A Dark Winter’s Story
November 29, 2010 by Christine Scaman · 3 Comments
In the early stages of a Personal Colour Analysis, we use colour to force unattractive effects in the face. It’s the only way we have of understanding what your face does in the presence of wrong colour. Every face reacts differently. It starts off slow as we observe and learn what to look for. Once we understand, the process moves more quickly. We can interpret the clues and work towards finding the formula that unites every colour that makes you look most beautiful. That’s how you never make another shopping mistake.
Around the halfway point, we begin moving away from a less attractive face towards a very beautiful face, one with perfect skin and intensely strong eye colour. Right around that time, there is a moment when it becomes about more than color. You’re paying a visit to your soul. It strikes you that the colours in which you already seem to be wearing foundation are the same colours that feel the way it feels to be you. The very expression within the eye has changed.
Suddenly, you’re telling the world who you are. All the strengths you comfort yourself with. All the weaknesses you’re working on overcoming or still ignoring. Everything that’s been said to you about how you look. It is intensely personal and private, like someone knows all your secrets, or all your flaws surfaced at once and there’s nowhere to hide them.
This exposure has to be recognized. It deserves great respect. The client is very internalized in these moments. They are processing huge volumes of personal data. They are often anxious for quiet, to be alone with their thoughts. In time, the earthquake settles and the new perspectives are assimilated into a being with more inner awareness and alignment. I have found that creative outlets help women while their subconscious gels the new information. Whether it’s quilting, painting, photography, doesn’t matter, as long as it’s introspective and reflective. Nobody should spend 100 years here and never once speak to their own spirit.
This woman wrote this beautiful and amazing story. A river that can run this deep is one of the glories of being human.
A very sincere thanks to Darin Wright of eleablakecosmetics for performing this analysis.
Thoughts of a New-Found Dark Winter
I turned to color analysis as a way to make my shopping and makeup easier and successful. For many that is all it needs to be. And truly, anything that makes us feel more confident, capable and comfortable with ourselves is all for the good. Still, as I learned about and reflected on this process called color analysis , I slowly realized it has the potential to not only improve my outer appearance, but could, indeed, could not but help, to reach into and affect my inner life as well.
When we speak of “having our colors done” we often hint at, but generally talk around the deeper implications. Color is a language of frequency and light. The colors we are made of are the unique expression of ourself, as they are what others see when we show up in the world . It also connects us to everything else made of frequency and light , which is, well … everything! We use phrases like “true self” or “finding your true colors” and “essence”. I am certain that “essence” means many different things to many people. To me the word, “essence” attempts to name an aspect or quality of us that is radiantly pure and utterly aligned with our deepest purpose, our dreams, our contribution to this sacred experience, called, “Life”. Because it is complete as it is and pure, it is unchanging and unchangeable. It is the aspect of us who knows who we are and the gifts we bring to the banquet. It is us before parental conditioning and social influences and it knows us far beyond the defenses and identities we developed to protect this most powerful and exquisitely tender aspect of self. It is our seed from which we may grow our lives to enjoy our most fulfilling realization of ourselves. Finding ways to express and share our essence is what, in the end, will bring our greatest joy. When we look in the mirror to see our true beauty it is this “essence” we glimpse in the radiant reflection of ourself.
I arrived at my PCA with many desires and notions about myself. I also promised myself I would do my best to surrender. I think draping techniques vary among different analysts, but mine did not seem to take very long. The drapes clearly demonstrated that I was not soft, light, or warm. Black was by far the best drape on me until we came to a couple of True Winter colors. They were very good, but still, no magic….Then she brought out what for me was the strangest, most un-pretty color of them all-a heavy dark eggplant. I didn’t pay much attention to it. I knew it wouldn’t work, but I was stunned when Darin called my attention back. There I was, my undeniable inner intensity matched in my reflection. My dark green eyes snapped and my skin was clear with a becoming hint of olive heat. My features stood out, clearly defined and somehow in harmony. For a brief moment I was free of all the unfavorable comparisons to others, the tyranny of glossy airbrushed images and society’s fickle, narrow definitions of beauty. I was wholly, beautifully myself, and it was good. Without hesitation I said “yes” to the one I saw gazing at me. “Yes” to the colors and the events, people and changes that would bring me into more expression of and harmony with this essence. A few more drapes and the palette name was revealed-Dark Winter. Whhhhhat?!
I remembered seeing that palette posted and thinking the colors conveyed an unmistakable quality of power and authority and I felt so relieved that it was not mine , that it wasn’t mine to grow into…
Well, time has passed and yesterday my swatches arrived. The colors are both deeply familiar and mysterious. Looking at them I am reminded of my past- the deep burgundies remind me of my Goth girl days, the dark forest greens of the passionate idealistic activist with a lively Robin Hood complex. In the deep strength of the colors I see the determined woman who gave birth at home in a state crazy enough to make home birth illegal.
Looking at these colors I see uncomfortable truths about myself, an opportunity for self-acceptance. ” I will never be “the life of the party”. Do I really have to take everything soooo seriously?” With these colors I renew faith in myself and my path. The woman who wears these colors has resource and strength to spare.
I pursued PCA to make things simpler, but in this moment the process for aligning my outside and inside with my “true colors” seems terribly complicated and fairly far away. But I did it. I said, “yes”, and as Christine says, “Now the interesting part begins…”. I have no idea where this will take me. This reluctant Dark Winter wouldn’t have it any other way.
This image is copyrighted, but it deeply defines how this Season feels to me.
Eyeglass Frames 2 Nov 2010
November 20, 2010 by Christine Scaman · 1 Comment
Frames for True Winter, Light Spring, Dark Winter, Light Summer x 2, and Bright Spring, chosen using the colours and principles of 12 Season (Tone) Personal Colour Analysis.
Or here on YouTube.
The Glasses
True Winter
Light Spring
Light Summer
Light Summer
Bright Spring
The make of the glasses can be seen on the lens, except Bright Spring’s which are Soho. Mine are Joop!
Holland Optical is in SW Ontario at 519-352-8632.
Eyeglass Frames 1 Nov2010
November 14, 2010 by Christine Scaman · 7 Comments
Recently at our Facebook meeting place, Valeria described her Personal Colour Analysis as having allowed her to “claim my identity”. Sometimes, you hear a small string of words that crystallizes a world of meaning into a little strand of sounds.
I haven’t stopped thinking about the many implications of that phrase since I read it. I’m happy enough to find you the perfect lipstick for your skin tone, the most believable color analyzed hair colour, and the clothing colours that announce the real you. When everyone else is buying a black dress for the Christmas party, you will be wearing a color that so becomes you that conversation will stop when you walk in. That’s all great stuff. Looking completely right is personally, professionally, and financially powerful dexterity to have on your side. I can talk about it all day.
Whether I’m in the room or not, the conversation always comes round to the topic I love even more: How To Find Your Own Voice.
Colour is electromagnetic vibration. So are we. The vibrations of our colours cannot NOT be an identical match for those of our inner being, or some part our total energy. They must be an exact duplicate. It is impossible for our colour vibrations to be spinning falsely and still be part of us because the same DNA decrees the physics of both. The colours in our body are a true and accurate representation of our most fundamental person.
Amidst the endless chatter of advice, the person in whom we need to learn to trust is ourselves. Colour Analysis is like the translator that gives that buried deepest being a Voice that you and others can understand.
If PCA is new to you, don’t get caught up in these concepts. It takes time to reach them. Start with finding the best reds, blues, greens, and yellows for your person. You may be on the ground floor, but this elevator only goes up.
Glass frames are a multifactored decision because you have the frames, and Season, and facial features to take into account. We could find the color analyzed cosmetic items that every member of the Season could wear beautifully, but not likely the eyeglass frames.
Wispy faces do better with wispy hair and finer accessories.
Small bodies look better with proportionately smaller accessories.
Use the frames and ideas here give a sense of how each Season is positioned among the 11 others and how it is best exemplified in the physical world.
This first series looks at a series of frames for Autumn blends. Notice the progression in the heat of the metal, in the darkness, in the type of decoration, and in the overall feeling. In 12 Season (12 Tone) Colour Analysis, there are 5 Seasons that contain some Autumn influence.
You can watch it here on YouTube as well.
I’ll add the photos of the glasses after the video, since the recording doesn’t go around the frames.
Soft Summer
Soft Autumn
True Autumn
Dark Autumn
Best Makeup Colours : Dark Winter
November 7, 2010 by Christine Scaman · 13 Comments
Personal Colour Analysis (PCA) has its origins in your soul. It reaches way down to the innermost part of your being and identifies the vibrational energy of the colours you project on the outside.
You are a being of light. Once you know the colours of your natural light, you can repeat them in everything you wear. It’s not just to look good, though you surely will. Words like wholeness, complete, unified, and aligned, inner with outer, may help you think about color in a different way.
Without PCA, you cannot possibly know your own rainbow. Like most folks, then, everything you wear, every item in your makeup drawer, your jewelry, and your highlights all communicate something different. The result is like a visual white noise.
Your makeup colours are your clothes colours. Your clothes colours are your eye colours. Your hair highlight colour is in your skin’s pigments. A thousand questions answered when you know.
In 12 Season Personal Colour Analysis, Dark Winter is very much a Winter Season, the most less-is-more Season of them all. Winter’s cool and dark colours are here, as is the pivotal red-violet of all Winters. An element of Autumn is still present, so slightly dulling and browning the colours, as Autumn always does. I am a Dark Winter. Sandra Bullock and Winona Ryder probably are too, and so is a Canada goose and a bald eagle.
The person is not necessarily dark, but the colors that perfect their skin and eyes are dark, RELATIVE to the other Seasons. Browns are darker, corals are darker, greens are darker, and the overall look should be medium to dark. As Winters, some of the lights are very very light, as icy colours. Compare that to the Dark Autumn, who is not flattered by icy lights because they are primarily Autumns. Their light colour palette is very different from Dark Winter’s, though the darker colour palette has some similarities.(For more, see Icy Colours and Pastels)
You know that my idea of elegant eye makeup is in shades of grays and browns. Dark Winters are icy grey, pure grey, or browned dark-taupes. Eye makeup is much more grey than brown. Brown looks too hot, like beef stew on snow. No, that’s too awful. Let’s say gravy on snow instead.
Soft Summer began with True Summer’s very cool palette, and looked at it through a layer of fog. Dark Winter begins with True Winter’s very cool palette and looks at it through a layer of soot. Clinique Totally Neutral Eyeshadow trio is a great everyday palette. In Canada, you could buy Joe Pebble powder eyeshadow, apply it with a wet brush to get a darker layer.
Smoky eyes and nude lips is a look so many aspire to. There’s nothing wrong with it, except that I have yet to meet the regular woman who can pick out her colors and not look ghoulish. A better look to aspire to is the natural look, the one that could believably have happened by itself.
While most Seasons can manage that “nude” pink-beige lip in some version or other, Winter has the most difficult time with it. The one thing Winter needs to remember is to pair very lights with very darks, and have very clear dividing lines between the color blocks. When the lips blend too much into the skin, it doesn’t look healthy, natural, outdoorsy, or pretty. It looks like Snow White with lips the color of concealer.
Many would say that we can’t go around with fuchsia, purple, or crimson lips at the office or the soccer game. In a heavy application, that may be so. A Winter going for a more natural look will stay true to their palette, as anyone does, but choose a more sheer or more brown product. Cherry skin, pomegranate juice, frosted cranberries, and ripe mulberries will be Winter’s best go-to 9AM lip colours. Try Merle Norman Stolen Kisses and MAC Scant (if you can find it) for day wear, and Elizabeth Arden Sugarplum Shimmer when you want more. If you’re 25 and want to work your icy fuchsia, icy pink, or light coral lip, that’s fine, because you still have the well defined lips of the young, but those colours are probably lighter than your natural lip colour.
Your colour analyzed cosmetic colour for the most natural, believable lip colour is mulberry, so a browned purple, in the lower right position of the lip/blush foursome. Strong cool dark coral-pink is a brighter option.
Eyeliners shown at the bottom are charcoal, blackened mulberry, and one could certainly use a black-brown too. I use MAC Photogravure or Clinique Black-Brown. MAC Grey Utility is a good smoky gray.
Your eye colour makes no difference. The makeup will work. The only thing you may need is a darkness adjustment. A dark lipstick will look lightER on a darkER person. I did that thing with cell phones that kids do to take endless photos of themselves so the picture below is odd. I’m wearing a purple-brown lipstick, which looks darker IRL, but not by much. It looks light on me and it would look lightER than that on Sandra Bullock, and lightER still on Oprah. So you take the Personal Colours Book of swatches shopping and match the darker colours, but always stay true to your palette.
Compliments
November 1, 2010 by Christine Scaman · 6 Comments
I think a lot about the nature of compliments. On a daily basis, I am told that “everyone loves me in teal/apricot/whatever”, to the point that I don’t listen anymore. When we looked at you in teal, it was only OK. Pineapple, the crust of freshly baked bread, and lagoon blue were magic.
Nobody is trying to deceive us. On the other hand, ask yourself if anyone you know could organize a correct mental image of what they look like, and what suits them, from feedback they’ve gotten from you.
In my case, the answer would be no. I admit it, I lie. Or I used to lie. I saw bleached hair and thought, “You are no blonde but I see that you obviously did something and I feel like I have to comment”, and said, “Love your hair”.
Photo:Sonja Mason.
Since we can’t look at ourselves, much of what we believe about our appearance comes from what others tell us. Likewise, what they believe about their appearance comes from our reactions.
We get compliments for too many reasons, other than looking better.
A Winter might just be slinging compliments around to make up for the last time they made someone cry. Speaking only for myself, of course.
If it’s coming from Mom, a compliment may mean “I love you no matter what you do to your hair”. Mom has no idea what we look like. She sees us at every age we’ve ever been. She sees her face in ours and tries to put us in what she’s used to seeing herself in.
If a friend says something nice, could they be saying, “I know how long you thought about making this change and how scary it was. I’m proud of you for trying and I will always keep your feelings safe. I don’t care what you look like, I will love you no matter what.” Beautiful, yes. Helpful in your quest to look your ultimate? No.
From an acquaintance, they may say, “Love your eyeliner” and be thinking “Since the turquoise line is the only thing on your face I can see, I better say something; I can’t remember if the hair color is new, but I’m sure about the turquoise”.
The people in our lives often have some vested interest in keeping us looking like they’re accustomed to. If we change, they have to run an Upgrade of their idea of us. Well, they had other stuff planned to think about this week, and now you’ve gone and messed it up. When you make yourself distinct and learn to celebrate your uniqueness, it puts pressure on them to become aware of their uniqueness. Everyone’s life stays easier when we all keep looking like one another, with toned-down appearances that all say the same thing.
I’m not sure that we can really see others, even when we want to. I often meet a man whose wife has been dressing him in HER perfect colors, before she ever knew what they were.
Photo:Sonja Mason.
There is only one way to sort through the tangle. Your answers are always inside you, just waiting for you to ask the question and be ready to listen. Go back to the one thing about you that never changed. No matter what you’ve lived or believed, what was done or said to you, the colours of your body never changed. They are now, and always will be, true to who you really are.
Personal Colour Analysis is the closest you will ever come to seeing yourself with complete emotional detachment. Just look in the mirror and see what’s there, like the first child who peered over the edge of a pond and saw her face. Look at yourself with the same neutrality that I have. I do not care if you were told you look good in teal. Doesn’t matter to me that every item you own is for Bright Winter. Peel away all the layers of compliments and let yourself see what the body with your name on it looks like.
I appreciate that it feels uncomfortable to think about. Parallel parking was uncomfortable too, but you made yourself do it, and you learned. This is easier.
Music and color are languages we comprehend by hearing and sight. They are also an emotional expression that we understand by feeling. Theirs is a poetry that awakens the outer and inner beings, that stimulates a pattern of modules in the human brain.
I could tell you to believe in your own power. Yeah, heard it. When Nikki Yanofsky sings it, in the theme of the Vancouver Olympics 2010, your soul sings with her, in joy and invincibility. Step out of crowd. In my head, you are already everything you are in your heart.
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