Warm or Cool - My Year Without Clothes Shopping

Colour 101
We live in a world full of colour. Colour affects how we look, how we
feel and how others perceive us. Colour makes a difference!
In this week’s Resource (Week 19), we’ll look at three key concepts of
colour and how it relates to YOU:
1. ‘Undertone’ of colour – warm or cool
2. ‘Chroma’ – bright or muted intensity
3. ‘Value’ – light or deep
This Resource illustrates these key concepts + has some great exercises
for you to play around with! Relax and enjoy this week’s exploration
of colour!
How does colour work?
Colour reflects. Every colour that you wear is
reflecting onto your skin, whether it is flattering or
unflattering.
Colour reacts to various pigments in your skin such
as carotene and melanin.
Colours do not have just one property, but instead
is comprised of the
• value (lightness or darkness of the colour)
• chroma (intensity - brightness to dullness of the
colour) and
• hue (the colour) and undertone (relative warmth
and coolness of the colour).
Warm or Cool
Warm colours are based on yellows,
oranges, browns, yellowish greens,
orange-reds, reds.
Cool colours are based on blues, greens,
pinks, purples, blue-greens, magentas,
and blue-based reds.
Warm Colors
Cool Colors
Warm or Cool - examples
Warm
- Kate Moss
- Madonna
- Christina Hendricks
- Jennifer Garner
Cool
- Princess Diana
- Courtney Cox
- Gwen Stefanie
- Angelina Jolie
Are you warm or cool? Quick version
Here is a 2 minute version to determine if you are warm or cool: it involves a quick analysis of your
eyes, hair and skin.
Skin tone is often the hardest one to work out. So please do not be concerned if you can’t quite
work it out straight away. Ask a friend, ask your hairdresser, let it sit overnight. There’s no
rush on this. We’re looking for the overall look – warm or cool? Copper penny or silver nickel?
Warm Eyes
 Brown
 Hazel
 Topaz
 Warm
Green
 Teal blue
Warm Hair
 Red
 Strawberry blonde
 Golden blonde
 Burnished brown
 Auburn
Warm Skin
 Golden freckles
 Ivory
 Peachy
Are you warm or cool? Quick version (continued)
Cool Eyes
 Blue
 Grey
 Brown/black
 Black
Cool Hair
 Grey or white
 Platinum blonde
 Ash brown
 Black
 Salt ‘n’ pepper
 Blue/black
Cool Skin
 Grey freckles, if any
 Rose
 Olive
Where do you have the most check marks – Warm or Cool? That is your undertone.
You may be a combination of warm & cool, say: warm hair (golden blonde) and warm skin (tawny with
brown freckles) with cool eyes (blue). In this case, two out of three are warm, so the overall look
is warm.
If you still aren’t sure at this point – that’s ok. Try the longer exercise on the next page.
Are you warm or cool?
This method takes 30 minutes -- maybe up to an hour -- to do properly, but is well worth
the effort.
To do this properly, you’ll need:
•
A mirror, placed in good natural (filtered) light, not direct sunlight
• A white scarf or top – don’t wear colour as it will distract from the exercise
• 4 – 8 fabric colour swatches – clothing items work fine for this
• Your hair tied back off your face, if you dye it
• Plenty of time – allow an hour for this, although it may take slightly less or more
• Optional: a friend whose input you trust to help you
• The No Fuss, Gold Class Option: go to a professional image advisor who really knows
colour, and have them do an in-depth colour analysis with you.
Are you warm or cool? (continued)
Warm
Colour Swatches: You’ll need 4 – 8 colour swatches.
Clothing items (such as t-shirts or scarves) work fine
for this. The tricky bit is making sure you have a warm
version of the colour and a cool version of it.
Here are some examples of warm colours and their cool
colour counterparts: Olive/Pine, Coral/Hot
Pink, Orange Red/Cherry Red, Teal/Cobalt
Cool
Are you warm or cool? (continued)
Method:
• Place the each colour swatch under your chin – start with the warm version, then a cool
version of the same colour
• Watch your face (not the colours)!
• Quickly move the warm colour away to reveal the cool colour
• It's at the moment of change that you will see the biggest difference in the affect of the colour
on your skin.
• It’s often easier to see the difference in the face between the warm/cool colours on someone
else. That’s why we suggest you do this with a friend whose input you trust (or see a
professional)
• Repeat for each of the colours in your swatch
Are you warm or cool? (continued)
What are you looking for?
• The areas around your eyes - does the colour bring out shadows and dark circles ….. or make
them disappear?
• Around your mouth - do you appear to get a 5 o'clock shadow (not something any woman I have
met wants) or not? Sometimes the chin can go a bit green with unflattering colours.
• Your face as a whole - does your complexion look more even and bright….. or does it look florid
or washed out?
Determining whether you're warm or cool is the all-important starting point of knowing which
colours suit you best. For some of you, this is enough to work with on colour.
If you want to, from here, you can then move on to determining intensity of colour (bright or muted)
and depth of colours (light or deep).
Bright or Muted
Bright colours are the pure colours that
have not been altered by adding grey, lots
of black, or white to them. They appear
clear and obvious.
Muted colours are those that have had
grey added to them which softens the
colours and takes away the intensity of
the colour, making them dusky.
Colour Intensity - Concepts
From this picture you can see the green going from the
brighter end on the outside of the circle… right down to a
dull grey at the core of the circle.
Whether or not you suit the brighter, middle or softer
version of a colour is based on the intensity of your
personal colouring.
When we aged in our 20s, our colour is at our natural
brightest. If we have bright eyes and clear skin, and our
hair is an intense colour (say brown, black or bright blonde)
then we are more likely to be able to wear bright or clear
colours.
This changes as we age and our colouring softens!
Intensity
Bright colours -------------- Muted colours
Have you noticed that some colours that you used
to wear and love (and that looked great on you
when you were younger), may not be so terrific
for you now?
As you can see from the image to the right, it's easy
to mix colours when the intensity is the
same.
These combinations may feel more outrageous or
adventurous than you'd usually choose, but
why not try something a little different using
this colour theory to make it work for you?
Choosing Colours - intensity by imogenl featuring Carvela shoes
Simultaneous Contrast
Notice how the centre dots appear to be different
intensity depending what they are next to.
The grey dot is brightest when next to a duller/darker
grey, whilst the orange dot is brightest next to the cobalt
blue.
So What? If your own colouring is softer (or let’s face it
– greyer, as we age!)… then you will find that the softer,
more muted/greyed down colours will actually make you
look brighter, whilst the bright colours will overwhelm
you and make you look dull and drab.
Bright or Muted - examples
Bright
- Courtney Cox
- Cynthia Nixon
- Cameron Diaz
Muted
- Jennifer Aniston
- Jennifer Lopez
- Helen Mirren
Are you bright or muted?
Once you know if you are warm or cool, you can move onto determining if
your colouring is brighter or softer.
Take a colour in different strengths of brightness and hold them up under
your chin.
Do the “blink test” to see which colour draws attention to itself (and away
from your face to your body)…. and which colour is harmonious with
your personal colouring.
•
•
•
If a colour makes you look dull or drab, it is too muted for you
If it screams and you notice the colour first, it is too bright for you
If you feel it is about equal to your natural level of brightness, then it is
just right for you
Try this with a few different colours to ensure you’re getting the right
reading.
Brighter
Muted
When it works, it works! There is a balance between your
personal colouring and the colours you wear. When you wear nothing too bright or too
dull, and the right level of warmth or coolness to suit your skin – it works!
Works:
Doesn’t work:
Too cool
Too cool & light
Too bright
When it doesn’t work we tend to see the
clothes before the face …. and the colours may
cast an unflattering pall on the face.
Right warmth &
depth
Right warmth &
intensity
When it does work we see the face
first …. and the colours harmonise
with the natural colouring.
More when it works, it works!
Doesn’t work:
Too cool & bright
Too cool & light
Can you see how out of harmony these
clothing items are here on these two women?
They jar the eye and jangle the brain.
Works:
Right warmth &
softness
Right depth &
intensity
Can you see how in harmony these
clothing items are? It’s very soothing to
the eye .
Please note that these photos were all taken with no fancy lighting, and exactly the same makeup on in each shot,
the only thing that changed is the colours being worn!
Lighter or Deeper
Lighter colours are those that are either
naturally light like yellow…. or they are
colours with white added to them which
lightens them up.
Darker (deep) colours are those that are
naturally darker like blue or violet… or
they are colours with black added to them
which deepens them.
Lighter or Deeper - examples
Light
- Gwyneth Paltrow
- Jessica Biel
- Michelle Pfeiffer
Deep
- Isabella Rossellini
- Oprah Winfrey
- Angelina Jolie
Are you lighter or deeper?
Lighter
We can all wear both light and dark colours, but we will usually find that we
look overall better in either light, medium or deep colours depending on
our own colouring. Working out if you are lighter or deeper is often one
of the easiest parts of determining your personal colouring.
Hair is 75% of what we initially notice about a person so this is a great place
to start. Usually, if you have medium to dark hair you will look better
with a dark colour as the anchor of your outfit. If you are blond or fair,
you will find that very dark colours can be draining, so instead you might
opt for lighter neutrals.
If you have fair skin and hair, but dark eyes, you will usually look better in
overall lighter clothing, but may need a pop of a dark colour to balance
your appearance.
Deeper
My colour direction
Firstly work with your undertone (warm or cool). Then identify your intensity (bright or muted).
And finally choose either lighter or darker versions of these colours.
If your colouring is more medium, not either particularly light or dark, then go for the medium
value colours in between.
My Colour
Direction is:
Warm or Cool
Bright or Muted
Light or Deep
Once you know your colour direction, it makes choosing clothing EASY! You choose colours that
match your personal colour direction. If you are deep and warm – wear those colours. If you are
muted and light – wear those colours.
For the purposes of this lesson, we want to identify the broad groups of colours that will work for
you – which will also tell the ones to avoid.
What to wear – Are you Warm?
If you’re warm, choose your best colours based on the selections here. If you like, you
can go one step further and identify which version of warm you are– bright/clear or
soft/muted.
Warm and Bright
Warm and Muted
What to wear – are you Cool?
If you’re cool, choose your best colours based on the selections here. If you like, you
can go one step further and identify which version of cool you are – bright/clear or
soft/muted.
Cool and Bright
Cool and Muted
Adding in Light and Deep
At this point, you should know or have an idea of:
• Am I Warm? Or am I Cool? That’s the first important step. You may be happy to pause your
exploration of colour there – that is perfectly fine!
• Is my colouring Bright/Clear? Or is it Soft /Muted? Fold this into your understanding of your
colour direction if you choose.
The previous two pages show some options on what to wear for those four (4) colour directions.
At this stage, you may know enough about your colour direction, and may not need this last step
on light/deep. Remember that the next page shows Warm and Cool versions of Light and
Deep colours.
What to wear – Are you Light? Or Deep? These suggestions
show versions of Warm and Cool at different values (lighter or deeper).
into the colours that you’ve identified work for you.
Light and Warm
Light and Cool
Deep and Warm
Add these
Deep and Cool
Concluding Colour
Colour is an exciting thing to play around with! Remember to undertake these exercises at your
own pace. It is important to relax and enjoy the experience of exploring colour for yourself.
If in doubt about any aspect of your personal colour direction, try these suggestions: Re-read the
Lesson material; Ask a friend and explore together; Let it sit overnight and see what comes up
in the morning.
What we’ve provided you with here are the building blocks of understanding colour for yourself.
The suggestions here should be seen as starting points – a solid place to commence your
ongoing exploration of colour. Understanding and using colour should give you more choices,
not less.
Next week, we give you some specific strategies that you can use to build on this week’s
foundation.
Final questions to ponder
What has been the most interesting thing for me from this week’s lesson?
I now want to know more about…..
We’ll continue our exploration of colour next week – more to come here!