Can anyone help diagnose me- I'm confused about my colours!

[Armadale]

I am about to buy a new coat and scarf for winter, first time in 5 years [embarrased] so I really want to buy something that makes me look nice.

I had my colours done about 15 years ago at CMB, I was a Light Spring then, and the colours did seem to suit me then (it was basically navy rather than black, camel and grey as other main colours and then the main accent colours were baby pink, baby blue and baby green, light peach and light orange, mint and buttermilk)

In the last 3 years ago been through some big body image stuff and really lost my confidence and now I just don't know about my clothes any more.

Don't know if this is my lack of esteem or honestly observing they look crap.

I don't know how much your colours change over time as you grow up or if they stay the same?

All the things I've looked at online today say if you have blue veins you can't be a spring, you are a winter or a summer, so I'm baffled as I was a spring.

I have quite dark brown hair but it is dyed ashy blonde, very pink skin (look like a boiled sausage without BB cream), blue eyes but not bright blue iyswim, blue veins and I'm pale except for my ruddy complexion. My eyebrows are a bit non-existent and pale ish but if I colour them brown they look better.

No advice just an anecdote. I had my colours done by an independent advisor. She said cmb had M&S diagnosed many women she knew. You sound more like a summer to me.

That is interesting, thanks. Because there were a few colours at the time that weren't me that she had to cross out, like Purple and she told me to stick to light medium and clear colours but I wasn't exactly sure what this meant.

When I was looking at it online today it did seem like I was more like a summer, but the only one that really mentions pinky skin seems to be light summer which says you have blonde or light brown hair whereas mine is medium dark brown.

I presume you are supposed to do your real hair colour aren't you, and not the colour you've dyed it?

Armadale, I had my colours done by a CMB consultant around the same time as you, and was also "diagnosed" as Light Spring. I don't think you can change from a Warm to a Cool, but everyone fades (goes lighter) as they age.

Is there any yellow in your skin? If not, you may really be a Summer rather than a Spring.

Whichever you really are, your new coat needs to avoid the really dark or strong colours. Maybe a light navy, or a medium grey, perhaps? More important is the colour(s) of your scarf, as this will be next to your face.

That stuff about veins is crap. I have green veins and am a summer.

I also have reddish hair and olive skin.....

LadyMud, do you think you are a light spring? do you think they got it right for you?

I really can't find a hint of yellow in my pink pink pink skin so I'm thinking I must be a summer.

You are right about the scarf, I would have gone for different pinks with a grey coat but I'm not now sure if all that pink is actually helping with the ruddy complexion.

Oh god, don't say that orangeandemons, that totally confuses me! I thought veins were the thing!

If you have red hair and olive skin and are a summer, how can I be a summer with brown hair and pink skin.

Yes, I think Light Spring is right for me, although I was rather surprised, as I thought I was Autumn. My skin is definitely what they used to call "sallow" (horrible term).

A mixture of pinks and blues would look good, but perhaps difficult to find. Can you knit?

Is this scarf the sort of thing you're looking for?

I know loads of springs, including myself, who have no yellow in their skin. Your diagnosis sounds perfect to me, this sounds more like a crisis of confidence generally rather than confidence in your colours? Best thing to do is go shopping and try loads of scarves near your face, using your light spring palette as a guide. You genuinely will see which look best
Btw, light spring is on the border with summer I believe so not surprising there is some confusion.

If you do a colour consultation with house of colour, they cover your hair when they do it, so just look at skin tone and eyes. If you were a spring you would be able to wear some quite bright colours here whereas apple/lime greens, orange and basically all yellow look hideous on me (summer)

LadyMud, that scarf is much better than the things I have thought of, I really like that, thanks. My knitting has hitherto been confined to Barbie Scarves thirty years ago and I would hesitate to think I could do anything worth doing.

Gillybobs, yes it is a crisis of confidence generally, I just look such a mess all the time. Interesting what you say about light spring being on the border...

theresmore, i think i probably could do most of those colours, possibly not the lime green though. Bright yellow does look quite good on me, but only with a bit of a tan. Apple green looks good, I seem to remember. These colours seem more like the ones I have in my little CMB swatch book than the ones I was looking at online this afternoon, so maybe I should think I am a spring for now and try some scarves in the swatches as Gillbobs suggest.

Hi Aramdale! Was about to say something along the same lines as gillybobs... Sounds like you are a spring from your last post. Definitely in House of Colour terms and the same colour family as CMB used to call 'spring'.

CMB have renamed their colour classifications although they are still the same. So, if you were a 'light spring' you'll be 'light and warm' (or something like that).

My veins don't look remotely green and I'm a spring. You can have varying degrees of warmth in spring colouring, even though all springs are 'warm' (to some extent).

Apple green and tan are definitely spring colours - not summer. Join our spring thread !

Try on a couple of lipsticks, a peachy, corally one ' then a pink that's got a mauve, bluish tint. That might help you decide whether you are cool or warm. One will probably make you look pasty or ill, the other will suit you more.
If you looked at me you'd see no warmth or yellow in my colouring at all, very pale skin, turquoise eyes, white blonde hair ( own colour, not dyed). Was a real shock to find I was a spring. But it's true. Put me in summer/ winter cools & I look like a corpse

thanks Beginner, I will join the thread, to be honest I had been feeling very left out!

Aquelven, what colour would you expect to suit me then- the corally one and not the pink with mauve if i'm a spring?

I'm a bit confused as a lot of my colours like baby pink and baby blue seem cool, or am I understanding it wrong?

Armadale, there are different sorts of baby pink and baby blue - some warm, some cool! I'm looking at my CMB wallet of swatches right now.

In the light blues, there's Powder Blue, Mint, Light Aqua and Light Lavender. They all have a warm-ish, slightly muddy quality to them. An icy blue would appear very different.

With the light pinks, the situation at first appears more complicated, as there's Warm Pastel Pink (warm) and Powder Pink (cool???). But on the card which says how you should use each colour, for Powder Pink it says "away from face" - because it's actually a bit too "Summer".

I don't think you have it wrong at all!

Yup Armadale - coral pink will suit you if you are a spring (I think whatever sub-type). A mauve-ish pale pink won't look as good!

OK I am going to try the makeup counter. In my CMB swatches thing it says for blush: Salmon or Sienna, for lipstick salmon pink, warm pink, spiced pink or tulip....I am beginning to think I should have been looking for warm tones but thought because of the blue veins thing I have been looking for cool ones.

But....just seen in my swatches that I have all the same blues and pink as you, but the notes say the opposite to you - powder pink says v.g. pastel on you.

Maybe I just have completely odd colouring

I was going to dive in here and try to help (am a consultant, albeit HoC rather than CMB), but I think the best thing to do Armadale is as others have suggested, just go and try on a bunch of different scarves and/or make up in 'your' colours and some 'wrong' colours and hopefully it will start to make sense in your head again. As a Pastel Spring your best colours won't be the brightest, most vibrant, most saturated in your palette, but will be the softer, more summery end of the spring palette, if that makes sense.

If you want a bit of a confidence boost, you could always go for a colour re-rate (or similar) if CMB do them - it's a cheaper session, and the consultant just kind of checks through your colours to make sure your absolute best ones (i.e. the ones that determine what type of Spring you are) are still the same.

Oh, and FWIW don't try to second guess your analysis on the basis of looking at stuff online - I have blue veins, very dark hair and generally look completely like a Winter, but I am an Autumn.

Thanks Hopefully, I appreciate the advice. The softer end of the palette makes sense.

I will go for a re-rate at some point but I haven't got the confidence at the moment and I'm pretty sure no-one would really want me as a client atm since I've gone a bit bonkers (3 MC's and a stillbirth in 2 years, +6 stone on in that time (only 3 off so far), & had so many people rummaging around inside me that I can't bear people touching me now, can't even face the hairdressers. NOT what I would imagine is a dream client....)

So at some point when I'm more up to it I will go for one, but for the moment these sort of threads are gently helping me to try and start feeling a bit better about myself-

I have also learnt about the BB hair thingy, and BB creams and superdrug cleanse and polish liz earle rip off .

Sorry to hear you've had such a horrendous time of it , I think anyone would be feeling as you do in that situation. When you do see someone, do explain your situation - there are consultants who will be able to deal sensitively with your situation (if you want HoC recommendations I can think of a couple, depending on where in the country you are).

In the meantime, trying on a few right and wrong things should reaffirm some good colours for you and keep you going. If you want to link anything here I can always offer an opinion on whether it's Pastel Spring

Please do join the spring thread too

Yes do
We'd love to see you on there & we're a friendly bunch, promise

Aw, thank you for the really kind messages, Hopefully, Gillybobs and Aquelven, I will join it today