I have a moss color in one bath and I hate, hate, hate it for that very reason. I will be changing it asap. Other than going with tans or beiges I can't advise. I know good lighting can go a long way in making a difference.

I currently have SW Hearts of Palm which is a lovely color, but it just makes everyone who goes in there GREEN! Prior to the paint, we had an ivory and beige striped wallpaper with a floral border which though outdated, worked very well.

Good question! Hopefully one of the color professionals will pop in here. I'd never paint a main bathroom a color I wouldn't wear. Light reflection is critical to skin color in makeup application. Some people don't even consider that ... the same with proper lighting.

I have a dark moss green in our main bath, and it has never been a problem because the mirror is large and there is adequate lighting. I have never noticed anyone looking green and no one else has ever mentioned it in the 7 years it has been that color.

Oftn the problem is the mirror size (if it is small, so there is a lot of painted wall space around it. But to me the bigger issue is the lighting. Bathroom lights that point up in particular aren't lighting your face or the mirror area enough to give you good color and combat paint reflection.

My mirror is 64" x 46", so I don't think small size is the problem.

Les really has the right idea here. It is very much dependent on the mirror and lighting.

Here is a case study for an old MS color called Honeydew, a vibrant saturated yellowy green. I used this in my powder room in my summer house back in 2002. No windows, tiny bathroom, big mirror, plenty of Reveal light from a typical three-light over-the-sink fixture.

Honestly, my skin looked really great in that bathroom, absolutely contrary to what one would expect. My daughter, who has different coloring, also loved the way she looked in there...enough to request that color for her current bathroom.

Flash forward to last year, another gallon mixed and up on the walls in her bathroom. She has a pitched ceiling and I painted it all with the green. The mirror is a tiny little Pottery Barn thing and the lights are the adorable little sconces from Rejuvenation. She has a huge skylight and overhead lighting as well. The color just doesn't work from the standpoint of good facial color rendering and makeup application. But, she doesn't care. I have asked if I can at least repaint the ceiling, but she likes it, so I am on to the next room!

In my current and previous bathrooms, I have used MS Atlantic, a blue green "spa" color. In theory, this would not be a good color for the reflectivity problem, but it has been incredibly popular for the last decade or so. In my last bathroom, I had a large tiled wall of green Silestone and had no issues with reflection back onto my face. The first wall color...yes, it went minty...but my skin did not.

I think that there is no one-size-fits-all answer for this conundrum. But, more light, better light and less wall is a good guideline for preventing the problem.

Actually the mirror is HUGE, it's the entire length of the double vanity and goes from the vanity to almost the ceiling. We have new lighting which is very bright, almost too good. It's Over each sink there is a light fixture with the 4 bulbs each. The stronger the bulbs I put in, the more green it glows.

My daughter is a Spring (remember Color Me Beautiful?) I think so technically this should be her color!

Thanks for all the input!

I think this article has some suggestions for bathroom colors that are flattering for skin tones.

http://www.hgtv.com/bathrooms/foolproof-bathroom-color-combos/index.html

My nieces painted their bathroom fuscia!!!! It really makes you look healthy in the mirror!

We have a melon color in the powder room with a soft incandescent shade over the mirror. The room's paint color and lighting have garnered positive comments from guests.

If you're having problems with colors you've tried I'd go with something light and neutral.

Have you tried changing the type of bulbs? I have a green bathroom and a red bathroom and have no issues with makeup application or looking the color.