About the Author
Carole Jackson has been a professional color consultant for many years. She owns Color Me Beautiful, Inc., located in McLean, Virginia, and represented by a select group of color consultants across the country and abroad.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
1
LET’S START
WITH YOU
THE FIRST STEP IN FINDING THE COLORS THAT ARE PERFECT FOR you is a self-evaluation. Your answers to the following questions may help you increase your awareness of your clothes-buying and beauty habits. In addition, believe it or not, each question relates to color.
Can you wear any color and look terrific?
Do you create a good first impression all the time?
Do you have a closetful of clothes but nothing to wear?
Do you feel guilty about spending money on clothes?
Are you a compulsive clothes buyer?
Are there any mistakes hanging in your closet?
When you shop, do you have direction, or do you wander aimlessly through the store? Are you sure that everything you buy will be smashing and will blend with the rest of your wardrobe?
Can you pack one suitcase for a two-week trip?
Do you buy too much makeup, or no makeup at all, because you aren’t sure what is just right for you?
If you color your hair, are you positive that it is the most flattering shade?
Are you excited about the way you look?
Do you have “colorisma”?”
If any one of your answers does not please you, Color Me Beautiful can help. By finding and learning to use your colors, you can achieve just what you want, whether it’s a little change here and there, or an entirely new look. Then you can be happy with your answers to all these questions, for color—your personal palette—makes all the pieces fall into place. You’ll look better; you’ll shop more intelligently; and—if you’re like the women who have taken my classes—you’ll be excited about your looks and yourself.
The answer to the first question will always be “no.” You need your colors to look terrific. Read on to find out why and how—then take the color test and discover your own season!
2
COLOR MAKES
THE DIFFERENCE
EVERYONE IS BORN WITH AN INCLINATION TOWARD CERTAIN colors. I have found that a very young child, before being influenced by parents and peers, will invariably pick out colors that suit her, sometimes to the horror of mother. One of my clients brought in her four-year-old for a color analysis. “Every time we go shopping she wants a black dress!” wailed the frustrated parent. The child was a Winter and black was indeed her color. Mom was a Spring, at home in camel and peach.
By the time we grow up, we may have lost a portion of that personal color sense, and we buy colors for reasons that don’t have anything to do with how we look in them. We have been bombarded with color messages from mother (whose best colors may be different from our own) and from the fashion and home-furnishings industries, who use every medium available to popularize the colors they wish to sell.
Take heart. Nature usually prevails, and chances are good that at least 50 percent of your clothes are the right colors. And you probably already know which ones they are; they’re the ones that make you feel great! Soon all your clothes will make you feel that way.
I was a bit skeptical when I had my colors analyzed years ago, but when I tried one of my new shades, the result was remarkable. I chose a royal blue turtleneck, a daring color for me, and wore it to a meeting one night when my mood was down. As I walked through the door, I received a compliment (a compliment to me, not my sweater). Dubious of this unexpected praise, I glanced in the mirror and discovered that I did indeed look better than I felt. My mood perked. By the end of the evening, after many compliments, I felt radiant and could hardly wait to try all my colors.
Today I wear only the colors of my seasonal palette because I feel attractive and confident in them. During my years as a color consultant, I have found that matching people with their colors produces immeasurable happiness.
Here are some real-life examples:
Jenny came to me in the middle of her diet. She had lost sixty pounds, had sixty more to go, and there was no stopping her. She was thrilled with her colors and had the pleasure of replacing her wardrobe quickly because she was rapidly growing too small for her clothes. Fortunately, she was developing self-esteem and was willing to buy attractive clothes even though she planned to be too small for them the next year (she was). My phone rang for months as Jenny’s friends saw her transformation and wanted the same for themselves.
Pam was depressed. She had lost the ability to make even minor decisions and really had lost interest in life. A friend dragged her to my classes in hopes of cheering her up. She was obviously pleased with the rave reviews of the class as we draped her in her colors. But she was still afraid to go shopping. I finally gave her an assignment. She was to go to a department store and buy one blouse (which she said she needed). The next week, she came in beaming. “It was so easy,” she said. “I didn’t even look at half the things on the rack because they weren’t my colors. I only took a few blouses into the dressing room and the second one I tried on looked so good that I didn’t bother with the others. I bought it and here I am.”
Marnie was a Summer whose hair had darkened. Her mother was an Autumn, and Marnie had spent her childhood in Autumn colors. Even now she wore mostly earth colors. She felt drab and wanted to do something to her hair, but she wasn’t sure what. Draping her in Summer colors brought her to life. She was radiant. She highlighted her hair just the right shade and looked stunning. Marnie also sells cosmetics and has found that her understanding of the seasonal palettes helps her tremendously with her clients.
“Help!” said Kathy. “I need a new image.” Kathy was overweight and came to class in blue jeans, with her blonde hair in two ponytails. At age thirty-three, she obviously hadn’t found herself. By the end of the six-week course, she had shed fifteen pounds, sported a chic, short haircut, and looked fabulous in her new makeup and a skirt and blouse in her colors. Six weeks later she had lost fifteen more pounds and had found a whole new identity. Kathy was one of my first students, and, six years later, I am happy to report that she is still skinny, looks great, and has obtained her credentials as a therapist.
Helen came to me right after her divorce. She had gone back to school, at age fifty, to prepare herself for reentry into the job market. Her colors, makeup, and a wardrobe plan for a working woman brought her up-to-date. She later wrote: “Getting my colors is the nicest thing I’ve done for myself in years. I felt so good on my job interviews, and I am sure my new boss thinks I’m ten years younger than I am!”
Marie was laughing when she came to the last class. “I went to my doctor and he wouldn’t believe I wasn’t feeling well because I look so good. He says I’ve never looked healthier in all the time he’s known me.” Marie was a pale Autumn who had never worn makeup. To camouflage the gray that was creeping into her hair, she had highlighted it a silvery ash blonde—wrong for her. With her colors, a little blush and lipstick, and a change to auburn hair, she was indeed a new woman.
A few weeks after her color consultation, Charlotte wrote: “Such fantastic results! I never knew how great I could look. All I did was buy five new shirts in my more vivid colors. Although I wear them with the same pants & skirts, there has been an instant change in my appearance. Suddenly I look alive and happy and everyone responds positively to the change. Even my clients have commented on my ‘new’ image.… I love the compliments. And I love the new me. Thanks for introducing me to myself!”
The discovery of color transformed each of these women. Color does make a difference—often a dramatic one. The fun is in the discovery; the rewards last a lifetime.
