This morning the MISMO ladies got talking about colour. Chatting about why some colours of makeup and clothes looked good on one and not the other. Out of nowhere we had a knowledge explosion on different season and colour psychology from our MISMO director, Irene McDonald. Amazed, Kate and I were so engrossed to hear more and how it related to ourselves as Summer and Winter colour personalities; we thought, our MISMO family would be interested in this too. So, please read on below to find out about your season colour to enable you to choose the right flattering colours to wear and what it says about your personality!

Although the season personality profile is generally carried out using colour swatches to see what best compliments your complexion, I have found a few ways for you to test this at home (found at https://www.thechicfashionista.com).

1. Gold/Silver test to determine if you are warm or cool in colour
2. Deep or Light test
3. Muted or Clear test

1. Gold/Silver test:

You need:

• A mirror
• Two jewellery pieces one in bright silver and the other in gold
• Natural lighting

How to do it:

Perform this in natural light and with no makeup on. Hold up the two jewellery pieces against your face and take notice of which one makes your overall complexion look brighter and stands out more. Does one of the metals create or accentuate dark circles under your eyes?

Silver complements anyone with dominant cool undertones and gold harmonizes best with warm colourings. However if you look better in both, you may be neutral.

Warm undertones generally have:

• Hair - brown, black, red, auburn or strawberry blonde
• Skin tone - fair to dark skin colour with a dominant warm undertone (peachy or yellow)
• Eyes - Earthy quality eg. Dark brown to light brown/topaz, hazel, green, warm blues
• The veins on the underside of your wrist are more green than blue

This means you look fabulous in peachy, rich, golden and earthy colours such as the below:

Warm undertones best colours:

• Muted and warm colours such as camel, beige, bronze, mochas and charcoal grey
• Exotic mango orange, softer tones of peach and gold
• Earthy green like lime, grass, celery, olive, moss and jade
• Off-white, ivory and cream
• Warmer shades of red (eg. Tomato red) rather than the blue-toned reds such as burgundy and true red.

Cool undertones generally have:

• Hair - colour ranges from light blonde to jet black but instead of golden highlights, it has hints of either silver or ashy undertones (or could look bluish). Greying hair is very common
• Skin tone - Black, olive, ivory or pale white with evident pink or blue undertone
• Eyes - Cool or jewel-like eyes, eg. Dark/cool brown, blue, blue-green, turquoise, grey, violet
• The veins on the underside of your wrist is more than likely more blue than green

This means you look best in colours with a cool undertone such as below:

Cool undertones best colours:

• Delicate pastels such as pastel green, baby blue, light and rose pink
• Different range of pink shades such as raspberry, light rose, soft-reds, plum
• Vivid colours such as emerald green
• Crisp, pure white
• Blue-toned reds such as true red (best on darker hair colour)
• Almost every hue of the ocean
• Depending on the intensity of your colouring, light to charcoal grey

Neutral:

If you find that silver and gold suit you, you are neutral which means your colouring has no obvious cool or warm undertones.

Neutral undertones generally have:

• Skin tone - no obvious yellow, olive, blue or ruddy (pink flush) undertones
• Eyes - You seem to have cool or warm colour features. For example: Blonde ashy hair but with golden brown eyes, or mousy hair colour with blue eyes, or mixed eyes (blue with some yellow or grey in them)
• Your veins might be a mix of blue and green

2. Deep-dark/Light test:

You need:

• A mirror
• Natural lighting

How to do it:

Stand a couple of feet away from the mirror. Close your eyes for 5 seconds and open them. What feature of you stands out the most? (e.g. dark hair and dark eyes)

Dark-deep generally have:

• Strong, rich colouring
• Eyes - Black, black-brown, dark auburn, brown, dark green or dark hazel. And in some instances a very deep, dark blue (any other colour is not deemed as ˜deep')
• Hair - Black, black-brown, chestnut brown, medium brown, dark auburn. Very deep hair colour. In some instances salt and pepper hair
• Skin tone ranges from pale ivory or olive to dark olive, tan-brown to black skin

Best colours for dark-deep are dark, such as black, royal purple and dark reds. Your colouring needs dark and vivid colours. Light pastels make you look washed out.

Warm Deep:

Your season is Deep - Autumn. Deep Autumns have a more obvious warm undertone.

Best colours for you: Salmon pink, Light peach, Terracotta and colours below:

Cool Deep:

Your season is Deep Winter. Deep Winters have a more obvious cool undertone.

Best colours for you: Fuschia, Icy pink, Burgandy and colours below:

Light generally have:

• The lightest and most delicate colouring in the seasonal colour analysis
• Eyes - Light to medium blue or green. You may also have light hazel to pale brown eyes
• Hair - Light to medium ash or golden blonde or soft/light auburn. Very light hair in general

Warm Light:

You are a Spring. You have more obvious warmer undertones.

Best colours for you: Bright coral, Camel, Light moss and colours below:

Cool Light:

You are a Summer. You have a more delicate, pinkish undertone.

Best colours for you: Deep rose, Cocoa, Aqua green and colours below:

3. Muted/Clear test:

You need:

• A mirror
• Natural lighting

How to do it:

Stand a couple of feet away from the mirror. Close your eyes for 5 seconds and open them. Paying attention to your dominant features, are they soft-muted meaning they are mousy or neither light or dark, or is your colouring more bright and crisp?

Muted-Soft:

• Your dominant feature colourings are somewhat neutral (a mix of warm and cool), you can appear light but you have a richer look. Often classified as 'mousy'
• Eyes - Brown to hazel, grey green, blue grey, clear blue, or a mix of everything
• Hair - Golden blonde (strawberry blonde) to medium brown, soft auburn. Medium to deep ash brown. You may have light grey/yellow grey hair. Mousy appearance

Muted-Soft toneslook best in monochromatic and neutral colour combinations because your colouring doesn't need a lot of colour. Too vivid and too-deep colours will 'tip over' your look.

Warm Soft:

You are an Autumn. Although neutral, you have a more obvious warm undertone.

Best colours for you: Olive green, Salmon pink, Mahogany and colours below:

Cool Soft:

You are a Summer. Although neutral, you have a more obvious cool undertone.

Best colours for you: Blue green, Soft fushcia, Burgandy and the colours below:

Clear:

• Your dominant characteristic is Clear it means you have a bright and crisp look to your colouring. Your eyes have a clear colour which is intensified with your bright hair
• Eyes - Clear blue, turquoise blue or green, clear green, emerald or sparkly amber/topaz
• Hair - Black, black-brown, medium to dark brown. You may have very bright golden deep blonde or red hair. You may have very golden white-blonde hair

Warm Clear:

You are a Spring. You have more obvious peaches n' cream warm undertones.

Best colours for you: Teal blue, Warm pink, True green and the colours below:

Cool Clear:

You are a Winter. You have more cooler and contrasting colours.

Best colours for you: Royal blue, Magenta, Pine green and the colours below:

From the above, hopefully you have found your complementary colours and your season! Apart from knowing the colours which best complement you and your features, identifying your season can also tell you a bit about your personality traits!

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