House of colour chat

[newtothenet]

Has anyone had their colours done? I had mine done last weekend and could do with some tips on how to integrate my new found knowledge into the reality of my life full of wrong clothes and limited money!

What is your colour? I'm a light spring. I'd say it's changed my style as much as the colours I wear as it's hard to look like an edgy rock chick in teal and coral ;) I still wear some colours which are no no's for me eg black but just not near my face and try to choose them in "softening" fabrics like silk or linen (which I was drawn to anyway).

Ha - yes - I'm a clear (or bright) spring and find it hard as I hate the CBeebies presenter look. Would prefer slightly edgy rock chick. I still wear black sometimes (am allowed to in the colour me beautiful system) but do agree navy looks better, especially for work. Wear navy trousers/skirts and camel cashmere, shiny cream silk tops and sometimes bright green silk tops. But I prefer the neutrals! I don't even really like bright lipstick very often... What 'season' are you OP?

A long time ago l had mine done but can't remember which season l was..think it was summer? But recently...well a few years ago too, l was done by First Impressions and I'm Cool Bright, high contrast goes well and silver jewellery. Does anyone know what season this is please?
The neutral colours are fine, but the bright part is tricky when you're a blend into the background kind a girl!! I do find it easier in the summer as bright colours with white skinnies are not to bad. But it's the high contrast l struggle with... I often just wear a pale grey top with a brighter scarf...but l end up looking teacher ish...which isn't great...l am a teacher and need to look a bit different on days off!

Ok, so you are clear and cool or cool and clear in the colour me beautiful system (difference being which 'trait' is more dominant). If you are bright though and cool you must be a winter in the House of Colour system. They do contrast but with cool colours (hence silver rather than gold). Does that help at all??! Maybe a jewel winter but I don't know about winter subtypes! And each system is a bit different...

Think I may be more CBeebies than I care to admit. Just sorted out my tops

I am a paintbox Spring so similar to shirking. Building a capsule work wardrobe at the moment as have more or less reached my goal weight and am looking at navy and camel with red and green and the odd ivory top, all double star colours for me.

I do like coral and pink which were also top rated (I had a more than average number of top rated colours apparently, I suspect because my colouring is quite bland) but I am moving these to weekend stuff as I find them a bit beebies for work really.

I love navy and grey too but the spring grey is one of my worst colours alongside the spring yellows. I did borrow a black t shirt from my mum the other day and whilst it wasn't fab, it was better than I expected.

Hi Phyliss! Ditto - those are all my vest tops, t-shirts and long sleeved t-shirts. (I seem to have more than I thought). Work tops are hung up and I stick to a similar palette but generally creams on top with maybe a navy cardie or something - slimish pear so prefer wearing lighter colours on top. Need to work on the lippy really but I feel so much more chic in a nude colour lipstick!

I'm a Blue Spring and also find the bright colours a challenge - I spend a lot of time in navy, grey and cream. I had my colours done almost a year ago but still find the lipsticks a bit scarily bright.

Hi garlic bread. Actually, I was thinking about French style and how I bet stereotypical stylish women in Paris wouldn't ever get their colours done... And then that exact comment popped up on the French style thread. Hmm. I don't want to look like a Boden model (well, I do, but not to be dressed like one) or a CBeebies presenter.

Thanks shirking, it was over 20 years ago that my colours were done,so it's possible the sub categories have changed. My first impressions colour swatches have definitely got " cool bright" so will look at winter, see if it is similar. I did the Boots foundation match made colour check and l am Cool Ivory...so definitely cool. But to be honest I've got light brown/ mousey hair and l seem to think winter people seemed to be very strong in their colouring... Iblack and silver hair in later life. I'm very bland,run of the mill!!
But will have a look. I do think it makes such a difference when you do wear the "right" colours...just a confidence thing l suppose.

What is this and where do I get it done?

MissMoo22 it's colour analysis, and the company we're talking about is House of Colour. You book a day, there's usually 4 of you being 'done' and you sit infront of a mirror while the consultant drapes scarves over your shoulders, warm on one side, cool on the other. You very quickly start to see which side suits you best. Then I think they do the same again, this time with the brighter vs less bright colours.
Warm, bright - spring
warm, darker - autumn
cool, bright - winter
cool, darker - summer
I dont know how much it costs because I had mine done YEARS ago, but it really is an investment.

OP at the style analysis they told me to budget 10% of my income for clothes. If you dont use it one month, then save it for the next. Have you had a look at kettlewell colours? Or h&m is a good cheaper option I find, especially for basic tops in warm reds.

With lipstick I find I can't manage an actual dense lipstick, it's too much for me. I prefer something a bit more sheer as it gives the colour without being too OTT. Like the lip butters from revlon - candy apple is a great Spring red (or was until my 7 year old 'borrowed' it). Also hear good things about the Clinique chubby sticks and bourgois cheepo versions.

Pretty sure summer is a light season... But muted - opposite of bright (or clear)

Wow, lots of responses! I'm a leaf autumn. I like the colours but am struggling a bit with a few things:

1. Not being able to wear black for work (staple is black shoes, black tights, black skirt, coloured top).

1. Being able to figure out if things are really my colour or not. I don't know how close a match they have to be to the swatch in terms of both shade and hue.

1. It's so overwhelming! I have hardly any correct clothes, limited budget, and find the changeover drawn out and daunting.

I've dyed my hair from blonde (not natural) to light brown but it's a bit too coppery and dark so need to let it fade a bit. It would be better done at the hairdresser but, again, limited funds! I'm looking forward to working with it though and have started wearing a brown (pale) lipstick as have never worn one before.

My consultant was amazing and looked fantastic! I completely see what she means about the brighter lipstick and doing a whole package approach. I'm thinking of booking my husband in!

Thank you redexpat it does sound like a good investment, I will look into it.

I had mine done 15 years ago and at first it was a bit tricky. I was an Autumn but wore black all the time! I started off by buying some scarves in my colours, got rid of a lot of my black clothes and took my swatch out with me when I went shopping. I found brown to be a good substitute for black. It took a long time but I now have a wardrobe of lovely clothes that suit my colouring and match each other!

It makes shopping a lot easier as I don't even bother looking at clothes that aren't in my colours. It's more important to get the colours right around your face but black really doesn't work with Autumnal colours, it's quite jarring ( to me ).

Just keep at it and think of it as a long term project. If you don't want to spend too much money right now you could try looking for clothes in your colours in charity shops and see how they work on you.

Finally, if you do find something really nice in your colours, buy it! 😀

Also, unsurprisingly there tends to be more clothes in Autumnal colours sold during Autumn so look out for them then!

Thanks destinysdaughter - I'm definitely seeing it as a long term project. I know what you mean about black jarring with autumn colours. I feel as though my wardrobe is living a double life - the autumn side and the black side - neither of which matches the other.

It's good to hear a success story though!

You're welcome! But... I felt utterly despondent after my session as I hated the colours and didn't see how I could change. They didn't feel like 'me' at all. I'm so glad I did it now as black is very harsh and I often get complimented on my lovely clothes. They are definitely 'me' now! 😀

This thread has reminded me that I'd had my colours done years and years ago, I had remembered that silver/grey eyeshadow suited me but that was about it. I just checked out the updated version and I think I am a soft summer, definitely cool tones rather than warm. With this in mind I might take my hair colour a little cooler next time, it'd probably look better with more ash tones.
I've also just cleared out my wardrobe and I'm ready for a new look so the colour chart will be a real help with my new capsule wardrobe planing.