown, and black. In the different ethnic groups, there are pronounced variations in skin, head hair, and body hair.
Hence the leading hypothesis for the evolution of human skin color proposes that: From about 1.2 million years ago to less than 100,000 years ago, archaic humans, including archaic Homo sapiens, were dark-skinned.
The research focused on facial skin color among Caucasians, finding a light, yellowish complexion looks the healthiest. The skin color could indicate a healthy diet of fruits and vegetables, whose pigments are known to change the skin's hue, researchers suggest.
Light skin is a human skin color that has a base level of eumelanin pigmentation that has adapted to environments of low UV radiation. Light skin is most commonly found amongst the native populations of Europe and Northeast Asia as measured through skin reflectance.
It's no secret that Irish people are some of the palest – if not the palest – people in the world. When the hot weather hits, and temperatures soar, the Irish feel it the most on that pale skin from the land of the Celts.
Fair - The lightest range of skin tones.
A new study by Missouri School of Journalism researcher Cynthia Frisby found that people perceive a light brown skin tone to be more physically attractive than a pale or dark skin tone.
Some even claim that tanning is safer and healthier than having pale skin. As much as people want to believe that, there is no such thing as a “healthy” tan. Dermatologists agree that tanning with natural or artificial sunlight is not safe.
The women rated the men with yellow and red skin tones as most desirable. (See "Watching 'Sexy' Males Leads to Better Chicks, Study Says.")
Bottom Line. Your skin is one of the most sensitive organs, and it needs constant attention if you're to maintain a smooth and youthful complexion. Changing weather can alter its texture, color, and elasticity.
From pale to dark and everything in between, human skin color covers a wide range. The Pantone company, a leading authority on standardized color reproduction, has identified 110 different skin tones.
Skin tones can be classified from very light skin to dark. Very light skin tones will generally have a slightly pinkish undertone; unlike in the case of Asians who mostly have yellow undertones. Here in India, the undertones are mostly olive or gold-yellowish.
Pantone 448 C is a colour in the Pantone colour system. Described as a "drab dark brown" and informally dubbed the "ugliest colour in the world", it was selected in 2012 as the colour for plain tobacco and cigarette packaging in Australia, after market researchers determined that it was the least attractive colour.
Tan is a pale tone of brown. The name is derived from tannum (oak bark) used in the tanning of leather. The first recorded use of tan as a color name in English was in the year 1590.
Since the role of melanin in the skin is to absorb and scatter energy from ultraviolet (UV) light, having a dark complexion reduces the risk of sun damage, particularly as it pertains to skin aging and skin cancer formation. At the same time, dark skin is more likely to develop pigmentation problems.
Unless pale skin is accompanied by pale lips, tongue, palms of the hands, inside of the mouth, and lining of the eyes, it is probably not a serious condition and does not require treatment. General paleness affects the entire body. It is most easily seen on the face, lining of the eyes, inner mouth, and nails.
Dark colors on your nails, lips, and eyes will contrast against your skin and make your skin appear paler. Try black, maroon, deep purples, reds, blues, indigo, or cobalt. Consider dying your hair. Like dark makeup and other accents, having darker hair can create a contrast with the skin on your face and neck.
The tan is fading from fashion. A coppertone complexion — achieved the fake way, through lotions, sprays and powders — isn't looking so fresh this summer season, as young, fair-skinned stars like Taylor Swift, Emma Stone and Jessica Chastain go beyond the beauty pale and embrace their natural, peaches-and-cream peaux.
Men are subconsciously attracted to fairer skin because of its association with innocence, purity, modesty, virginity, vulnerability and goodness, according to researchers at the University of Toronto.
(The native people of Bougainville, Papua New Guinea, have some of the darkest skin pigmentation in the world.)
The trick is to find a yellow in contrast to the undertone of your skin. For instance, people with red or blue undertones look best in most yellows. People with yellow undertones look good in bright or darker yellows.