I’d like to start off by talking a little bit about colour in general. Colour is relative. This is the basis upon which colour analysis is built upon. What this means is that you always see one colour in relation to another. Some colours clash and others, when side by side, seem to enhance and compliment each other. The idea of colour analysis is to figure out the properties of the colours in your own body and then show you what colours enhance you.

A colour is either warmer in temperature, or cooler. They can be placed on a scale (warm being at one end, cool at the other). Cool colours have blue undertones. Warm colours have yellow undertones

A colour is either brighter or softer. Again, they can be placed on a scale. Soft colours have more grey added to them, bright colours are purer versions of each colour.

There are four seasons. Two warm, two cool. Two bright, two soft. Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter.

Don’t worry if you find this confusing. Instead, look at the colours for each season on the Kettlewell Colours website and on my Pinterest boards:

Spring: http://www.kettlewellcolours.co.uk/season/spring
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/j9loveslace/spring/

Summer: http://www.kettlewellcolours.co.uk/season/summer
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/j9loveslace/summer

Autumn: http://www.kettlewellcolours.co.uk/season/autumn
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/j9loveslace/autumn

Winter: http://www.kettlewellcolours.co.uk/season/winter
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/j9loveslace/winter/

You might find you are drawn towards a particular season. You may see some colours that you feel strongly about.

Within a season certain colours will be your very best and others, whilst they will be good (and certainly won’t drain you) are more useful as accents or accessories or in lingerie such as your version of nude, you’re not likely to wear that head-to-toe.

During your colour analysis session we will ascertain your season, go through every single colour in your palette to discover your very best colours and, if you want, you can try some on some lipstick and blusher designed for your season.

Knowing your season is just the start of your colour journey. Please do read up online, be curious. Notice what colours you’re naturally drawn to in the shops. Use your swatches and get to know them well. Eventually you’ll be able to tell what colour is yours just by holding it up against your face and seeing whether it drains you or makes you glow. It’s worth noting that shopping becomes easier when you are already wearing your colours so I highly recommend shopping in a completely compliant outfit when possible.

After your colour analysis session my recommendation is to go home with your colour swatches and swatch your wardrobe. Move compliant clothes to the right, the rest to the left. Start building the right side of your wardrobe. You’ll soon end up with clothes that mix-and-match effortlessly in ways that weren’t possible previously.

Important! What you need to know before we start

• On the day, please don’t wear any make-up or fake tan. If you like you can bring your make-up with you to apply afterwards.
• If you’ve been on holiday and have a natural deep tan this could be troublesome so we’ll need to wait a few weeks until it’s faded.
• Please wear contact lenses (if possible) if you usually need glasses.
• If you’ve dyed or bleached your hair that’s not a problem. I will need to cover it during the draping with a white headscarf.
• Bring a camera if you like, I’m happy to take photos. I will almost certainly have mine so if you’d like me to take photos of you in your best colours and forward them on by e-mail I’m very happy to do that.

Buying make-up

You’ve been assigned a season. So what make-up should you be looking for now when out shopping? Chances are your old faithful black mascara won’t serve you best. Here are my suggestions.

Spring

Foundation: Look for foundation that has warm (sometimes referred to as yellow, golden or beige) undertones. Foundation that has the wrong undertone for you will look too pink.
Mascara: Brown mascara is your new best friend. Navy can work too, but it needs to be a warm bright navy which might be hard to find in the shops.
Lipstick / blush: Anything that includes salmon, coral, terracotta or peach in the title are definitely worth trying, but you’ll need to make sure these are bright enough.
Bronzer: Generally best to avoid this as it can look too heavy / muddy on your dewy skin.

Summer

Foundation: Look for foundation that has cool (sometimes referred to as blue, rose or pink) undertones. Foundation that has the wrong undertone for you will look too orange. Beware of fake tan! It generally tends to have warm undertones so will make you look orange. Your natural English rose complexion looks best with the correct foundation and a little rose pink blusher.
Mascara: Navy mascara is your new best friend and looks especially good with navy or teal eye liner I find. Grey can definitely work too as long as it’s not too charcoal (which would fall into Winter’s palette).
Lipstick / blush: Lipsticks that include plum, cherry, strawberry, raspberry or rose in the title are definitely worth trying, but you’ll need to make sure these aren’t too bright. If after applying you notice the lip colour before anything else then it’s the wrong season.
Bronzer: Avoid at all costs.

Autumn

Foundation: Look for foundation that has warm (sometimes referred to as yellow, golden or beige) undertones.
Mascara: Brown mascara is just perfect. If the deepest shades of your palette suit you best (this will be discussed at your session) then brown black might work too.
Lipstick / blush: Anything that includes brick, rust, copper, terracotta or coral in the title are definitely worth trying, but you’ll need to make sure these aren’t too bright.
Bronzer: Yes! You are the only season who wears this well.

Winter

Foundation: Look for foundation that has cool (sometimes referred to as blue, rose or pink) undertones. Foundation that has the wrong undertone for you will look too orange. Fake tan isn’t recommended as it generally tends to have warm undertones so will make you look orange.
Mascara: Black mascara is yours. It’s also worth trying navy and charcoal, just make sure they are saturated enough.
Lipstick / blush: Lipsticks that include plum, wine, fuchsia, magenta and the word ‘bright’ in the title are definitely worth trying in the store.
Bronzer: Avoid.

Swatching a lipstick on the underside of your wrist is a great way of seeing what the colour is without putting it on your lips. You can also see using this method whether the colour looks good on your skin (and you can hold your colour swatches up against it too).

Do also take a look at my make-up Pinterest boards. Disclaimer: I would always recommend trying the item out at a counter first before buying as even within the same season some cosmetics look better on some than others.

Spring: http://www.pinterest.com/j9loveslace/make-up-spring/
Summer: http://www.pinterest.com/j9loveslace/make-up-summer/
Autumn: http://www.pinterest.com/j9loveslace/make-up-autumn/
Winter: http://www.pinterest.com/j9loveslace/make-up-winter/

Jewellery

Spring

Bright gold looks great on you, as do mixed metals and rose gold. Keep it bright and shiny. Warm bright stones such as turquoise and opal set in gold will suit you perfectly as will bright beads. Jewellery with movement works too.

Summer

Brushed silver looks best (often referred to as ‘satin finish’). Perhaps surprisingly you can also do antique rose gold if mixed with browns and burgundies. If you don’t have extremely cool undertones then rose gold can work well too. Avoid yellow gold. Amethyst, garnet and moonstone are great, as are pearls. If you are a cool deep Summer, Marcasite can work very well too.

Autumn

Brushed gold both rose and yellow looks best on you. You also look fantastic in copper and bronze, and antiqued metals work very well. Avoid anything silver or very shiny. Peridot, citrine and amber will look wonderful against your skin.

Winter

Platinum was made for you. Rhodium-plated white gold is also fantastic. Your gemstones include emerald, ruby, tanzanite, sapphire and of course diamond. Stones in icy shades work well too such as aquamarine.

Your version of black

Spring: Brown. If you need a colour that carries authority then your warm grey would work well for a suit.
Summer: Navy. Grey is also a useful neutral. Swap black boots / shoes for your brown in a slightly deeper shade if need be.
Autumn: Brown. If you need a suit then petrol blue or a warm navy would be perfect too.
Winter: Black. Charcoal and Winter’s navy are very good at carrying authority too.

How you wear this colour is important too. The bright seasons (Spring and Winter) need higher levels of contrast which means they could wear the lightest colour and the darkest colour of their palette together and it would work.

Autumns and Summers don’t need as much contrast and given they have softer, more muted colours, achieving this is (conveniently) more difficult too. For a Summer, navy and silver grey looks better than navy and white. For an Autumn, olive and cream or tan looks better than brown and white.

Need outfit ideas?

Take a look at my Pinterest outfit ideas boards:

Spring: http://www.pinterest.com/j9loveslace/spring-clothes/
Summer: http://www.pinterest.com/j9loveslace/summer-clothes/ (you’ll also find more on my personal style board: http://www.pinterest.com/j9loveslace/natural-ingenue/)
Autumn: http://www.pinterest.com/j9loveslace/autumn-outfits
Winter: http://www.pinterest.com/j9loveslace/winter-clothes/

I really do love answering questions so please don’t hesitate to ask me any you might have 😀