I’ve spent the past week intensely immersed in our Academy of Professional Image Certified Personal Colour Analysis Training. It’s a full on full time course, and we teach our students just so much about colour and how to discover their client’s personal best colours, how to wear their colours plus so much more. Students…
Back in 1981 Colour Me Beautiful was published and really brought the idea of personal colour analysis to the masses. It was a huge hit and I remember going through the book and figuring out that I was a winter and being fascinated all that time ago about the concept of personal colour analysis.…
One of the things I’ve discovered tends to confuse people is that they think that they can only wear colours that are the same value as them, so if they are overall lighter in value they can only wear light colours, and if they are deep/dark, they have to wear dark colours only. Ideally we…
Your eyes are one of the features that I think is important to highlight every time you get dressed. They are at the centre of your communication centre (that’s a fancy term for your face). If people are drawn to looking at your eyes, they don’t notice much else about your body and are certainly…
12345678910111 1. High Value Contrast, Low Colour Contrast Brown eyes, brown hair, neutral but fair skin, you are most likely to fall into this category. So what should Michelle wear? You want to put together a high value contrast – so light and dark colours together, then a low colour contrast – so either all…
Contrast is one of those subjects that has been coming up lots in my Evolve Your Style and 7 Steps to Style programs in the past week or so. I thought I’d make this video to talk about understanding your contrast and how to figure it out. Here is a handy contrast tool for you…
Colour is a subject that fascinates many of you. And I know I’ve written some posts on it before such as this one on understanding colour properties, but here is a picture I’ve put together to help try and explain the basics of tint, tone and shade. Colour Terminology Basics The value of…
Following on from my post on undertones, here are some more examples of the differences between warm and cool undertones of colours. When picking undertones, you want to look at what the colour is made of, as if you were painting it, and think about what colours you’d mix together to create it. If…
I have often heard that freckles are only found on warm people, not cool, but I’m here to bust that myth. In fact there are many cool people who have freckling and today I’m going to share with you a photo of a recent client who has cool colouring who is definitely freckled. Now…
One of the things I’ve noticed is that people get very confused with the overtone of a colour and the undertone. So to try and make it a little easier, I’ve created some pictures to help you see the differences between very similar colours, but one has a warm undertone, the other a cool undertone…
Most people who have light colouring don’t suit black. It’s just too dark and harsh on their complexion and it wears you, rather that you wearing the colour. But so many people still want to wear it, so here is a quick tip to make it less draining on you. 3 Simple Steps Think about…
How to Pick the Undertone of Grey Grey is either made from mixing pure black and white, or more commonly, from mixing all colours together. This muddled up mix of colours is the reason it can be so hard to mix shades of grey together, as depending on how it’s made, it may be a…
There are so many ways to use colour in your outfit. Pink is a versatile colour, the right shade of pink will make you look fabulous as it’s a skin enhancer. How to Choose a Warm or Cool Pink Pink comes in many guises – there are both warm and cool versions so choose one…
Following on from our video a couple of weeks back on finding your signature colours, I was asked to share some photos of other people and their signature colours. Finding Your Signature Colours Lip colours – what are the colours most closely related to your lips? Natural blush colours – which colours bring out your…
Have you ever wondered what your signature colours are? How you can figure out what they might be? In this short video with Jill Chivers of Shop Your Wardrobe , we discuss signature colours and how to wear them. Did you know that one of your signature colours is the best colour for those multipurpose…
Jill Chivers of Shop Your Wardrobe and I got together recently and made a series of videos about colour. The first video is an introduction to colour systems – from the 4 Seasons through to the 18 directional Absolute Colour System. One of the aspects we discuss is Albert Munsell’s colour properties and how that…
Do you think that you’d love to do what I do for a career? Or maybe you’re already working as a personal stylist and are smart enough to realise that training could really take your skills to the next level. If so, why not check out our training courses. We have both classroom training in…
Neutrals are not universal. There are warm and cool neutrals just as there are warm and cool colours. Watch this short video to help you choose the most flattering neutrals that will work with the colours that suit you.
Imogen, Would you consider addressing the best way to create a column of color with some examples? I try to dress this way and wear mostly dark wash denim or black ponte knit pants. I would like to expand the my choices on the top. A bit more color and some shoe/ boot options. I…
All whites are not the same, and different whites suit different colouring. We can go from a very bright white which is cool and quite stark and only suits those with very cool colouring, via a soft white, through ivory to cream, which is very warm and suits those with warm colouring. Soft whites are…
I’ve just spent a week teaching a personal colour analysis course, and part of what the course involves is general colour theory, this colour theory is used in all sorts of industries, not just image consulting, so I thought I’d show you using interior decorating and art how you can use the same principles when…
