Colour Balance
December 26, 2010 by Christine Scaman · 11 Comments
When your coloring is stronger than your clothes’ colours, then your clothes appear even more subdued and ineffective by comparison.
When your jewelry is brighter than you, you become duller by comparison.
When your eyeliner is too dark, your eyes can’t balance it. The eyes closes in and looks smaller.
What is this whole concept of balance and colour in personal colour analysis? The goal is that everything you wear so matches who you already are in darkness, coolness, neutrality (meaning warm and cool at once), clarity of colour, saturation…any colour parameter, that to the viewer, your person and your decoration are as one.
A woman walks into a restaurant. She has blonde hair and blue eyes, and a pale-sunshine complexion. Nobody can see anything but the dark eyeliner and black spider eyelashes. She only wears a line of liner on the upper lid, but still her makeup is stronger than she is. She is reduced by comparison, as is everything else she was wearing, if anyone even noticed it. Taylor Swift cannot balance her eyeliner, so her eyes appear small and squinty in the face.
Actually, they couldn’t help but notice her clothing. She had on a black suit. Once you got past the eyeliner, the black block kept dragging the eye back down. The blonde hair on the black jacket may have been pretty, but she looked too serious, too old, and too solid (which we translate to heavy). Her presence is reduced, and the importance of every word she speaks is reduced. The suit and eyeliner muscled their way on stage, grabbed the microphone, but they had nothing good to say. Color is always about its closest neighbor, because that’s what determines how the colour looks.
Even Kate Middleton, in her engagement photos, wears too much dark eyeliner, so the eyes look smaller. There is blue in the liner, to match the dress, and once you get past the black lines, you become caught up in the blue. If the blue then sparkles, and the woman sparkles less, the woman just got duller. Human coloring usually cannot match the intensity of cosmetic pigments, let alone their bizarre effects of frost/sparkle/glitter/prismatic reflections, etc. Some women can match it with ease, but the cosmetic industry wants us to believe we call can. Think about your friends out shopping on a Saturday. Honestly, can their natural coloring balance the world of shimmer? Can most of them balance darkness beyond medium?
Oprah walks into a meeting. She is wearing a dusty pink sweater (like Mrs. Obama wore on Ellen) and soft grey pants. Oprah’s natural coloring is so much stronger than her clothing colours that the clothes become insignificant. They pale even more when placed on her body.
These are separate concepts from looking yellow, sallow, or other aspects of balancing heat. The focus today is mostly on “can you match the saturation and darkness?”. Matching the degree of warmth or coolness is another issue altogether, as “warm colours make me look ill”. That’s a different kind of balance.
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Open this article in a new window (the link should do that automatically). Resize the two windows so you can see this one and the pictures side by side.
Now these are my impressions. If you disagree, that’s ok. In fact, please tell me why so I can see it your way.
Try to slow down time as you look at each photo and answer this : What was the FIRST thing your eye took in ? The second?
Also, take the time to look at the thumbnails under the slideshow. If you put a fulcrum at the midpoint of the picture, which way would the picture tip? Would any pictures stay level? Do any effects look so out of place on the person that they seem to have been Photoshopped in after?
January Jones
The black dress, black hairband, and black brocade in the dress are all more than the girl can balance, so they seem too prominent. Blue eyeshadow just competes with blue eyes, as it always does. I saw the red lips long before I saw here eyes. The strong eyebrows save her on the L. They are long gone on the R, but not as far gone as the lips.
My deep-down reaction to both pictures is that I have no idea who this woman is.
One can always say nice things. The hair color on the L feels quite good on this girl, a point aimed at balancing degree of heat.
Rihanna
What feels like it belongs on this woman? We won’t talk about the lashes because nobody alive could balance those, and as a 20 year old celebrity, she can do what the rest of us would look nuts in. The lashes were the first thing I saw when the picture opened.
The colours on the L are ok. When your eye makeup is very frosty, or blingy in some other way, your eyes get dull to the same extent, as hers have. You may feel her eyes look pretty, but are you looking at the eye color, or is your attention preoccupied with the makeup color or application? Think about discerning exactly what you are looking at.
The toffee blonde of the hair isn’t so bad. I can imagine a sweater this colour, and it wouldn’t wear her, or the other way round. It might turn her skin too yellow if she can’t balance the amount and type of heat, meaning that Autumn and Spring have different heat.
The red hair on the R seems to take over the energy of the entire photo. I think it’s too dark and too cool a red. Is it just the big style? I think it would have the same effect in the hairstyle on the L.
Joaquin Phoenix
The suit is stronger than he is. His head looks attached as an afterthought. He does B&W better than others might. Let your eyes relax and take in the whole photo without trying to look at any element particularly. Think about what you are most aware of. For me, it’s the clothes.
He’s not way far off the B&W. Some of you may like it on him. When the balance gets closer to being right, it becomes more subtle. Maybe it’s the coldness of the black that doesn’t work, rather than its darkness. Maybe it’s too saturated for him.
Men usually have more intense coloring than women in a given Season. They can wear darker color because they contain darker color. If this man were Winter, I’d think his hair should be darker at this age, but who knows. Hair is (for me) the most misleading aspect of choosing Season.
Jennifer Hudson
She is much stronger than what she is wearing on the L. In that big, soft, light block, she might as well be naked. Because the clothes are less than she is, the parts of her that are showing seem larger.
On the R, not bad at all. The dress comes just to the edge of taking over, but not quite. That is saying something because the dress is A. red, and B. a big block. By balancing the dress and wearing a good lip colour, her skin clears and looks fresh, not heavy or thick. Her presence has impact and interest. She looks alive, not dumpy.
Ashley Simpson
I have no words. It hurts to look at this child. I’m so caught up in seeing vulnerability that I am having trouble peeling apart all the color layers.
Dakota Fanning
Looks real on the L. If that jacket is a bomber style, it could be great. If it goes to the knees, the lightness of the girl won’t balance the weight of a big, dense, heavy leather block. It’s the girl coming out to meet you in this photo, not the decorations.
On the R, the eyeliner is much stronger than she is, so it seems artificial, like it’s not part of her. Then your eye sees the face but there’s this nagging distraction of the black in the bottom half that keeps calling the eye down to it. At rest, it should be effortless to keep the eye on the face, and the face should have no look-at-me elements.
Heidi Montag
Hollywood’s love affair with processed blond on black. Read the caption. Should have just had her colours figured out. The facial expression on the L, the whole 2 photos, just say ”I live to please men, the fashion industry owns me, because I sure don’t own myself.” Forgive me, that was honest but not nice. You might love it, perfectly fine. Suffice it to say that the pink is better than the black, as is the makeup.
Skip along…
Emma Watson
One interesting girl. She is darkening with maturity. The medium-everything colours she wore at the beginning of the series worked well enough, and expressed the bookworm nerd persona. With each movie, she more dominates those clothes. They look duller, and duller as she gets darker and sharper.
Though the black isn’t solid on the L, she has no problem wearing it, even when her lips are erased. The eyeliner does not reduce her eyes. She can balance the eyebrows, meaning that they enhance and fit believably into the whole without being so dominant as to stand apart. The white on the L is good, I don’t think she’s drained by it, but I usually prefer her in darkness. She has more clout.
Looking for someone real…
Keira Knightley
The girl is much stronger than the clothes on the L. This is an example of clothes doing nothing for the person. The match between hair and eye colour is interesting, Dark Autumns do this. Dark Winters don’t usually, but brown eyes are more complicated than other eye colours to fit into Seasons (for me).
She is much stronger (so appears as bigger) from the neck up, in fact from the nose up, than from the nose down. Hold up your L hand up to block out the L photo. Hold the other hand up to block the R photo from the cheekbones down. Let your eyes relax and look for awhile, then take down your R hand. It’s like there’s nothing there. Just look at the thumbnail at the bottom of the page, it’s topheavy. Depending on what’s on her bottom half, she could still work this well. If the pants are the same colour as the top, her head will look big.
I wonder if she wears light colours on her body to not look so thin. Would it work on her? It’s the reverse of the automatic assumption that black is slimming. Well, would she look even thinner if her dress were black coffee? I think it would give her body more solid substance, and less of a ‘floated away’ impression. This woman might use styling details to add shape to her body.
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How about Natalie Portman?
Can she balance black or does it take her over? It doesn’t have to be her best.
Does she dominate light colours most of the time, does the balance feel good, or do only some light colours work? Light to medium people, like Soft Autumn, can wear more darkness in clothes than in makeup or hair, IMO, so you have to consider both.
Are there photos in which something other than Natalie takes over and keeps dragging your eye back to it?
Does she need warmth? What kind? Orange, yellow, coffee, beer, buttercup, apple cider, chocolate?
Which feels more right? Pixie, hippie, sex bomb, college chic, fresh&lovely, classy&remote?
What does she overwhelm? What overwhelms her?
Personal Colour Analysis
September 6, 2009 by Christine Scaman · 7 Comments
Let’s begin with the short version:
Everyone has an inborn colour scheme. I do not have the same colours in my hair/skin/eyes as you, or my children, or my parents.
You wouldn’t put certain colours together, because it is ugly, or at least not nice to look at. You wouldn’t decorate a farmhouse and a villa the same way. Those styles would look crazy together.
When the colours you WEAR in makeup/clothes/hair exactly match the colours you are already ARE, it is 100% guaranteed and proven that you will look, feel, and present better. Much better.
When you wear colours that would look better on someone else, it looks disorganized. To the viewer, that translates as “out of control”, “weak”, “too much effort required, look away”, “older, fatter, blotchy skin, more tired”.
Once you know the exact shade of every colour that looks most flattering on YOUR colour composition, you also need to know HOW to wear it. The colour combinations and the clothing style matters. If I did lavender and lace, or beach blonde, it would be completely unbalanced with who I really am. Most people look that way.
To you, it means you’re wasting big time and money on items that detract from how good you could look. Since clothes that make you look old and tired cost as much as those that could make you suddenly very easy on the eyes, communicating the message you want heard about you, why are you wasting another second?
OK. So how do I find out what colours I already am??
Answer : there is ONE way. There is ONLY one way. It always works. It is a Personal Colour Analysis (PCA).
Most people have 20% or less of their clothes, makeup, and hair colour correct before a PCA. Think about what that cost you. After a PCA, you will be 90% or better, and improve to 95% within 6 months. You will know what NOT to buy.
Our aim during your Colour Analysis appointment will be to discover those colours that make your skin tone look as glowing and perfect as possible. The edges of your face (and body) will appear crisp and focused, the edges look sharp, so you look 5-15 lbs. thinner. Shadows on your face will fade away, so you will instantly look healthier, younger, and more rested. Imperfections like ruddiness, oiliness, yellow or white casts, acne scars, and large pores will blend away, as if you were already wearing concealer on those areas.
We will continue to narrow our colour field to those shades that make your skin appear evenly coloured, calm, and in balance with the tones and intensity of your natural design. At all times, the perfection of your skin will take priority. In second place, but still vital, will be the discovery of those colours that particularly intensify the colour strength and luminosity of your eyes.
The point is this: we will identify the exact shades of every colour that are present in your natural, inborn colour scheme. We will give you those colours in a book so that you can replicate them in clothing and makeup.
When your personal decoration is in exact synchrony with your natural personal colour palette, the result is a picture that is extremely pleasant, but highly compelling, to look at. Others will notice the energy and harmony of your completely and perfectly coordinated appearance. They will not be able to recognize why your look works so effectively, but they will be highly sensitive to seeing it nonetheless.
Perhaps you’ve heard of Colour Analysis. Maybe you have read some books or have been analyzed in the past.
The 4 season system of 30 years ago laid the groundwork. BUT, only about 25% of the population is a pure, or True Season. Everyone else is a blend, or a Neutral Season. If you could never feel comfortable being one of the four True Seasons, you will have concluded that the technique must be inaccurate or entirely ineffective.
Let’s move from the 80s to the present. The Sci\ART PCA method is a scientific, systematic series of colour tests that self-checks as you proceed. It will correctly analyze every person, regardless of age, sex, or race. It uses a set of drapes (coloured fabric about the size of a bath towel) that are laid across you, when you’re seated in front of a mirror. The drapes are precisely coloured according to the 3 parameters of colour (warm/cool, light/dark, soft/clear) to assess exactly how YOUR coloring fits into those 3 parameters.
The first impression you make has an enormous impact on how others feel about you. You are not judged on whether you resemble a movie star. Whether you have made the best of what you have been given is most certainly noticed.
You will find answers to the most commonly asked questions about your PCA appointment at www.12blueprints.com/pca-faqs/.
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