What Clients Observe in the Mirror during a Personal Colour Analysis Session
Orange Red vs. Blue Red
Which one suits you better?
During the first half of the Personal Colour Analysis (PCA) session, the client sits in front of a mirror while I place colour drapes under his face. We observe the effects different drapes have on his face and we always compare two drapes and determine which one is better (or less bad) until we perfectly narrow down the three colour dimensions of his face (hue, value and chroma). This process takes approximately two hours.
What are the effects we can observe in the mirror? What do my clients see and comment on? How do we decide which drape (out of the two) was better or less bad?
If you would like to uncover the veil of the PCA process, keep reading.
As I mentioned before, one of the two drapes will suit your skin tone better than the other one. With the less suitable drape, we will observe stronger negative effects on your face. Sometimes we can observe multiple negative effects at once. Other times one negative effect is dominant.
The Negative Effects We Observe In The Mirror:
Skin tone is uneven. The skin looks patchy, as if broken down into non-homogenous particles; like puzzle pieces that have different structure and that do not belong together.
Eye circles are more profound and more visible. They look deeper, greyer, greener or more purple.
Lines and wrinkles are more visible. An unwelcome shadow fills the wrinkles and makes them stand out.
Sun damage and pigment spots are more visible.
Eye whites appear less white and more grey or beige.
Mouth contour is blurred and less defined.
The natural colour of the mouth looks unhealthy; as if the person were dead or frozen - think of Jack Dawson at the end of Titanic ;-( .
Eyes appear to be sucked deeper into the eye sockets and slightly lost.
Skin looks as if sprayed over by a thin layer of grey, yellow, brown, orange or red paint.
One facial feature (usually the eyes) is enhanced at the expense of the other facial features (eyebrows, nose, lips, chin). The eyes seem to be one meter ahead of the analysed client and the other facial features are lost behind and hard to find. Simply, the facial features are not on the same level.
A double or triple chin makes an appearance.
The lower part of the face and/or the jawline is puffy and swollen. I like to call it “the bubble fish effect”! :-)
Another effect I call “the balloon head effect”. When the colour dimensions of the drape vs. client’s face are poles apart, the client’s head resembles a balloon that flies above the drape with no hope whatsoever of those two ever connecting. They repel each other like magnets. In other words, the drape and the client’s face are like two different universes, two different planets that would never meet, never find a common ground.
Face is washed out, as if the drape would erase the client.
All we see is the drape. The face comes second and our eyes struggle to look at the face as they constantly drop to the drape. The drape simply overpowers the face, as if it were two meters in front of the face.
Facial contours drop. It looks as if the skin dropped down by 0,5-1 cm. What a profoundly ageing effect!
Client looks sad, subdued and lacking energy. He definitely doesn’t look happy, healthy or energised.
Client looks immature, less competent and less authentic.
Uff! This is quite a long list of negative effects, isn’t it? Can you imagine seeing all those during the PCA session?
How about the positive effects? The positive effects are quite self-explanatory and can be deduced from the negative ones.
The Positive Effects your best colours Have On Your Face:
Skin tone is even.
Eye-whites come across as white and healthy.
Skin is lifted and toned.
Face looks slim.
Cheek bones are well defined.
Jawline is well defined (not lost or swollen or covered with shade).
Chin is well defined. No double/triple chin.
Mouth contour is well defined.
Cheeks and mouth have a healthy, youthful colour.
Eye-circles, pigment spots and wrinkles are less visible, less profound.
Client looks happy, healthy and energised.
All facial features are enhanced simultaneously.
Face is the centre of attention and not in competition with the drape.
Client looks mature, authentic, balanced and beautiful.
Can you tell what shades of colours have a negative and what have a positive effect on your face? What shades of red, blue, green, violet and yellow suit you and what shades should you avoid? Maybe you find it hard to tell the differences looking at your own face. How about someone else’s face? Do you notice when the colours your husband or colleague or friend wears are in harmony or disharmony with him?
Have a blessed second Sunday of Advent.
