Colours and Style
When you look at something, colours are the first thing your sub-consciousness registers. The colour sensation is enough for you to have an opinion like / dislike, I will focus on this / I will ignore this, and such. Therefore I think that each way towards your own personal style should start with colours. Thanks to Colour Analysis you will find out which colours work for you, you will learn how to work with colours and how to combine them.
All colours next or close to each other also influence each other. (Neutral grey changes other colours the least, that’s why we use it as a background during analysis sessions.) The same colour can look differently on different backgrounds. And that’s why you can look great in one t-shirt or shirt and as soon as you change, they want to call you an ambulance. Some colours match your person and some not so much.
But analysis is not only about the process of finding your best colour, you also need to learn how to work with them. To know how much of each colour should be used, how you can combine them to achieve the desired result - sometimes we just want others to like us, other times we need to make a certain impression. And sometimes we want to say something to the world and our look can support that message.
You can describe colour by various methods, Sci\ART analysis describes it in a similar way to some graphic computer programs, by three parameters - hue, saturation and lightness. Not only colours themselves are important for the resulting impression, but also how much of each you use and what the overall colour contrast will be.
Hue is determined by a wavelength of the colour’s dominant light. For our purposes hue is described by a word description, such as red, green, etc. and also we need to differ how cold is the hue – is there more blue or green it it?, or warm – does it contain more red or yellow colour?
Saturation, chroma, cleanliness or colour power is determined by the amount of the basic colour’s pigment in it. More pigment it has, more clear is the colour (more intense, glowing) and on the other hand, the less pigment it has, the more dull (soft) is the colour.
Lightness is determined by the amount of the light that is reflected by the colour. Dark colours absorb most of the light and transform to warmth, light colours reflect light. (Yes, dark winter clothes and light summer ones have a certain logic to them.)
Colour contrast is a result of joint effect of two and more colours. Higher contrast means higher energy, whilst lower contrast has a calming and balancing effect. Some colour types are more contrasting in their nature than others, but all types can work with the contrast.
Sci\ART colour analysis works with twelve colour types. Their naming convention is based on four-type analysis that was popular in the eighties – spring, summer, autumn and winter.
The main problem of four-type analysis was an assumption that for every person you can say without a doubt if warm or cold colours suit them better. Unfortunately, mathematical probability works here as well and most of the people (approximately 2/3) is somewhere between these border values when it comes to colour temperature. So four types are definitely not enough.
Therefore eight more tone neutral types were added, for which some other characteristics than colour temperature is important – saturation or lightness. Of course, a question emerges – are not twelve types too few? From my experience I can say that in an overwhelming majority of cases there is enough of types, more of them would be hard to distinguish by some people.
At the beginning of the analysis I will talk with you a bit about your intentions, why you came to see me, what your expectations of the analysis are and then I will show you how colour analysis works, how the colours influence each other (this part is not always necessary – there are clients that come to me with a huge amount of information from the internet so they could do it themselves :)). Then we come to the mirror, you will get a neutral grey cap (when your hair is coloured you get a cap always, when you have natural hair we consider and discuss it) and a cape that hides your clothes to limit the influence of surrounding colours and to focus on the specific colour testing. Clients who come with a make up (no difference to age or sex) need to remove it for the same reason.
Our task is to find out which colours work for you, not for your make up. Then I shine light upon you and finally we come to the thing why you came to see me – we will put various colour drapes next to your face and compare what difference they make. Drapes have a certain progress and logic to them and if everything works out (and I firmly believe it will), we can show you your type at the end of the analysis. Then we can try cosmetics in your colours – lipstick, blusher, eye shadows, I will show you how to determine if a colour matches your type or not, how to navigate in patterns with several colours and I also try to answer all your questions. You can come to an analysis session for various reasons, but mostly I recommend to buy a colour palette right away, because it is a great help when determining your own colours (nearly no one has absolute sense for colours) and it is a very nice thing anyway. Also, if you buy it together with the session, you get a discount.
I use Australian Classic Palettes by Amelia Buttler from True Colour International. I have tried several types and I think these are the best on the market today. A classic palette contains 65 colours, it is superbly fine-tuned and so it’s a pleasure to work with. Colours have numerical codes that help further communication. (I will explain how you can use your palette during a session.) A palette is 15 x 3 cm, it can be opened as a fan, it is printed on a specially treated painter’s canvas and its colours are scratch and UV resistant. It can be folded into a plastic case and it fits every handbag.
I can order for you some other palette versions. A corporate palette contains more darker and neutral colours suitable a conservative corporate environment, it has 70 colours with some colours the same in classic and corporate palette.
If you do not want to spend a lot of money for the palette and you do not plan to carry it with you in your handbag, I can offer you a small 28 x 20 cm poster which you can hang on your wardrobe door or above your work desk and you can indulge in your colours any time you like. The posters can be ordered in classic and corporate versions.
Amelie has one more super thing for people who like to play with colours – a colour cube. Each colour is printed on a separate 5 x 5 cm square and the squares from a cube held together by a screw in the corner. You can open the cube like a fan, dismantle it completely and then you can test various colour combinations, re-assemble the cube based on your favourite colours or just select those that you like most. The cube is produced upon order again in classic and corporate versions.
Ordering palette price depends on Australian dollar exchange rate. Current price is available upon request. :)
A colour is a subjective psychophysiological sensation mediated by an optical organ that is significantly dependent on observation conditions. Yeah, I love school definitions. :) What does this mean for me – and then for you?
1. I put quite an emphasis on observing the observation conditions – I use neutral grey background, I like to work with daylight, but because it changes, I shine more light upon you by a special full-spectrum lights, I always work with the same set of drapes. Therefore I prefer to welcome you to my studio that has been equipped and ready for sessions. In special cases I can come to you, if you are interested in such a service, call me or write me and we can agree upon conditions and price.
2. Please, never ask me to do an online colour analysis session. If you send me a photo, not only I have no idea in what conditions it was taken, but it will most certainly have different colours on my computer screen.
3. As I have mentioned a couple of times, colour can be measured, but a colour sensation is highly subjective, so the result will be my personal opinion (based on my study and experience, but still mine), that I will tell you, because that’s what you pay me for, but I will definitely not try to persuade you. If you choose different colours at the end, we will either find out together how to maximise your profit from them or in the worst case we can settle the dispute by saying that our mutual work has reached an impasse and further quest for your personal colours will have to be undertaken with someone else. But that’s also a result. :)
When you look at something, colours are the first thing your sub-consciousness registers. We can decide if we like something or someone just on the basis of a colour sensation. And it would really be a pity not to take advantage of it. Therefore, colour analysis is for me the first step on the course towards personal style.
If you want to look your best, you have to feel best. If I can speak for myself, I feel best if I feel good and if I can be myself. If I do not pretend to be someone else, if I do not want people to put me in some pre-defined box. Each of us is different and that’s great. :)
Therefore I advise to all my clients to listen to me, but if they do not feel comfortable in something, they should not pressure themselves into it. Even if it was the most amazing dress on this planet, if you do not feel good, you will never look great in it. So please, listen mainly to yourselves, because that’s the best way towards the goal of looking your best.
