The Mystery of Brown
November 28, 2009 by Christine Scaman · Leave a Comment
This article is the second of 3 connected posts. The first one was What Are Clear and Soft Colours?
There, we talked about muted colours belonging to Autumn and Summer. They’re lower intensity, duller, dusty, either grayish or browned. Summer has some lighter, softer grey browns, often with a blue or mauve tone. Autumn’s colours are darker and more golden-brown.
Spring and Autumn Browns
But Spring has true brown colours too, just like Autumn. When you shop for clothes or makeup, how do you pick Spring’s camel coat from Autumn’s?
Left, Spring. On the right, Autumn.
These colours are not rendered precisely. If you own a Colours Book for True Spring or True Autumn, you may notice that. It doesn’t matter. This illustrates the point well enough.
A color like camel can be very soft, or low saturation, or it can be very bright, or high saturation. It depends on how much gray is in the mix. Look at the 2 camel browns in the middle row. The Autumn one appears more golden, more dark, and more dull and murky.
The Spring brown FEELS closer to you because of it lightness. It almost feels more transparent, though transparency is not one of the ways in which we define colour.
Undertones
The difference between the spring colors and the autumn colors is this:
The springs have a yellow undertone, while the autumns have a gold undertone.
All of the spring colors have yellow added to them, and all of the autumn colors have gold added to them. So, the difference is between yellow and gold. Gold is a deeper, grayer, and darker shade of yellow.
Spring colors feel light and bright. Autumn colors feel deeper, richer, darker, lower in saturation.
Autumn browns are of lower saturation than Spring because there is more grey in the mix. If they were musical notes, Autumn would resonate far more deeply. The register feels lower. Autumn’s colours are more golden, but a golden color has more gray in it than a yellow based color. Gold is a darker version of yellow AND it is of lower saturation, hence its place among the Autumn colours.
The color brown is actually orange that has been darkened. A dark orange is a brown.
Shopping with knowledge
When we get to 12 tones, vs 4 Season Color Analysis, the differences are slight, but do make a huge difference in the final result, and they are harmonious with each other. The key to having your entire wardrobe work as one, within itself and with you, is for every item to follow YOUR inborn synchrony. It’s important to match the colours as closely as possible to evoke the right feeling. For those of you who have been draped, you saw that your runner-up Season was not even remotely close to your best.
Below is an example of how to apply this information. It is easier with clothing than cosmetic colours. This is a Laura Mercier eyeshadow at Sephora. One of my many reasons for disliking eyeshadow palettes is that they make no sense together. And don’t get me started on lip palettes, which I have even less good feelings about.
Besides a Bright Spring, who would use everything here? That group might be 15% of the population.
Anyhow, looking only at the brown eyeshadow quad, do you notice that it is not gold or orange? The colours feel bright, lit with a pale yellow light. The musical note would be high and clear. These may be browns but they are not “earthy”, which gives a much heavier feeling.
That’s the easiest rule of thumb : Spring browns have no orange in them. Is it fail-safe? No. There are other Seasons with non-orange browns. This just helps you exclude a few of the wrong ones.
The no-fail guide
But you know, with your Colours Book, you don’t really have to worry. You might think that the camels and honeys and light browns are quite similar between Seasons. When you actually look at the swatches in the Books, they’re obviously different. Your concern is not another Season’s colours. Always match YOUR personal colour palette as closely as possible and you will succeed. This is a visual judgment, not a verbal one. Colour is always best understood when compared to another colour.
Don’t try to shop from memory. Your success rate will drop to 50%. You won’t remember as well as you think you will. Always, always shop with your Book so you can meet my goal 
– which is to never, ever have you buy the wrong thing again.
And that should be done in natural daylight. Take the article up to a window to check the color, or be sure to ask the sales clerk if it can be exchanged if the color is off in natural light. Stores usually use the cheapest lighting possible, which is the worst for viewing true color.
I scribble the product on a piece of white paper because the swatches are painted on white cotton canvas. The sales assistant is standing there watching and possibly feeling quite irritated, but at least it’s not unsanitary. Is this a woman thing? Would a man recognize an easy and successful sale?
What are Clear and Soft Colours?
November 26, 2009 by Christine Scaman · 5 Comments
Let’s say that every colour begins as grey. Drop by drop, you add a colour pigment. As you increase the amount of pigment, so do you increase the “saturation”. The colour is becoming more clear and intense. Finally, there is no grey left and what you have is a pure colour.
Understanding saturation in 12 Season Colour Analysis is key to using your colour analysis swatches correctly for selecting clothes AND makeup.
Colour Saturation
This might look like grey>dusty rose> watermelon> fuchsia. You see how the grey is being subtracted? We began with a soft, muted, dusty colour of low saturation and ended with a more pure, vivid, brilliant colour of high saturation. Another word for saturation is chroma.
A clear colour is pure. It is very far from grey. It is closer to full saturation.
Here is another comparison chart. The colours on the right are not becoming darker, or warmer, or cooler. They’re just clearer or brighter, relative to grey.
Playing with colour parameters
You could darken a colour without removing the gray : grey > heather mist > lilac > lavender > mauve. But now, you’re playing with a different aspect of colour, namely the lightness/darkness. The saturation is not changing so much. These are all soft, muted colours.
You could equally change 2 parameters of colour at once : Wedgewood blue>sky blue>sapphire. We are increasing darkness and increasing saturation at once.
Colour has a third parameter, that being warm/cool. Personal Colour Analysis is determing exactly where your colouring stands in terms of all 3 criteria.
True and Neutral Season colour saturation
Who needs to know? Pretty well everybody, actually. The Summer and Autumn seasons wear absolutely muted colours. Though Autumn’s are more golden-brown and Summer’s are more grey, both are duller than the truly pure Winter and Spring shades.
The True Seasons are absolutes insofar as the colour clarity or softness. Either the colours are clear or they’re not. For the 75% of you who are a Season blend, or a Neutral Season, your colours are softened or muted to a degree. The PCA tells you how much.
In fact, the True Seasons are absolute with respect to all 3 parameters of colour – warm vs. cool and light vs. dark, as well as bright/soft. Therein lies the problem with 4 Season Colour Analysis.
The Neutral Seasons are born with a personal colour palette that is warm/cool/light/dark/bright soft to some degree. It is in the particular combination of the degrees that you arrive at the 8 Neutral groups.
The saturation of grey
Can grey itself be more or less clear?It sure seems crisper and sharper in the Winter greys than in softer Summer greys.
Winter’s grey is pure. That means that it is made of black and white. That’s it.
Summer’s greys have blue in them. Spring’s have yellow, and Autumn’s have brown.
Yellow?
How about a pure vs. muted yellow? Daffodil vs. butterscotch.
Brown
Brown is a little complicated. Brown is a dark orange, but it’s also an important characteristic of the entire Autumn group. It is most certainly NOT a characteristic of the other Seasons, or at least, it takes a much different form.
It’s incredibly important to get it right because it is such a wardrobe neutral and cosmetic colour staple. The Mystery Of Brown is the topic of the next article.
Dark Autumn Jewelry
November 21, 2009 by Christine Scaman · 8 Comments
As in any of the 12 groups in Seasonal Colour Analysis, the variability is enormous. My Dad is a Dark Autumn. Here we are, the proud parents of our first pie. As a younger man, he appeared to have black hair. It wasn’t black in the sense that Asian people have ink blue-black hair, but it was blacker than the blackest coffee. His eyes are dark hazel. It would have been very easy to confuse him for a Winter, but the sleek shiny Winter look was all off. His character is practical, not emotional or theatrical. Like most Autumns, he had a sense of what suited him, but wore far more brown than anything else.
Halle Berry could be a Dark Autumn, with her bronzed colouring.
My friend Gina is too. Her skin tone has an olive quality and her overall colouring is vivid and dramatic. She has all the fiery sparkle in her character that she has in her appearance.
These are the Autumn individuals who integrate a trace of Winter’s darkness, coolness, and formality. The colours are exotic, spicy, and more warm than cool. They are also dark.
The jewelry is strong and metallic, with heavy touches of copper, gold and bronze. The weight of Autumn jewelry is found but the regal touch of Winter calls for more simplicity, fewer pieces worn at once.
The look is expensive, rare, and precious. The feeling is of age and extreme value, as in heirloom pieces and vintage reproductions. The colours are deeply glowing embers. Just as there is weight and luxury to the fabric that suits Dark Autumn, so is there a strong essence to the jewelry. Flimsy fabrics belong to another Season, as does dainty silver filigree.
Diamond is a classical Winter stone, as might be Ruby and Sapphire, but worn in warm metal settings, they add drama and opulence. The proximity to Winter certainly allows silver settings too, depending on the clothing being worn. Any cut stone in your personal colour palette will be perfect and with the tolerance for warm and cool, there are many to choose from.
The 1928 Jewelry company’s pieces always come to mind. The antique aspect gives the feeling of ancient treasure. The metals are a little darker and more heavily textured than the standard gold strand. The chains and links are usually considerably heavier than the delicate fixtures of most jewelry. The richly luxurious colours lend a precious and ornate feeling. The ambiance is of great wealth, of a library in glowing evening light, burning coals in the fireplace, touches of gold and and deep greens in the room, plush velvet and satin fabrics, and a dark burgundy wine.
With the personal colour palette of fiery, spicy, passionate colour and the unique ability to wear striking and vivid contrast, this group comprises many of the more exotic shades and prints. Far-off spice markets and bazaars are evoked by paprika, cinnabar, and bay leaf. There are numerous lighter shades and neutrals, including black, but the defining terms are darkness and heat. Likewise, unusual and original jewelry looks custom-made and one-of-its-kind, adding to the impression of affluence.
Frivolous effects, casual clothes, and youthful touches are not in keeping with this strong bold energy. This Season delivers a serious visual impact. Clothes and accessories are important, creative pieces. Of course, the size of jewelry is always in keeping with the size of the person wearing it, so the pieces need not be enormous.
These people may be capable, often forceful, organizers and leaders. Potent personalities need to be reflected in an exterior that is equally powerful. Anything soft or moderate just becomes a person wearing someone else’s clothes. The bridge that links the inner to the outer being, and translates into a compelling presence, will not be made.
The target is always to perfectly harmonize your inner core and exterior self. Your skin’s heat, your body size, your personal vitality are all expressions of the same energy form that came together as YOU. Learning to listen to the language of your soul creates a visual communication that just feels so right.
Soft Autumn Jewelry
November 14, 2009 by Christine Scaman · 7 Comments
Begin all your purchase decisions by remembering the key words about your Season, whatever your Season. The word feelings that should drift across the Soft Autumn screen are “quiet, softly golden, warm but not hot, gentle lustre, natural (maybe even organic, very much of-the-Earth)”. It doesn’t need to be a wood and shell necklace, it just shouldn’t be busy, dazzling, and attention-seeking.
This is my sister-in-law, Holly. She is the perfect model of the Soft Autumn.
In 12 Season Personal Colour Analysis, this colouring group is primarily defined by Autumn’s colour characteristics– warm, muted, and dark. BUT, there is a trace of Summer in this blueprint, making them a Neutral Season (ie: a blend of 2 True Seasons). The result is that their skin tone perfection colours are cooled and lightened a little bit. They remain muted or soft because both Autumn and Summer colours are soft, giving this group a double dose of softness.
Quietly sensual is the mantra. You look far better in natural metals and stones than plastic, large hunks of metal, bold, busy pieces, or anything that appears artificially coloured. Your entire sensation is of comfort and nurture. Complicated pieces look hectic and tiring. To the viewer, it FEELS “against the grain”.
You may look a little like this young woman below. (I didn’t put this lovely face in black, or big round hoops (a Spring exaggeration), or a silver cross (Winter probably, too many right angles to be Summer, a season of circular shapes). Is she a Soft Autumn? Without being draped, who knows?). She is a good example of the Soft Autumn, with her squared jaw and warm Autumn look, modified by Summer’s feminine full lips and nose.
Are you beginning to notice that members of the same season often look similar, or share certain common features? Keep watching, you’ll see more. Big round eyes? Start thinking Summer.
As a neutral season, silver is within your realm, but may not match your all of your clothing items. Use pale golds, rose gold, and especially semi-precious stones and gems. Turquoise, coral, jade, amber, topaz, any stone that is mined from the Earth itself, and offers this soft and gentle glow, within your personal colour palette, is for you.
True Autumn’s (see True Autumn Jewelry previously published) heavier effect is replaced with a more delicate impression and less of a forceful colour impact. The colours are more tawny than hot, and the feeling is more flowing and lighter in weight. The glow is paler. The pearls are creamy, not white.
The natural radiance of these persons is a wonder of easy, easy colour to look at. Sometimes, a Soft Autumn finds their palette endlessly bland but it isn’t. It is so natural, so free of stress, worry, and challenge. This jewelry never imposes or aims to impress. Using the earth’s stones and gems in simple, unfussy designs adds the luminosity and touch of brightness that feels like warm apple pie, a vanilla and brown sugar scented candle, or a mid-afternoon glass of wine on the beach.
Louise and Stevan Are Light Springs
November 11, 2009 by Christine Scaman · 9 Comments
Spring personalities were put on Earth to make the rest of us smile. Louise and I work together ( she is a veterinarian too) and I’m grateful for it every day.
Although Louise gets the credit for making me laugh (not easily done), her husband David is a pro photographer. He took this picture as well as the breathtaking pictures of Louise that follow.
A quintessential Spring, Louise can talk about any topic under the sun. She is always open and friendly, assertive, sincere, optimistic, and FUNNY. As she says “If you can’t look on the bright side, what’s the point?” Louise says what comes into her head. She is spontaneous, not careful or rehearsed. She is not withdrawn. On Take-Your-Child-To-Work Day, my kids want to be with Louise for the day, not their serious, business-like mother.
As always, colours repeat not just how you look but your personality. These are ice cream dessert colours. They’re happy and impulsive.
These clothes are certainly not menswear tailored, but neither are they always flouncy. They may be sporty but they are mostly about movement. The relaxed, informal personality looks natural in jeans and comfortable textures. With the Summer feminine blend and the light delicacy of the colouring, this could be an ultra-feminine person, but Louise is the easy and casual type.
Many Springs are fascinated by the natural world. They jumped in the puddles as children, not over them. Louise is never happier than in her garden. She looks great in beautifully coloured fleece. If she chooses, she can look very feminine, but she does not carry dark/serious/formal so well.
You might look at Louise’s hair colour, see the medium ash brown (it is more ash IRL) , and say 2 things:
- She’s too dark to be a light season >> Remember, hair colour is irrelevant. It is hidden during the analysis so that we don’t make this exact mistake. Hair colour can be anything. We are only concerned with perfecting the skin.
- Her hair is too cool; Springs have golden hair >> She certainly is closer to her cool neighbor on the Summer side, but her skin perfection colours are more yellow. This is the Summery version of this season. Not everyone falls precisely into their season. They may be closer to one neighbor or the other.
What does it look like when the person veers on the warmer side of this season, moving very close to True Spring. Meet Stevan. His colours are still light and he and Louise share the same personal colour palette. He is as handsome, sunlit, and friendly as he appears in this picture. Stevan smiles easily and is genuinely interested in others, the hallmark of a Spring. His hair is as golden as his skin tone and his character. (Before anyone asks, Stevan is the bigger one, but that so-cute baby has golden potential.)
I’m such a fan of nature’s contrasts. When cool hair is paired with warmer skin, as you see with Louise, or the reverse combination we saw in Pam Is A Dark Winter, these are striking to look at. The one is a showcase for the other. It is especially important to understand your coloring if this is your blueprint because sales people will (inadvertently) match clothing to the degree of warmth/coolness they see in hair and eyes. They have little choice. Without personal colour analysis, it is impossible to understand the precise degree of warmth/coolness of skin tone.
Pam really has to stick to her guns when someone tells her to wear warm lipcolour or add copper highlights. Her skin is mostly cool so her makeup and clothes are mostly cool. She knows her cosmetic colours from her swatches. Louise has to insist on apricot, salmon, and warm pink when someone tries to sell her fuchsia. Her Spring colouring dictates that she must avoid dusty, grayish colours at all costs. She looks for CLEAR and LIGHT, but as the cooler example of her season, it’s a pink-salmon rather than a coral-salmon.
However, in her hair colour, her highlights will only be barely yellow, not too golden, respecting the summer coolness of her natural colour. Stay with the contrast you were born with and heighten its elements. If Stevan were to highlight his hair, he would use a much more yellow colour than Louise, respecting the clear, pale golden warmth of his natural colour.
Can she wear black? No. She looks sad and severe. As you know from Wrong Colours Away From The Face, I believe you look most connected when your darkest colour (especially for big items like coats, pants, and shoes) is no darker than your darkest hair tone. There’s altogether too much black out there anyhow. It’s an evasion for not knowing what to really wear. Though a light season, Louise has a deep emerald turquoise, a Chinese blue, a gorgeous violet. They are not oppressive. They are sophisticated with the incredible neutrals of champagne, cameo, and seashell.
Colour conveys feeling in subliminal ways. It speaks of imagination and youth. It also conveys hot-ness. It can be done the cheap way, but that’s another evasion. Why not do look expensive? Why not look like this?
When the colours you WEAR, repeat the colours you ARE, you have a secret weapon.
True Autumn Jewelry
November 7, 2009 by Christine Scaman · 6 Comments
You’ve arrived early for the party. You take a look around at who’s already there. Immediately, your eye is drawn to the two women talking on the couch.
One is sitting quietly, straight back even though it’s a slouchy couch, laughing but not letting loose. She’ll probably sit there all night because she doesn’t like circulating and making small talk. She feels self-conscious about how to interrupt conversations. Of course, she’s all in black. Not the most imaginative colour but it undeniably suits her. She’s wearing one solid piece of jewelry.
Her friend is doing an imitation of somebody. She’s laughing freely and gesturing more freely. She’s watching people coming in. She seems able to talk to three people at once. Her outfit is a riot of wavy lines but it was made for her. It’s a batik handpainted print with a beaded fringe. The waves appear in motion as she moves. The fabric is satiny and catches every ray of light. Her bracelet is so full of life that it would be too much costume on anyone else. On her, it looks beautiful with her golden skin. It is joyful and almost mischievous.
You move into the kitchen. The woman slicing vegetables for the platter commands attention. For one thing, she doesn’t care if you’re a guest, you’re given the job of refilling drinks. She’s directing traffic so the meal gets done on time and to her satisfaction. Her energy is highly organized as she orchestrates this evening.
You wonder if she has some Meditteranean ethnicity. Her skin is lightly freckled, but she seems to belong in the sun and to reflect its heat from her deepest core. Her cheekbones and jaw are equally strong. She wears little makeup, just a sheer bittersweet red lip colour. Like the colours of her busy and productive kitchen, she is wearing a raw silk blouse in a fabulous paprika colour, with a textured chocolate brown vest over it. Well in tune with her personal colour palette, she has added a fine woolen scarf with a stained-glass design in deep autumn leaf colours. Her pants are slim and straight, not flowing. Her bracelet is lying on the counter.
The piece FEELS just like the woman who wears it. It so belongs on her that you wouldn’t be surprised to see it fly through the air and attach itself to her wrist with an electrically charged attraction. A tapestry of molten colours is reflected from its chunky, squared stones and heavy settings.
The natural stones suit the straightforward character of this woman. They are the colours of a giving Earth. This is not September, with its lingering remnant of Summer. Neither is it November where the freeze is setting in. Colour is powerfully connected to how the Earth FEELS at certain times. This is a rich harvest, a comfortable welcome, a safe, steady place.
Seasonal colour analysis is very much about personality, about reflecting the inside on the outside. If the colour feeling you show is not the colour feeling you are, your appearance feels disorganized and random. This woman never pretends. She won’t say something just to flatter you unless she believes it to be true. She cries harder than anyone at a funeral. She is fiercely loyal to her family but will not spare them hard work or spoil them with extravagance. She may seem to absorb a lot of demands but when she draws the line at enough, everyone knows it.
She has a great sense of what suits her and combines jewelry and accessories in creative, individual ways. She wears 2 rings, her solid, wide, gold wedding band and a topaz stone in a solid gold setting. Her necklace is simple, heavy links of chain in a textured bronze. Their shape is squared, which seems to repeat the squareness of her jaw.
Her entire look FEELS rich but unpretentious, busy but approachable, and glowing but natural. She can wear a lot of metal at once and it works. Her hair is coloured to look metallic, with a dark copper shimmer on a warm, but not very dark, chocolate base. When she wears makeup, she chooses lip and cheek colours with a gleaming shine. By candlelight, even her skin seems burnished.
Her 2 daughters are both Autumn blends, not their mother’s True Season. They try to borrow their mother’s pieces but the energy doesn’t work. Why do so many of those pieces, like this bracelet, look clunky on the lighter daughter and completely meh on the darker one?
When the meal is done, she’ll be in the kitchen washing dishes, unless her considerate Summer husband beats her to it, which he usually does.
Pam Is a Dark Winter
November 4, 2009 by Christine Scaman · 3 Comments
Pam is a real woman who lives in the real world. Like the majority of women, she’s gorgeous and doesn’t know it. She doesn’t have time to dwell on it anyhow. She has a family and a job. She hasn’t been in school for 7 years but it’s been hard to find time and money to spend fussing about her looks since then. Pam has become a confident, interesting woman. She doesn’t want to look like a student anymore.
True and Neutral Seasons
A PCA (personal colour analysis) session devotes a fair bit of effort to sorting out whether the person is one of the 4 True Seasons (True Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter). We knew right from the start that Spring was going to be the worst of the 4, and that probably included any of Spring’s blends. There were heavy brown shadows under her eyes and her skin was yellow, with too much redness in the nose.
Summer was manageable but Winter was better. Autumn and Winter were about the same. The intensity of her eye colour was dramatically enhanced in the Autumn drapes but her skin was unevenly yellow.
The Red Drapes determined that Pam is neither a purely cool season (Winter), or purely warm (Autumn). In the neutral drapes, we began to see how remarkable Pam could look. I LOVE this part, because one of these red drapes is going to so click that I’ll take one look and think “oh, boy, this is going to be amazing”.
When we like the skin effects of one season but the eye effects of another, the skin wins. This endeavor is always about creating the most perfectly illuminated skin, cleared of yellow, ash, ruddiness, shadows, or blemishes. Pam is very clearly a Dark Winter.
The photographs show calm, evenly coloured skin. Yes, Pam has skin to be envied. But Pam’s also a Mom with 2 young kids. She doesn’t sleep well every night. Still, in her perfect colours, you can see the luminous, flawless, poreless, Snow White skin, the white teeth, and the crisp whiteness of the white of the eye.
Pam’s colour memo to the world
You know that I’m all about how colour FEELS. We react to it because of how looking at it makes us FEEL.
Look at the expression in her eyes. She FEELS comfortable. These are the colours that she recognizes BECAUSE they live inside her already. Pam is experiencing what it’s like when colour speaks for you. It’s telling the world who she really is and it feels familiar, like a truth you’ve always known but have never heard spoken before.
She is easing into her Winterness. Winter is not an informal, casual, or scruffy season. The individual’s energy is tailored, simple, and elegant. She will completely dominate overly relaxed clothes. To the viewer, that would FEEL like “hard on the eyes” because of the continuous conflict with Pam’s own energy. This season is not frilly or fussy; if anything, it borrows a little of Autumn’s masculinity and adds a faint menswear touch.
In Winter’s appearance, there is no movement, playfulness, or softness. You can see why these colouring schemes were named after the seasons. Outfits in a single dark colour convey the dark and serious look. Details are minimal or absent. When present, they are simple and expensive. Dark-light contrast should be extreme. One colour garments that repeat the hair colour are truly majestic. Nobody can compete with the power of this look on Dark Winter’s energy.
These colours allow her to look as she is. Pam is calm, a little remote, a little shy, but now, she is aware of her beauty. She is a little formal. You won’t know everything about Pam in the first hour. This is very typical of the Winter character. Add a little Spring to Winter, and you up the emotion. Add a little Autumn, and you increase the determination. Pam does not back down.
She looks a little detached. She looks aristocratic. Pam won’t carry off a beach blonde look. She’ll look odd in exotic prints and fabrics. She isn’t made for lavender and lace. That would look almost crazy, like putting a True Summer (say, Bo Derek) in a man’s suit and plaid shirt. So, instead of jeans and hoodies, Pam is empowered to know what colours will intensify what is special and distinctive about being Pam.
Dark Winter makeup and hair
Pam usually wears no makeup. It feels too fake, too dark, too conspicuous. That is not who Pam is and it feels clownish. In these pictures, she has a dab of concealer blended with moisturizer under her eye. She is wearing a fair bit of blush to add some life and shape to the face. Eyeshadow (medium-dark cool gray-brown)and eyeliner (black-brown) are minimal. The final touch is a plum-brown lipstick, covered with a Caramel gloss to tone it down so she won’t feel too obviously made-up. This is beyond movie star skin but it looks natural. It took 5 minutes, 5 products, and it looks effortless and real and natural.
Pam’s hair is a dark ash brown. What would highlights do? The same thing they do to any Winter. They look terrible. The whole dark force is disrupted with light stripes. The same thing happens when Winter wears light, frosted lipstick. They look flat, chalky, weakened.
Does Dark Winter have a lighter side? Oh, yes. It’s just a little contained.
Your colour feeling
The trick is to find what you CAN do, what is consistent with who you are inside. Why is that so hard to know? I wish I knew. Why is it so hard to know your deepest obstacles, those you put in your own way, since that’s where most of them come from anyway? I don’t know that either.
After a lifetime of playing it safe, you have to ease into saying so much about yourself. As Marianne Williamson said “It is not our darkness we are afraid of. It is our light.” Many people are wearing someone else’s clothes and spending a lot of time and money to send out signals that detract from who they really are. Many others are trying to send out no message and render themselves invisible, so they live in comfort clothes, but that’s an equally detracting memo about who you could be. In the eye of the beholder, both say “doesn’t feel good, look away”.
Colour is deeply imprinted on human beings. With an understanding of your personal palette, you develop an understanding of how it feels FEELS to be you.
Testimonials
November 2, 2009 by Christine Scaman · Leave a Comment
A professional appearance is key in the sales industry. Personal Colour Analysis showed me first hand how various colours & shades can make a significant difference on each individual person. Thank you for teaching me to wear the colours that compliment me best… this leads to great first impressions, both at work and play! Stevan, Ontario.
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I can’t believe what a difference having makeup in the right colours makes. Even after a 70 hour work week last week, I looked well put together. I feel like I look more sophisticated and professional. I look like me-but more so! Christine, I can’t thank you enough for doing such a thorough analysis. This is not the old fashioned “oh, you’re an autumn”. The way you looked at how my eyes changed and the tone of my skin with different colours was amazing to watch. Your careful, scientific approach was very impressive. You really cared that I had the most flattering palette for my skin. I also want to express my appreciation for your help with my hair colour. Several people noticed how nice my hair looked (but they couldn’t quite figure out why). Every woman who wants to look her best should have this done. It has really boosted my confidence in myself. Tracy, British Columbia.
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The Season Guide that you sent me is great. It is nice to know that there is a colour analysis system that is so comprehensive and that recognizes the fact that there is so much variation in human colouring. I have recommended you to my friends. Jelena, Ontario.
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I hate shopping, primarily because there is too much choice and it boggles my mind. Having the little color book with me is great because it is like I have a personal stylist in my pocket. I whip it out wherever I am and I know that if the color matches, I am safe to buy the item. I actually get compliments on my color choices now.
It also allows me to reduce the amount of clothes in the store that I have to consider. I bypass entire sections if the color is not one of mine and so I can narrow the field. This helps me shop. Plus, of course, I feel more confident knowing that I will look good. Now, if you could only make me thinner! Sonja, British Columbia.
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Having the colour analysis done was so informative and fun. It was interesting have the various coloured drapes placed around me. There were many colours I liked and thought I could wear but realized through Christine’s analysis that I shouldn’t. The biggest surprise to me was realizing my hair colour was much too dark for my colouring. I only saw that when Christine took the grey cap off my hair at the end of our session. I immediately saw how my dark hair colour made me look tired and older. I use my booklet of colours all the time when I am shopping. I just keep it in my purse. Holly, Prince Edward Island.
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I haven’t felt this good in years. I feel I have something to work towards. Nathalie, Ontario.
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I’ve got to tell you, that my clothes have taken on a whole new dimension of colour.
I was so stuck on “black”, and it isn’t even my colour. I went to Montreal for my holidays this fall, and decided to spend an entire day going through 3 Value Villages. They hang all their clothing by size and colour, so I went down the isles and only looked at clothes in the colour of the swatches. Perfect, I bought 40 pieces that day, and once washed, they become my own. I have received many compliments on them.
But what was most drastic was changing the colour of my hair. For the last 20 years, I have had “highlights”, you told me that the hair doesn’t need to be that busy, just go with “ash brown”, well this time around I feel the brown was too dark, but boy, did it get alot of attention. On the first week alone, over 30 people made comments. One even said, it made me look 20 years younger, (what age did she think I was before???). Your consultation has made my shopping even more interesting, to scarfs, purses and jewelry.
Thank you so much. Diane, Ontario.
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While I had suspicions that I was a certain Season, NOTHING beats the experience of being draped. The immediate transformation as each drape is applied –as part of specific sequence, heightened by contrast–is a revelation. Elizabeth, West Virginia, USA
The Sci/ART system is a scientifically stellar, aesthetically rich, and excitingly accurate and complete system–and Christine is a master at interpreting its subtleties and nuances. The dynamic intelligence, precision, and consummate conscientiousness that she brings to her work is nothing short of remarkable. As if that weren’t enough–Christine is also a warm and delightful human being.
When you have an analysis with Christine, you feel seen–both for who you intrinsically are–and for all that you can be. It is inexplicably liberating to at last understand the groundwork of one’s personal coloring; I, personally, experienced a sense of relief. It was as though I recognized–not only the futility–but the sad shortsightedness, of wishing to be other than I am.
In a culture eager to financially capitalize on women’s (and increasingly men’s) insecurities, we are constantly vulnerable to manipulation by the clothing and cosmetic industries. Christine’s analysis brings a halt to this grinding exploitation. Equipped with a new way of looking at color; with, in fact, utterly retrained vision, we are able to say “no” to that which does not serve our authentic selves. And when we say “yes,” it is with self-assurance devoid of indecision and guilt.
Christine often mentions how wearing our true colors makes it easier and more relaxing for others to engage with us. There is an ease; a sense of effortlessness; a lack of obtrusive striving for that which does not inherently belong. I think we all want to experience this “naturalness of expression” in our both our professional and personal lives. We’d like to give it and to receive it; we are social animals, after all. Christine offers the gift of this life-changing awareness. It is a shift-of-consciousness that is transforming and freeing, all at once. AEB, USA.
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I recently had my colors done by Christine and found it to be a fun and valuable process. I’d always known that wearing the right colors was very important to my overall look but I was quite confused because in the past I’d been analyzed by other consultants as two different seasons. After learning about Sci-Art and reading Christine’s blog I decided to once again have my colors done and I’m so glad I did! During the analysis I could SEE what Christine saw and felt very confident that I was finally being analyzed correctly. Since my consultation I’ve been very happy with my colors, they really fit me well – in terms of my physical appearance and also mentally. Shopping has been a breeze! I highly recommend a consultation with Christine! Louise, USA.
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I loved my Personal Colour Analysis! It makes shopping much easier. It helps me find the colors that match me. I can feel confident that something will look good on me instead of being worried that it might be a bad choice. I think that Personal Colour Analysis is an essential, and should be done as soon as early possible. You should do this immediately so you can start saving money and saving time and getting your shopping right. I feel magical, now that I know my style and colours, in clothes and in makeup too. It makes me feel truly beautiful. Sharon, Ontario.
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Sonja is a Light Summer
November 1, 2009 by Christine Scaman · 5 Comments
Many of you know my sister, Sonja, from A Greener Tea. Sonja could never find the common thread between the colours that look best on her. Cool and warm colours both worked sometimes. In certain deep blues, she wasn’t sure. She hasn’t the time or the interest to invest in worrying about her appearance too much. She doesn’t wear makeup and probably never will.
Clothes that don’t speak the truth about us cost as much as clothes that do. When we communicate accurately about ourselves, it feels surprisingly peaceful. As a PCA progresses, when we begin to identify the perfect colours, there are two expressions that consistently come into people’s eyes. One is ease, a complete absence of tension. The other is humour. The eyes look quietly joyful. In men, I see either this inner satisfaction come out, or a more um, predatory ?, outward expression of “How YOU doin’?”
Summer with a hint of Spring
Within the first 5 drapes, we had established that any dark colour, warm, cool, soft, clear, didn’t matter – all of them were not flattering. Sonja disappeared. All your eyes could see was the overpoweringly dark drape. Her skin had virtually no colour. It could not compete with the drape. The overall effect was of aging, fatigue, and a weak presence.
We found her skin to be predominantly cool, but needing a little pale yellow light to be well balanced. The Light Summer was right. In 12 Season colour analysis, this is one of the neutral seasons, blending a trace of Spring with the Summer base. This is a surprisingly different palette from True Summer, given that the seasons are neighbours.Just as their colours are very different, so are their energies. True Summer is Light Summer’s next cooler neighbor. These are the Grace Kellys and Linda Evans of the world. True Summer is refined, conservative, mannerly, sophisticated.
These are more cheerful, energetic colours, but it’s no spice market. These are more like popsicle colours. There are warmer and cooler options, but none of the colours ever gets extremely dark. They are the June Garden Party colours. The summer holiday.
Think of Princess Diana. A sunnier, more activated personality, but proper nonetheless. Where the True Summer’s energy is in feminine details, sheer fabric, lace, and pearls, the Light Summer is sportier. She can still be relied on to behave and contain her reactions. Her soothing voice, understanding manner, and unfailingly decent conduct may cause her to be the sounding board for many a rant and rave that she did nothing to incite.
These colours do not compete with who Sonja is. She looks relaxed and calm wearing these tones. If she wanted to wear makeup, she wouldn’t need much. These women often shy away from makeup because they’ve been put in colours that are too bright. Someone got the idea that a “pop of colour” would liven them up. There are no pops of colour in their natural blueprint, so painting one on their face feels ridiculous. They’ve been put in eyeshadows that are too earthy, eyeliners that are too dark, and blush that feels silly. They need LIGHT fresh cool colours, halfway between soft and clear, with a little pale yellow sunlight.
Hair
Everyone wants to be a blonde or have blonde highlights. Fully 75% of those highlights were put on heads that should never have them. Light Summer women actually look great as long as it’s not overdone. The colour is like this child’s. The base colour shows through, because a whole head of blonde looks completely flat. The highlight is a cool beige, not very yellow at all.
Sonja adds streaks to her light ash brown hair. She knows that she can go very light, to a light creamy beige. When it shines, it looks almost silvery, very good with the cool skin. A common mistake for these women is to have golden highlights. The yellow in the hair doesn’t calm the skin. It fights with it. It flushes the nose with red. Unless Mother Nature gave you that colouring, don’t try to work gold from a bottle. There is no gold in your Colours Book, so don’t wear a hat hair in that colour.
In Sonja’s Words
I hate shopping, primarily because there is too much choice and it boggles my mind. Having the little color book with me is great because it is like I have a personal stylist in my pocket. I whip it out wherever I am and I know that if the color matches, I am safe to buy the item. I actually get compliments on my color choices now.
It also allows me to reduce the amount of clothes in the store that I have to consider. I bypass entire sections if the color is not one of mine and so I can narrow the field. This helps me shop.
Plus, of course, I feel more confident knowing that I will look good. Now, if you could only make me thinner!
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