Colour and style consultations - advice please.

[FellatioNelson]

I would like to get my mum one of these for Christmas. The obvious ones to go for are House of Colour and Colour Me Beautiful.

CMB - 225 GBP for a 4 hour one on one consultation, including colour analysis, make-up and personal style overhaul.

HOC - 250 GPB for three separate small group sessions of around 4-6 people, lasting anywhere between four hours and a whole day with refreshments/lunch.

I believe they use slightly different systems in the way the 'categorise' you, and I can see pros and cons of both doing one on one, or a small group. Three days out would seem better value for money,with a bit of company thrown in, but it means she'd have to do the journey there three times as well, and I wonder if the personal touch would be too diluted? On the other hand, a bit less intense and overwhelming than one on one?

Presumably for the group days she would have to book onto a course on a specified day set by the consultant rather than at her own convenience? Also not sure if you are allocated a consultant according to your location, (inflexible) or whether you can look at the profiles online and choose the one you feel most comfortable with? If you take a three day package with HOC can you mix and match consultants/locations?

Obviously I have emailed both companies directly to ask these questions, but I am keen to get it booked and would love to hear if anyone has any experience of this, good or bad. Ta muchly. x

I'm a consultant, so my opinion is obviously biased, but in my experience, people who do the whole lot in one day (HoC do offer it all one to one in one day,but it is more expensive) find it is a huge amount of information to process, and they end up having to come back to clarify some bits of information anyway. Most HoC consultants will happily combine the make up class with another class if you really want to, but actually there's a lot to be said for having a little time to digest each chunk of information.

If there's any specifics I can help with, just ask.

That's helpful, thank you. What is the difference in the way they analyse/categorise? I think they call them different things? IIRC one of them seemed to have more variations/categories or be more in depth, but I can't remember which!

I did the HOC colours day - three-quarters of a day for £99 and just focused on finding your best colours, but with lots of discussion of style as well, so you get a good idea of what a style day would entail. I went with a friend and there were two other women there, and personally I found it really useful to have other people there to give their opinions, so it wasn't just the consultant saying something looks good on you, but lots of other people too, so you have to believe them! It was plenty of info in one day, don't think I could have taken any more in tbh. It's enough trying to get used to a whole new palette of colours!

Oh and we just looked up our local consultant and booked the day we wanted, we didn't have to fit in with her. Guess it depends how busy they are and how far in advance you book.

Fellatio I can't really speak for CMB (although I did actually have a CMB consultation a few years before I became a HoC consultant, and compared the training, analysis process and products of both before committing to training with HoC, so I have some idea how it works).

The HoC colour analysis process is quite involved, with lots of discussion before the draping actually starts of how the seasons differ, how to use one's swatch book for shopping, what the process entails etc. and then the analysis itself - this is where having other people in the class can be a huge benefit, as you get to see it on them, and they can see how great you look in the right colours. The joy of colour analysis is that it's not a consultant trying to 'persuade' you, it is an actual visible thing, so others seeing it too can be helpful.

And the style analysis is amazing. I thought it was like magic when I had it done as a client, and it was truly wonderful to understand why all of the so-called wardrobe staples looked so bloody awful on me. Lots of discussion of lifestyle, other people's perceptions of us, body shapes, personality (big believer in dressing for your inside as well as your body shape)

Oh thank you. I was leaning towards HOC but you've persuaded me.