People make 11 assessments of you
within the first 10 seconds of introduction.
That means your window of time to make a dramatic and powerful first
impression is short and sweet. What
do you want people to think upon your initial introduction?
Do you want them to think you are quiet, unassertive, drab and boring
with lack of personality? Do you
prefer to project a look of confidence, intellect and got-it-all-together?
Have you ever worn a shirt or blouse that looked great on the rack at the store,
but somehow on you, it made you pale, washed out, or sick looking when you
glanced in the mirror? This all has
to do with color, skin tone and basic theory of cool tones and warm tones.
What exactly is a cool and warm tone?
Cool tone people usually have blonde, brunette, or black hair.
Even if your hair is graying, recall what it was prior to the gray.
Warm tone people tend to be more strawberry blonde or deep red hair
people. Warm tone people also have a
more freckled complexion versus an olive or bluer based skin.
For instance, picture a person with rich dark brown
hair. In one outfit, the
person has a sharp black top, deep
navy, or crisp white. See how pure
the complexion looks? How consistent
the colors look on the persons skin? Now,
picture that same person with a burnt orange or mustard top.
What happened? The person with the pure complexion now has yellowed,
teeth have dulled, face has paled
and has drawn downward in a very uncomplimentary manner.
Why is that? Because they
have stepped out of their natural ‘element’ into a color category that is
not best for their overall look.
Likewise, picture a person with beautiful strawberry
blonde hair.
In the sunlight you see a beautiful hue of copper highlights.
Place that person in a coral top, or even a pale teal, see how it has
complimented their hair, their complexion, and created consistency with their
appearance? If you were to dress
that same person in lavender, the color of their face would be drawn right out
of them. No matter how much lipstick
you wear, it won’t look ‘right’.
Keeping in mind what we learned last month regarding light and soft versus dark
and bold, we can now ascertain what colors look best on you according to your
natural hair color and knowledge of cool or warm tones.
Dark and bold redheads look best in colors such as rust, burnt orange, deep
teal, rich orange-reds. Light and
soft strawberry blondes look best in corals, mustards, peach, and cream.
Dark and bold brunettes or black hair people look best in navy blues, deep
purples, emerald greens, black and maroons.
Light and soft blondes look best in pinks, lavender, light blues and
rose.
Are you starting to see the overall picture?
Warm toned people wear yellow-based clothes, while cool based people wear
more pure blue toned clothes. Getting
your colors professionally analyzed would solve any questions you may have. Be
careful! There are many misleading
theories out there regarding color analysis.
It is true there are some people that fall borderline, more
‘in-between’ and they are much harder to detect their colors than others. Sometimes
it takes thinking of your close relatives and analyzing what has been handed
down in generations. Nonetheless, it
is important once you have discovered what your overall best clothes colors are,
that you stay consistent, and build your wardrobe from that information, thus
the most cost efficient and more versatile your wardrobe.
Mixing and matching your correct colors helps get the most out of your
closet purchases.
There are many hair colors that will attempt to create a cool person to appear
warm, and vice-versa. Oftentimes this mistake simply wars with wardrobe as well
as complexion. No matter how
you look at it, it is difficult at best to work with your skin tone fighting
your hair, creating wardrobe confusion. Likewise,
it is easy to get a ‘trendy’ makeover at the local cosmetics counter, only
to find out they were promoting a seasonal color that was not complimentary to
your basic skin tone at all. Their
mission was merely to push the product of the month, applied that particular
color on your face to sell the product, not paying
any attention to your best overall look, nor your wardrobe, nor your skin tone.
Once you understand yourself thoroughly in
this manner, you can begin your wardrobe assessment and analyze how much smart
purchasing you’ve been doing, and hopefully stop making wardrobe faux pas.
Holidays are around the corner. Time to impress the relatives with a new and
updated hairstyle. Having a
complimentary cut is imperative, as well as re-gaining balance, creating natural
looking color or highlights, and making sure your hair design is best for your
facial shape, lifestyle and level of maintenance commitment. We
will talk about some of these issues next month.
