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Finding the right colour
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| Fiona McClurg-Welland |
THERE are just some days, when for some apparent reason, people are lining up to give me a compliment about the way I look. Then the very next day it might feel as if hardly anyone notices me at all. What could have possibly changed in 24 hours?
According to image consultant Fiona McClurg-Welland from Aston Clinton, part of the answer resides in the colours we choose to wear.
"Colour creates a psychological and emotional response," Fiona tells me, "so it's therefore natural that we are all affected by the colours around us."
She explains: "What colour analysis really means is finding the colours which harmonise with your natural hair, skin and eyes. When you create a circle of harmony around your face, you begin to look good, feel good and you'll begin to notice many more compliments from others."
Fiona begins by asking me a few questions about my natural eye and hair colours, as well as what shades of make-up I prefer to wear and what colour dominates my wardrobe.
She then places a white cotton cloth around my shoulders, to exclude any other colours or "visual distractions" from my clothes.
Next, Fiona places a number of coloured swatches against my face and decides which combination of colours work best with my hair, skin and eyes.
"To carry out the colour analysis, we divide people's colouring into four different groups, named after the four seasons," explains Fiona.
"Because I don't like putting people into a box, I also compare cool colours with warm colours.
So cool is divided into winter, which is deep and bright, and summer, which is light and muted. Warm is divided into autumn, which is deep and muted, and spring, which is light and bright."
| "When you create a circle of harmony around your face, you begin to look good, feel good and you’ll begin to notice many more compliments from others." | | Fiona McClurg-Welland |
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Fiona gives me a mirror while she holds the colours next to my face and it quickly becomes apparent which ones really enhance my features - and which ones make me look less than salubrious.
I begin to think there is something to this colour analysis after all.
She tells me: "This is such a visual thing that you can't really know which colours suit you best until you see what the mirror is telling you."
Identifying me as a winter person, some of the shades within this group seem fairly close to the colours I already wear. But others, including fuchsia, royal purple and bright yellow have never been on my clothes shopping radar.
Colour analysis certainly made me think of ways I could start improving my wardrobe, even if I just start with accessories or experiment with different types of make-up.
Fiona's own story is food for thought. Prior to her training on colour analysis, Fiona tells me she was "obsessed" with combining red and black in her choice of clothes.
While she thought she appeared confident and assertive, Fiona says others may have seen her as aggressive.
After her training, she ditched the red and instead moved towards dusky pinks, mid-blues and light to dark greys, which she feels better harmonise with her natural attributes.
Fiona tells me she even changed her car from a bright red number to one in silver blue and adapted her home decor to suit her own colour personality.
Fiona is holding a self-image workshop at Felden Lodge, Boxmoor, Hemel Hempstead on Friday, February 15; and at the Belmore Centre, Stoke Mandeville, on Saturday, February 16. Tickets: 01442 822093
3:33pm Thursday 24th January 2008
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