So, should I be panic-buying loads of coral coloured stuff or what?

[TattyDevine]

Right so I got my colours done on the weekend (!) and I'm a bright/clear spring and to cut a long story short one of my really good colours is that pinky orange/coral that is about a lot at the moment, or flamingo pink, or a peachy pink. Coral, basically, is what it tends to be called.

Since then I've seen shedloads of coral coloured stuff about, much of it in the sale or about to be. Its possibly passed me by before now but I suspect it has been one of the season's "fashionable" colours - or is it always about of a summertime?

Anyways. I've never been attracted to it on the hanger particularly but it does make me look 10 years younger and light up my face and make my eyes pop out in a good way and generally make me look like there's life in the old girl yet. Obviously there are lots of other colours that also looked good but none of them quite made the lady draping me and her other victim client's jaws drop to the floor quite so much

So is it a temporary thing, will this colour dissapear for approximately a decade till it comes back in again, or is it always about a bit in the summertime? If not, I guess I should buy a few key pieces in the size I ought to be my size?

Wow . . . ! That's inspirational! I can but dream!

I know what you mean about the neutrals. They seem awfully . . . specific. None of the navy things I already own are remotely like the navy in the swatches. All my grays bar one jacket are more to the blue side as well! I think I'm going to go in for camels, golden browns and greens mostly. What is tough is that I used to do most of my shopping online and will now have to actually force myself to go into shops so I can match to the swatches.

I feel your pain Kitten. Remember that you do not have to match exactly to the swatches. Also think of your key words - light, bright, active etc. Look always for a yellow undertone to the colours (especially the reds). You do get to know the shops that yield the best colours - I do a lot of research on line then go with a hit list to look at in real life. Don't be too impatient about it, it does take time to get right. I look on it as a bit of a treasure hunt.

I've seen your WINC clip now Mitten!!! Sorry (I was waiting for my son to go and do something because the minute I put any video on the laptop he badgers me to look at videos of him when he was a baby)

That's me in 10 years for sure. (maybe 5? )

I agree about the neutrals, so far. I like floating around the house in yoga pant type things once I'm in for the day and they all seem to come in neutralish or muted colours, or black. I'm not sure they look quite so good in tan. And they look better teamed with just a plain white or black t-shirt. Okay so this is just for dossing around the house so I shouldn't be bothered abut that really but it got me thinking about other neutral basics. So I will be following the above the waist rule first, and not worry too much about the shade of my jeans or trousers, within reason...I'm sure when you get it really right it does all co-ordinate together better though.

Haha that's so sweet about the baby videos!

Tan is a sad & dismal colour for sweatpant / yoga pant things for some reason. A few years ago when everyone was wearing Juicy velour sweatsuits I would see them in that colour and just . I think my starting point (when I get off my arse and go to the shops) will be, say, two or three T shirts in my colours. Even I can handle that. I think.

True about the tan.

I ordered these for dossing about in

I don't do coral (with too much yellow in) but the Boden "red" here is perfect as it has alot of red in it - strangely enough.

I think you can find it every year in some guise like watermelon etc.

Can I kick-start this oldish thread please? I've just had my colours done (thanks to your recommendation actually thanks tatty!) and I'm a paintbox spring.

I'm def on the darker, brighter side as my best colours were navy, dove grey, cinnamon, tan, terracotta , kerry green, bright blue and turquoise. I actually already have lots of the blue, grey and navy and very little black as I'd worked out that i didn't suit it but i'm really struggling to get my head round the cinnamon/tan/terracotta shades . I suspect that they look awful worn 100% (or near the face) even if they suit you.

I'm also struggling with the lipstick - I suited the red best when I was having the consultation but back in RL, it feels wrong. i guess red is such a statement colour and i don't always want to make a statement, i just want to look nice.

Any other springs have this kinda palette and got any advice please?

Please please tell me what I might be - I live abroad and can't get my colours done for the foreseeable future. I have blonde hair (yellow/golden blonde bit mousy underneath), very light hazel/ yellowy eyes (hmm), quite pale skin (peach toned, burns easily).
Any ideas???

CakenRoses - welcome to another Spring! Your best colours (100%) etc are fairly different to mine - I share Kerry Green, Oxford blue and Turquoise as "100%" colours but some of my very best ones are (as above obviously) coral, salmon pink, and also the Geranium reds etc...

I too felt the "ideal" lipstick was at times a bit weirdy and bright on me but I really think you have to do the whole thing - so if I'm wearing a 100% colour, and the "correct" coral lipstick and blush etc then it really does work, but if I were to slap on some Coral lipstick with the wrong colours being worn then it might stick out as the "wrong" thing even if its the only "right" thing if you get what I mean?

A lot of the time I still don't bother with lipstick. I like to "do" my eyes and my eyes are a big feature (as they are for many springs) and my lips just aren't - they are a bit unvoloptuous really, so I'm never going to get super excited about lipstick.

Concentrate on trying out your 100% colours in shops etc. Try them. Honestly. There are some of those sorts of colours in Phase Eight at the moment. Just go and try them on. They don't look in any way bad on people they suit. They were never colours that I was attracted to in any way, I would bypass them on the racks for some reason but now since I've found out what red I can wear, and that I can wear terracotta etc I have tried some rusty shades and they make my eyes look amazing - even though they are not even 100% colours for me.

Just to add Cake, did you "see" it when you were in there being draped? When she put cinnamon, tan, terracotta etc under your chin did you see your eyes come back into focus? Or did you not see/feel anything?

God this sounds wanky doesn't it! ha

Slinkyboo - you really need to be draped to know. I incorrectly diagnosed myself as a Deep Autumn but am a "blue spring" or "bright spring" or "clear spring" depending which method's terms you favour (but was draped with house of colour so I think they call it either Jewel Spring or Blue spring or some such bollocks!)

There is an online quiz Here which suggests you might be a "light spring" because you are light over dark, and warm over cool.

But its very general and its the same quiz that led me to believe I was probably a Deep Autumn when in fact I'm a Bright Spring.

Its because I thought my dominant characteristic was deep when it was clear...

Thank you. I seem to come out as something different with any quiz I take! I really have no idea and, at 34, I feel stuck in a rut of pastels and chocolate brown.
I've just emailed a colour me beautiful consultant who is in Paris, which is near me, so I'm hoping I might be able to be 'draped' after all!
Thank you for the reply. I'm very that you now know exactly which colours to head for in shops.

Any advice on colours I should wear - tend to stick with blue/green/purple mixed with black
I am porcelain skin, freckles but rarely tan, green eyes and auburn hair. Cheeks tend to flush easily

Hey slinky i agree with tatty that you do really need to be 'done'. altho i'd correctly guessed i was a spring, it's only because i have to 'know colours' for my job otherwise i don't think i would have worked it out as i have quite an odd mix of colouring and even the consultant found me quite difficult to place for a while. i knew some of my best colours already but didn't always choose the right shades. there's also the colours i'd have never gone for before. i only found this out thru being draped as not all of the colours in your palette will be fabulous on you - you have to see them on you to know.

tatty most of my colours did give a WOW but i dislike terracotta and tan so much that i couldn't see me, i could only see the dreaded colour iyswim?

anyway, after i posted earlier i nipped to the shops to try some of my disliked colours and found a dress in terracotta. i ignored my urge to flee and bravely tried it on and looked strangely amazing in it (i didn't buy it tho as the fabric was awful). But wouldn't people still think 'Urgh, terracotta' or is this just me being terracottarist?

re lipstick. like you said, my eyes like most springs are my best feature (and they looked soooo much better with the right colours) but my lips are quite nice too and i'm a make-uppy person so feel washed out without colour on my lips (usually a stain and gloss). their lipsticks are sooo lipsticky that i felt they were quite ageing/not me which i think is part of the problem.

but i feel like i have to change my make-up in order to get the full effect from this (especially given i have been wearing lots of my colours already)

what are you doing with your eye make-up?

Thank you cakes...waiting to hear back from CMB agent in Paris. I need help!!!

Hi all

Can I ask other Springs esp tattydevine as a blue spring how you are planning to apply all this knowledge please? I have recently done the house of colour and was diagnosed a blue spring - apart from gleaning this means I can wear silver and gold jewellery I am not sure I have "got" it all. For example I am hoping to streamline my wardrobe and work on a capsule as I don't need a wide variety of clothes (am SAHM). Should I just stick to my 100% double star colours in the hope that then my clothes will all mix and match well? These were all the blues (!) bright navy, oxford blue, violet, bright blue, hyacinth, aqua, turquoise and aquamarine and also chocolate, coral, geranium, poppy and the three bright pinks.

The last three the pink really surprised me and when she was draping me I really identified with cakeandroses when you said that you were looking at the colour and sort of thinking "urgh" rather than at how the colour made me look. I definitely found it easier to see the effect of the colours on the other lady in my session rather than myself.

Thanks :o)

lather I'm totally feeling the same as you (except i love pinks!)

I'm feeling quite stressed about my hair/clothes now and driving dh mad by googling Spring colours non-stop.

my consultant said that another consultant might have a different view of your 100% double star colours (i didn;t have as many as you btw) so it's worth trying any from your palette. for example your 50% and 75% double stars should be great as a top.

yy, I agree with ruby, tis amazing the way you can mix different colours and they look great. An easy way to do this is to chuck on some jewellery that brings it together - i have loads of turquoise jewellery (i loved it before and its turned out to be one of my best colours) and it seems to really bring other colours together.

Actually, I reckon it's worth splashing out on jewellery in your highest rated colours to wear when you feel like you need a bit of a boost.

oh and i tried yellow today which didn't look great on me as a drape (two ticks at 75% was highest rating for a yellow) but looks really lovely as a stripe or pattern.

How do I plan on applying it...I started with makeup, making sure I had a foundation, blush, lipstick, eyeliner, etc that was right. I spent lots of time applying makeup, sometimes 3 or 4 times a day at first, experimenting with what worked best within my palette. Then I started with the stuff I spend the most time in. I am a SAHM so when I'm in for the day, I tend to wear yoga trousers and long sleeved t shirts and a pashmina type combinations so I started by replacing my long sleeved bright white t shirts (which were starting to be less bright anyway and some of the hems were ratty etc) with "soft white" ones from Kettlewell which happened to be on sale. They are lovely quality. Kettlewell is a bit uncool branding wise but they are fine for layering basics. I got some yoga pants in a warm grey and I find they blend amazingly well with my spring palette. I got just a cheap pashmina in coral and will probably get one in red soon, but will get a proper cashmere/silk one when I get a chance (less about in summer). I got some jogging bottoms in coral and a tomato red pair more recently and they work really well with the warm white, etc, for dossing about in.

I then started buying tops to wear just with jeans or whatever day to day - when something in a good colour or style comes up I buy it. So around the time I started this thread there was a lot of coral and flamingo pink which are both double star colours of mine, so I got a few bits.

I tend to go through "stages" of being really "into" a colour so I've been through my coral phase (which I still really like) and I've begun to focus on red now. Probably because some Autumn stock is coming into the shops and there is more of it around. I am now wearing red nail polish (Geranium Red 606, a HOC shade) and my eye is focusing in on red when I'm out and about.

When I get "bored" of that (I wont get bored of it but I'll probably move on to the next colour!) I'll move on to Oxford blue or Kerry green or something no doubt - and I think this will be dictated a bit by what is in the shops at the time.

I think that's how its going to work with me! I'll go through the palette colour by colour, making little investments here and there until I have a wardrobe of my pallete hanging there blending with each other, hopefully! That's the idea!

But I started with the basics and the stuff I wear the most, and from the face downwards. Haven't done much with jewelery yet but I have a birthday coming up and an important anniversary too (10 years) so I reckon I can wrangle something

Ah thank you both for replying! So I figure the wardrobe clear out is the easy bit! Yes I have other starred colours at other percentages some yellow green and grey but am all a bit unsure of what to focus on. I guess I was hoping for something a bit more prescriptive or step by step to follow, and yes it does seem a bit of a leap of faith in the one consultant.

My consultant said as a spring I should wear two colours and a splash of a third which sort of makes sense and to imagine seasonal flowers eg tulips.

So am thinking I just need to stick to my colours and in time it will all come together? Or do I need to be more focussed? Sorry for rambling!

Do you wear Jeans? I find as a SAHM for outside the house they are a bit of a uniform, which is rather unimaginative of me I know but you should find that a darkish jeans blue is one of your colours (in fact my "navy" is the colour most my jeans are)

This means that any tops you buy in your palette should blend fine with them. That's a good place to start. Buying only tops that are "correct" and preferably as high up the start chart as possible.

You can concentrate on blending and combining and all that later. But if your makeup is correct, your tops are the right colour, and simply teamed with a neutral trouser or jeans, you can't go too wrong at first.

Cross posted there but yes tatty I do wear jeans mostly or yoga trousers - wide legged as am pear - or dresses. Have v few skirts as always feel a bit of a frump prob because I suit a line. So did breathe a huge sigh of relief to see my indigo jeans are top!

I wear very little make up tho literally mascara and lipgloss for day maybe a bit of eyeliner and blush at night. Always have threaded and tinted brows tho. Maybe I should check out mac or someone for good eyeliner and gloss? I found the hoc lipsticks too old for me in texture prob because I am used to light glosses? But did like the brick red she chose for me so might order one to start.

Like the suggestion of starting with tops and scarves around my dark jeans tho - that I can do so thank you :-

Wondered about some brighter converse rather than my usual navy or white but don't want to look comedy ...

totally agree re texture of HoC lipsticks - that's what I'm struggling with. I have quick big lips and they look awful in anything with too much coverage or too matt. I can't seem to find a coral gloss with enough colour.

What eye make-up colours/product types have you found work tatty?

I tried a mid-grey eyeliner yday and it looked quite fabulous. My eyes still looked light and clear with it. Just need to decide on navy or brown mascara now.

your clothes-buying so far sounds like a good start. I'm thinking along similar lines. I recently got some Levi Curve ID jeans which are amazing in terms of fit (best jeans i've ever worn) but too dark, hoping they'll lighten to the right shade tho.

Are you literally getting rid of black dresses etc? it's the only thing i have lots of in black