Christine: OK. I looked horrendous in the color itself for a while, but that was before I tanned more; I appear to go golden and then cooler beige.

Here’s the shirt in question: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kanerou/4676119359/?edited=1 The color of the photo isn’t perfect, but it shows the general contrast, which I believe is far too low. I don’t feel like it supports my depth at all.

Assuming the charcoal is made of white/black only, I dont’ think Dark Winter would so brilliant in that shirt. The other 2 Winters could, at least for the shirt picture in my head.

As an alternative have you looked at the prettyyourworld.com site? Lora analyzes people from photographs and seems to be very good at it.

Good luck!

You’re very likely a Winter or one of its blends, but that includes 5 different Seasons. Where people get caught trying to do this at home is

1. Not having enough specifically measured colors to test, in a progression of warmth, value, and saturation that makes some sense
2. Not being quite sure what to look for
3. As for all of us, very hard to be objective about our own face.

If you have a chance, look at the article Skin Undertones at 12blueprints.com
You’ll see the basic undertone of each Season. Try working with those specific shades.

Thanks!

MAC Double Dare (Cremesheen Glass) is good. Bigger swatch at the macpro site:
http://www.macpro.com/templates/products/shade.tmpl?ngextredir=1&SKU_ID=SKU35419

I second the Blanc Type, Apres Ski and Typographic shadows.

A few more finds, would love to hear if anyone has tried these:

- MAC eyeshadow in Typographic–a dark gray/charcoal that applies without that “black eye” effect so common with dark eyeshadows. Darker than EL in Slate (still my favorite…), but not heavy.

- Smashbox Blush Rush in Radiance–described as a bright fuchsia (hot pink to me), it is very bright, even brighter than it looks on their website, but applies beautifully, very narural and flattering. It is a cool blush that does not give my skintone a blueish tinge as some do, but “gels” with my color in a nice way.

- I see why you like Clinic High Impact mascara–it is now a favorite of mine also (in black-brown). My other favorite is Paula’s Choice Lush in Dark Brown, and hers is the only black mascara I ever wear, as it is softer than black mascaras tend to be.

I got Speak Louder and got loads of compliments on it. Thanks. I also picked up some taupe-grey shadows : Coquette, Copperplate and Omega shadow to pair with the ivories (Blanc Type, Mylar) for a daytime natural look.. and I got out a shadow called apres ski which I I had never tried on beacuse i hated the colour. It’s a greeny-gray taupe putty colour- and OMG! when people talk about eyes ‘popping’ I never had that moment before but by adjusting the tones to those closer to my eye colour my eyes seem so much more refreshed and ‘clearer’. I am now using colours I never would have before and looking all the better for it.

After my PCA I get compliments EVERYDAY on my clothes and my confidence- people say I look ‘brighter and it’s a great advertisment as now they all want it done too. ‘

My advice to anyone who is considering getting a PCA- is go for it! it is worth the money and pays for it’s self over time.

Thanks for the recomedations. I think I have treed Speak Louder before and it’s too light for my hightly pugmented red lips but I’ll take another look. I had a session with my sister where we looked at colours and i have decided to return/replace all the brown and taupe shades as they make my grey eyes look muddly. I have also noticed that the pink-bieges that i wore as neutrals are making my eyes look tired and irritated so I’m swapping them for creamy ivorys and pale beiges with a hint of peach which wake me up- they conect with the hint of yellow in my skin. I used to think i was great with make-up but it seems that I have had it all backwards an now my make-up is the complete opposite of what it was before bugundy browns and pinks vs cool ivory and charcoal!

Hopefully i’ll have it sorted soon. I like a vintage 40′s look so the ivory is working well- better than the pink.

Regards

Trish

Sorry, have only just seen your questions about colour mixing. I have an MA in art and teach art and design to undergrads so maybe can help, as I teach colour and colour mixing as part of the courses.

Purple is thought to be wearable by most people as it contains both cool and warm elements, blue and red mixed together. How cool or warm depends on the mix, so it would still depend on the particular mix as to how successful on an individual. However, like aqua and turqoise and duck egg blue and to a degree peachy pinks and lilac tones these are fairly safe bets for most, as they contain warm and cool elements, which is why they are recommended for bridesmaid dresses. It means ladies of differing colourings, cool or warm, can look fairly good, if not perfect dressed in the same colour.

We are not looking for an orange undertone, as although orange is the brightest colour it is this only, not a pure primary colour as yellow is. It is always the yellow or red in a colour which gives warmth. Orange is a mixed (secondary) colour, the combination of red (another primary) and black. Colours individually are known as hues, i.e mauve or green, adding black to any colour creates a shade, adding white creates a tint, and grey creates a tone. These terms are quite precise but often misused in everyday life. Red, yellow and blue are the primaries from which everything else is mixed to create the hues. Some other systems are used, but these were devised for printing and other technical reasons and are used in certain industries for technical reasons. The science based behind even their use is still the normal primary colour system as this is an indisputable scientific knowledge.

Hope this answers some of your questions, any more and I’ll try to help! I answer questions like this everyday and this stuffs fairly easy, getting your own colours right is not so, as I know as well as any. Take care.