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Style and beauty

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Original poster

My bubble...is it compleatly burst?

27 replies

MohammedLover · 13/07/2014 22:40

I had my colours done with HOC 4 years ago. Whilst with a personal shopper who also does colour analysis I was told I have been getting it wrong all this time. Instead of being an Autumn she thinks I'm a winter, as the colour swatches are flashed before me, I was inclined to wonder if she was right. What should I do? My wardrobe was completely overhauled away from silver to gold, I gave away my lovely clothes, jewellery and accessories that were not in my colour palette and started again. I found a new confidence and a sense of self that now seems to have been built on rocky foundations. Despite there being some colours I have grown to love there are a lot I have never thought that much of within my colour wallet.
Should I go and see another HOC rep for a second opinion or is that good money after bad?
I would love to feel robust enough to say stuff it, I like it so I'm sticking with what I have got, but seriously can it be that wrong?
Having my colours done changed me so much for the better. I have sent so many people off to get theirs done.
I have a wedding to attend next week, so not long to buy a whole new outfitwith shoes, bag etc. Do I buy what I know or what I'm told now?
I did dye my hair a bit darker than I expected. That won't wash out this side of the wedding though :( would that have been enough to swing her judgment?
Please share with me any ideas of what you would do next. Thank you.

OP posts:

ExitPursuedByAKoalaBear · 13/07/2014 22:43

I now know why I am not cut out for this part of MN.

Hope you find a lovely outfit.

Meganhunt · 13/07/2014 22:49

I was also diagnosed a HOC autumn but was never sure. I asked to be re-tested at my style day about 6 months later and I was a dark winter. Looking online this is apparently an easy mistake to make. In autumn colours my skin evens out but the overall look is quite dull. As a winter my eyes really stand out. I would email your HOC consultant and see if she'll be happy to do quick check between the autumn and winter colours. Should be quick as you are choosing between warm and cool?

Hopefully · 13/07/2014 22:49

First things first - did you (and/or the other people in your analysis class) 'see' the difference when your analysis was done? Did you feel confident it was right? What makes your have more confidence in the personal shopper? FWIW I have been told more than once that I must be a winter by self professed expert people who have just looked at me, but I know full well I am an autumn - the winter colours are waaaay too stark and harsh and generally horrible on me, but I look exactly like a typical winter (dark hair, fair skin, bright eyes).

Hopefully · 13/07/2014 22:52

And as Megan says - if you still feel lacking in confidence in it, contact your consultant and ask her if she would be prepared to quickly go through warm/ cool with you again to confirm. I have done this once before for a client who had been convinced she was a winter and was really struggling to have confidence in my analysis (as a spring, iirc, but definitely warm). She also brought a friend along to watch, and I think she really only felt absolutely confident when the friend confirmed it too.

TrinityForce · 13/07/2014 22:58

Wear what you're confident in, screw what HOC thinks you should wear.

Sort through your outfits and see what you look best in atm, you'll have something you love. If not, go shopping!

dexter73 · 14/07/2014 06:42

What would I do next? What TrinityForce says about wearing what you feel confident in.

proseccoco · 14/07/2014 06:52

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

NellysKnickers · 14/07/2014 06:59

Wear what YOU think suits you or what YOU like. Please don't just follow blindly what someone else tells you. As you can see, they got it wrong.

Fairylea · 14/07/2014 07:08

I really don't believe in all this colour stuff. There are so many shades and variations of each colour I genuinely think most people can suit something within each spectrum. If you think you look good in something and it complements your skin tone (you can see this just by trying it on) then wear it! Screw what the colour people think.

DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen · 14/07/2014 07:13

I agree, where what you like!

DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen · 14/07/2014 07:14

Wear even

Hopefully · 14/07/2014 07:16

It's all very well saying but what suits you/you like, but some people are just not as certain/confident in what looks good on them. It's like saying losing weight is simple, you just have to eat less! Super easy for some people, very difficult for others.

Of course, if you do feel confident choosing what works for you OP, ignore my advice above and go for it! Colour analysis is a service for people who want a little extra help, not some essential can't-live-without-product for every single person ever.

dexter73 · 14/07/2014 07:31

The trouble is she has been told she is a certain colour which now appears to be wrong. How does she know which colour consultant is right? I think that would make me lose confidence in the analysis process. If the experts can't get it right then it seems fairly pointless.

Hopefully · 14/07/2014 07:34

My aim with all my clients (and I hope this happened with OP, and she has just temporarily lost confidence) is not that I stand there and dictate what works for them, but that they see it every bit as much as I do and can see the analysis for themselves. Quite often my only job is to hold drapes up - the client and their friend do the rest as the results are so clear. Obviously it's not always that straightforward, but I would hate for a client to leave feeling that they'd been told what to do but weren't seeing it themselves - I've probably had two clients ever who really really haven't 'seen' it. I get plenty more who refuse to accept the lipstick

dexter73 · 14/07/2014 07:55

The colour analysis seems to have cost you a fortune already as you gave away all your old wardrobe, jewellery and accessories that weren't the right colour. Can you afford to do this again and do you want to? If you like your current wardrobe then I would stick with it.

dexter73 · 14/07/2014 10:55

I was thinking about colour analysis whilst pounding along on the treadmill at the gym this morning. Is there any regulation involved in the qualifications or can anyone call themselves a qualified expert in colour analysis? If there is no regulation then surely the consultant is just a lady with an opinion on what colours suit you?

Hopefully · 14/07/2014 11:02

There isn't any regulation, no. When I was looking at training I was that I could watch a 'colour training' DVD and call myself an analyst. I know that HoC require all their consultants to meet a minimum standard on completion of colour training, and put in place additional support if you don't meet that standard - possibly CMB do similar? We (HoC consultants) also have assessments every couple of years to retain our contracts, which I think is unique, but not sure.

Hopefully · 14/07/2014 11:04

By 'watch a DVD' I don't mean that was an option with HoC, I mean another company was offering that!

dexter73 · 14/07/2014 11:12

Thanks for that Hopefully. When you say the consultant has to reach a minimum standard, a minimum standard of what?

Hopefully · 14/07/2014 11:29

A minimum standard of getting it 'right' (ie a team of assessors - directors at HoC and other senior consultants) agree you got the analysis right and that the client understood what you'd done and how to use it etc. So you're still only judged by the standards of the company you train with, rather than a central body (as there is no central body), but the training standard is as thorough as it can be without the existence of an independent central body, IMO. Obviously if you think the entire system is a crock of shit that isn't reassuring though

Hopefully · 14/07/2014 11:30

Apologies for parentheses in wrong place. Hopefully it still makes sense!

dexter73 · 14/07/2014 12:21

That makes total sense! I don't think it is a crock of shit because lots of people on here have said how useful they find it. I suppose your analysis is only as good as the person doing it. If they get it wrong, like in the op, then it is difficult for the person having the analysis as they have no idea if it is right or wrong.

I get the feelings from your posts and from when you used to blog that you have a very innate sense of your own style and also what suits other people. I should think that you make a very good consultant, but that you would have been just as good without your training.

It's not for me, I have to say, as I would always trust my own judgement more than someone else's. I guess that colour analysis is more suited towards people who aren't sure of their own judgement and need a bit of help with it.

Thanks for answering all my questions!

Hopefully · 14/07/2014 12:49

No problem. I think sometimes the negative connotations come from lack of information about the analysis process (something I think perhaps has been perpetuated by some analysis companies, wanting to keep it as some big secret knowledge, iykwim).

BTW I had no style before colour and style analysis, was a walking disaster who dressed like her mother . Honestly, it was painful.

Oh, and we don't yet know that the OP's consultant got it wrong - it may well have been (I would go so far as to say probably was) the personal shopper who was talking crap, if she was making that judgement based on just looking at someone.

Original poster

MohammedLover · 14/07/2014 22:17

Thank you for the ideas so far :)

I shall speak to HOC to see where we can go with this.

I so hope that it's just a blip. I really appreciated having rules to stick by when it came to shopping. Plus the fact everything goes well with everything. Hence why I don't think I should buy an outfit in a different season this close to the wedding.

Keeping my fingers crossed that this all works out just fine. When I think back over all the aspects of my life HOC has influenced, I feel a bit crazy. I more than embraced it, I was almost evangelical at times about the wonders of knowing you looked ok without having to ask the other half for reassurance. I just hope my ladder has been placed on the right tree and that the lady with 17 years experience got it wrong not the HOC consultant. I seriously hope I don't upset her over this. I would not want to hurt her feelings.

OP posts:

WildBillfemale · 15/07/2014 08:11

I've been 'done' with differant companies and have differant results. I think you have to use your own judgement too. I have been repeatedly told one colour is brilliant for me but I am never going to wear it as I detest it.

fwiw when I follow Colour me B' colour suggestions I get most compliments

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