Do you also have skin-coloured latex?

I am asked this question regularly: “Do you also have skin-coloured latex?”

Most of the time, I understand roughly what someone means. They are often looking for a light beige, soft pink or peach-like colour. Perhaps a colour that a manufacturer calls nude, natural or mannequin.

But actually, it is quite a strange question. Because what colour is skin-coloured? Do we mean the colour of the person asking the question? The colour of a traditional shop-window mannequin? The colour of a plaster? Or simply that light beige shade that was sold for years as the standard skin colour?

Of course, there is no single skin colour. There are countless different skin tones, from very light to very dark, and everything in between.

The most honest answer to the question is therefore:

“Yes, probably, but I do not yet know which colour is skin-coloured for you.”

Why do we often think of light beige as skin-coloured?

When people hear the term skin-coloured, they often automatically think of a light beige or pink-beige shade. You see this with tights, underwear, plasters, bandages, make-up, dance shoes, prostheses, toys and mannequins. For a very long time, light beige was used as a kind of standard colour. Not because this is everyone’s skin colour, but because many products were developed around a fairly limited standard. A light beige shade was simply given the name skin or nude. Darker shades were given names such as brown, dark brown or chocolate. But of course, that is not logical.

Light beige is a colour. Dark brown is also a colour. Caramel, olive, reddish brown, golden brown, peach, copper and deep brown are colours too. None of these colours has any more 'right' to the name skin colour than another.

And then there is mannequin latex

With latex, you regularly see the colour name mannequin. This usually means a light beige, pink-beige or peach-like colour. The name probably comes from the traditional colour of many shop-window mannequins. But a mannequin is not a person. A mannequin does not have freckles, flushed cheeks, pigmentation marks, scars, visible veins or different undertones. Yet we have come to regard the colour of such a plastic figure as a kind of neutral human colour. So when latex is called mannequin, it does not mean that the colour suits every skin tone. It mainly means that the colour resembles the familiar light shade of many traditional mannequins. That is quite a difference.

What does nude actually mean?

The word nude is confusing too. Literally, it means naked. But a colour cannot really be naked. And when someone wears a nude dress or a nude latex catsuit, that person is not actually naked. The garment simply has a colour that somewhat resembles a particular skin tone.

But once again, the same question arises:

"Whose skin?"

For one person, nude is a very light pink shade. For someone else, nude is golden brown, caramel, olive, reddish brown or deep chocolate brown. Nude should therefore not really be one specific colour. Nude is more of an effect. A nude effect means that the colour of the garment is close to the wearer’s skin tone. The colour needed to achieve that therefore differs from person to person.

Even one person does not have just one skin colour

Take a good look at your own body. Your face may be redder than your neck. Your arms may be darker than your stomach. Your hands may have a different shade from your upper legs. The skin around your knees, elbows and eyes may be different. You may have freckles, moles, pigmentation differences, scars or visible veins. Undertones also vary from person to person.

One person’s skin contains more pink. Another person’s skin is warmer and more yellow. Someone else may have an olive, red, golden, cool or neutral undertone. Even if a latex colour matches your forearm exactly, the same colour may not match your face, neck or legs exactly. A perfect match for the whole body therefore hardly ever exists. And that is not always necessary. For many designs, it is enough when the colour belongs to the same colour family and looks right from a short distance.

Your skin colour changes as well

Your own skin colour does not stay exactly the same throughout the year. Many people become darker in summer because of the sun. Others mainly become red or burn, without really tanning. Some skin changes dramatically in sunlight, while with other skin you can barely see a difference. Cold, heat and physical exertion can also affect how your skin looks. In cold weather, skin can appear lighter or redder. After physical exertion, your face and neck may be noticeably redder. A latex colour that matches your skin well in February may suddenly look too light in August. Conversely, a colour that looked perfect during a summer photo shoot may be much too dark in winter. That is why it is almost impossible to identify one latex colour definitively as your skin colour.

Light or dark is not the only difference

When choosing a colour, people often mainly look at how light or dark the skin is. But the undertone is at least as important. Two people may be approximately equally light or dark and still need completely different colours. Light skin may have pink, peach, yellow, olive or neutral undertones. Dark skin may, for example, be golden brown, reddish brown, cool brown, neutral brown or very deep brown. A pink-beige latex may look natural on one person, while the same colour may look greyish or unnatural on someone with a warm or olive undertone. A warm caramel colour may look beautiful against one skin tone, but far too orange against another. Simply saying that you have light, medium or dark skin therefore does not provide enough information.

Latex makes choosing a colour a little more complicated

Latex is not a matt cotton fabric. Its surface reacts very strongly to light. When latex is powdered, it usually looks lighter and duller. After it has been washed and polished, the colour often becomes deeper, richer and darker. Shiny latex also reflects its surroundings. If you are standing next to a red wall, the latex may pick up a red reflection. Outdoors, the blue sky can make the latex look cooler. Under warm artificial light, the same colour may look much more yellow or orange.

The thickness of the latex can also make a difference.

With transparent and semi-transparent colours, the skin underneath the latex also plays a role. A semi-transparent beige colour may look different on light skin than on dark skin. The wearer’s skin colour remains partly visible and optically blends with the colour of the latex. This can create a very beautiful effect, but it also means that the same latex colour can look completely different on two people.

Transparent natural is not automatically skin-coloured

People sometimes assume that transparent natural latex is automatically skin-coloured.

That is not entirely correct. Transparent natural usually has a yellowish, amber or honey-coloured base shade. Because the skin remains partly visible through it, it can create a natural effect on some people. On other skin tones, it may look too yellow, too green or artificial.

In addition, natural latex may discolour through ageing, light, heat and oxygen. It can become darker or more yellow over time. I would therefore describe transparent natural as a material colour rather than a universal skin colour.

Why does a colour look different online?

Customers sometimes send me a photo of their skin and ask which latex colour matches it. I can usually suggest a general direction, but achieving an exact colour match from a photograph is very difficult. A phone automatically adjusts colours. The white balance may change, shadows make the skin look darker and bright sunlight makes certain areas much lighter. The photo is then viewed on a screen that has its own settings. One screen displays colours more warmly, while another displays them more coolly. Brightness and colour saturation also differ between phones, tablets and computers. A photo may therefore show whether someone is roughly looking for a light, warm, cool, medium or dark shade, but I can never guarantee an exact match.

When the colour is truly important, physical colour samples remain the best choice. Preferably, look at those samples under different types of light as well.

Does latex need to be exactly the same colour as your skin?

That depends on what you want to make.

If you want to create a genuine optical nude illusion, you will probably want to get as close as possible to the wearer’s skin tone. For theatre, dance, photography or a stage outfit, the match does not always need to be one hundred per cent perfect. From a distance, small differences are often much less noticeable. Sometimes a slightly warmer or more golden shade is even more attractive than a colour that is technically closer to the skin. A colour that is too exact and completely even can also create a strange effect. It may begin to look almost like a prosthesis or a plastic mannequin. Latex remains a shiny material. It reflects light, moves and stretches. It is perfectly fine for that to remain visible.

Can a manufacturer produce every skin tone?

In theory, a manufacturer could produce dozens or hundreds of shades. But even then, it would never be possible to represent every human skin tone exactly. For every light beige shade, there are warmer, cooler, pinker and yellower variations. The same applies to every tan or brown shade. In addition, latex can vary slightly from one production batch to another. Pigment, thickness and finishing can cause small colour differences.

Is it wrong to say skin-coloured?

I do not think that someone who asks for skin-coloured latex automatically means anything wrong by it. Usually, that person is simply using a familiar description and does not know the exact name of the colour they want. So I do not immediately give a customer a whole lecture. I simply ask which colour or shade they roughly mean. Are they looking for a light mannequin colour? Transparent natural? A warm beige shade? Caramel? Medium brown? Dark brown? Or perhaps a semi-transparent colour that allows their own skin to remain visible? It is not about banning words. It is mainly about learning to look and describe things a little more precisely.

So... do I sell skin-coloured latex?

I have several latex colours that may work as a skin colour or nude shade for different people. But I do not have one universal skin colour that suits everyone. That colour does not exist. A light mannequin colour is no more neutral or human than a deep brown shade. It is simply one of many possible colours.

The next time you see the colour name skin, nude, flesh or mannequin somewhere, take a good look at the actual colour.

Then ask yourself:

“Whose skin does this actually resemble?”

Because skin colour is not one colour.

It is an enormous colour family.

And honestly, that enormous variety is much more interesting than one standard roll of light beige latex.