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Original poster

If you had your colours done AAAAAAGES ago, are they still correct?

26 replies

JimmyCorkhill · 11/10/2013 18:35

I had a Colour Me Beautiful session in 2005. I haven't had any major changes to my look since then apart from becoming more grey haired and generally haggard (2 DDs!) Are they still the right colours for me?

OP posts:
helzapoppin2 · 11/10/2013 19:16

Probably! I still use mine, done too long ago to remember. I think a lot of them depend on your skin tone. Like interiors I think we have neutrals and accent colours, so to perk things up a bit we might need stronger colours close to the face.
2005 isn't exactly last century which is when I had mine done!
I always get on well with pink, although it wasn't in my original colours, and some reds too. I just find them perky colours I'm an autumn, so anything with a warm undercurrent seems good.

Original poster
JimmyCorkhill · 11/10/2013 19:22

Thank you! I need to find my little pack of fabrics and match them to my limited wardrobe. I'm feeling mighty drab at the moment Grin

OP posts:
Hopefully · 11/10/2013 19:41

You absolute best colours within your season might change over time, especially as hair changes colour, but your season will never change, assuming you were analysed correctly in the first place.

Original poster
JimmyCorkhill · 11/10/2013 20:15

She said that they didn't do seasons anymore. I was a 'clear' or a 'bright' Confused. I remember another type was a 'deep'. Basically, I have dark hair, lighter eyes and pale skin.

So my colours are still correct but I might suit some of them better than others?

OP posts:
Hopefully · 11/10/2013 20:20

Yup. The way House of Colour do it is by rating every one of your colours when you're analysed to find your best ones, I don't know if Colour Me beautiful give some guidance on that? But the gist is that yes, you might fall in a different part of your palette now, so your absolute best colours might have changed. But your palette is still your palette, so don't get in too much of a state about which are better or less good, they'll all be good.

Original poster
JimmyCorkhill · 11/10/2013 22:11

Thank you Smile

My colours weren't rated as such but I do remember being told some combinations that might work best for me.

I'm glad I don't have to pay to have it done again, although I would if I could afford it. I loved the whole experience!

OP posts:
ellesabe · 12/10/2013 08:11

I'm also interested in this question.

I had my colours done for a birthday present aged 13. I'm now 31 and wondered how correct they would still be having gone through puberty in between Grin

Faerieinatoadstool · 12/10/2013 08:14

I'm probably being thick but the colour me thing is intriguing me, what is it? How do you get it?

Original poster
JimmyCorkhill · 12/10/2013 08:50

ellsabe I'm sure you look as fresh now as you did at 13 Wink

Faerie I found a local consultant from the Colour Me Beautiful website and rang her for an appointment. I had a colour and style session which meant I spent a few hours with her in her beautiful home basically being the centre of attention whilst she draped scarves over me and told me all my good points Grin.

To find your colours they sit you in front of a mirror and put different coloured scarves on you and it's quite amazing to see how some colours make your eyes look bright and your skin look great, and others leave you looking drab.

As long as you wear one of your colours near your face (eg. scarf/top) then it doesn't matter if the rest of your outfit is in your colours or not (although that would make you look even better).

I can see it on my partner. He looks much brighter and healthier when he wears dark colours sadly he prefers to wear brown. I find it difficult to tell what suits me hence the CMB appointment.

You get given a little wallet with a sample of all your colours in so that you can take it shopping/match it to your existing clothes.

OP posts:
Hopefully · 12/10/2013 08:54

Elle if they were done correctly, they'll still be right! Our season is the same from cradle to grave. If you can't remember how to use your colours though, it might be worth thinking of a re-rate or something to get to grips with them again.

Faerie It's basically discovering your very best colours, the ones that make you look even skin toned, healthy, vibrant, stylish, younger, fresher, brighter, more co-ordinated, everything really. Wearing a palette that suits you, and dressing in clothes and make up that all co-ordinate, means that you instantly look more put together, it is far easier to have a capsule wardrobe as everything matches, and you generally look and feel more confident.

I don't know about other systems, but at House of Colour we first assess whether you have warm or cool skin tone by comparing various sets of drapes, and then we assess whether you need brighter or richer/more muted colours to look your best. We then sit you down and talk through what that actually means for you, how to use the information you've been given, ideas for putting colours together, how to shop with your swatch book etc etc. It's quite an involved process, and the classes I hold last from 9:30am until about 2:30pm, depending on size (I do 2-4 people per class). It's quite a chunk of money, so I am always determined that clients leave with something that is actually useful to them for the rest of their lives, not just have a nice couple of hours out and then forget about it!

SuperiorCat · 12/10/2013 09:33

It's such a shame that having your colours done is so cost prohibitive to a lot of us on Primark / H&M budgets. I'd love a service where I could e-mail a few pictures and have someone say right you're a Winter, wear these colours, that will be £15 please.

Hopefully · 12/10/2013 09:42

It is a shame Superior, but it's actually not possible to do it any other way than with a draping (I always thought that when i trained I would find out that you could do people on sight, but you really really can't), and physically spending that many hours with a client means it has to cost a certain amount in order for it to be worthwhile consultants doing it.

lougle · 12/10/2013 09:51

Hmm, but if you have 4 clients together and they've each paid £90 and the group session is 5 hours long, that is £360 for 5 hours. Even if you decide that one of the wallets costs £30 that's £240 for 5 hours - £48 per hour!

Hopefully · 12/10/2013 10:34

Yup, and I consider my time to be worth that, as much as anyone from a lawyer to a sales assistant considers their time to be worth what they are paid. I pay full time childcare for two children, I think what I do is worth a certain amount of money in terms of the benefits and savings it brings my clients, and I consider it every bit as professional and 'important' as my previous corporate job, which paid similarly (in fact, better, when I consider all the admin, back office stuff, free client events etc that I do for HoC, but that's by the by).

Hopefully · 12/10/2013 10:37

Plus, you know, it's a luxury, not a necessity. I promise not to hold a gun to your head, inform you that you NEED your colours done and demand £99 for it Grin

Lumobile · 12/10/2013 11:23

I'm smiling at 'ages ago' being 2005 Grin
I had mine done in the late 1980's. I had an update about 3 years ago, and I'm still an Autumn. The only thing that has changed is that there are different types within the season, but my original swatch colours all still look good, with a few additional ones.

Aquelven · 12/10/2013 12:12

Was just wondering, how long is the initial training,ie weeks/months to become a qualified consultant?

AmberNectarine · 12/10/2013 12:49

If you think £48 an hour is a lot you don't want to know what my charge out rate is!

FWIW I have found getting my colours done to be one of the best sartorial decisions I have made. Before I had them done I made a lot of expensive mistakes - I'm a winter and was wearing a lot of khaki and cream. That £99 has probably saved me a lot in the long run, as I think a lot more carefully about what I buy now.

anniepanniepears · 12/10/2013 14:03

does any one know anywhere near Glasgow that does your colour

bertandmarble · 12/10/2013 14:08

Yes I had it done last week and I thought it was absolutely worth it. You could save that amount really quickly by not buying things that don't suit you

lougle · 12/10/2013 17:10

I'm not criticising, hopefully, but I do think it's a bit disingenuous to say that "it has to cost a certain amount in order for it to be worthwhile consultants doing it.", when you can earn £48 ph doing it. What with the median hourly wage being £12.76 per hour in 2012 for the UK.

That's not to say that I don't think it can be worth it. I'm considering getting it done myself. I'm just saying that to imply that it 'simply couldn't be any cheaper' is not true. The truth is 'that's how much people are willing to pay to look good and the market isn't so saturated that I can charge that much'.

Hopefully · 12/10/2013 17:36

I'm not for a minute being disingenuous or saying it couldn't be done any cheaper, I'm saying it wouldn't be financially worthwhile me (and I suspect many other consultants) doing it for less, as it wouldn't actually make enough to cover all the extra time we work outside of classes. I'm not going to go into specifics, but my take home pay from my HoC business is a lot less than £48 per hour.

lougle · 12/10/2013 18:06

Thanks for explaining Smile

ManicMinor · 12/10/2013 18:30

House of Colour and Colour Me Beautiful are both franchises, aren't they? So no way that the consultants get all of the income personally. Even after buying the franchise in the first place. Plus the amount of business development, promotions, prep and follow-up that goes on I would imagine easily more than doubles the hours worked for that income, extrapolating from on what goes on in my industry. Sorry Hopefully, not wanting to examine your business model, just don't think you should need to justify it.

I 've had my colours done, I thought it was v good value, I got a lot from it and still make use of it even though it was quite a long time ago.

lougle · 12/10/2013 18:42

I don't think Hopefully, or any other HOC/CMB consultant should have to justify their business model. I do think that it's fair to make comment if it's presented as the lowest price possible. Hopefully has come back and clarified, which was appreciated.