Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Just thinking........
Recently I've really been musing and thinking about the whole concept of colour analysis and finding colours that work for me. I have always loved makeup - I think I was born loving makeup and colours!!! Within the past year I've been told I'm a Cool Winter, Deep Winter, Deep Autumn, Clear Winter, Clear Spring and Soft or Cool Summer???????????????????? It doesn't make sense to me that it would be so difficult to try and pin-point my season. However, it does make sense that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" - I'm wondering is it possible that there are people who fall into a particular season (thereby being a 'true' autumn, spring, summer etc) and then there are those people who simply don't fit into any one season or are most likely a 'neutral' skin tone being able to wear both cool and warm. I think I'm one of those people, I think you could "label" me as anything and somehow I would manage to "fit". If you think about it, there are hundreds of different skin tones, how can you possibly merge all the different skintone/eye colour and hair colour combinations and variations into 4 or 12 seasons? It just doesn't make sense - I'm really starting to think that we are all a blend of cool and warm and its about finding our balance. Its about finding, on your own terms, what colours you like and look good on you - everyone else will have an 'opinion', but in the end, its what you like! I'm going to stop trying to "Figure it Out" and start wearing what I like!!! However, advice is always good and I love to hear your feedback and opinions, I would never get offended if you disliked a particular post or a particular colour I decided to wear - often, its just a matter of me "playing around" with makeup and trying different looks. I think its in everyones best interest to learn what works for them and surround themselves with colours, music and things they love. However, its also important to not frustrate yourself or label yourself or force yourself to wear a set of colours just because you've be analyzed as 'x' or 'y'. Be yourself!!!!! Wear what you love!!!!!
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7 comments:
I'm another one with a foot in several camps colour season wise. I think some of the issue is that unless you're a 'classic' of a particular type, it's very difficult to fit yourself to any one group. One of the reasons I like the sci-art approach is that it says any season can have any eye colour or hair colour, the only thing to look at is what colours perfect the skin. That's what gives you the best fit group.
You're lucky in that you have strong natural colours, you can wear a lot of colour and you wear it, it doesn't wear you! Which gives your intensity and contrast as quite high. I'd suspect too that you have the ability to carry off several different related seasons such as the winter and bright/clear, because you have the strength in your colouring and the skill to co ordinate make up to work with your outfit. The ones I suspect you'd find harder are the lights and softs, which fade out the intensity of your natural colours? Michelle Trachtenburg is good at wearing warm and cool seasons within her 'range', she can pull off autumn and summer and look great in both, although I think in cool/light summer (ice blues) her eyes look amazing and that's her truest season. She looks terrible in winter colours and the heavy blacks, she drowns out those beautiful eyes completely. Sometimes I think eye liner is a major culprit in colour balance - the wishy washier seasons (of which I'm a brilliant example) can't carry it off at all and it can spoil a look that otherwise was well co ordinated with natural colours and a natural look!
Thanks for your post Ranger - its given me a lot to think about!!! I don't want to give up on colour analysis, but i don't want to get stuck in a cycle of confusion either. I agree with you, the lighter colours do nothing for me (this is clear when you look at the post called 'honolulu honey' and i'm wearing the lipstick without a liner - i look really washed out, but on a soft or light, that colour would be awesome). I've been asked by a few people to post a picture of myself in natural light with no makeup - its going for be really hard for me to do the no makeup thing, but it will be interesting to hear what people say - so stay tuned for that post!!!
Ok, because I have way too much time on my hands today and love talking about seasonal colour: (and apologies for several posts, it was too much to fit in one!)
looking at and comparing the pictures you've posted in the blog in different drapes, I could offer these guesses (and they are only guesses, I'm no expert!)
So I’m starting with the deep orange drape:
This deep, rich orange would work well on a warm or a deep autumn, no other seasons can really carry it off. It’s well matched with the lipstick and balances the depth of your hair colour well, but it puts an orange into your face that doesn’t seem to be there in your other pictures, and your cool coloured eyes are maybe slightly muted here. So the depth and hue not sure.
Then the two yellow drapes: two more shades of a colour good on autumns:
Again, both of them nice. Comparing the two – the first shade is lighter, cooler, with less depth and while in both your eyes stand out and the colours balance well, in the cooler colour I think your eyes pop a little more and gives a clarity and natural colour to your skin tone that the slightly darker shade makes rosier.
Then the deep red drape: another rich colour that a deep autumn or warm autumn could carry off. Again it’s nice, but the cooler brighter yellow in comparison shows that this red sucks the colour from your face. It balances beautifully with your hair colour but it distracts from your eyes and your cheekbones, both of which are too great to hide. The cooler yellow provides a frame which leads the eye straight to your face as the main focus.
Then there’s two pinks, a bright cool pink and a softer warm coral:
Again: you can carry off a lot of colour, and make a lot of colours work! The cooler pink is bright, the lips and hair balance well, but in comparison the slightly more light, muted and warmer pink again draws the eye straight to make eye contact and see those cheekbones. Your face is the focus of this picture and your skin tone is very even, it’s a lovely picture. So far medium depth and slightly lighter shades seems to work well in comparison to the deepest and brightest shades. There’s almost a hardness in the cool pink against your face where the coral pink brings out a softness and a balance that’s great.
Cooler, lighter tones:
A cool grey jacket over a black blouse, and a soft, cool blue: these very cool shades in these two pictures seem to take the colour from your face a bit. The second gives you the soft summer skin tone – you’re good at working the look you choose for the outfit and the second soft blue is a good match from your eyes, but it doesn’t balance with the brightness in the rest of your colours, the lip tone is quite muted and you can make a lot of bright lip colours work that many people can’t. Compared to the natural colour in your face in the pink and the yellow above, and the bright rich shades, these don’t seem so good at reflecting back the best in your colouring.
Deeper and brighter blues:
This was the picture of you in the navy sweater, and the picture of you in the aqua coloured drape.
The deep blue is definitely better than the grey and soft blue above, your eyes have strengthened and there’s colour back, but put the aqua alongside it and wow. There’s the amazing skin tone back, natural colour, your eyes stand out, again the focus of the picture is your face. So maybe light again is helpful, and it’s a clear colour, medium intensity and medium bright, and it’s a warmer colour.
Then there’s the picture of you in the white sweater, and wow. Of the whole group, this one is the one that looks out of a magazine. Your skin tone is even and soft and naturally coloured, the clear, light colour balances with your lips and hair and with your eyes too, their colour is brought right out and the focus of the picture is your face, the eye is drawn straight to your eyes. Lovely.
So to try to draw a few conclusions:
Tentatively I’d rule out DEEP and WARM as your dominant colouring. There’s some strong natural colours but those cool eyes need balancing and your skin tone is more a lot more delicate than a deep winter, deep autumn, or warm autumn or warm spring. There's no brown tones, no oranges, no olive or dark tones.
What works well – bright, light, medium intensity. There’s a definite softness to your eyes and face, and two of the colours above are slightly muted, not a lot, and work well, but looking at the soft blue and the soft grey (soft summer colours) compared to the other pictures I’d rule out soft summer too. You can work fantastic lip colours that look like natural colour on you, but would make a soft autumn look like a clown, and you look too good in bright colours to be a SOFT.
That leaves COOL, LIGHT and CLEAR.
Cool? Hm. Going on the evidence of the pictures mentioned above, the best of the group are all neutral to low/medium warm, and way too bright for a summer. So I’m guessing no. So despite the summery eyes, that’s cool summer and cool winter off the list.
Light? Your strong colours are not classic of a light by any means, but by sci art, any season can have any eye colour and any hair colour. So going on what makes your skin tone look fantastic – definitely light helps, but it’s medium light, medium intensity, with a sunlit look rather than the faded and iced out or greyed out colours of a light summer or a light spring, and you can take far richer, stronger and brighter colours than either of those seasons which can be quite neutral.
Which leaves clear.
You have the bright, clear skin tone, and in some of the colours above it becomes very clear and softly coloured, and where you have strong contrast between your skin and your hair which is the snow white clear winter look, your eyes are softer and cooler. There are colours which make them pop and show off their colour, and other colours where they’re muted. Tentatively, I think they balance the best in medium light, bright and clear colours which don’t overwhelm them, and I think this is the unique feature that makes placing yourself in a season so tricky. Your hair may be classic of a deep, but I don’t think that’s what your skin undertones and eyes are at their best with. You also know you’re versatile with colour, you can wear a lot of colour and that’s also classic of a clear season.
You may well be one of those incredibly lucky people who can do either cool or warm or neutral, and you have the gift with matching looks and colours to carry off the style you want. However the best of the pictures – going only on them – the warmer colours are great.
So my best guess would be a clear spring, with care to keep bright colours just light enough to make the most of your eyes.
Ranger - Thank-you soooo much for all the time and effort and you put into writing those posts. I really appreciate all the feedback!!! I'm going to have to re-read your advice a few times and look back at the photos, but what you say really makes a lot of sense. I agree with you that what makes analyzing me so difficult is the contrast between my deep hair, cool eyes and clear skin-tone - I remember a year ago I had a makeover done at Chanel and the makeup artist applying my makeup said to me "wow - you have cool eyes and warm skin with neutral hair colour' - He was soooo right!!! I can colour my hair a plummy black or a deep warm auburn or a neutral brown and each hair colour will look good, but as you mentioned, my skin really shines when I wear the clear shades. Thank-you so much again Ranger!!!!!!!! You're really giving me a lot to think about!!!
You're most welcome! It's a joy to talk to someone knowledgeable and interested in seasonal analysis!
the MAC Hug Me lipstick arrived btw, and I was surprised to find that while I love the colour on paper/wrist, even this too is just too dark and heavy for me when I put it on. Sigh, need to try again still lighter and pinker.
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