Is "getting your colours done" worth the hype?
“Getting your colours done” first gained popularity in the 1980s thanks to bestselling book Color Me Beautiful by Carole Jackson, and by the mid-90s you may recall being invited to a colour analysis party.
Like most trends, it’s come around again, but this time, technology and social media have got in on the action, with #coloranalysis gaining 999 million views (and counting) on TikTok. It became so popular, TikTok designed its very own colour analysis filter, which went viral (though professionals question the reliability of the tech). So, the GH fashion team were intrigued to find out what all the fuss is about and to see if “getting your colours done” professionally lives up to all the promises and hype.
The aim of colour analysis is to determine factors such as the “temperature” of your skin and the contrast of your facial features to place you on a unique colour wheel of best-suited shades that helps unlock your natural beauty, with promises of life-changing differences in your appearance and complexion.
At first glance, the members of our fashion team look quite similar – brunette hair with fairish skin – so you may think our results would be similar. But when we met Hannah, one half (with her sister, Sophia) of the stylist duo who own and run Curate Your Style, she showed us just how differently we scored on her 12-part colour chart, with each season – spring, summer, autumn and winter – further divided into three sections. Here are our results….
Corin Ripley, Fashion Assistant = Soft Autumn
BEST SUITS: muted, neutral-warm, understated colours
“I was described by Hannah as a ‘Soft Autumn’, having a neutral tone, leaning on the warm side. We instantly ruled out ashy shades such as grey and Barbie pink, which were too cool and only emphasised my dark circles and sallow tinges to my skin. Instead, soft autumn colours like burnt sienna, navy blue and earthy greens provided my skin with clarity, warmth and vitality – I instantly looked really healthy. These tones allowed my Hazel eyes and olive skin to shine instead of being dominated by bold shades that take focus away from my face.
I’ve always been drawn to light makeup, low-maintenance balayage hair and natural-toned clothes, so it was confidence-boosting to know that the shades I naturally gravitate towards are the ones that suit me best. Phew! I don’t have to rethink my whole wardrobe. However, I do need to rethink my relationship with black, which currently takes up 40% of my wardrobe. Hannah showed me how black casts unflattering dark shadows on my face so for me it’s definitely best avoided.
With a wedding to go to in July, I’d been two clicks away from buying a black dress I thought would be the epitome of chic. Something told me to hold off until after my results and boy, am I glad I did! I’ve now opted for a sage-green satin midi dress from Ghost, paired with gold platform heels. I now look back at pictures of me in lurid, bold colours that aren’t in my palette and wonder, ‘What was I thinking?!’ Knowing my colour wheel means I’ll never have to feel that feeling again. Only confidence remains.”
Amanda Marcantonio, Fashion Director = True Winter
BEST SUITS: cool, icy, rich, jewel-toned colours with a blue undertone
“When Hannah put large swatches of my ‘wrong’ colours up to my face, it was astonishing how tired and ill I looked. If you’re wearing your true palette, colours should look effortless, neither overpowering nor draining you, as they’ll work in harmony with your natural beauty. To come away from the lesson with a better complexion and my perfect palette of 80 shades was such an empowering revelation.
‘True Winters’ have a strikingly high contrast between hair, skin and eye colour, and their skin tone is cool with blue undertones, which means warm colours drain our complexion. Sharper, intense cooler tones such as cobalt blue, silver, sea green, ruby red, black and white look much more flattering on me.
I literally couldn’t wait to get home and do a deep dive into my wardrobe, ditching all the warm yellowy, creamy, camel tones (I gave Corin and Fiona a few pieces). On Hannah’s advice, I also switched my usual red lipstick, MAC Lady Danger (yellow undertones), to MAC Ruby Woo, which is still a bright red, but with blue undertones. I wore my new lippy on a girls’ night out at the weekend and my husband commented: ‘I never did like the old one. I thought it looked too harsh on you. This one looks so much better – I really like it.’ These small, subtle differences make such a big impact.”
Fiona Andrews, Bookings Director = Soft Summer
BEST SUITS: muted, neutral-cool, understated colours
Our fashion bookings director, Fiona, has a Maltese background, which makes for a rich brunette hair and an olive skin tone. She differs from a “Soft Autumn” (neutral-warm) as she leans towards the neutral-cool spectrum, where ashy tones are her friend.
Top Tip: Our seasons never change. But as we grow older, Sophia suggests leaning toward a slightly lighter version of our colour wheel to accommodate the greying of our hair and lightening features.
“Black has always been a big part of my wardrobe, so imagine my horror when my session confirmed I was a ‘Soft Summer’ and black was nowhere to be seen on my colour palette!
As Hannah draped square cloths of colour over my shoulders, starting with the ‘wrong’ shades for my skin undertones, it was obvious to see my appearance change and, dare I say, improve with Soft Summer colours.
I have dark hair and an olive complexion so always presumed brights suited me, but it’s quite the opposite. I look better, more lifted, in muted, cool, grey colours – even pinks with more blue than yellow in them.
It’s already changed how I buy clothes. I head for my colour in shops now, rather than looking at everything. It also makes packing a doddle as my wardrobe is more complementary and most pieces work together.”
Final thoughts…
If you’re worried that your results may be wildly different from how you normally dress and you’ll have to do an entire wardrobe overhaul, the chances are you won’t – as our fashion team found out, we all have a natural instinct as to what suits us or not. This experience can help empower you and put you on the right path to curating your perfect capsule wardrobe, providing you with the best tools to make fine tweakments and explore new colours that help you look and feel your best.
So, is it worth getting your colours done? Our fashion director, Amanda, definitely thinks so. “I’ll be totally honest – despite countless women swearing by it, I initially thought ‘getting my colours done’ might be a bit naff. Oh, how wrong I was! It was the most fascinating, wardrobe game-changing lesson I could have wished for. I honestly couldn’t recommend it enough. In fact, I’ve been raving about it so much, my friends desperately want to have theirs done, too. I truly feel more confident and attractive, as I feel I look my best every day – I think I’ve become slightly obsessed with my swatches, even keeping them on my phone for when I go shopping. It’s totally transformed the way I shop, for the better, for ever.”
How and where can I get my colours done?
Curate Your Style offers in-person appointments at different package levels: Bronze, £100; Silver, £120; or Gold, £180 (please note, there’s a very long waitlist for its London services).
Another option is an online consultation. Curate Your Style’s Colour, Body Shape, Hair and Makeup analysis services are priced as follows: Bronze, £33; Silver, £60; or Gold, £95. Find out more at www.curateyourstyle.london.
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