Customer Reviews

Reinvent Yourself with Color Me Beautiful: Four Seasons of Color, Makeup, and Style

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Reinvent Yourself with Color Me Beautiful" by JoAnne Richmond is okay for the rank beginner, but I really can't recommend it for anyone else. It's simply-written and easy to understand, but incomplete.

For instance, Richmond doesn't mention the expanded, 12-category system that CMB has used in the last few years (detailed in "Color Me Beautiful's Looking Your Best" by Mary Spillane and Christine Sherlock). That's a real shame, because not all of us fit neatly into only four categories.

Nor does she mention clarity of coloring at all, just warm and cool, deep and light. The warm/cool- and deep/light-only descriptions are going to be especially confusing to Soft Summers and Soft Autumns who have medium coloring and both warm and cool characteristics.

In addition, Richmond implies that there are no brunette Springs. I'm afraid this means there are going to be some Clear Springs who think they must be Winters because they have Dark Hair, Bright Eyes, and Fair Skin, and look good in silver as well as gold.

On to the jewelry section: This seems like a really good idea, but, again, it's too simple and there are some iffy choices. When did malachite become a "warm" green? Every piece I've ever seen has been a combination of pine, emerald, and mint (just to be sure, I checked a piece I have against my swatches last night). All cool colors. Not all emeralds are warm, either; some of them are quite blue in tone. "Siamese" rubies are often warm enough for Autumns and too warm for Winters. Some sapphires are warm enough for Springs and some lapis is light enough for Summers.

Finally, while the colors in the author's photo may be off, I would have expected someone with all those years of experience in color analysis to know that your teeth are not supposed to be bleached whiter than the whites of your eyes. That is, if you want people to look at you and think, "What a great smile she has!" not "I wonder how long it took them to get her teeth that white?" A smile is supposed to light up your eyes, not blind the observer.

Unlike the other reviewers, I was not familiar with the original Color Me Beautiful book. So as a "rank beginner" I wanted to learn all about using color to enhance my look. In Richmond's book, she guides you in choosing your season and then identifies the "right' colors for that season. She uses clearly labeled color patches that can be used when shopping. I also used the color patches to identify clothes I already had in my closet as good, bad or ugly. It turns out that many of the colors that were not listed in my season, were items I rarely wore anyway because they just didn't do anything for me. Richmond's book has helped me understand why.

There are also sections on makeup, skin care and accessories. I found the makeup section to be helpful, but the section on jewelry was rather rudimentary and the book would not have suffered had this section been left out. She also has a nice before and after section in the beginning that illustrates how color can totally change your look. One suggestion I would give is to use the book as a guide, but still use your own judgment in deciding what colors look good on you. For instance, it states that my season should "never wear pink." However, whenever I wear shocking pink, I see how it enhances my skin tone and I generally get positive comments.

One thing I found a little annoying was the very light and tiny subtext print used for the captions & margins. It is a very light gray, almost transparent, and was hard to read. All in all, it was an informative, "basic" book. I have already implemented some of the suggestions given (and by the way, got a few compliments along the way!).

I've given this book two stars for the decent color palettes. Color blocks are large and clear. But this book repeats information in previous Color Me Beautiful books, especially in Carole Jackson's original, and offers nothing new except a revision of a system that has been applied to people of all races and geographical areas, and now applies to fewer people than ever before.

The genius of Carole Jackson's original Color Me Beautiful is in presenting a system of four palettes, each distinguished by three factors: cool or warm, clear or muted, and light or deep. In all three of her books, Jackson also offers advice to fair and darker subtypes in each season. But the photo illustrations feature mostly Caucasians and no other races among the Springs and Summers.

Subsequent CMB books, and the latest is no exception, have marginalized other races more comprehensively, declaring that only Autumns and Winters may be found among races other than Caucasian. That observation contradicts not only other books on the seasonal and similar color-type theories, not only visual demonstrations you can see online, but also my personal experience. (My sister-in-law is Chinese, I'm descended from northern Europeans, she looks better than I do in stronger colors, but we are both Summers. Neither of us looks good in black, and she does look good in soft pastels.)

Reinvent Yourself with CMB also contradicts itself--for instance, stating in one place that your skin tone never changes as you age, and in another place that your skin tone may change from warm to cool as you age. This book also contains errors such as the claim that cool people have blue pigment in their skin, or the claim that blue eyes turn gray as they lose their blue pigment. As the author of a book on human coloring should know, cool-toned skin reflects a shortage of warm pigment, and blue eyes reflect a lack of any pigment. Nobody has blue pigment in their irises or skin!

Finally, this book sometimes borrows too freely from Carole Jackson's original. The author claims to present "all-new color concepts, warm and cool" (these concepts were old when Carole Jackson first presented them, and at least she acknowledged her source). On page 52 the author summarizes seasonal coloring by comparing it to images of the seasons in nature. The same images, along with some of the same phrases, appear on page 11 of Jackson's original. On page 115 of the new book, a chart of neutrals and basic colors for each season is copied from Jackson's original, with Jackson's color names instead of the newer color names on the palettes. None of the color names in this book are really new--those not in Jackson's books may be found in Spillane and Sherlock's Looking Your Best.

In short, CMB's latest book may be helpful to those who fit the narrow categories presented here, but it's a disappointment to me and I'm afraid will be a disappointment to anyone familiar with previous CMB books.

If you are like me and first became familiar with the Color Me Beautiful system of Seasonal Color analysis (Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter) back in the 80's you may have felt like you didn't quite "fit" into one of the four seasons. You weren't alone, other color analysts estimate that only 25% of the population is a true representative of one season, the majority of us have coloring that is more like 80% one season with 20% from another. So in the early 1990's CMB expanded their seasons to 12 - there were three types within each season. For instance instead of just Spring there were now Light Spring, Warm Spring, and Clear Spring, each with their own expanded color palette. With 12 possibilities, you were much more likely to find your true colors.

Now, CMB has gone back to the old four season system with this new release. Why? The 12 season system may be a little more complicated and take a little bit more time to master, but it is so much better! Fortunately, there are still resources out there. Instead of this book, I'd recommend Color Revival Color Revival: Understanding the 12 Season Color Analysis System (Volume 1) and one of the Color Me Beautiful books on the 12 Season system that is still in print, Looking Your Best Color Me Beautiful's Looking Your Best: Color, Makeup and Style You'll be glad you went to the extra effort to find your REAL season.

Richmond uses the four-season system popularized by the original Color Me Beautiful for classifying women's coloring. First, she describes the hair colors, eye colors, and skin tones associated with either 'warm' or 'cool' types. This section could have used more illustrations, particularly for the skin tone descriptions which I didn't find clear at all. Then she divides the 'cool' types into summer and winter and the 'warm' types into spring and autumn based on whether hair color is light or dark. Each seasonal type is described next to a palette of 40 or so swatches. If you're not sure where you fit into the seasons, I doubt this section will help you figure it out. There aren't enough models, and most of the models seem to have been chosen as pure examples of their seasons. They include a few Latinas and a few African-Americans, but don't even represent the full range of Caucasian types (much less those of any other race).

The rest of the book contains a chart that lists particular shades of basic colors suited to each season, a guide to makeup colors by season, a guide to jewelry by season, a guide to hair colors by season, and some notes on colors for eyewear, handbags, and shoes. There are also sections on skin care and applying makeup. These could have been cut; there's no information in them that a book dedicated to the subject wouldn't cover in more depth. The same thing goes for the wardrobe and style advice; it's probably nothing you haven't heard before. (A scarf is a 'cheap and easy way to add sophistication to any outfit.' Who knew?)

If it's not obvious from the above, Richmond isn't going for any cross-gender appeal. A man could probably apply the basic principles, but all the models are women, and all the style advice is targeted toward women.

How useful this book is to you is partly going to depend on how snugly you fit into the four-season scheme. I personally don't think it's a coincidence that the only white non-Hispanic brunette models have either a) extremely pale porcelain complexions or b) hair that is almost red. I doubt I'm the only person who finds the winter colors all wrong and the autumn colors overall too hot and intense. If you can't really pull off either hot pink or mustard yellow, you may be better off looking elsewhere. The 12-season system from Color Me Beautiful's Looking Your Best works better for me at least, but none of these systems seems to be perfect.

Overall, I can't really recommend this book. If you do prefer the four-season system, the sections on makeup and accessories are probably worth looking over, but the presentation of the basic principles could be clearer and better illustrated, and the beauty routine and style advice is just padding in an already short book.

Finally, a book that simplifies yet amplifies my look. I now realize why staying within a certain color palette makes sense...thank you JoAnne!
I started with my closet. I removed all clothing that was not in my cool palette. I then took a hard look at my jewelry and accessories, and sorted them as well. Next, I tackled my makeup drawer. It wasn't until I went through this process that I realized how beautifully everything worked together. I had fewer outfits, but more looks! In the future, as I add new pieces to my wardrobe....you can bet they will only be with items that fall within my cool palette. My drawers and closet are now uncluttered, and I am able to quickly put a look together when I'm going out. I am also able to create fun looks with the use of interesting color combinations. Compliments???...I love them, but sometimes it is hard to keep the smile off my face. This color concept really works!
Color Me Happy!!!

I really liked this book, particulary because of the simple and direct advice. It was helpful without being preachy. And most of all, unlike many personal appearance books, I was able to adopt many of the suggestions without looking like I should be prancing down a runway. A practical new addition to the Color Me Beautiful series of books which I also loved.

I organized my closet into two sections, my great colors and my not so great colors. And like the author said, I've received more compliments than ever. This weekend I am going to tackle my makeup and accessories!

This is a terrific read. Simple but packed full of great information. Like getting a years subscription to all the best beauty magazines packed in one simple HOW_TO manual. Loved the chapters on accessories and hair color. So few books give you any information on picking the right hair color, so this chapter was a real bonus for me.

I purchased this book hoping it would be Color Me Beautiful for the 21st century and instead I found a more rigid version of the original book from the 80's. For example the author states if there is any blonde in your brunette hair you cannot wear winter colors. Well it would be hard for me to find a brunette winter that didn't put some blonde highlights in her hair over the age of 35. Dark brunette solid haircolor and white skin is harsh and aging and why can't a Summer season have brown eyes? Or have some warmth put in her ash hair for depth? I find this black and white (or should I say warm and cool) thinking to be totally passe. I gave it 2 stars as a reference replacement to my original Color me Beautiful book that was chewed up by the dog.

If you're familiar with the Color Me Beautiful system, this will be nothing new for you. Previous books have covered most everything that this book offers. While there are good visuals for the colors in each season (this will save on buying the color swatches), and there are updated photos, this writing is really just a simplified version of information that can be found in other CMB books. I would have enjoyed seeing more before/after pictures, more ideas, more fashion tips for today's woman.

This being said, it was a good read (albeit quick), and a fun refresher of the colors that really look good on me. The author does do a good job helping the reader determine her "season." And, in spite of a bit of repetitiveness, she gives a simplified overview of this color method---something that today's busy woman would appreciate.