RSSLetting Things Be Easy
January 8, 2010
Karen had a Personal Colour Analysis recently. (*name changed, of course*).
I had to do it twice because she didn’t feel these colours could be hers. (True Summer). She saw only grays and old lady colours, instead of the fabulous roses and blues.
She felt the personality was nothing like her. She sees herself as a firecracker, but that’s only a small part of her being. She can soothe everyone around her into loving one another, even if they don’t like each other. She is highly capable, steady, diplomatic, and sensible. Courtesy and decency are central to her nature. She also has beautifully shaped hands. She is a True True Summer, and not even the darker version.
She said “they don’t make clothes in my colours”. I’ll grant that professional clothes are hard to find, but I know for sure that there are True Summer clothes out there. In fact, it’s the Winters who need full colour saturation who have trouble finding interesting colours, except in workout wear. There’s loads of black and some generic teal and plum thing, but not much really beautiful stuff. (There’s more True Summer and saturation talk in Elisa Is A True Summer, at 12B).
This was before we shopped for makeup. We tried eyeliners. The energy was wrong. It felt sticky. Her eyelashes looked too thin. We went for coffee to think about it. We finally settled on some lovely colours.
She called me recently. The makeup was dull and made her look old. Even the foundation that was perfect 6 months ago, was off. People told her she looked better in the crimson and black she used to wear. She wanted makeup that would make her look more alive, or even a bit alive.
Make no mistake, I enjoy these challenges A LOT. I like to encounter the resistance. I lived it too. I also feel sorry for her frustration. It most certainly takes time to teach your eye how to find your colours, and to resist the observations of your Book Club and the lady at the post office. You have to exercise big patience while you go about getting the elements of the picture working together. But Karen’s is more than usual.
The thought that came into my head was “You are MAKING this be hard.”
Yes, we all have things we’re better at, but this was like going looking for obstacles. So, why?
Next thought : Do I do it too? What am I making be hard?
Revealing answer : “This is how Karen felt watching me trying to register a business name and deal with Revenue Canada!” I was all in a fluff and she was thinking “Why are you MAKING this be hard?”
Next example : Christmas gifts. People tell us that they want nothing, but we still go sweat it out on our own on Dec. 23, worried that they won’t like it. Why did we make that be hard?
We make things hard if we NEED them to be hard. Is it about not being able to release the control over the situation? Is it that we need to feel just a little under-appreciated?
Watching men think is fascinating. Generally, they are great simplifiers. They do the obvious and don’t worry. They ignore whatever doesn’t agree with their first assessment. Very seldom does a man choose the harder path intentionally.
Men are also able to proceed without all the information. So, not only will they choose the easiest path every time, but they will also make a move to get on that path without knowing what lies ahead. Sometimes, all they know is that they want the end result, that they will follow the most obvious path in getting there, and they will fill in the rest of the blanks as they go along. You know, it makes a lot of sense. Women, on the other hand, we clutter up our lives with over-emotion and over-analysis.
I am delivering the intention to look for the most effortless and uncomplicated solution. The difference between 80% and 100 is not important. 99% of people won’t even notice. Whenever I start feeling freaked out, my first words to myself are “Christine, LET this be easy”. I am exploring the possibility that most things really are as easy as they seem, before I muckled on to them and made them hard.
Chances are nobody else watching is finding your particular difficulty very hard except for you. For some reason, we chose for it to be hard. Time to stop that.
Try it for one whole day. Decide to let everything be easy. Don’t make it be hard till you are given a reason to.
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46 Responses to “Letting Things Be Easy”
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I find that some people make things more difficult because they have an underlying belief that this topic, be it math or dealing with revenue canada, is very difficult. I tutor kids in subjects that they have trouble with. A number of kids, including my own, walk in the door holding fast to the idea that math is extremely hard, if not downright impossible. The first challenge is to get them to let go of this notion, because you won’t get anywhere unless they do. It is like trying to push a reluctant horse uphill. What I have concluded is that those who refuse to relinquish these ideas, even after months (years) of trying, are those who simply do not want to do this type of work. The word “difficult” then becomes an excuse which gets them off the hook. Next time you tell yourself that you “can’t” do something, try replacing “can’t” with the word “won’t” and then ask yourself why not.
You are so right about women making the way men and women approach things so differently. I knew that I always make things harder and more complicated than they need to be. I never thought about how men don’t do that. Great observation! Did you ever get “Karen” to be happy with her palette?
I agree with Sonja, I tutor students in Textiles at degree level and have real problems with a few of the mature ones (not all, some are really open to new ideas and want to learn everything they can). Mainly the difficult ones have a long history of sewing at hobby level, nothing wrong with that, but they can’t get their heads around new concepts and ideas with an academic approach to what is an art school descipline. We are principally teaching design, alongside techniques, so that any student could in theory take a job in industry or go into other textile areas afterwards. They often want to use the same approach they’re always done, try and see if it works out or looks any good – not apply real design critera from the outset, with costings and clear design brief. They often don’t see the point of learning Art and Design history either – essential stuff to set their work in a context. I think these students , as Sonja says, “simply do not want to do this type of work”. The see the course as simply a means to get a qualification in the “sewing skills” they already have, and complain that that what they are being asked to do is too hard. Even though they want a degree from it!
Having said that, if I may go on, I recently had my style personality done. Whilst I agree totally with my colours, done in a previous consultation (I am a deep and warm, or deep autumn), I have a problems with some of the style ideas. I devided equally on the questionnaire as creative and natural, but the consultant wants me to go more to the creative in my dress, wearing exotic scarves, colourful jewellery, etc. I wonder if knowing what I do for a living, she is assuming all creative people have to look arty? The work I do is not so colourful and bohemian, but draws on the landscape and is more minimal creative and natural – I am mostly in walking boots and am drawn to quite clean Scandinavian design ideas. Am I not seeing something or are we coming at it from different understandings? Any thoughts would be welcome.
Hi guys,
, and she thought that Summer wasn’t likely.
This is such an interesting subject!
I realize finding my season is something I’m making difficult. Okay, I might be difficult to categorize, I don’t know. Still, I don’t feel quite at home anywhere in the charts. An analyst told me Winter, but I felt Winter was too cool, too sharp. Another told me Autumn, but that just felt boring, as I’d lived in Autumn colors most of my life and didn’t get the “wow” feeling from them anymore, they clashed with my graying hair and made my skin sallow (and might always had done, I don’t know). I explored Spring for a while until I stumbled on Kelly green, and then that was that. So I looked at Summer, and Carole Jackson’s description of the darker Summer sounded so much like me: “The woman who just missed being a Winter.” Then I tried the idea on my favorite color analyst Christine,
I despaired. I don’t like to despair, I hate the feeling. I gave up for a while. Then I decided to be brave and tried on Clear Winter’s lipstick that Christine suggested in a post and it looked so great with my white shirt and black cardigan. Wow, that must be it!
The days went on… And the old feeling of Winter’s colors being too sharp for me crept back in. Now I’m not so sure anymore. I’m like “Karen” above.
So why do I make this so hard? And is it really me that’s making this hard, or IS it hard? My dear husband says things like “Well, just wear the colors you like, you look good in everything.” Very masculine approach indeed. But I want to be SURE. I want the certainty of knowing that I buy the right colors, the ones that suit me the most. I want that confidence.
Am I making things difficult because I know intuitively the people that told me my season were wrong? Or am I scared to be confined to one season, to have someone tell me that “this is your place, stay there”?
Nah, the latter doesn’t sound true to who I am.
I’ll take Christine’s advice and try to make it simple. Like, not analyze too much, just go with the flow. See where it gets me. I’ll let you know.
” Still, I don’t feel quite at home anywhere in the charts.”
I with you. (See most of my comments on various spring and autumn posts.) I seem to fall somewhere between spring and autumn — either some kind of darker spring that I’ve yet to prove exists, or an autumn with the wrong hair color (this is probably accurate). I haven’t been professionally draped, but I’ve read all the books, and basically my coloring doesn’t exist: pale, warm-toned skin, medium gold/brown hair, and very dark eyes. My biggest problem with the CMB system is that dark eyes = dark winter or possibly dark autumn — always. There is no wiggle room. I do better in warmer colors, for sure, but the dark autumn colors wash me out and the ones closer to winter’s sharp colors look garish. Clear spring is good, but again, not the colors that edge closer to winter. Warm (or true) autumn is good, but I’m unsure about the stronger yellows.
Audrey Hepburn was, apparently, “ruthless” about what she wore. That was the word used in the article. The author went on to say that she wore only what flattered her and didn’t concern herself with her emotional attachment to that particular item. In other words, she wore what looked good, not the colors she loved. I think those are two separate things.
Kathy,
Oh I know what you mean! I miss the flexibility. Pale skin, golden brown hair, dark eyes sounds like Warm Autumn or Warm Spring to me (beautiful coloring). But I’m certainly no expert!
My own problem shouldn’t really be a problem: I have dark brown hair, pale skin, brown eyes. Easy. A Deep, right? But Deep Winter feels too heavy and Deep Autumn makes me sallow. You see, I have copper strands in my hair, along with the dark brown and silver gray. And warm brown eyes with some green. But they also have a blue rim. My skin is definitely not warm, anything peach makes me turn green.
I have a few colors that always get me compliments. Pastel pink, medium periwinkle blue, off-white, cocoa – and coral. I look good in contrast and I need “happy” colors, which is my name for colors that are not muddy. I also wear a lot of black and white, but mainly because I’m so unsure of other colors.
I think the Sci/Art approach is interesting, but having read Color Me Beautiful already in the early 80′s it’s difficult for me to completely ignore the hair and eyes in the equation. I think though that if Christine were to drape me and only look at my skin, I’d end up somewhere near Light Summer, as I’m paler than pale and always burn in the sun. But Light Summer with the rest of my strong coloring – that would indeed be strange.
So I’m wondering: how to go about letting this be easy?
I’d say to all you floundering ladies out there, do go to an expert colour counsellor; don’t try to guess it yourself, it really is almost impossible. I know, because for years I was completely at a loss myself, even with art training! I have dark hair, some warm glints, dark hazel eyes, mostly olive green with yellow/gold dots and very pale skin. I was diagosed (as I’ve said elsewhere on this site) as a Winter for years, which never felt me. Fuchia and blues looked awful on me. After I saw an excellant CMB counsellor at Master level, everything made sense. Its near impossible to detect own skin tone (which is pale, but not pink, rather ivory warm in my case). It turns out I am a Deep Autumn, which isn’t all browns and green, it can include reds, pinks and everything else if you are directed to the right tones. Sometimes, like me, you are one catergory going slightly to another, but you should be totally advised of this. It has honestly made so much difference to my life; I actually worried about what to wear for years, and had terrible problems with hair colour as I was greying slightly too – which way to go – cool or warm, total confusion! Please, please ladies, get yourselves to a really good colour counsellor, ask Christine or inquire on the net for Master CMB level or recommended ones only. It is only really the cost of one good haircut and colour and is one of the most valuable things you’ll ever do. I am still in dicussions with her about my style, she has now updated her ideas somewhat having seen a wider range of art styles herself, everyone can always learn so much in life – but please don’t attempt in on your own, it is way too difficult and confusing!
A controversial thought here:
“Men are also able to proceed without all the information. So, not only will they choose the easiest path every time, but they will also make a move to get on that path without knowing what lies ahead. Sometimes, all they know is that they want the end result, that they will follow the most obvious path in getting there, and they will fill in the rest of the blanks as they go along. You know, it makes a lot of sense. Women, on the other hand, we clutter up our lives with over-emotion and over-analysis.”
Well, maybe if men acted a bit more like women every now and again, we wouldn’t have as many wars in the world. Just a thought and again, a controversial one.
After having thought about this article for a few days I’ve come to the conclusion that I think it’s plain wrong to generalize and say that women “clutter up their lives with over-emotion and over-analysis” etc. I don’t feel comfortable in that very small box, I’m sorry. I run two companies and I’m a writer. I’m also a wife and a mother of two children. My life involves having to make a lot of quick and important decisions, both on a professional and on a private level, every day. Most of the women I know are in a similar or comparable situation. A lot of the time, those decisions ARE difficult and NEED a lot of consideration. I think that we should celebrate the outstanding thought analysis that women undertake, instead of saying we make things difficult for no reason. I personally don’t know anybody, including myself, who enjoys difficulty.
I’m sure there is a scientific reason why women and men think and act in different ways. But please let’s stop using men as the matrix to which we all compare ourselves! And please stop thinking that we’re just being difficult, when in fact most of the time we’re taking the task of analyzing the situation very seriously in order to make the right decision. Okay, so it might take a while and there might be some angst involved. But maybe that’s a good thing.
As I’ve written before, I’m having a lot of trouble finding my season. Just like Karen above. So I thought “I’m just making this more difficult than it is” (telling myself what adults have told children for centuries when they wouldn’t swallow their medicine without putting up a struggle). I’ve started to analyze why I never seem to feel at home in the season the color analysts have put me. They were professional, albeit not at a master’s level perhaps, yet they came to different conclusions all of them. But let’s face it, if this was easy, we wouldn’t have any need for color analysis in the first place, now would we?
To Kristina and Kathy,
Just a thought, have you looked at the latest CMB book called “Colour me Confident”? It is the one used by my counsellor and the most up to date. CMB no longer use the seasons descriptions but the catergories contained here are similar (though not totally the same). I would have been a Deep Autumn, but now am called just Deep and Warm, but this group also contains some of the colours of and overlaps with Deep and Cool. There are catergories such as Soft, Clear, etc which you may fall into. Just an idea, although still difficult to detect your own skin tone. Does fuchia (cool) or a lippy with more brown in it suit you, this is usually a good indication. Also don’t confuse between colours you like and what actually does suit you, also other people tend to think that colours they like anyway look good on someone else. This is very difficult for an untrained eye and very difficult to be completely unbiased. Hope this helps? I’ve been there, so know how confusing it can all be!
Hi Trisha!
I liked the effect at first, then I began to feel stressed. It’s hard to explain. Words like Softer, Browned, Rosy, Cool and Saturated feel like me. So what would that be?
Thank you for the advice. I do have all the color books, including “Color me confident”. I still can’t figure it out!
Last night after my shower I looked in the mirror. I had a towel wrapped around my wet hair, and despite the fact that I was tired and had had a long day, I looked rested and my skin looked rosy and clear. I thought: “Wow, that towel’s color suits me”. I went to get my “Color Me Beautiful” and compared the towel to the different charts. It was the Medium Blue from the Summer palette.
So why is this difficult? I mean, it shouldn’t have to be. I’ve shied away from rose pinks and blues all my life, not because I didn’t like them, but because I was told those colors weren’t for me. I don’t blame anyone, I used to look like the typical Autumn, with my dark brown hair and brown eyes, and they couldn’t know what a disaster orange was in reality… Anyway, one day last winter I was brave and bought a Pastel Pink (using CMB’s names again) wool sweater. I was amazed at how young and awake I looked!
So why is this difficult? Because those analysts I went to said I’m not a Summer. Christine has seen my photos, she says it’s unlikely that I would be a Summer. So I feel insecure. Who to trust? The trained eyes or my own?
In the “Color me confident” book anyone would say I’m a Deep. But believe me when I say that Forest Green, Moss and Damson look awful on me. I like them, but not on me. (I like most colors in fact, so I can’t even go by what colors I like automatically.) Besides the Deep, no other category describes me really to a T, except for the Clear possibly. But then the feeling bit sets in. I don’t FEEL like a Clear. I feel softer, not as edgy and sharp. I agree that it’s important to separate what one likes and what actually looks good. Still, I think the feeling of a season does count. Christine used the words “sense of relief” in one of her posts, and that’s exactly what I mean. I don’t feel any relief at all in the Clear category, it’s more like a wake up call at 6 AM.
About lipstick: Fuchsia makes me look stern and old. The lipstick color I always tend to reach for in the stores is typically called “Rosewood” for some reason. A medium red that has cool undertones and that is softened by brown, I guess. But I can’t do anything terracotta-like and brown alone is just plain awful. I love brown-pink though. I’ll have a look on the internet to see if I can find a picture of what I mean.
Thank you Trisha for taking the time to comment on this. It helps me in my analyzing process!
Hi again.
I found this on Karlasugar’s blog. Excellent colors! This is a blush, still I wanted you to see to get the idea of what kind of lip colors suit me really well. Check out #4 Velvet Plum, #8 Pink Truffle and #20 Raspberry. On my screen they look just like the colors I’d choose for myself. Softened (by what, brown?), on the cool side but not too much. Here’s the link:
http://karlasugar.blogspot.com/2009/06/bobbi-brown-pot-rouge.html
I think it means something when one is automatically drawn to a certain color. Christine might disagree, I don’t know. I wish I could make an appointment with her, but I’m in Sweden so it’s a bit far…
Hi Kristina,
Me again, you’ll soon be fed up with me! But sorry, this is a fascinating subject for me and to be honest a bit if an obsession. I had a look at Velvet Plum and Pink Truffle and they would definately be within the narrow band that would suit me too, which is ususual, as I find it hard just the right colours. I often go for Rosewood named ones too! Although I am a Deep Autumn, my lady said many oranges and terracottas would look too warm for me, which they do, as I need some warmth, but not too much. I think it helped me to be told that even though you can be in one group, not all the colours within it will personally suit everyone. I look strange in Forest Green and Damson too, and again was told they were on the too cool side of autumn. Even within a group like Deep Autumn, there are colours which are just too warm or too cool for the individual, which we all are after all. If you ever fancy a holiday in England, do come and visit (I have a guest room with en-suite empty most of the time!). I would love you to go to my lady, about an hour on the bus – no I don’t drive alas, had eyesight problems in the past. I am carting my sister-in-law off to see her soon, for her birthday present, as she has read my books but still unsure herself. I sort of knew I was Deep from the Colour me Confident book, but couldn’t work out if cool or deep on my own, as the descriptions can only cover so much and I got very, very angry and frustrated as I had high hopes when it came from Amazon! Do you have a CMB counsellor at Master level in Sweden you could get to? The association of image consultants, whatever they are called, sorry forgotten, Christine would know, have details on website, I think I found my lady through it. Sorry to bang on about that but I think the extra training does make them better. I think the best like Christine and my lady have real instinctive ability as well, very perceptive to the subtle nuances and much more than a scanty, superficial understanding of colour. Wish I could help more, let me know how you get on. I have an ambition to do the training myself one day, if ever get the time and money, as colour is a real fascination of mine. Take care!
Hi Trisha,
). Did the same with the other towel with the same result. Without the black the lavender looked good. With the black my face became heavy.
Oh, thank you so much for your sweet comment! I would love to come and visit you. I read on the news that you have a lot of snow and really cold weather, just like us. I lived in Brighton (Hove) for a short time. It was during winter, but we didn’t get any snow that year at all, only lots of rain. I’d love to see Britain again…
Okay, so what you’re saying is that all the colors for Deeps don’t suit all Deeps? (talking about the “Color Me Confident” book here) Hmm. This is so tricky.
Funny that you like Rosewood lip colors too! But I know for a fact that I’m not a Deep Autumn, I look ill when I come anywhere near olive greens and mustards. I must have some degree of warmth in me though, because too cool colors make me look very old. What are your favorite colors as a Deep Autumn? Can you wear two dark colors together? Because that doesn’t really do anything for me either. I look better in contrast and that’s why I’m thinking Deep really isn’t me after all.
I did yet another experiment with color today (I know what you mean when you say you’re obsessed with color – I’m beginning to think I am too). I’m wearing a deep lilac shirt and a black cardigan. I’ve looked tired all day. So I tried on some more towels (we have towels in all the colors of the rainbow, which is great at this point). On one shoulder I put a powder pink one, on the other a blue-green one, and the lilac shirt underneath in the middle. All of a sudden I had a different face. I looked rested, with clear skin and glittering eyes, not tired at all. Everything just felt “easy”. I removed one towel to let the black back in – it added 10 years instantly (well, maybe five,
This is an ongoing experiment, as you can see!
I’m going to have a look and see if there are any good consultants where I live. I’ve been to a couple in the past, and they categorized me as a Deep Autumn, a Warm Autumn and a Deep Winter. But that was when my hair had red henna and I was 15 years younger…
I’ll let you know of my progress.
Take care!
Sonja,
I wonder too if somewhere in all this fits the underlying belief that the world could not work in your favor. When we throw up our own obstacles, and that’s where I think most of them arise, it may be a protective mechanism against an anticipated defeat. I’m not sure. But, I’m working on doing things the simplest way, and it doesn’t take a lot to overcome my reservations, and it works quite well. I feel calmer.
And Hepburn was right. Paint your walls whatever you like but don’t hang just anything on your body if it looks completely flat.
Michelle,
Men haven’t got everything figured out, as Kristina says, holy cow, but they are good at this particular thing. I study them. Children too, with their absolute lack of preconceptions about how it could be or couldn’t be. Men are simplifiers, and seldom do I see any need to regret that choice.
I don’t know if Karen will ever accept those colours. It’s been awhile since we discussed it. I think what she really wants is to not have to dwell on it. Discussing clothes and makeup is not her comfort zone, so I think she’ll accept anything that allows her to get this job done and behind her. She wants to shop with speed and ease because she doesn’t like it. Last photo I saw of her, she looked fantastic. She looked like the real her, Karen the woman, instead of a hard pretend corporate Karen.
Trisha,
Perhaps the consultant feels she has to provide some direction to work on, rather than say “Well, looks like you’re doing fine.” But no matter how much Season and style advice there is, not everyone will follow their precise style advice. I know Summers who detest small jewelry and wear large, ornate pieces because it feels right. We are all communicating who we are with our clothes, and you have to express you. You’ll know if it’s not right.
All the Autumns have great variability in their presentation, the True and Dark especially. There is the exotic group and there is the masculine/military/clean lines group, and I do not see both in the same person. Some Autumns are very layered and highly accessorized with great success, but many have too much of the practical business-like approach to want so much excess and bother.
Kristina,
Just declare to the Universe that you will one day get an analysis you trust, that you can see the conclusions with your own eyes. Then sit back and wait. It will make its way to you.
Your reply about the way men think made me think of something women do extremely well. We draw conclusions by processing many more variables at once. That’s just the reverse of what I said about the men, I know, but it says more than just “women over-analyze”. For one thing, we have the ABILITY to multi-analyze. Does it get in our way? Maybe, sometimes, but I’ll still choose to be that way.
My husband asks for the grocery list and wonders why I can’t just write it. I need to know who needs special lunches, who is staying late at school, what days I work, etc. We are more complete.
Kate,
It is a fascinating topic. And the more you look, the more you see. We are 5 in our house, only 2 the same Season. Genetics are most interesting. Your colouring sounds remarkable. Well, everyone’s colouring is remarkable when you really look.
Christine,
Thank you for your words of wisdom, so perceptive as usual.
I actually went out yesterday afternoon and bought a few new clothing items in the January sales, much softer in style than normal for me. A dark teal little cardigan, some soft suede long boots (black, but warmish black due to the suede), a dark paisley cross over elbow length top in jersey (dark teal, black, rust and very warm aubergine) and a black knitted, very casual fit and flare dress to knee length, to wear underneath again, not a dense black due to the nature of the texture). This was very brave for me as usually in jeans and T-shirts. But wow, I love it and hubby was very impressed, as he has said I am very feminine, and so do most of my friends. Strangely, I have not felt this for a while myself. I think with age and loss of confidence, also working at home a lot, I have buried some aspects of myself.
So maybe now I get it, this is definately more soft and creative looking, but still casual and easy to wear, a sort of synthesis of the creative and natural styles I split equally between in the questionnaires? Strangely, I feel more myself in it than I have for a long time, so maybe my lady was right after all. I somehow have to always come to things slowly and intuitively, maybe we all do. Also, coming back to your original thoughts, I wonder now if I wasn’t myself making the style thing harder than it need be myself?
I think you are right about Kristina finding the right person to advise her some day. By the way Kristina, hope the above answers some of your questions about what colours I can wear? I don’t mean to suggest you are a Deep Autumn too, it is such a personal thing to diagnose correctly, hope you find the answers some day.
A very Happy New Year to you all by the way. We have deep snow in Oxfordshire at the moment, and it has snowed for several weeks. This is unusal for us, but probably is nothing compared to what some of you have at times in different parts of the world!!
Christine,
I’m on it! Creative visualization, here I come! Seriously though, I’m hopeful that I might come to the right conclusion one day. I checked Color Me Beautiful for consultants around my town, but there is none at the moment. So I guess the trial and error continues…
Trisha,
No, I know you didn’t mean to say I was a Deep Autumn too. I just added my thoughts since I’ve been analyzed as a Deep Autumn by a professional at one time. I think she was wrong. My skin looks yellow and I look tired in anything rust or olive.
Your new clothes sound so pretty! Isn’t it great when you find clothes that look just right and give you that special “I’m me”-look? I wish I had the confidence to go out and get some new stuff. I just don’t know where to look, since I don’t know what colors to choose.
I looked at a photo the other day of my brother and me. He’s such a typical Autumn with his red hair, golden skin, brown eyes and freckles. Next to him I look very cool, we don’t have any similarities in coloring, at least not nowadays. I used to have browner hair, it’s turning darker each day and the white streaks are coming in slowly but surely. He’s wearing lime green and looks great in it. I’m wearing a bright plum in the photo, but it’s the color that wears ME. My skin is deathly pale compared to his light tan and my hair is all over the place. Comparison is interesting and very helpful!
Kristina –
I think a lot of the deep autumn, warm autumn (or even clear srping) confusion stems from the descriptions of “deep” seasons in the CMB and Color Me Confident books as the only seasons with dark hair, dark eyes and dark eyebrows. By their estimation, I would be a deep, too, but I’m not. Warm autumn works better, but I don’t have reddish lashes and brows (their criteria) or vibrant red hair. Clear spring isn’t bad either, but the shades on the cooler end, closer to winter, make my skin look sallow. (Actually, this is probably the clearest indication that I am a “warmer” season — cool colors overall don’t flatter me. Even the ones that do, say a bright magenta top I bought last summer — have a touch of yellow compared to its truer purple counterpart.) I’m trying to build a wardrobe of colors that suit me, and whatever season most of them fall under, that’s what I’ll call myself. (Yes, I should be properly draped but it’s not financially possible right now.)
It seems as though there are quite a few of us caught in seasonal limbo, all with some combination of warm dark hair and eyes and pale skin. 12 seasons aren’t enough.
“Women, on the other hand, we clutter up our lives with over-emotion and over-analysis.”
“For one thing, we have the ABILITY to multi-analyze. Does it get in our way? Maybe, sometimes, but I’ll still choose to be that way.”
Of course women usually have more balls up in the air than men. Multi-analyzing, multi-tasking… it’s all a symptom of that. Getting in out own way? Women are allowed (expected) self-doubt where men are not. And men are just as emotional as women, just in different ways. Men get angry, yell, and pound their fists on tables. If that’s not emotion, I don’t know what is. A women doing the same thing would be seen as out of control (though so should a man). Yes, we’re allowed to cry, but crying is only one facet of emotion.
I’m not comfortable with the whole “male brain/female brain” theory: it holds both sexes back. I believe there are more differences among the sexes than between them.
Kathy,
Thank you for your comment on the seasonal limbo problem (and what an excellent way of putting it)!
I think you’re right. The 12 season system must be flawed in its descriptions. I think it must be too clear-cut, if you see what I mean. Also I’m thinking there are 4 seasons that are missing: the True ones. Take Autumn, for instance. Deep Autumn is Autumn approaching Winter; Warm Autumn is Autumn approaching Spring; Soft Autumn is Autumn approaching Summer. But what about those that are True Autumns, not bordering on another season at all?
My youngest daughter is a mix of many seasons. She has gone through all the colors in her eleven years on this planet. She was born with black hair and dark blue eyes. She went on to becoming honey blonde with light green eyes at the age of six, and now at eleven she has hair that is ginger-auburn, her eyes are a clear amber color and she has very, very dark eyebrows and lashes. Her skin is very pale and cool with pale pink cheeks and freckles. She tans a medium golden brown. I can’t fit her into any of the 12 seasons descriptions, mainly I guess because she’s a mix of both warm and cool colors, but her coloring seems to intense for a Soft.
Could it be that the system is flawed? Or should we just ignore the descriptions of each season and go with the colors that we look good in, even though they might be a mix of many different seasons?
Kathy,
I read this comment you wrote above and I could relate.
“I seem to fall somewhere between spring and autumn — either some kind of darker spring that I’ve yet to prove exists, or an autumn with the wrong hair color (this is probably accurate).”
I used to want to call my self a Dark Spring too. I felt closer to Autumn but I don’t have red hair, red eyebrows, etc. I do have pale warm skin, medium gold blonde hair and medium olive green eyes with brown eyelashes & brows. Because I know I look best in warm colours I thought that I must be a spring but I always felt I wasn’t as bright as a spring. So I continued tossing up between the two warm seasons. Anyway, a couple of months ago I had a colour analysis under the system Christine uses (not by Christine though) and I came out as a Soft Autumn. Just a thought you might want to investigate.
Hi Christine,
I have a question about skin tone. (This isn’t really the right place, but I’m not sure where I should post it. I hope it’s okay.)
You work with skin tones and how they react to color. There’s information everywhere about warm vs. cool skin tones etc and when looking for foundation there are usually at least warm, cool and neutral choices. My question is: if a person has very pale skin that has BOTH pink and yellow in it, what would be the category it would fall into? I’m asking this because in my own experience I’ve found that yellow foundation (i.e. warm) is too yellow, pink (i.e. cool) is too pink or blue, and neutral often looks gray on me (too little of both yellow and pink). I wear mineral foundation most of the time and I’ve found that if I mix pink with yellow I get a better match than wearing either by themselves. What comes out isn’t really a neutral color, but more of a “golden rosy pink”. Regular peach foundations are usually too orange or pink on me, I need the colors of a real peach, meaning clear yellow and rose (does this make sense?). Any ideas on this?
Kristina,
There could be 25 Seasons and, with the huge variation in human colouring, there would still be someone who feels left out. Though CMB doesn’t have the True Seasons, and Sci\ART does, CMB does make a Season for a darker Summer or a lighter Winter. Every system has its particulars.
Re: the skin question, we need to get you draped. All those colours in your skin will be easy to understand once the drapes tell us what your skin really does with colour. Is the yellow an overtone, can we fade the pink, etc, all require draping. I have very yellow surface skin but it’s not the real skin. Underneath, I’m quite gray, and that foundation will find and match it.
Tina,
Congratulations. Now, you know a lot. The analysis process is remarkable, ay? Amazing to see your own face change so much.
Kristina –
My issue with foundation is that according to most lines you’re either cool (pink) or warm (yellow). Cool can also be olive-toned. Warm can also be peachy, but not necessarily golden. I have a red face with a more neutral body, but my skintone is basically peach/pink. I usually do okay with neutral or beige foundation. It matches my neck, but I don’t think I look like myself either. I’m sort of used to my big red face.
MAC NW shades split the difference between being too pink or too yellow. Revlon used to make a shade called “creamy peach” but they discontinued it. They have a new one out called Photoready, but I’ve yet to try it. The colors look super neutral, though.
Christine,
Yes, I’m sure you’re right, I need to get draped. I wish I lived on the other side of the Atlantic! You’re not by any chance planning on a trip to Scandinavia anytime soon?
Kathy, I can relate 100% to your comment, since I too have a red face on a very pale body! Skin tone is so difficult, I think. If I look at my body my skin is verrrrry pale, almost painfully white, with a sort of beige-peach tone to it. But my face has a lot of red in it from sun damage etc. When I match my foundation to my neck, meaning when I wear yellow foundation, I don’t look very perky unless it’s a peachy yellow. When I match my foundation to my face, meaning when I wear a pink-toned foundation, my face looks so much “cleaner” and fresher – but then my face and my body are two different hues and it looks kind of strange.
I hate to look fake and too made up, but I’m not comfortable showing everybody my red face. Dilemma!
Kristina:
I have been reading your comments starting a couple of months ago, as I had a similar “situation”: I was initially classified as a winter, then as an autumn, then as a deep autumn (very dark hair, medium clear brown eyes with green rim), which I accepted for years until I realized a) I am only wearing a handful of colors (6 or 8, mainly dark neutrals) out of the 40 or so I should be able to wear) and b) I read Christine’s comment on repeating the colors we already have.
I am not and have never been an autumn, the only thing I have in common with deep autumns are the dark neutrals I mentioned–dark navy, charcoal, black… you get the picture. I believe I am a clear winter, but as you also mentioned, I have an affinity with cool (dark haired) summers as I have some mauvish pink on my lips and cheeks (my skin color is a neutral medium brown, close to MAC NC45). So my clear winter coloring is somewhat softened, but definitely this is where I think I belong.
To date, the most helpful system for me has been Irenee Riter’s, who I saw mentioned on a previous discussion on this site (I have not checked the Sci\ART system yet). Her system can be summarized by the four seasons (the homebases) plus 2 balanced categories, one between winters and springs, and the other between autumns and summers. The category between winters and springs brought on a flood of recognition–these are my favorite colors from way, way back, although I didn’t know they belonged together. Some of the colors I had never seen described before (such as charcoal olive or yellowed royal blue), but had bought and loved:
http://www.thescienceofpersonaldress.com/color_ovals.htm
Of course these categories represent a continuum, the one I mentioned would include clear springs and clear winters, so one would adjust accordingly. This has been very helpful and I will also remember Christine’s suggestions and will never again try to impose terracota and orange brown lipstick on pink/berry/mauve lips!
Fil
Hi Fil!
Thank you so much for your comment, it’s very helpful to me!
It seems making the distinction between Autumn and Winter is very difficult even for trained professionals. That really tells me something about the complexity of the issue.
I had a look at Irenee’s site (again) and I seem to end up mostly in #6 (hair=warm dark hair) and #4 (eyes=dark appearing eyes, dark brown eyes; skin=fair with slight olive tones, but I don’t tan easily at all!). So I guess this puts me in a Winter-Spring blend. But when I looked at the colors of that mix, they do seem a bit bright now. It could be my screen too, or just that I’m tired, LOL. My colors are softer, just like you say, but I’m starting to wonder “softened by what?” Autumn or Summer? Christine has suggested Autumn. She may very well be right.
Thank you also for your comment about trying to “impose terracotta and orange lipstick on pink/berry/mauve lips”. That is so me. Every time I’ve tried on warm colors on my lips I would hate it whenever the lipstick would wear off and my mauve lips would show through. Awful.
If I were to list the most obvious colors in me, they would be: dark brown, terracotta (my eyes and some of the streaks in my hair), silver and bronze (again my hair), mauve, warm and cool pink, light red, fair skin with olive (my MAC shade is somewhere NC-NW15-20 if I remember correctly). Not an obvious combination of colors. People tell me I have a lot of contrast but that I look soft, nor sharp. I do feel that Christine’s description of Winters is a bit too sharp to suit me, so maybe an influence by Autumn is likely. But then again, I look tired and sallow in anything approaching Autumn’s colors too much, and my face lightens up instantly by Summer’s medium blue, periwinkle blue and pastel pink. I feel I can’t do “heavy” colors nowadays. Too much dark colors and I gain ten pounds and fifty wrinkles in a second.
That should be “I look soft, noT sharp”. Sorry for the spelling.
Hi Kristina!
Although I also agree that nothing beats draping, I am going to venture a guess and suggest that you may be a Balanced Soft, i.e., a Soft Autumn or Soft Summer. I now am really going out on a limb and suggest you may be a Soft Summer (in spite of your dark hair/eyes), for these reasons:
- your preferred word to describe your look is “soft”
- your dark hair color is softened by the silver and lighter brown;
- your coloring (including your hair) has a balance of cool and warm colors;
- you have a preference for medium colors (if you were a Clear Winter for example, you would favor both medium colors and dark neutrals);
- you prefer softer bright colors to really bright colors;
- your lips are mauve and you dislike warm-toned lipstick;
- your skin has a light olive complexion and does not tan easily. I suspect what comes through when you have sun exposure is a cool neutral mauvish pink.
(continues…)
Below are the Soft colors according to the CBM system (in the Color Me Confident book);
- soft white
- stone
- taupe
- natural beige
- rose brown
- cocoa
- chocolate
- pewter
- charcoal
- sage
- grey-green
- verbena
- emerald turquoise
- spruce
- mint
- jade
- turquoise
- teal
- sky blue
- light periwinkle
- charcoal blue
- sapphire
- light navy
- soft violet
- purple
- damson
- blush pink
- claret
- geranium
- shell (a pale pastel pink?)
And these are the ones specific to all Autumns:
- buttermilk
- light gold
- camel
- golden brown
- yellow-green
- light moss
- olive
- salmon pink
- salmon
- rust
- light peach
- peach
— and to all Summers:
- eau de nil
- sea green
- icy grey
- bluebell
- lavender
- amethyst
- icy pink
- icy violet
- powder pink
- soft fuchsia
- orchid
- rose
(continues…)
The suggested color test to distinguish between the two is:
- orchid (SS) vs. peach (SA)
- sea green (SS) vs. olive (SA)
The suggested make-up colors for Soft Summer are Rose blush and Mulberry, Soft Mauve and Pink Shell lipstick (in the 1991 book, also Pink Brown and Soft Plum blush and Tan Pink, Dusty Rose, Plum Rose, and Rose-brown lipstick), and for Soft Autumn Sienna blush and Sandalwood, Spiced Peach and Nutmeg lipstick (Cinnamon, Salmon, Tawny Rose, and Spiced Peach blush, and Spiced Peach, Mahogany, Terracota, Brick Red, Salmon, Soft Brown, and Tan Pink lipstick).
I think the Soft Summer colors in the 1991 Color Me Beautiful book show even better a predominance of medium-toned blue, blue/green, rose, and pink colors.
Do Christine’s suggestions for Soft Summer make-up and Irenee’s Balanced Soft colors ring a bell or am I totally off here?
http://www.agreenertea.com/makeup-model-soft-summer/
(continues…)
http://www.thescienceofpersonaldress.com/color_ovals.htm
http://www.thescienceofpersonaldress.com/inter-seasons.htm
http://www.thescienceofpersonaldress.com/makeup_eyebrows.htm
(continues…)
I know your hair and eye color might make one wonder. People often place dark haired people as Deeps, as for example Catherine Zeta-Jones (CMB), but I would agree with Christine that she is likely a Cool Winter. In your case, it is possible that your brown and silver strands make your hair cooler and ashier (and warmer!), and that your hair and eyes make a lovely monotone look softly highlighted by your neutral skin tone, with the pops of color being the mauve, green and blue (in your eyes) you mentioned.
One more interesting site I found when Christine’s observations made me think I needed to think cool (in my case cool neutral rather than really cool) as opposed to warm:
http://www.bellasugar.com/Explore-Cool-Makeup-Shade-1860045
In fact I decided to give the Rimmel blushes a try (good reviews at Beautypedia and cheap!) and indeed both Berry and Plum (applies more like a soft neutral red with a light hand) are great, much better than the warm colors I had been using, which clashed with my natural colors.
Long comment, I know. How’s that for making things easier?
Fil
According to Irenee Riter’s site, I’m a spring with an autumn influence, or a spring with a winter influence. I think the spring/autumn blend suits me better than spring/winter. My skintone falls right in line with spring, but my hair and eyes look “typically” autumn.
What I have notice, looking at some of the examples here and other sites, is that deeps have a skintone that could be described as rich. And although some have fairly light skin, most do not have super pale skin like mine. (Which explains why I get lost in dark, vibrant colors.)
“People often place dark haired people as Deeps, ”
This is my biggest problem with the CMB system: dark hair and eyes = deep. And absolutely nothing else.
(It’s also very flawed for women of color, giving anyone with a deeper skintone one subset of winter, deep or dark winter, when clearly that is not always the case.)
Kathy,
You are so right, and that’s what’s caused me to be in the wilderness for 25 years, would you believe it! It is amazing we look at ourselves in the mirror several times a day and so often we don’t see what’s really there. I’ll tell you, when I read Christine’s comment about finding the colors we already have, it sounded truly revolutionary!
I read some of your descriptions of your coloring above, and you sound just like a dear friend of mine who also has very dark eyes and medium/dark/golden hair and peach/pink skintone. She is a Soft Autumn, who is able to push it into the Warm seasons depending on what she does with her hair, although she runs into a problem with mustard and other like colors.
I would have guessed you could be a Soft Autumn (Soft and Warm)too:
- you mention your peachy/pink complexion, neutral body, red face, pale, to me this coloring suggests balance and neutrality, i.e., Clear or Soft
- you seem to be some type of Warm season rather than Cool, but clear or sharp colors are sharp/garish, which suggests perhaps one of the Soft seasons, not Spring, and also not Summer since it is cool
- Deep Autumn (Deep and Warm) colors seem to be too heavy and I wonder if Warm Autumn (Warm and Soft) and Warm Spring (Warm and Clear) are the best for you given what you said about stronger yellows (I’m talking mustard, amber, daffodil, and even orange and other decidedly warm colors)
In addition to my friend I mentioned above, I have found over the years people with brown/golden hair with very dark eyes are often Soft Autumns (pardon the generalization), except when it comes to women of color, where very dark eyes with darkish hair and some contrast between hair and skin tone is often an indication of Clear Spring (Clear and Warm).
– A correction to what I said above to Kristina, which won’t change my comments about her coloring: the new CMB system categorizes as Light, Deep, Warm, Cool, Clear and Soft, with two sub-categories in each of these for a total of 12 seasonal palettes. Then across the board the traditional seasons share a grouping of 12 colors among then. For example, all winters share 12 colors, in addition to each having their Deep, Cool and Clear colors they share with Deep Autumns (Deep and Warm), Cool Summers (Cool and Soft) and Clear Springs (Clear and Warm). The only exception is in fact the Soft Autumn (Soft and Warm). You have your Soft colors shared with Soft Summers (Soft and Cool), and then it would follow logic to have the additional 12 colors in common with all other Autumns, Deep and Warm. However, only 6 of the season-specific colors of Soft Autumn are shared with the other Autumns. The other 6 colors are shared with all the Springs (Light, Warm and Clear Spring).
This is also part of the reason I feel you could be a Soft Autumn, as you are deciding between Spring and Autumn. Not only are several colors shared, but also the “mediumness” of the Soft Autumn colors can feel a bit spring-y, albeit softer, less clear.
Christine,
I want to thank you for such a lovely site, I love the topics discussed and I love your motivation to bring out the best in each woman. I also look into the sites that have the latest of collection x or y, but there’s no love in that, is there? By the way, you look beautiful in your new Dark Winter colors!
Hi Fil!
(Don’t know about the rambunctious bit, but I guess it does describe me pretty well, LOL.)
Wow, thank you so very, very much for your comments!!! How very kind of you to take the time, I’m truly amazed. You seem to know so much about this.
Okay, so here’s the deal: Christine has seen photos of me and she thought that Summer was very unlikely. She also said I have a Winter eye (the pattern of the iris) with Autumn influence (the green, the warmth) and possibly also a Spring influence (the warm brown sunburst around the pupil).
I thought about Spring, but that came to an end when I tried Kelly green. I’ve worn Autumn colors for most of my life before that, but after the births of my daughters my hair color darkened a lot and Autumn colors made me look ill. Then along came Deep Winter, thanks to the CMB analyst I went to. This may sound incredible, but I’m 100% honest when I tell you that the deep rusts, the maroons and the “two dark colors together” actually made me feel sick to my stomach. Dramatic, yes, but true. Since then I’ve basically stopped shopping for clothes and I’ve thrown makeup for huge amounts of money in the bin because no matter how right the colors looked in the store, I’d come home to find they just weren’t me.
This I know: I’m not warm. Looking at pictures of me, Winter colors overwhelm my appearance.
The word that comes to mind when I look in the mirror is “brown”. When I was a kid I read the story of “Snow-White and Rose-Red” by the brothers Grimm. I always felt Rose-Red was me. She had pale skin, rosy cheeks and brown hair. Before writing this passage I looked at Wikipedia, and this is what it says about the story:
“Rose Red (or Rose-Red) is a character in the fairy tale Snow-White and Rose-Red, recorded by the Brothers Grimm. She is the sister of Snow White. Of the two, Rose Red is portrayed as the more rambunctious of the two devoted sisters, associated with the summer as Snow White is with the winter.”
Isn’t that just too funny?
To be continued…
Anyway. Rose Red aside, the thing that really had me confused was my beautiful pastel pink sweater, which I really love and which really makes me look younger, fresher, rested, happy. It’s a Summer color, I’ve checked it. Why did I never feel like that in Winter’s more vivid pinks if I were indeed a Winter, any Winter?
I’ve read through all of Christine’s descriptions of all the seasons. I FEEL like a Soft Summer. I’ve always been drawn to those colors and when you say rose-browns and pink-browns in lipstick I just feel like shouting “Yes!”. Still, there’s the part about me having a lot of contrast in my own coloring. Not like the beautiful Catherine Z-J, but nobody would ever describe me as a “light”. Then again, I live in Sweden among a lot of light-haired and light-eyed people, so I guess anything “medium” would seem “dark” in comparison.
I looked at some makeup on Lancome’s site yesterday. I found two lipstick colors that look great (on my screen at least): Crushed Rose and Rose Essence. I saw an eyeshadow duo that I’d run out to buy instantly: Pink Pave. A blush I really liked was Rose Fresque. Those are all cool-ish, soft colors that make me feel calm just looking at them. Those colors can be found in me. I’ll try to locate them and test them on me and I’ll let you know how it goes.
Thank you so much, Fil. I really appreciate your thoughts.
Just to add:
It seems that the term “Soft” is used in the meaning “lighter” here, according to one of Christine’s posts (can’t remember which one now). I asked at one time if there was a softer Winter, but Christine said no.
When I say soft I mean “less sharp”.
As for sun exposure, I get red, then it softens to a beige with freckles. That’s as far as I get. (My face is a different story though.)
Kristina,
Nice to know you feel like a Soft Summer (Soft and Cool). I meant to mention also why I thought you might not be one of the other two Summers, Light and Cool:
- as you said above, Light Summer (Light and Cool) could be a bit too light for your coloring, although there are many colors in common (or slight variations) with Soft Summer.
- Cool Summer (Cool and Soft) could be too cool, and then there is the issue of black and other dark neutrals, which feature more prominently than the few ones (just Charoal, really) on the Soft Summer palette.
- your favorite colors also say Summer, medium blue, periwinkles, cocoa, rose/brown, soft white, pastel pink. But when you add coral to the list, it says to me Summer with Autumn influence.
- not Autumn though. Your dislike of rusts, olive and black seems to indicate not a Warm or Deep Autumn. Also, when you compare yourself to your brother wearing his lime green, I picture you more wearing verbena, emerald turquoise and jade.
- Autumn eyes: I also thought I had Autumn eyes, but looking at Irenee’s charts they look more Spring, and the green rim I have that I thought was olive green is actually apple green.
- make-up for Cool Summers starts to go into soft fucshias (you mentioned fucshia lipstick is not so granola) and blue-pinks. There are variations of your favorite rose/brown, rosewood that suit other seasons, but when I hear rose/brown and cool season I immediately think Soft Summer (as I do when you say softer, rosy, browned, cool, saturated/i.e. not light).
- the Bobbi Brown cream blushes you mentioned from the Karlasugar site (isn’t she wonderful? She has saved me from myself more than once…) do indeed look like they could suit you. I actually wear the Pink Truffle and I think it might work for Soft Summer too. Velvet Plum is the one I would more readily asssociate with SS if it doesn’t apply too dark.
I am not surprised you’ve been through all the other seasons and find something in common, but not quite it. This seems to be quite common with Softs. Also, although the contrast in Soft Summer is not a sharp one, there is a soft contrast in the layering of the (not so) dark and light neutrals (which give you the typical monotone of Softs) with soft medium brights. I can picture this same contrast on you, your hair, eyes and skin providing the darker and lighter (and contrasting) neutrals, and the medium blues, blue/greens, mauves, neutral pinks, soft/light reds adding to the soft contrast with pops of color. I would agrre with you that soft==less sharp, as opposed to light.
Red and Freckles from sun exposure: freckles possibly both from the Soft and Autumn influence (an attempt at tanning).
If you are not able to do your draping now, the following may help:
- do some “retrospective” draping and take notes–think back of all the times you loved how you looked, felt healthy and confident, got compliments and admiring looks.
- go “no-shopping” shopping–take an afternoon and go shopping with no intention of buying. I believe you will fill an attraction to your best colors. Then go back another time and purchase the one or two items you can’t seem to get out of your head.
- get samples and try the makeup colors you like.
- buy scarfs or knit them in your favorite pop of color colors.
Hi, Fil, and to my other friends as well,
Lovely to have you join the conversation
Thanks for the kind words. I certainly have grown into my own skin in the new colours. I am told they have more force.
Part of bringing out the best in women, in everyone, is developing a thicker skin when it comes to advertising, as you say. They lie in hundreds of ways to get our money and we seem powerless to resist. It’s a study in itself. The more I look at the clothing offerings, the more unbalanced and disorganized it becomes. I’ve been looking all morning for a Men’s Dark Winter sweater for the bulletins I send clients. I’ve been to Old Navy, Banana Republic, Nordstrom, J Crew, LLBean, GAP, so far nothing. Of course, the sites seldom show colour as vividly as IRL, but how are people supposed to shop online? It should not be this hard or this discouraging.
Thank you for your commitment to great comments. You appear to be a good critical thinker, one of my favorite things!
I’m glad everyone is reading Irenee Riter’s site. I find her colour system complicated, and I don’t fully align with her cool/warm makeup suggestions (or just don’t understand them fully), but there is a great quantity of inspired information there, from a very experienced consultant.
Hi again Fil,
Did anybody ever tell you what a gem you are?! Thank you so much for all the valuable information you’ve given me!
I agree with you on the aspect of Light or Cool Summer vs. Soft Summer. Anything too blue on my lips and it just clashes with the rest of me. The same goes for orange though, which is one of the reasons why I couldn’t discern a pattern in this labyrinth.
A couple of years ago I found a Clinique lipstick called Beauty. I still remember the aha-moment I had in the store when I tried it on. I was on the hunt for a lipstick for a wedding I was going to attend, and having gone through all the darker cool colors AND the darker slightly warmer colors and beginning to feel desperate, there was Beauty. It’s just the right depth of color for me. It looks sort of coral in the tube, but once on it takes on a mauve-brown shade that suits me very well. I could never quite figure what color it actually is. Warm or cool? Coral or mauve? But when you mentioned “balance between warm and cool colors in me”, it just clicked. You’re spot on! Amazing!
About the contrast: I have a lot of it. I’m very pale. But guess what? I put on some of my Beauty lipstick and my Candy blush (that I bought ages ago from CMB in the UK, a color which supposedly fits Deep Winter, Cool Summer and Soft Summer). Well, to my surprise I didn’t look that pale at all, but rather rosy and healthy. I say rosy and mean it in a good way, because my ruddiness turned into something positive instead.
I think I’ve gotten stuck on the descriptions of Softs in my books and here. I didn’t seem to fit at all. But when you mention not fitting any description precisely but finding a little here and there, that is so me.
What a great idea to make a list of colors that I’ve worn with success! That will make me see the pattern, I’m convinced of it. Also, the no-shopping shopping experience might actually be great fun, since it doesn’t include a commitment at this point and would take the stress out of the equation.
Speaking of scarves: my youngest daughter knitted a scarf for me a few months ago. The minute I saw it I just knew it was my color. When I read your post now I looked at it and compared it to my “Color me Confident” charts. Well, what do you know… It’s orchid, from the three Summers.
Christine,
Totally agree with you. And I have such a fun time watching people’s huge makeup collections on youtube (I know, I need to get a life…). But the point is, what’s the point of having too much and so wrong? I find it interesting also that we share an appreciation for Paula Begoun’s work.
Color analysis just fascinates me, perhaps because though some may think it frivolous, I find that the joy and confidence it brings also has an effect in other areas of our lives. Sometimes I think we just have a duty to bring out what God has given us, all of it. Over the years, I have come across different systems that at times seem contradictory, but have found something valuable in all of them, and the ability to look at a greater number of factors involved.
One of my go-to places for sweaters and tees is Landsend, especially for rich and neutral dark colors. Have a look among the large number of items they have, I’m sure you’ll find something under sweaters or T-shirts:
http://www.landsend.com/ix/mens-clothing/Men/Shirts-Sweaters/Mens-Sweaters/index.html?seq=1~2~3~4&catNumbers=1~8~20&visible=1~2~1~1&store=le&sort=Recommended&pageSize=12&tab=1
Kristina,
It makes me happy if you think you’re finding your way with this color thing. I had a look at the Lancome site and the items you mention seem to be well worth a try. The blush looks like a pretty neutral rose, and the eyeshadows a great pairing of pale pink (possibly your best highlighter for eyeshadow and clothing) and a medium brown/cocoa.
If you are at the Lancome counter, see if you like the Color Design Chic Cassis cream blush. I am curious to see who else suits this color. It applies richly but also sheerly, not heavy, and as a neutral, clear plum, not as a muddy, too cool plum.
Also, MAC Del Rio and Touch lipsticks look a bit like a mauve brown, and Bobbi Brown’s Hot Cocoa is definitely mauve brown but may be too dark.
All the best and I look forward to continuing to hear about your color discoveries. Fil
“I read some of your descriptions of your coloring above, and you sound just like a dear friend of mine who also has very dark eyes and medium/dark/golden hair and peach/pink skintone. She is a Soft Autumn, who is able to push it into the Warm seasons depending on what she does with her hair, although she runs into a problem with mustard and other like colors.”
The sort of muted, dusty colors of soft summer/soft autumn are generally too weak for me.
One of my favorite color combinations is a warm olive green paired with a raspberry shade. Or olive or yellow green and brown. I see to gravitate to mid-contrast shades with some clarity, but not really bright warm colors. I could wear them, but feel… silly? I thought I might be a clear spring for a while (and frankly, the makeup works), but those bright, clear blues and turquoises are deadly.
Kathy,
Give the Soft Autumn idea just a bit more thought. It may end up not being it, but it seems to be the one season the can combine warm colors such as yellow-green and olive with cool “reds”, not exactly raspberry, but claret, damson and geranium. Can you imagine some color combinations that would not be too weak? Charcoal and verbena, chocolate and soft violet, pewter and geranium, light navy and emerald turquoise (from the Color me Confident book). Also in the book, there are some suggested color combinations that look close to yours above: olive/light moss, yellow-green/greyed-green, damson/olive. Regarding makeup, there are some commonalities between soft autumn and clear spring, not exactly the same, but some common colors (do you have the 1991 CMB book?).
The logical thing moving warmer and less clear from Clear Spring would be warm spring, deep autumn and soft autumn. The other season that could have the kind of olive/raspberry combo that you mention would be deep autumn, not exactly, but something like olive/burgundy or olive/damson. I remember not so long ago, CMB had ruby lipstick as one of the options for deep autumns. I thing it kind of goes with your idea of olive/raspberry. Also, deep autumn has the winter influence, which brings the possibility of the cooler colors. Deep autumn doesn’t seem to have anything as light as a yellow-green (other than lime) but it use to have a light moss in the old days. Warm spring used to have a violet in the old days.
Kathy, is there a well-known person that you think has similar coloring to yours? Or you may give us a summary of your personal coloring as a refresher. I will continue to think about it.
just wanted to add, previously CMB also had deep rose and amethyst as soft autumn colors.
Kathy,
A couple of things (OK, maybe 3 or 4…):
You mentioned brown above as a good color for you. Which brown(s)?
-very dark , almost black
-dark and rich (chocolate)
-dark, rich and warm (mahogany)
-medium/dark warm (coffee)
-soft and rosy and a bit cool (rose brown)
-medium/light (cocoa or bronze)
-medium and rich (golden brown)
-light and warm (camel)
When you look at the ensemble of colors (in the CMC book) for clear spring, warm spring and warm autumn, deep and soft autumn, which one seems to have the right overall degree of intensity/depth and clarity (or mutedness)? Which are the colors in that season that you feel you cannot wear?
Which color do you think you look your best in:
- clear salmon, light peach, pumpkin, salmon or peach?
- kelly green, light moss, or olive?
Kathy, it would be great if you could list your best colors and the colors you cannot wear. I have seen them in different postings but it might be helpful too for others wishing to offer their suggestions to have a summary. Does it look as if I’ve given you homework?