Thank you so much for your generosity with your expertise. I love reading this website. I (like many of the people that post here ) don’t live near a sci/art analyst. I have been analyzed as a deep winter based on photos. My question for you relates to a blush that I just love. Like the description you have above, it just seems to fuse with the colors in my face. The color is MAC blush in Peaches (http://karlasugar.net/2010/01/mac-blush-recap/). The only problem is that this blush color does not appear to be similar to any of the colors in the Dark Winter swatch book, which of course sends me into confusion. Does this blush appear to match a color in any of the swatch books? Thanks in advance if you are able to help.

I had trouble for YEARS with makeup changing on me, and especially my foundation. Now I have no problems at all. As long as I stay with my Spring colors, the only thing that might happen is a slight fading after many hours.

I tried all kinds of formulas, since I found lots of info about this on the Internet. But nothing helped until I got my colors right.

Also, I remember when I used to dye my hair a cool burgundy, I would look great with cool, clear purple/pinks. As soon as it started fading, the blue would come out first and the red would mix with my slightly yellow hair and turn kindof orange.. I would suddenly look a little terrible, and that lipstick would certainly no longer match.

Yesterday, I stopped by the mall and decided to try a blush and lipstick. The blush was the Lancome aplum. Looked alright, but nothing to write home about. Didn’t really show up on me, to be honest, even in daylight. I tried the EL plumberry lipstick, thinking it might work for a deep winter. Wow, it was a statement on me. Is it more deep or true? I had also tried Clinique brandy apple before and it looked quite orange on me, so I figured I would quit for the day.

Anyhow, undaunted, that night I copied my makeup colors carefully from your cool winter article on agreenertea so I could try them on at the mall the next afternoon. My first stop the next day, after applying a YSL powder foundation, was the Chanel counter. I thought I would start with the eyeshadow quad in mystic. My first thought, looking at the quad was that the colors were lovely but had quite a bit of shimmer. I don’t mind some shimmer, but in every color but the deepest? I let the MUA place the shades on me, and we used the deepest shade as a liner. Hmmm …. looking in the mirror, too soon to tell. Maybe it could work? And who can really tell in those ghastly mall lights? I mean, REALLY, someone should do something about that. My guess is the money spent on appropriate lighting would be more than compensated by the fewer returns being done at the counters, but I digress.

So, next was blush. Should I try the NARS sin or the MAC colors, coygirl or pink swoon? I glanced at the NARS sin. “Wow, what was Christine thinking? How could she possibly think that dull grey-ish purple color would look great on anyone?” So, I quickly made a bee-line for the MAC counter. “Ooh, pink swoon is pretty, though bright. Where is coygirl?” I looked at coygirl. Again, it seemed very dull to me.

Now, for lipstick. Rebel swatched bright on my hand – maybe a good evening color? Plumful was pretty, but I wasn’t in the mood for that shade of pink, so onto sophisto. I had worn it before with half-red liner, and thought it looked nice. I swatched it on my hand. Wow, it barely showed up – just a wash of pink/plum shimmer. I decided to go with pink swoon, sophisto, and half red liner.

I prefer to put on my makeup myself, but I went ahead and let the MAC MUA put on the blush. Well, she put on a LOT of pink swoon. I looked in the mirror. My skin looked pale against the obvious pink, but oh well, maybe it was the mall lights? She suggested I try blushbaby, something softer, but I was determined to stick with true winter colors so I could see how they all worked together with my skin. We proceeded with the lipstick – which she let me put on myself – and I peeked in the mirror again. Wow – what a difference. My face looked ALMOST put together. The blush still seemed bright. I thanked the young lady and began walking out of the store. But then, I had to to pass the NARS counter on my way out and I thought, “I wonder …” So, I stripped off the MAC blush with a tissue, and had the gal at the counter place a bit of sin on my cheeks. When I looked in the mirror, I could not believe it! The blush did not look grey or purple on me at all! It actually pulled … pinky-peach-plum? Really, I don’t know what color it was pulling, it just looked like blush. Very natural. I checked again. Nope, not grey-purple at all. But I knew the real test would be natural light. So I again thanked the girl and hurried out to my car.

I looked in the rear view mirror. In daylight, my eyes didn’t look pale or tired at all to me. In fact, the shimmer picked up the amber lights present in my own brown eyes with a touch of hazel. The blush looked very, very natural – perhaps a bit too much so, as the MUA used a light hand – but it was still noticeable. The lipstick was very comfortable, not distracting at all. Was it too natural, too muted? I used the camera on my phone to take pics. (I know, not ideal, but at least the light was natural light). I compared those pics to others I had taken with other color palettes. And you know what I saw in the true winter makeup? Me. Not me with a lot of makeup, or a certain color on, but just me. It looked like the black/white photo I use on facebook, but in color. My features seemed appropriately defined, with nothing being overdone or one feature drawing attention at the expense of another. So interesting. I always figured true winters would look quite dramatic in their makeup, so I was looking for striking, as in looking like me but DIFFERENT (like Catherine Zeta Jones, LOL?) But what I could see in my phone pics was a sense of the familiarity that comes from looking in the mirror everyday. And when we are in our best colors, we aren’t trying to look different or like someone else. We are trying to let ourselves shine through.

Another thing that struck me was the importance of lighting. In the mall lights, the true colors made me look quite pale and washed out. In daylight, they looked natural. In my bathroom, the colors looked on the orange side.

I hope in the next three months while traveling to get draped either in Texas or California. It will be interesting to see the results of the PCA. I know that is THE ONLY WAY to know for sure, but the makeup swatching has been fun. Based on looking at pics of myself, as well as which winter colors seemed to ‘work’ for me and which ones didn’t, I would guess I am a true winter who leans a bit toward the deep winter spectrum, but not enough to wear the deep winter makeup colors and be at her best. I do not wear fuschias well, hence, my experience with pink swoon. But I do have lots of plums and purples in my present palette, and if it is correct, then that would explain why the NARS sin seemed so natural.

I realize I could be wrong. I realize how hard it to be objective about oneself. The adventure continues.