So should I get my 'colours' done?

[traceybath]

A question I didn't think I'd need to ask until I was quite a bit older.

However, I have recently noticed that I'm looking rather haggard - 13 week old baby possibly not helping on that score.

And am beginning to realise that my usual colours are rather draining. Wore a rather nice mulberry coloured scarf yesterday and looked a little less tired.

So do I need to see a scarey lady with polyester scarfs or can I work it out myself online?

I'm fair skinned, blue/grey/muddy puddle coloured eyes and blonde hair. Well ok naturally its probably mousey but hi-lights make it blondey - actually possible too blonde at the moment.

I really enjoyed the experience when I had it done. I think it can depend on the consultant you have, mine was lovely!

It has made shopping a lot easier as I just go straight for my colours. Have lots in my wardrobe to change, but that will happen over time.

I know people that have used the books and still got on well. Most of it is about confidence, which I don't always have a lot of, so this helped me

I had my colours done when my DS was about 7m old and I was finishing my maternity leave.

I think it was well worth the £ and most of the colours are not what I would have picked before because they are not necessarily colours I "like" - but I have to admit they suit me.

I haven't taken full advantage yet though as I want to loose weight and then re-stock my wardrobe.

You sound as if you are a typical "summer".

Muted colours with a blue undertone. Soft, not bright.

Soft blues, bluey pink, navy, blue greys, mulberry sounds lovely, it really is very easy to do yourself once you know how - you just need some colours to try out.

Where do you live?

Live near Bath.

I wear lots of those colours already - particularly navy and silvery grey and pinks.

Do men do this? Its a bit stepford.Go and try things on with a friend who is honest!

Ok - you are on the right track then. What you need to do is to get a selection of tee shirts, blouses, scarves out. You have to do this in day light. No make up, to begin with.

In front of a large mirror, in a good light, hold each garment in front of you, up to your chin, and observe how the colour reflects onto your face.

Look at the shape of you face, especially under your jaw line.

Look at the colour of your lips - YOUR colours will increase/bring out the colour of your lips. The wrong colours will "drain" your lips.

The right colours will fade the shadows under your eyes, the wrong ones will exaggerate them.

The right colours will fade out lines and wrinkles, the wrong colours will increase them.

My guess is that yellows, golds, browns with a yellow tone, orange, autumn colours will be unflattering.

Soft pinks, greys, blues, violets, plums and navy will be flattering.

Once you get the right family of colours, you look for other colours that harmonise with them, and don't clash.

It really is that simple. Then, you choose make up in the same family of colours.

Sorry - I live in london, so can't show you. I do know a lovely lady in Bristol though, who does colour analysis.

but the thing about the " honest friend" aproach is, how do you separate out the style / shape/ texture/ fit of the garment and the colour ?

i end up buying things that are good fit / flattering/ suit my lifestyle / reasonable price / quality etc . Not necessarily because they are the best colour on me

I don't think you need to pay to have your colours done. As you can already see for yourself, when you wear a colour that complements your skintone, your skin glows and your eyes "pop". It isn't rocket science....imvho I think paying somebody a massive amount of money is madness for something which you can do yourself for free (or with honest friend as bodycolder suggests).

Get yourself an afternoon of shopping time. Find a few stores with a good selection of colours (Zara is good for this) and try loads of stuff on - even colours you wouldn't normally consider. Really, save your money for your nice new clothes

x posted

oh thanks frogs, thats just what i needed

Agree with 3littlefrogs re: colours which suit/don't suit. I can wear mulberry, navy, choc brown, magenta etc but anything with a yellow tone makes me look horrendously ill.

Debenhams do a pretty good personal shopper service for free. You need to ring up and book though. It is quite good fun and you get to try on lots of things in a large changing room, in peace.

I was 'done' last week and found it really helpful.

I was surprised at the colours which suit me, having worn the 'wrong' ones for so many years, but can see that the bright, contrasting colours she suggested do work.

I've borrowed the Colour Me Beautiful book (Colour Me Confident) from the library at the moment which is good and recommends clothing styles as well as colours.
If you already have half a clue, which it sounds like you have, it may be all you need.

That'd be nearly £100 saved for the shopping fund.

The other thing if doing it yourself is to assess whether gold or silver suit you. This will determine whether your colouring is 'warm' or 'cool.'

Then you need to determine is whether you are a strong or muted version.

But I never shop with friends - they always want to go off and look at what they're interested and I want to do likewise.

Also everyone naturally gravitates towards things they like and which will suit them - it's a rare friend who genuinely can see what suits you and can comment without prejudice.

Witness the S & B threads: 'what do you think of this dress?' - people sweep in with a judgement as to whether they would wear an item - how is that relevant to the person posting?

Once you know 'your' colours you'll never worry about matching peces of clothing as everything in your wardrobe will (eventually) match you.

If you colour your hair, go for ASH tones, not GOLDEN. The names of hair colours usually have these key words in them.

Unfortunately - a shop assistant who happens to be an Autumn, for example, will always bring you clothes in autumn colurs - unless they have been trained, so you need to be careful about that too.

Thus proving my point.

Thanks ladies - am going to expriment with some colours today.

Frogs I think you should set yourself up as hte mn colours consultant. I always wondered what this was, I thought it was somehting to do with make up.

I have had many "jobs" in my 40 years or so of working. Colour analysis was one of them in the days when my children were small. Make up is part of the service, inasmuch as the colours of make up are important WRT your skin tone. However, I am a bit too far past my "sell by date" to do it as a professional now .

You do surprise me, Frogs - the consultant I saw was easily 60 (in fact she retired shortly after I'd seen her), and I recently saw one for a make up session who said she was coming up to 40.

Is there considered to be an optimum age then? (Considering possible new career emoticon).

No - there probably isn't, but with all my other jobs and committments, I don't really have the time to look sufficiently groomed all the time . (I work in the NHS, and permanently frazzled isn't a good look for an image consultant).

how much does it normally cost?

I'm hurtling towards 40 and am starting to need help to look human passable! I've been thinking that getting my colours done would be a start

I think House of Colour charge about £80 - but that includes lunch and afair it's at least a 3 hour session.

I wouldn't want to go if there were more than one other person, though - there's a lot of ground to cover and obviously the more clients present the less individual attention you'll receive.

I sat in while a friend had her colours done and it was all a revelation to me to see the colours woman bring out so many different shades - every shade and subtle tone change under the sun - and see my friend transformed by them. You couldn't achieve what they do on a shopping trip with a mate imho.

One yellow was different to another, one plum different to another. The minute differences were amazing in the way they affected my friend's skin tones and what suited her.

This woman was based in Long Eaton, Derbyshire and charged about £35 for a couple of hours. Then you could pay extra to have different swatch charts which you keep (and take out shopping with you). Money well spent imho.

I'll admit to being a cynic about this. I think your money is better spent on a good image consultant or personal shopper.

Angelina Jolie is going to look beautiful as an 'Autumn' or a 'Spring' in fawn, maroon or silver. If you are not so blessed I don't think it's really going to make that much difference either.