Colour analysis - has it changed?

Purely in the interests of research for my readers (just kidding!) I decided to experience an up-to-date seasonal colour analysis on my recent trip to London. When I've posted photos of myself wearing warm and cool colours, there hasn't always been agreement on which suited me best.  Of course part of this may be to do with different monitors not displaying colours in the same way, part is to do with how accurately my camera shows various colours and I guess part is to do with individual preferences.  Another factor of course is that the strong Spanish sun tends to turn my naturally dark brown hair a warm golden shade - just to confuse matters!

I had my hair tinted dark brown before I went on holiday - a shade very similar to my natural colour. I also had a couple of “before" photos on my camera to show my consultant in case there were any doubts about me being warm or cool, but these weren't necessary.

My  House of Colour consultant was Fiona Ingham, who is based in Primrose Hill in North London. As soon as I arrived at her studio Fiona made me feel at ease by offering me a drink and explaining exactly what we would be doing during my consultation. Having just experienced the stress of travelling on the London Underground again after 5 years of living in Spain, it was good to be able to relax and I felt as if I was visiting a friend.

First of all Fiona demonstrated the difference between wearing the right and wrong colours by draping herself. I could easily see which colours flattered her the most, but it wasn't as easy once Fiona draped me in the different colours! I had been instructed not to wear any make-up: however I couldn't bring myself to turn up totally bare-faced, so I quickly removed the last traces of my lipstick before we began.  Fiona also covered my hair before my consultation, which was very interesting as I had assumed that my hair would play a role in the colour analysis.

Drapes for the four seasons

I was fully expecting to find out that I was a warm season, even though when I first experienced colour analysis over 25 years ago I had been told I was a Winter. After all, my skin has obviously aged in the intervening years! However, much to my surprise, Fiona showed me, through draping me in the myriad of different colours, how the cool colours were in fact more flattering - and to my amazement we both agreed that I was still a Winter.

One of the reasons I hadn't been totally convinced by my first experience of seasonal colour analysis was the fact that the icy colours did absolutely nothing for me. Fiona agreed that they weren't my best colours and advised me to wear them for accents only. She gave me a helpful booklet, which showed me my best colours (which I can wear as a single block of colour top to toe), my 75% colours (good for coats, suits and dresses so long as I also wear a scarf or top in my best colours) my 50% colours (which I can wear on my top or bottom half - but not both) and the remaining colours in my palette that are best kept for accessories.

Nowadays the four seasons have been divided into further categories, giving a total of 12 different combinations. Within the Winter season there are four possibilities, which explained why some colours didn't really suit me in my original colour analysis. I can wear the bright colours well but clearly don't look as good in the icy ones and Fiona helped me to understand how I could mix and match the colours in my swatch to create flattering outfits. There are 36 colours in my swatch, however she explained that I'm not limited to exact matches and that there are lots of variations to give me more choices -  so long as I don't go too pale (the infamous icy shades) or too dark.

After we had decided that I was a Jewel Winter, Fiona showed me the best colours to use for my make-up as well and once I was wearing the right make-up colours I was able to see the difference it made. As I was travelling back to Spain with hand luggage only, I couldn't buy much make-up and had to settle for one lipstick and eye-shadow in my best colours, which I happen to be wearing as I type this! I have placed an order on-line as House of Colour ship to Spain, so hopefully I will soon have a couple more colours to choose from. 

I have also bought a top from Kettlewell Colours, who specialise in clothing in seasonal colours. The necklace I am wearing isn't ideal as it is more golden than silver and silver looks better with cool shades. What I found interesting in the colour analysis was the fact that my skin looked a bit yellow when I was wearing warm colours and fresher when I was wearing cool colours, as shown below.

Wearing my new top

I have mentioned Dressing Your Truth (DYT) in earlier posts. I don't feel that this colour analysis negates DYT: what it does is make it obvious that the brighter but cooler colours from DYT are the ones that suit me best. I was wearing a blue top from the DYT store when I met Fiona and she commented that it was a good colour for me. This means that I don't have to throw out half of my wardrobe as a result of my consultation (that’s a relief!), but I will try and wear the Jewel Winter colours near my face and restrict the other colours to my bottom half.  Where possible I have chosen my most flattering colours for my Project 333 Autumn Wardrobe of 33 items of clothing, shown in my previous post, and I will follow the guidelines in the booklet that Fiona gave me when combining different colours.

What proved interesting was the fact that, once I was back in Spain and wearing what Fiona had identified as my most flattering colours with the appropriate make-up, I received lots of compliments along the lines of "Wow! You look great!" "That colour is good on you. Your eyes are really sparkling!" and (one I especially appreciated!) "You look so much younger!" What's not to like about that?

Thank you, Fiona, for the helpful and interesting colour analysis session. Watch this space for future posts where you will see me enjoying more of my new colour combinations!