Monday

Are You a Summer, Winter, Spring, Autumn or What?

Originally Posted: Perfectly Shaped Life - October 2007

Each of us has a particular range of color palettes that flatter our natural coloring the best. A special shade of blue that makes our eyes dazzle. That certain green tone that brings out those highlights in your hair. We may not yet know exactly why we gravitate toward a certain color or palette, but it's not voodoo or witchcraft.

Anyone can find their true colors, and we're going to get started in that direction in a moment. Let's demystify a few of the terms first:


Part 1: Working the Color Wheel



    Terms and Definitions
  • Primary: red, yellow, blue
  • Secondary: orange, violet, green - formed by combining primary colors
  • Tertiary: red-orange, red-violet, yellow-green, yellow-orange, blue-green, blue-violet
  • Warm: red, red-orange, orange, yellow-orange, yellow, yellow-green
  • Cool: green, blue-green, blue, blue-violet, violet, red-violet
  • Hue: color
  • Tint: a color blended with white
  • Shade: a color blended with black
  • Value: the darkness or lightness of a hue
  • Saturation: the strength or weakness of a color (the more the color is mixed with other colors, the less saturated it becomes).
  • Monochromatic: of one color, variations on a single color
  • Analogous harmony: two or more neighboring colors (red, red-orange, orange)
  • Complementary: colors on opposite sides of the color wheel (red and green, violet and yellow)


    Here's what you will want to have on hand, to get ready for the next part of our exercise.
  • Hair color
  • Skin tone (warm or cool)
  • Eye color (without the contacts)
  • Your absolutely positively most favorite blouse or scarf

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