No hooting or scorn allowed: had colours 'done', now have hair and shopping angst...

[WilfShelf]

And no posts either or will growl at you...

Am officially a SUMMER after believing Autumn/Spring for whole life.

Hair a disaster: has been auburn/redbrown etc for ever. Looks truly awful with summer colours, though skin looks marvellous - depressingly - in pastel pink and blue.

Have been in denial. Started on long process of recolouring hair. Too dark first of all with semi, but ash toned. So stripped that out with colour remover. Then put l'oreal light ash permanent on: good result. Then made mistake later of doing the highlights (was one of those two part kits). Went orange (did I not leave it long enough?) So used light ash semi over top. Looks OK now but still not really light enough. This all in space of 3 weeks

Do I just leave all this to grow out? Or can I have it done again at hairdressers?

I really do need to be lighter, but am worried I won't get the sort of caramel ash tones I want on my hair: is it just impossible for some hair? And will I ruin it with more colour processing now? Given I have highlights under the semi-p, will these show through if I use a lightening permanent colour now?

And bloody, bloody hell, where do I look for muted cool shades in clothing that is not an Old Lady Shop?

Thanks.

Ho hum. Obv very nouveau bourgeois.

i am a summer and went shopping today and found it hard to find the 'soft white' that i need - i have an awful lot of grey in my wardrobe because that is the only colour that was prevalent in the shops over the winter

i am sick of grey

i also have trouble with my hair - highlights go orange on me as well i spent a bloody fortune once and they still looked rubbish,

soooo i have gone in the other direction and dyed it dark dark brown in the hopes that it will make my blue eyes 'pop'. the jury is still out on that one. my mum told me i looked like cher

Gap usually have nice t-shirts in our blues/pinks

other than that i am still on the hunt.

Ooooh goody. Another summer victim of old lady pastel shades!

Am finding it difficult to buy things 'muted' enough. Keep trying on really bright pinks etc. It is HARD having to look entirely afresh at clothes when have had many, many years in one groove.

Am wearing raspberry pink tshirt today: looks bloody brilliant. Currently got N&E light ash brown semi-p covering ginger in hair: looks good actually, though still too gingery from hair dyeing disasters near roots.

Need new bloody EVERYTHING.

I'm a summer too and normally find Monsoon quite good esp for tops which contain multiple 'summer' colours....personally always veer away from the pastelly shades but as a result end up with a lot of turqoisey aqua colours.

Actually, Tesco also quite good - you know they do the range of cheap cashmere each autumn? Usu at least one or two bang on summer colours in there - lovely raspberry sweater bought there last year. Tesco also v good for 'summer' jewellery, have a lovely set of pastelly greeny bluey beads from there last week.

I get my highlights done properly and go for a lifting blonde plus a cool dark blonde to break it up a bit. Am naturally dark blonde but a bit ashy. Dislike 'ash' blonde; always think it's just a polite term for 'a bit grey'.

wilf - stop pissing about with your hair and get it done properly at hairdressers

and i think its great that you have got your colours done. i suspect that most people who scoff are scared to have it done in case they are told that they are wrong. like me

I think cod is a summer, I'm sure she will assist at some point?

I'm a colours devotee so I'm not here to scoff! Unfortunately I'm a Spring so different palette but I do shop with my Summer friend and Winter husband, so I'm getting quite good with the other seasons.
With regard to your hair I agree with Kristina - go to a hairdresser and get it sorted out. After that you may be able to replicate the look on your own.
So... clothes. My Summer friend has had some success with (whispers) Per Una & they have hyacinth blue at the moment. Also some nice things from Wallis, especially in grey and cool pinks. I think Kettlewell Colours is a good place to start with tops, although they are not cheap they are good quality and will last for ages. That's what this is about really - wearing the things you have, not owning a closet full of wrong stuff. So more expensive but MUCH less quantity is the way to go...
My consultant reminds us that it can take years to get it right, depending on your budget and how 'wrong' you are at the beginning, so don't be too downcast. I found that after my wardrobe edit & the purchase of a few things I was much happier and didn't want to wear the old stuff anymore. Consequently I appear in the same outfits a lot but I feel really good in them. I now wear lots of accessories too; I find that quite a challenge but I think that interesting bags, scarves, shoes etc do help the look. Make sure you wear your lipstick or lipgloss too. And I love not wearing black . I do spend quite a lot of time shopping as I like the challenge of finding just the right things. Just chill and enjoy it and don't rush in in a panic - it will come in time. Just don't buy stuff that isn't perfect as you will not wear it!Concentrate on your double star colours and go in any shop (don't be ageist, at either end - I'm 54 and go in Top Shop and Country Casuals!) - you sometimes find an absolute gem in the most unlikely place. You have the rest of your life to look great!

Wilfshelf! you can buy Blonde shampoos with blue/purple pigment to help neutralise brassiness! think Loreal used to do one Blonde shine if i remember correctly depends on how bright highlights are may not be enough i fear!

gap usually very good for wishywashy muted cool - I am an autumn and ther is bugger all for me in there

M & Co have some tosh but their 'shop by collection' thing is pretty good - try 'dance rehearsal' for blues and 'ballet' for grey and pinks

summer doesnt equal pastel will
its just the colours ( as my woman said ) of a summer garden

kew very good too
maroon is good for summers and purple
and pale blue

I thought Maroon was a no-go? Or is that burgundy? And we were meant to go for geranium instead? See, I know that there are some reds that summers can wear, but I still avoid them for fear of not getting it right even with my 'little purple book' in my bag!

its ok for me
and mocha ( dont like brown though) and as someon said pupley blue and soft greens and magenta and quite strong purple

think of a herbaceous border

a ha...

Yes apparently my ONLY brown is a mink/mocha shade. And only blue-greens also. Have been wearing green/brown/orange as MY colours for ever and only when the woman showed me, I realise they didn't make me look tanned they made me look ILL...

Muted shades deffo good, and yes lots of flower colours. Good advice to pace myself: have been desperate to use new colours but it's hard work shopping differently...

Will indeed 'stop pissing about' with hair and go to hairdressers soon when has calmed down a bit. But the problem is hairdressers just Do Not Listen and I'm buggered if I've ever been to one who hasn't said 'oooh we'll just warm you up a bit with some auburn highlights...' hence the home attempts...

PS there are MILLIONS of reds in my list. including a burgundy shade. Key is they must be blue-red or purple red and not remotely orange. Apparently.

I have yet to find any clothes or lipstick in 'watermelon': WTF colour is that?

Wilf who did your colours? Was it colour me beautiful?

No. HoC. Did CMB before - a short session with others and she got it wrong!

Just wondering, cause I do have bluey blues in mine, they are just not vibrant shades (which the winters get). Am now wondering if they all make it up as they go along and it really is a load of pap

Mind you after the CMB woman did my makeup (first time I'd worn blue eyeshadow since moving out of Essex) I waxed evangelical for months.

summer is the easiest to find in england .
joseph, whistles,
marc jacobs

just let your hair grow out

I am trying hard not to be evangelical but I do look bloody fabulous in my new makeup: EVERYONE does, in fact, keep saying how well I look, just as she said they would. It was actually quite an emotional thing to feel like I knew how to look a bit better after wilderness fashion desert of many small children on the trot.

Probably right kalo. Am just having hissy fits because I'd had thirty something years of just not 'seeing' those colours...

i know. my mother had the original book in the seventies. i hated my colours, and longed to be a summer, but honestly my whole family has never looked back!!! you will find the shops that are right for you and then only go to those shops.

i only suit nicole farhi, (autumn mainly), but i suspect that i would suit Chloe very well, unfortunately out of my price range!

my sis is a summer, she always looks fab

when you go to hairdressers you need to get them to show you the colours they are going to use in their little book. then you can make sure you are happy

i get one ash colour, one very slightly golden and one lowlight which is close to my natural colour. but i have no red in my own hair at all so i expect they will have to choose different colours for you

i suspect watermelon is a corally red.

i think I'm a summer too as i look ill in brown, orange or yellow and rarely wear green

Does anyone know how the HoC colours translate to the CMB ones?? Have bought the new version of the CMB book (cheapskate emoticon) but am having trouble deciding "what" I am but probably a "warm". So is that like an Autumn?

autumn and spring are both warm

iirc spring is warm & clear, autumn is warm & muted