Swatch 'Fun' - Using Your Personal Swatch Fan

Playing around with various colour swatches can be a lot of fun and its also a great way to put together a look.  Sometimes, when you're looking for complimentary accessories or just a new coat or hat shade, looking at a colour palette or swatch may be just the ticket to help you find the right colour.  Below are colour swatches from a neutral-warm palette - the colous are soft and muted and work perfectly with my colouring and personal taste:

I've been looking for a pair of light moss earings for a while and when I came across this pair I wanted to make sure that it would harmonize and blend with other peices in my wardrobe.  Using a swatch fan isn't about becoming obsessed with matching colours exactly, its about using the colour palette at hand to make purchases that help you build a wardrobe based on consistency, harmony and colours that compliment one another.  I personally think its fine if the colour is off just a bit, as long as its harmonious with the rest of your wardrobe - here is a perfect example:

These shoes don't match the palette exactly, but they harmonize with the colours in the palette - I love these shoes for the browns and 'putty' toned clothes in my wardrobe!!!

I absolutely LOVE the soft, muted and warm eyeshadow shades in my palette, so being able to match up these colours with my MAC shadows was both fun and exciting.  On the top, from left to right is Coquette and Soba shadows, while on the bottom is Cork shadow.  There is nothing better than having a visual of your personal makeup palette working in harmony with your best colours!!!

My all time favorite swatch 'fun' is playing around with lipstick and blush shades.  In the top photo is Bobbi Brown Tawny Blush, Laura Mercier Spiced Cider blush and cinnamon lipstick and CHanel Baroque lipstick.  On the bottom photo you can see Laura Mercier Rose and CHanel Jersey Rose - perfect warm pink shades that match the soft, neutral and warm palette 'perfectly' - in the colour analysis world, these are your soft summer shades. 

I think the most amazing part is seeing the 'end result' or the big picture of how everything just harmonizes together - check it out:

Knowing your colours and working with your personal palette is not just about makeup and what colour to dye your hair - its about creating harmony with a bigger picture in mind - its about creating a look that is original and distinctive to your personal colouring.  Its about 'glowing' from the inside out!!!