How Your Favorite Colors Affect Your Mood, Digestion & Appearance

Some colors evoke certain feelings. Whether it's reaching for your favorite LBD for an important event or swiping on that perfect shade of red lipstick to feel like you own the room, a specific hue can completely change your mood.

But it turns out the colors you're drawn to might be benefiting your body in other key healthy ways, says Dr. Jingduan Yang, a fifth-generation practitioner of Chinese medicine and a respected authority in the world of integrative medicine. 

In his new book Facing East, Dr. Jingduan Yang joins forces with style icon, wellness advocate, and his patient Norma Kamali, to discuss methods for preserving your vitality, health, and beauty. Which, if you've seen the energetic 70-year-old Kamali bopping around her Midtown Manhattan flagship store or out-pulsing you at Physique 57, you'd sign right up.

Your relationship to color, and why you're drawn to deep turquoise blue or brilliant yellow or your signature red lipstick, plays a mega role in this.

"Chinese medicine teaches that various colors reflect the energies of light that correlate with different human organs, supporting the organs' function," explains Dr. Yang. "The color red stimulates the energy of the heart, which helps facilitates blood circulation and improve facial complexion," amping up those (good) nerves and giving your face a glow, he says. 

As a fashion designer, Kamali says "color is the most challenging part of a collection. While I may be personally inspired by something, it also has to match the temperament and energy of the time, and how people react to the color in order for it to reach my audience."

So how can you use color therapy to deal with the blues, a bout of anxiety, or a get over a spat with your sister? Head over to Well+Good to find out how certain colors impact you—and how to have them work to your advantage.