hi everybody welcome back to my channel in today's video i want to talk about pearls and i want to go over everything you need to keep in mind before adding them to your closet so i'm going to go over the types of pearls that there are how you can use that information in order to make the best purchase for you and then ultimately the color the shape and how you can style them and using all of this information you can find your perfect type of pearls so that you can wear them in a way that feels very modern but also very classic so let's get started let's start off by going over the types of pearls that are available so there are three basic categories that i want to go over the first is natural pearls and these are the type that occur naturally without any human intervention and they occur very uh rarely so this comes with a very very high price tag these are also the most expensive in general and they tend to hold their value really really well as a result the second type is cultured pearls cultured pearls require human intervention and human care and it's something that you can find at various price points kind of decently high all the way to pretty accessible and there are four types within cultured pearls so i'm going to put more information about those down below because it's a lot in order to get through for this whole video but it's definitely something to look into if you're interested in educating yourself here can make a really big difference in trying to find the perfect type for you and then the third type is artificial or fake pearls these are typically plastic or glass they're very easily accessible they're very cheap or very affordable and you can find them pretty much everywhere vintage secondhand and then brand new and this is a category that i really like because you have a lot of fun with different shapes and styles you can get really oversized pearls like this and it's not prohibitive in its price and you don't have to worry too much about losing them or damaging them because they tend to be very inexpensive it's a really nice way to kind of add that energy into your outfits but then allow yourself to do so with a lot of freedom because you can find them pretty much everywhere and you can experiment and really start to figure out what you like before you spend a little bit more on either cultured or a natural pearl a good way to dip your toes into it and something i definitely recommend so one of the things that i personally really love about pearls is you can change up the vibe or the energy behind them and you can make them feel totally different based on what you're wearing them with and then also the type of pearl that you're choosing and kind of the other jewelry that you're pairing those with so before you even get into the shape and the color and the styling options i think it's really helpful here to influence a lot of the other things that we'll discuss so once you know if you want something really classic or something a little bit more modern something a little bit more natural feeling and down to earth that can influence the color and the shape so i want to dive into the color first and when it comes to pearls when you think of a pearl you probably think of white or off-white and that's definitely the most common and then beyond that there is a spectrum so you can think of pearls on kind of like a scale from pure white all the way to basically black and within that there's so much nuance to consider so much like any color recommendation when you're thinking about lighter shades those are going to feel softer brighter lighter and anytime you go a little bit darker those feel a little bit more serious a little bit more nighttime and they have a tendency to feel very very glamorous and that thinking can be applied to pearls very easily and it's something that i use because when i want a pearl and i want something that i can wear from day to night i tend to go for the lighter colors for that reason because they kind of melt fluidly and i can wear them with white or other colors but then also with black and gray and make them feel nighttime based on the outfit and not just the pearl itself or the color of the pearl so now within that just like all colors there is both cool and warm and choosing the right one for you is going to come down to your preference and then also can be influenced by your skin's undertone and whether you yourself and your natural coloring leads cool or warm so if you don't know if you're cool or warm you can definitely go watch videos all about this i've got a few and i will link them here for you but also when it comes to pearls i think an easier way to go about this is to just hold them up to your face because they tend to be white or off white you know very quickly if that's something that's brightening or draining your skin and important here also is to make sure that you're looking at your teeth because anytime you're working with white or off white it will make your teeth and your smile either really bright white or very dull and a little bit yellow and that's definitely not something that you typically want so if you want everything to feel very bright and fresh doing the smile test can definitely help you and it's something that i do myself and then also another easy way to decide if you want a white pearl or an off white pearl is to go for something that's going to go with your wardrobe and the colors you tend to wear there so if you like a lot of very pure bright white kind of like the top that i'm wearing today obviously bright white pearls are going to look great but also a softer kind of off white pearl so like the one that i'm wearing right now this is more of an off white but because it's in a very shade to the white by itself it goes beautifully and kind of melds everything and it almost softens up the pure bright white and then also likewise if you like to wear a lot of very warm colors or a lot of very obviously off white shades or camel colors is really great for this going for a warmer color in your pearl is going to give you that great benefit and then also you can contrast it so if you like a camel top for example or camel coat going for a really bright white pearl is going to give you that contrast and make it very visually interesting and allow the pearls to become the focal point of your outfit so like i mentioned pearls come in colors beyond just white and off white and you have that scale or that spectrum so as you move up that spectrum you can find pearls that are a little bit yellowy in color things that are like a really beautiful kind of rosy color things that are kind of like an off silvery color and then all the way to that jet black and when you go for something that's like a rosier pinkier color that automatically feels very romantic very soft very feminine so keeping that in mind can be very helpful if you want to add those into your wardrobe because they might not be as versatile as a white or an off white but they're going to instantly inject that softness and if that's something that you love this can be a really great way to find something that you don't really see that often and not too many people wear so it can be a really great way to differentiate your personal style and your pearl preferences and then also same with silver i find that a lot of them that veer into that silver that gray territory they feel very icy and they almost look metallic and so it almost looks like a metal rather than a pearl and i love that type of energy because it makes it a little bit confusing at first and whenever you have to do a second take and look at something a little bit longer that can be such a great way to incorporate something unique into your style as well and then like i mentioned when it comes to black those automatically feel a little bit more serious but if you're someone that really likes to wear a lot of gray i think going for a dark pearl is such a gorgeous way to offset that it's not something you see all that often right now but anytime i'm looking back through like old photos and old inspiration old runways i see a lot of this combination and it's really gorgeous so i wouldn't be surprised if this starts to trickle back in since pearls are becoming more and more popular now that we've gone over the three basic types of pearls that are available and then also the color options i want to talk about shape and i think that shape really comes down to differentiating the vibe or the energy behind the pearls and it's the most influential in understanding your personal style and what you're going to enjoy wearing so when it comes to pearls in general they're pretty much always round when you think of a pearl that's going to be a spherical shape and those are available not in a kind of pretty close and then very very perfectly spherical when it comes to the artificial pearls and this is really easy to style this is a very safe bet if you want something classic something that you're going to be able to wear in a lot of different ways and something that will never be trendy it's not going to feel dated ever and so going for something that's a pretty standard size you're going to want to keep your earrings pretty much the size of your earlobe maybe a little bit smaller and then keep the necklace in proportion to the earrings and that's going to give you something you can wear forever it's going to be incredibly versatile for your personal style and something really really timeless and then also what's really great about the spherical options is you can change up the size to make it feel totally different so if you go for something oversized that automatically feels a little bit more fun it feels a little bit more unexpected a little quirky i think very very chic especially when you've got a really great color added up by your face and then when you go for something that's really really tiny it kind of tricks us a little bit because we expect it to be a traditional strand of pearls in that good medium shape so when you go for something really small it makes it feel very current very unexpected very delicate and very feminine the next shape i want to talk about is a button pearl and these are exactly like the name suggests they look like buttons so they tend to be flat on one side and a little bit more rounded on the other or totally flat and these are great because they lay really nicely so i have a pendant like this and it stays exactly kind of where i leave it and it layers really beautifully the next shape that you see a lot is a pear shape or like a teardrop style this is like the pendant that i'm wearing today and it's very very classic it's also very elegant feeling anytime you have something in an when it's like this on a really delicate chain you can wear that with everything and for a long long time and then the last shape that i want to mention is a baroque style pearl so you can typically find these similar to the teardrop style in that type of shape and they make really great pendants but then you can also see them leaning more into like a biwa style i'm pretty sure is how you pronounce it and that tends to be a little bit longer and then flatter on either side those make really beautiful necklaces and the beautiful thing about this style of pearl is it's very unexpected because it feels really natural at its core and it's got that beautiful shape built into it it automatically counteracts how classic a pearl feels so especially if you go for like earrings or a strand of these you get that energy of the pearl but in a way that feels a lot more down to earth a lot more grounded and a lot more impactful so now i want to go over some styling options when it comes to actually wearing your pearls because once you've figured out the type the color and then the shape how you wear them comes down to personal expression and there are so many beautiful ways that i've seen recently that i wanted to share to give you some inspiration so the first way is very classic you would keep the pearls and then also the outfit very very timeless and so you'd go for something in a medium size small to medium typically the strand of all pearl studs and pair that with something like a button down a beautiful sweater something like a really great tank top and silk would be gorgeous or a silk shirt and these are some of the most classic combinations you can find these echoed throughout history and fashion and they're timeless for a reason and then another thing that i wanted to mention really quickly is taking that but then giving it a little bit of a twist so rather than going for just one pearl stud if you have multiple piercings i love the way it looks when you do multiple pearls and it's also really great if you can vary the size a little bit so make it look almost like an ear jacket and they go up in different sizes another way that i really love to style pearls is to mix and match them with other shiny pieces and things that have diamonds or gemstones and this is a really great way to kind of layer up your necklaces but then also customize your earrings so maybe you do a pearl but then also a diamond huggy or a diamond stud you can work those up through all of your piercings mix and match and have a lot of fun and then likewise with the necklaces going for a diamond necklace and then a pearl drop is so gorgeous and specifically here when you're going for maybe a really small strand of pearls layering something longer with some sparkle is a great way to juxtapose it's a really great way to kind of play with layering your jewelry but also keep it very classic and then another thing that i'm loving right now is the juxtaposition of going for something really casual in the outfit but then going for a strand of pearls and mixing those two together so whether you're wearing pearl earrings or a pearl necklace going for maybe like a t-shirt or a sweatshirt it's such a great way to dress it down and that balance is one of the great things about fashion right now because we're seeing so much personal interpretation and taking something that feels very classic very polished and almost formal but then wearing it in a very casual way it makes it feel very current i really love this one and then the last styling point that i wanted to mention really quickly is choosing an accessory that looks like a pearl but it's obviously not a pearl things that are really oversized obviously artificial and a little bit unexpected so i've got a purse strap that's a strand of pearls and i love that because it's so clearly not real they are too big and too bright to be an actual pearl but they have the energy behind it and then also purses i'm seeing a lot of those that look like pearls but again they can't be because of the size but incorporating that energy into those pieces keeps it really fun and it's a great way to add some of that softness of a pearl but then keep it really current because it's something that feels very current for right now very trendy right now and a fun way to incorporate something that's classic enough so that because of the nature of a pearl you could bring this out 10-15 years from now and still have something that's a little bit quirky and incorporate it into your style in such a beautiful way and then also things like sunglasses are great for this delicate details on like a shirt or a jacket little pearl details like pearl beads just such a fun way to experiment and really have fun with this so i hope that this is helpful for you because pearls are such a great thing to add to your personal style but they can be a little bit overwhelming and breaking it down into these categories can make it a lot easier to figure out what you want so that you can add them into your wardrobe and actually wear them and use them and like always thank you so much for watching and i'll see my next one have a great day