Sunday, March 27, 2011

Those Summer Nights......

My journey through colour analysis has been very bumpy with a lot of confusing holes and 'forks' in the road.  First of all, as most of you know - I love colour, playing around with colour, creating different makeup looks and simply having fun with makeup!!!  I will never stop having fun with colour, but at the same time I really want to find a look that suits me - a set of 'no fail' colours that really bring out my inner glow.  I've had a really difficult time trying to figure out my best colours because there was always one thing that was 'off' - I could be a clear.......BUT my eyes weren't clear.  I could be a warm.......BUT my hair and eyecolour have that cool undertone.  I could be a winter.......BUT there is just something about me that is slightly too soft to a true winter - can you see how I could get confused by the various options.  I never quite 'FIT' into any of the main seasons - Until I posted my 'Naked Face' post on a facebook page called '12 Blueprints Colour Analysis" and listened to what people had to say - the verdict was 'Unanimous' - A 'Deeper' Soft Summer/Possible true summer.  I had never really considered summer as an option or even being a 'soft' - if anything, I thought I was warm and clear - how wrong was I???  However, after reading about the soft summer and what various people had to say about this season colour type, its was clear that soft summers are the most "miscategorized" type - because they are mainly cool, with some warm undertones, many having grey-green eyes (hello??? ME) and a mousy haircolour that 'needs' some highlights or richness - I also researched some classic soft summers and they were all celebs that I have 'always' admired.  Anyhow - I decided to go though my makeup case, pull out the 'deeper' soft summer shades and get to work - here is the look I came up with - and I can finally say with 100% certainty that my search is finally 'over'!!!  There were some cool summer suggestions and although I like these shades, after I played around with them, I found them to be just slightly too ashy-cool for day, but because I'm a 'deeper' soft summer, I can encourperate these shades into an evening/glam going out look:


For this soft look I used:

Sephora's white pearl shimmer on my eyes as a base (sorry don't have the name - got it in a gift set)
I then blended Copperplate and Charcoal Brown with an eyeshadow brush and applied the colour on the lid and into the crease.  I lined my eyes with Coffee (a cool-dark taupy brown) and blended 'Coquette' into the top liner and also used this shade on my eyebrows - these are all MAC shades
I blended 'Blushbaby' and 'Breath of Plum' blushes on my cheeks and on my lips I used 'Soar' lipliner and topped it with 'Patisserie' Lipstick

Here are a few of my favourite soft summer celebrities:

Katie Holmes:




Kate Middleton:



I have always admired both of these ladies makeup looks and now I know why!!!!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello! I am a soft summer too and love your post! I am a lighter soft summer than you, with dark blonde/light brown ashy-neutral hair. Is Patisserie too warm without Soar underneath? Also, would any of the eye colors you suggested be too dark for me, since I'm lighter in coloring? Thanks! :)

-Rachel

Anonymous said...

P.S. I love your soft summer icons! Mine is Keri Russell. :)

-Rachel

Renata said...

Hi Rachel,
I'm so glad that you liked the post - I'd be more than happy to answer any of your questions. First, Patisserie is a very natural sheer pink. I don't think it would be too warm for you. I wear it with a liner because I'm a deeper SS and I need the depth of a pinky-brown liner added to the neutral pink lipstick. Also, I don't think the eye shades would be to dark per se, but it would probably depend on how you wear it and how you blend other colours into your palette. SS's are lucky since we flow into autumn, we can wear some of the neutral coffee and chocolate browns that other summers can't. I think that if were to wear coffee liner by MAC and blend it with a taupy shade like Copperplate (especially if you create that smokey look for evening) - it would look stunning, try it with Mocha blush and plum lipstick my laura mercier. Its always nice to be able to go to the MAC counter and play around with some of the colours - I would choose a day when you're not wearing much eye makeup and then ask to try coffee liner and copperplate - have the MA's give you suggestions. If in the end you find its too dark for you, try 'Earthline' eyeliner by MAC - its the perfect liner for SS's!!!

Rachel said...

Hi Renata! I just went to MAC today and was going to try Patisserie but they didn't have it there. I tried Mocha blush and Syrup lipstick. The Mocha actually seemed a little warm! Syrup was pretty but a little too "pink" for my taste...I tend to like mauves/berries better. Hmm...maybe I'm actually a true summer, haha. I've never actually been analyzed yet! Oops! ;) Oh well, I'm definitely going to keep trying more at MAC and maybe I can see whether I'm really soft or true summer through makeup!

Renata said...

Hi Rachel,
I know what you mean about Syrup being on the pink side - I've recently discovered 'Cosmo' lipstick by MAC, its a perfect dusky pink, which is supposed to be great for SS's - give that a try - also, try mixing syrup with 'nude' lipliner by annabelle - if you prefer that combination better, you probable are more of a SS vs if you wear a true berry pink well, you may in fact been on the cooler spectrum of Summer - I'd love to hear back from you after you've tried 'Cosmo' lipstck - its one of my favourites at the moment!!!

Rachel said...

Sounds good -- I will definitely try Cosmo and report back!