PCA FAQs
To answer the many questions about Personal Colour Analysis (PCA), in no particular order, this may be helpful. Please send any questions that you may have that you feel belong on this page.
1. How much time should I plan for?
3 hours minimum. Some people can be analyzed in that time and have their perfect makeup colours applied too. Others can be very challenging. We might get halfway and decide that something doesn’t jive and go back to the very beginning. By the time 3 hours are up, part of the analysis may still be incomplete. You may need to return to pick up where we stopped, but there will be no extra fee for this. Do bring your foundation. It will save time if the match is a good one. Bring your mascara too, it looks pretty if we take pictures.
By all means, bring your makeup. When we start looking at how to choose makeup colour, comparing with what you already have helps your eye learn to shift to better choices. Just don’t wear any makeup. None.
Do bring a bottle of water. 3 hrs of talking is a long time. Many people get sleepy during the process. Water helps.
Don’t be in a hurry. You don’t have to get this done once a month or once a year. For a once (or maybe twice max) in a lifetime experience, take the time, do it right. The advantage of being difficult to analyze is that the final outcome has a lot of insurance for being correct because we’ve gone over the same steps several steps to be sure we still agree with previous results.
The appointment schedule is very flexible, with hours between 6AM and 6PM, depending on the day. The studio is located inside City Lights Hairstyling, on 264 King St. W., Chatham, Ontario. If you would like a hair colour consultation with salon owner, Jenny Lucio, then the appt. must be booked during Jenny’s business hours (approx. Tues.-Fri. from 9AM-5PM).
2. Do I have to wear anything special?
You don’t need special clothing but you will be wearing a gray cape, like a hair stylist’s, and a hat. The drapes are laid across your chest and moved over top of each other. I find the studio very warm and I’m a cold person. Dress lightly or in layers.
No makeup, no sunscreen. Moisturizer is fine as long as it has no colour, tint, or opacity of any sort.
If you wear glasses, please wear your contact lenses if you have the option. For one thing, glasses in the wrong metal distract the results and make it hard to see the eyes, where so many of the changes will be happening. If you don’t have contacts, we’ll have to remove the glasses for some portions of the process, a shame because it is a great learning experience when people participate in their own analysis. They need to see the disparity between their worst to their best. You won’t try to get away with so-so colours anymore. Also, once you are placed into a Season, it takes a while to teach your eyes to recognize the exact shades of your new colours. In the beginning, what you’ll recognize faster in dressing room mirrors is if the colour you’re trying on is creating the optical effect of right colour that you’ll remember from your PCA. So you need to see it.
Your hair will be hidden in a gray cap. So will mine. Our hair will be flatter when the caps are removed. Plan to go home after the analysis or bring a hat if you’re concerned about less-than-perfect hair.
3. Why can’t I wear makeup?
It would be like trying to see your skin through a Halloween mask. As we narrow you down to you almost-best and truly-best palette, the effects are increasingly subtle. By this stage, you’re looking pretty good. Well, we’re not after pretty good or good enough here. We’re going to identify your magnificent best.
When we’re done, you’ll look gorgeous. AND you will know it, the part the analyst loves best. You will see yourself as you never have before. The magic is only found in 1 Season, but some people lie closer to the borders between Seasons. To correctly gauge the skin’s reactions to colours, there can be no filters to have to see through. It will screw things up utterly.
Even a speck of eyeliner or the reflection of a sunscreen will interfere completely. Get your money’s worth. Don’t wear makeup. Let the analyst find the colours that already make you look like you’re wearing concealer.
4. Will I need to be done again later in life ?
You’ve probably settled into your colouring by the time you’re 15, certainly 17. Your colours may deepen if you’re one of the darker seasons but you will probably stay in that season.
As you enter your later years, 40s to 60s depending on the individual, your colouring may cool and soften enough that you will change seasons. You will probably not change more than to the next coolest neutral. By then, you will be very tuned to how good colour can make you look and you may sense that the colours that flattered you so well in your younger years no longer have the same effect. The only way to know for sure is to have the PCA repeated then.
5. Why do I have to hide my hair in the gray cap? Other PCA systems say hair colour does matter and you say it doesn’t.
We’re looking to enhance your skin tone first and foremost. Every other colour in the room is grayed to non-existence except your face and the drapes. The focus is completely on how to maximize the beauty of your skin. Once that’s done, we’ll look at the makeup that enhances your own colouring. We will also show you the hair colours that will most flatter your skin, and in turn, will be most accentuated when you wear your right colours.
There are problems with considering hair colour in the PCA on many levels. Here are a few:
1. You can have warm hair and cool skin. You can have cool skin, cool hair, and warm eyes. You can have freckles and cool skin. Any combination is possible, in any of the 12 Seasons. Each season may have an average hair colour, like Ash Brown hair and blue eyes for True Summers, but what about all the True Summers that don’t fit into the average? We will perfect the skin first, which requires that all other colour be removed from the scene.
2. You might make the mistake of matching hair colour to the drapes. Big mistake but easy to do because hair is such a big colour block.
3. Every colour in the room that appears in the mirror is neutralized, except for the drapes and your skin. Your hair will create a reaction in your skin that will interfere with the interpretation of the drapes. Both your hair and mine are hidden. This is all and only about making your skin as perfect as it can be. That’s how you identify the precise shade of every colour that already exists in your own colouring, and that you will match exactly when you shop.
4. If you colour your hair and your colour is not perfect for your skin, as is the case in 50% or more women, it will age and detract from your skin and interfere with what the drapes are telling us. Aim to perfect the skin first. That will tell us what the tones the hair should be.
5. Trust that Nature will never get your blueprint wrong. When we have your skin perfected in its best colours, you hair colour and eyes will automatically and always be perfect. However, any Season can have any hair colour.
So, does that mean you shouldn’t need or use hair dye, even if you don’t have gray?
Well, that’s the same as saying “If you can make my skin as perfect as possible, why do I need makeup?”. The answer is that makeup and hair colour in the RIGHT colours can enhance our beauty by enriching those colours that look natural and magical on us. We decorate ourselves from the neck down beyond what how we look when we roll out of bed. To balance and polish the big picture, we decorate ourselves from the neck up too.
6. What about eye colour? Doesn’t that matter either? It can’t be concealed during the PCA.
I want to be very clear about this point because it’s so important.
Your eye colour in no way determines which Season you fit into. Any Season can have any eye colour.
BUT… Colour Analysis aims to know the precise shade of each colour that looks best on you because it already exists in your natural colouring. The same biology is colouring your eyes, skin, and hair. The exact shade of red or green in your skin will not be obvious, but it will be in your eyes too. In their mysterious but powerful way, the drapes will find those colours. Your skin will be perfected and the strength of your eye colour will be doubly intensified. In that sense, the colour of the eye does matter because the drapes are looking to recognize it, whatever it is.
7. Why do some members of the fashion and makeup industry doubt the value of PCA?
For several reasons.
- Lack of knowledge. It’s hard to believe in what you don’t understand and have never seen. That’s called faith. This is scientific and objective … but without education, science can look like magic and myth and require a lot of faith. Once you have seen the power of colour to enhance or detract from your face, with your own eyes, you won’t have any doubts.
- Because they can’t sell you as much stuff if you already know what you want. You can no longer be convinced that “this lip colour suits all skin tones” or “turquoise eye liner is IT this summer”. A confused consumer is wonderfully gullible. You won’t be.
- Because makeup artists are creative people who can bring out the best in women they have met for a very short time, using the same products on a wide variety of individuals. That’s not the same as you with 10 minutes to get out the door each morning, or a limited makeup budget with no extra to waste.
- Many people still think of the 4 Season color analysis that was popularized by Color Me Beautiful in the 1980s. There were some shortcuts taken to make colour analysis seem more accessible to more people, causing many to assign themselves into the wrong season and be disappointed with the results. The average look for each season was described but in the real world, it varies widely. Believe me when I tell you that things have come a long way. The science of colour as it applies to human beings is more advanced. Pigment technologies, the quality of the swatch book you receive, the colours of the drapes used to analyze you and the order in which they’re used … the future ain’t what it used to be (was it Yogi Berra who said that first? It wasn’t me. He also said “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” Also apt.). I can comfortably say that the Sci\ART system is virtually foolproof. It will correctly analyze every person into one of twelve seasons and provide you with 60 colours you absolutely can wear. You may not love each colour but you would look fabulous in it.
- The sales assistants at the stores and makeup counters sincerely want you to make your best choice. They want you to be pleased and return to buy more. But empowered consumers are a little intimidating. Besides, they see women every day who are sure they know what they want and the salesperson can see that it’s a bad choice. Many of these women probably claim to be a certain Season and make wrong choices, and they’ve seen this a lot over the years. In their mind, this is just more of the same. Perhaps it’s also a little difficult to give up some of the authority that you’ve worked hard to achieve.
8. What if I hate the colours the analyst says are my best shades?
Great, great question. It is very important to go into this with an open mind. Be ready for things to change because they will. Probably everyone encounters a degree of resistance to their right colours, to an extent that might surprise even you. Not only does it imply we’ve been our second-best all along, but a change of colour on the outside seems to demand a change of colour on the inside that nobody is impervious to. It is a little destabilizing at first. You may look in the mirror in your new makeup shades and your most gorgeous drape colours and see a clown looking back at you. I did.
You may feel that you already know some colours that look great on you. You’re probably right about some of them. But can you attain your own perfection day after day, outfit after outfit, purchase after purchase? Do you understand exactly how to never get it wrong again?
Trust the objectivity of others. You are too used to your own rut and to looking the same as you did yesterday and the day before, instead of the best. Few people can really see their best. Too many years of wrong hair colour, wrong clothes, off makeup, habit, safety, and inhibitions have gone under the bridge. You’re paying us to take our advice, not your advice. At least give it a try for a week. It will take time for you to grow into your season, learn to choose better makeup colours, and adjust your hair colour. Give it a chance. Allow that change can happen from the outside in.
9. Can the analyst put me in the wrong Season?
It must happen because there are women out there who have been pronounced to be 3 different Seasons. I can only speak for the Sci\ART system since it’s the one I use. As we go through the analysis, you’ll see how the process self-checks itself. If we’re going down the wrong path, it will become more and more obvious. You’ll see what’s happening to your skin just as I can.
If I’m having doubts, I’ll ask you to come back another day. What’s the point of coming back? Fresh eyes counts for a lot. It also allows time for the analyst to think of the best way of solving the dilemma.
I encourage you to bring an honest friend, or wives to accompany husbands. I often have one of my kids sit in. Other opinions help and make the whole experience more fun. You can talk about it after.
10. I’ve been analyzed in the 4 Season system and felt uncomfortable with all 4 choices. Are some people too complicated to analyze?
Absolutely not. Though the 4 Season system was the foundation for today’s techniques, it was incomplete. The large majority of the population does not fit into one of the 4 True Seasons. Most people are a blend of Seasons. It doesn’t mean the system is weak or that PCA is ineffective for some people.
The Sci\ART 12 Season technique works for every single person. The drapes have been scientifically and precisely coloured by a Master Colorist to create a reaction in the skin. The order of use of the drapes will find your Season with extreme accuracy.
11. I was analyzed in the 4 Season system (Summer/Winter/Spring/Autumn) years ago. Is this something different?
For many reasons, those older systems did not work on 80% of people. Today’s PCA is light years ahead of what it was back then. So is the power with which it can transform your appearance and your shopping.
1. As we said above, the majority of people are not a True Season. They are a blend of 2 Seasons, so one of the eight Neutral Seasons. You must be analyzed using precisely coloured drapes, about 21 sets of them!, in a specific order.
2. It’ s awfully hard to do from photographs, and that’s if you KNOW what you’re looking for. In the real world, nobody looks like the perfect average for the Season that the books showed. 1 person in 10 who was analyzed back then, or from a book, has their Season right.
3. It’s not about what you look like. It is about the reaction that colour causes in your skin.
4. Hair and eye colour can be anything for any of the 12 Seasons. Taking those into account will lead you down the wrong path every time.
5. Yes, we’re trying to find the clothing and makeup colours you should buy. But most fundamentally, we’re trying to create the most perfect skin you can have. Cannot be done without a proper draping. Anyone can take their best guess, even an analyst, but they’ll be wrong more times than they’re right.
6. What else is different? The phenomenal Colours Books. Those made of fabric are hard to match in stores, or to makeup, and they change over time. That is no longer the case.
12. What does it cost? What does it include?
Depending on the analyst, the fee structure may be different. The cost at 12 Blueprints is $200 CDN for women (taxes included). It breaks down as $104.38 for the analysis (plus 5% GST), and $80 for the Colours Book (plus 13% GST+PST). Once taxes are factored in, you’re at $200 CDN. Did I price that so I would no longer have to make change? You bet I did.
On the front page of this website, you’ll see a title called PCA – What Do You Get? that outlines more precisely what you receive or experience for the cost.
I do put makeup on the women, but I don’t do an in depth lesson or application. I want you to understand what it means to say that when makeup colour is perfect, it disappears into your face because it is already there in your natural colouring. You will see that however even and calm your skin looks in your most beautiful colours, the magic is heightened even more with cosmetics. You’ll see how much less concealer and foundation you will need.
For women of deeper complexions, please know that I do not stock a complete range of foundation shades. The eye/cheek/lip makeup I have may not be deep enough for your skin. When you shop, your makeup colours will still be in your Colours Book. We will spend time discussing how to match the shades to cosmetics.
We’ll begin by comparing your perfect colours to those of the closest neighboring seasons so you appreciate what is particular about your colours. We’ll look at how to use the swatch book to recognize those exact shades in clothing and makeup. The idea is to train your eye in what to look for (and teach it what to ignore) when you shop.
You will also receive (by e-mail) a Season Guide. This document explains how to achieve the particular radiance of your Season. The overall impression your Season gives and how to maximize it, your best makeup and hair colours to further enhance your skin, pitfalls to avoid, your jewelry, and how men should select clothing for their Power Look, are all included. There’s is also a section on character traits often shared by this type of coloring.
Sound like a lot of money? Let’s add up the cost of all the clothes in your closet that look bad on you. Way more than $200. Let’s add up the cost of all your makeup that doesn’t flatter you, is repetitious, and makes you feel like you’re not you when you wear it. Still more than $200. This is a one-time expense to never make a shopping mistake again.
For men, the cost is also $200 CDN (taxes included). There is no cosmetic application, but men are far more difficult to analyze. It still takes 2-3 hours.
For children under 12, the cost is $165 (taxes included). There is no hair colour or cosmetic application time needed. I have learned to do them more quickly because they get too fidgety to sit in a chair for 2 hours. The analysis is $71.05 (plus 5% GST), the Colours Book is $80 (plus 13% GST + PST).
I am glad to accept US currency. Do not make a special trip to the bank to change money. However, please be aware of the current exchange rate and try to bring the exact amount because I can’t always make change in your currency.
At the moment, I can only accept cash.
13. What if I hate makeup and never plan to wear it? Do I have to have a makeup application?
Of course not. The time spent on makeup application is not aimed at creating a flawless complexion or perfect contouring. That’s what makeup artists do. I don’t want you leaving here ready for a meeting or a date. I want you to develop an eye for what your colours look like in makeup. It’s fairly easy to find your swatch colours in clothing once you get a little practice. It is much more difficult with makeup and there is less to choose from. You can waste big time and money. I want you to begin seeing what it means to have makeup colour that is very natural on your skin because the colours have been there since the day you were made.
Whether you wear makeup or not, it might be worth spending the time on the makeup colour. It refines your understanding and skill at selecting your colours. If you accepted your best clothing colours easily, you might be surprised at the doors you’ll open in your head (by climbing the very big wall you put up) in dealing with what right makeup colour can do. I didn’t hit the resistance wall till I got to this part and I’m used to makeup.
I also want you to see how very little makeup you need to look fabulous. Many women understandably avoid makeup because they have never seen how fast, simple, natural, and real they can look when the colour is right. Either that, or they are wearing far too much product, trying to hide problems that are just the optical illusion of wearing bad colours. I seldom apply concealer because we find we just don’t need it.
Go home and wash it off it you prefer. I promise you that I will never make you look like a clown. You will feel and look like YOU.
14. Why does your business card say “Men , women, and teens.”? Will you do children?
Sure. In some ways, children are the most important group to colour analyze because they have a powerful innate sense of colour but are at the mercy of other people’s tastes. Kids get colour and they get it well.
Did I dress my kids in hand-me-downs? My dear, you have no idea. But children are discovering themselves each day and trying to express their character, with the limited vocabulary of children. Colour is a way of doing so that they firmly understand and should be encouraged. They are happier and calmer when their clothing and sanctuary space reflects the inner person they know themselves to be.
Expect the season to deepen and change in their teens. Why not? Everything else is changing, their inner selves, their bodies, their personal vision. Allow it to be fully developed.
As a parent, knowing your children’s seasons gives great insights to their character (and to why it’s different from yours) and which guidance messages resonate most strongly with their colour group.
In addition to women over 40 , teens reap the most personal benefit from PCA across all age groups. It helps them find their identity and explain their behavior and choices to family members that might not understand, in everything from room paint to choice of friends. Teens derive great self-esteem from being understood, belonging to a group of like individuals who sympathize with their feelings, and from knowing that they look great in their clothes. Knowing your own colours is a form of finding yourself ,which is the underlying mission of teenage life. They will have the power to resist trends. It’s also an empowering and unusual gift that will surprise them.
15. Isn’t it a bit effeminate for men to be colour analyzed?
No, it’s evolved. And practical. They don’t need to look 10 lbs fatter and 10 years older any more than women do. They spend as much on clothes, often more. They have less clue about colour and experimentation with colour. Most men are poster children for the safe grey-blue-beige-burgundy selection because if they venture too far, they might look feminine or foolish.
They earn respect by looking sharp, expensive, confident, and fit. Men want to give a first impression of control and authority. They can use colour to send a signal of youth which speaks to vitality. With a PCA, men can look modern and select their own clothing with assurance. They can send the message that they are risk-takers, imaginative, and successful when they experiment. If you are trying to brand yourself, if you’re involved in any type of visual marketing (including marketing yourself), you can look like you’re already there by sending out colour signals that energize. Or you can appear to be at a standstill.
A thinking couple will carry each other’s Colours Books. He need never stress about gift selection again. The men’s Colours Book is not the same as the women’s. It develops the more masculine colours and the power/business colours more. It also shows the 5 most striking 3-colours combinations for those men, be it a suit/shirt/tie, the stripes in a tie, a polo shirt/sport jacket, and so on.
16. Should anyone not be PCA’d?
Folks with a big disposable income and a lot of time to spend shopping could skip it. They can afford to wear something once and never again because they don’t feel good in it. They can continue trying to buy a perfect nude lipstick and have 40 of them because they don’t know which colour is right. They can afford to make the same mistake over and over again.
Seriously, however, there are some people who might postpone the process. Anyone with an illness or on medication that changes the skin, making it paler or yellower or more shadowed, should wait till they’re back in good health.
If you have smoked for 10 years or more, you may be complicated to sort out because of the graying effect on the skin. It should still be possible to find your best colours but nothing will make you as gorgeous and glowing as you might be hoping.
If you are sunburned or have a tan, wait. A light tan might not interfere too much depending on the person. If you use self-tanner, you will need to stop for 2 weeks before your appointment.
Listen. Do it once. Do it right. Let it change your life as much as it can.
