About six months ago, I rediscovered the concept of Seasonal Color Analysis: basically everyone's coloring looks best in a particular season: Winter, Spring, Summer, or Autumn. Fans of the TV show Avatar: the Last Airbender will enjoy this video, with Uncle Iroh (my favorite character!) singing about the four seasons.
Back in high school, my sister and I read the 1980s book "Color Me Beautiful" and determined that we were both Summers. Well, a lot has happened since that book came out, and now there are several systems that have expanded upon this framework. Through my research, I determined that Christine Scaman's 12Blueprints Sci/Art system was the one for me. This system further divides each of the 4 seasons into 3 subcategories: Winter is divided into Dark Winter, True Winter, and Bright Winter; Spring into Bright Spring, True Spring, and Light Spring; Summer into Light Summer, True Summer, and Soft Summer; Autumn into Soft Autumn, True Autumn, and Dark Autumn.
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| From Christine Scaman's book Return to Your Natural Colours |
Through self-analysis, I guessed I was either a True Summer or a Soft Summer. Based on the other celebrity examples of Soft Summer, however, I had all but ruled that season out (I look nothing like Sarah Jessica Parker or Jennifer Aniston). With my tendency to ruddiness, I thought for sure I was truly cool-based. I also preferred the colors in the True Summer palette, which seemed to me much more saturated and lively.
Once I decided that I wanted to pursue Personal Color Analysis (PCA), I put myself on a shopping ban. I didn't want to buy anything that might not be in the right color. The whole point of doing both the Personal Image Analysis (PIA) and the PCA was to avoid buying clothes that weren't the best for my shape and coloring. I was going to save money in the long run.
Three long months later, the day of my PCA appointment arrived. I can't quite express how excited I was. On the drive there, and then throughout the process, I found myself bursting with joyful anticipation. Like a little kid on Christmas morning, I guess. :)
As soon as I met my analyst Cori, I felt at ease. She has a beautiful, cool coloring, with silver streaks in her long honey blond hair. Her glasses were lavender. I was not surprised to discover that she is a Summer (a Light Summer) and a Yang Natural. She has this serene, cozy quality to her that really jives with her physical qualities.
Cori was thorough: all told, she spent over 5 hours with me to determine my season. For precision's sake, my street clothes were covered in a gray smock, and my hair was also covered in a gray cap. Cori wore a gray coat, and I sat in front of a mirror (like at a beauty salon), with a gray backdrop behind me. I remarked at how good I looked in the plain gray, and Cori agreed: "Most people don't look very good in that."
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| So incredibly excited: what Season will I be? |
I was a little bit nervous, because I was meeting her for the first time, and I wasn't even wearing makeup! That's right, no makeup! The idea was to see how my skin reacted to the various colors. The drapes from the right season would make my skin look healthy: pink, smooth, and peaceful. The wrong season's colors would make my skin look sallow, lined, or shadowed.
I was a more challenging case because I looked good in Winter's black, and I could handle some of Autumn's warmth. So was I a Winter? At one point in the draping process (I think it was when Cori was comparing Bright Winter to Dark Winter), both of us were amazed at how good I looked in the rich tones of Dark Winter. It was clear that my skin could handle some depth and a little warmth. The best colors in that season were a deep blue and bottle green, the latter which really connected with the green in my eyes. Never in my wildest dreams did I consider that I could be a Dark Winter. But I went into the PCA with an open mind, so I would believe it when we had ruled out the other possibilities.
But once she compared Dark Winter to Soft Summer, we had a definite winner. By comparison, Dark Winter looked terrible! We both wondered how we thought Dark Winter ever looked good. It's amazing how, even colors that looked pretty good, were nothing in comparison to the colors in the right season.
So, we had narrowed it down to Summer: but was I a Soft Summer or a True Summer? True Summer was still in the running, because in other comparisons, it had always been the winner. One interesting note: Cori had several sets of drapes that only tested for warmth. She would pass back and forth from purely warm, to warm neutral, to cool neutral, to purely cool. Several of these tests indicated that purely cool made my skin look slightly red, while the cool neutral colors made my skin look pink and healthy. It was amazing to watch my skin transform from sickly yellow, to pink, and then to red. The redness was barely perceptible, but it was there.
So when we made the last comparison, between Soft Summer and True Summer, I knew which one would be the best one. Nearly every drape in True Summer was just a little too saturated/bright for my coloring. The True Summer colors took the attention away from my face. Instead of just being able to look at myself in the mirror, my eyes bounced back and forth between the colors and my face. The drapes in the Soft Summer palette, on the other hand, had a calming, harmonizing effect: my face looked rested, serene. My reaction was, "Yep, that's me."
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This is still me without makeup, and with my Soft Summer Colors. Before this experience, I never thought I could wear yellow. It turns out every season has its own version. |
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Cori noted that my phone camera picks up redness that isn't there in real life. Silly camera. ;) |
I admit that I was a little disappointed in the result. I guess I wasn't as open-minded as I thought I would be. I think I hoped that something about me would have a little dazzle, pizazz, you know? It has been an unexpected result of this experience that I have had to come to grips with the reality of me. I am soft. I am serene. I am sweet. Do I have a silly, spunky side? You bet. Can I show that off through my clothing choices? Yep! But, I need to be okay with not being a Bright Winter or a True Summer. The whole point of doing this is to understand more about myself: my unique brand of beauty.
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| My Soft Summer Fan/Swatch Book |
So, my journey is not over. I am learning to accept myself for who I am. And part of that, in a small way, is to accept that I am Soft Summer. Since my appointment several weeks ago, I have gone through all of my clothes, and separated those that passed the swatch test from those that didn't. After exercising discipline for so long, I went shopping a few days after my PCA at Goodwill. It was so liberating to be able to just focus on the right colors. I brought my swatch book with me, and before trying on anything, it had to pass the swatch test (the color should look harmonious with the fan, even if it isn't an exact color match). I saved so much time with this strategy!
I will continue to post more about this topic, as I settle into both my Yin Natural Archetype and my Soft Summer colors. I hope you come along with me, as I transform my wardrobe into the full expression of who I am.
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| Wearing my colors to a friend's wedding. |
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