The Vain Villain

A delayed apology...

2010-12-18T12:39:00.000+01:00

...for not updating! However, truth to be told, I won't be able to update until I finish my exam the 22th of December. I have another exam in the beginning of January, too, so it'll be hectic! Studying, trying to move from one apartment to another (I still have some stuff left, eek!), and put an illness upon all that, and you've got my past few weeks. I'm sorry I couldn't get the body shape posts up before X-mas, but hopefully everything will be up before the end of the month. I'll also put up some tips for outfits you could wear for New Year's Eve. :)

See you soon (I promise)!

Body shapes: Pear

2010-12-09T01:23:00.000+01:00

Alongside with the rectangular shapes, the pear body shapes are what I stumble the most upon. The uttermost basic classification of a pear shape, is that they have wider (lower)hips than shoulders. This in turn means that the pear stores most of her weight on the lower part on her body. Their upper bodies are a lot more slender than their lower body, and they may, or may not, have a defined waist, and the lower body is shorter in length. Usually, their breasts are small in size (since breasts consist of fat), which results in a bony chest if you are skinny, and their shoulders are narrow. Whereas some pears may store fat in the lower areas of the belly, most of it goes "straight to the thighs". Also, many pears have saddlebags and/or a big bum, and chunky calves with little definition are indeed common.

The pear shape is usually the easiest to recognize. However, if you don't know whether your breasts would be classified as small or big, whether your bum is flat or round, or perhaps where you tend to put on weight, take a look at yourself in skintight clothes with your arms down, in front of a full-length mirror. Now, are your shoulders (measured from the shoulder bone rather than the upper arm) smaller than your hips (the widest part of your lower body, usually across the bum)? Are your hips wider than your midsection? If you answered "yes" to these two questions, then you are most likely a pear.

Some famous pears: Hillary Clinton, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Shakira, Kirstie Alley, Kristin Davis

To sum the shape definitions up before we proceed:

Lower body are wider
Tends to need a larger size in pants and skirts than tops
Often chunky calves
Small breasts
Narrow shoulders
May or may not have a defined waist
Stores fat in the lower body
Saddlebags are common
May have a big or a slightly drooping bum
Longer upper body

What to wear (and what to avoid)
Make the body appear in proportion. Make the lower body appear smaller, and put an emphasis on the upper body.

Choose darker colors on the lower body, and go for lighter and brighter colors, patterns and details on the upper body
Avoid details on your lower body, especially around the hips and bum. Avoid horizontal seams across your hips
Avoid side pockets, and back pockets if your bum is big. Choose a slit version instead, or no pockets at all
Carry your bags high. That is, keep them above your lower body. If the straps on the bag are long, make them shorter by adding new holes
Go for tops and jackets that visually broaden your shoulders and draw the attention. Think shoulder pads, wide and high necklines, an eye-catching collar, horizontal seaming, spaghetti-straps, double breasted jackets, patterns and other details
3/4-lenght sleeves are great as they accomodate in drawing the eye towards the upper body
You have a slender upper body - show it off! Hiding in boxy tops that fall straight from your shoulders to your hips will only make you appear heavier than you are
Jackets should end at the hip-bone, coats should be knee-lenght
Make sure tops end at the hip bone (not the widest part of the hip!) or mid-thigh. If your thighs are heavy, you are better off with shorter tops than those that cut across your thighs
Avoid capris and anything that is calf or ankle lenght
The best skirt and dress length is an inch below or below the knee. Minis or calf-lenght are not for you. Avoid pencil skirts and bias-cut. Wide skirts such as an a-line would be your best bet
Patterns on skirts are usually a no-no for the pear shape, but it often works when the pattern is busy with very little negative space (the "holes" between the pattern which reveal the underlying color of the skirt)
Grecian, empire-line dresses with a high, wide neckline works great. Avoid skin tight dresses as they reveal any lump and bump
Go for bootcut, flare or wide jeans and pants rather than straight and skinny leg
When choosing jeans, avoid stonewashed or distressed variants, especially those with whiskering on the thighs. Go for a darker wash instead
Your best shoes are knee-lenght boots or as open shoes as possible. Avoid ankle boots and ankle straps, as they will make your calves appear thicker. If you wish to wear ankle boots, make sure your pants or jeans hide them as much as possible, or if wearing with a skirt/dress; make sure it blends color-wise with your thights (which again should blend with the skirt)
Go for heavy and chunky heels, such as a straight cone/square shape or a wedge. Platforms are great. Kitten heels and thin stilettos are not for you, nor are completely flat shoes
You wish to visually lenghten your lower body as it is shorter than your upper body. Wearing heels with pants that gently sweep the floor and disguise the heel works wonders. High-waisted skirts or pants are also a nice bet. Make sure your shoes never are lighter or brighter than your pants/skirt. If you don't wear tights to a skirt or a dress, choose a shoe in the same color as the dress/skirt or the color of your skin

Examples of flattering outfits for a pear shape:

Examples of UNflattering outfits for a pear shape:

If you have ANY questions, feel free to leave a comment!

Soon!

2010-12-04T22:17:00.000+01:00

In the following days, I'll be a busy bee, so I won't be able to blog until Wednesday. However, please feel free to ask me all your questions, and I'll answer all of them when I'm back.

See you in a few days!

Female body shapes

2010-12-01T17:44:00.001+01:00

One thing which is so common for a lot of women, is judging what'll look good on them depending on what size they wear, or what the scale says. And thus, they believe that if they are a size 10, and the tag says "size 10", it'll fit them perfectly. Yet, when looking in the mirror, they might feel that something's off. Perhaps the dress doesn't fit at all over the hips, despite being labeled a 10. Or perhaps it's way too big around the midsection. Frustrated, the women leave the dress behind and may even start feel bad. Surely, if they are a size 10, and the dress says 10, then why won't it fit?

In their program, "Undress The Nation", fashion gurus Trinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine proved that even if the label matches your size, a piece of clothing might not fit well, if at all. They gathered a large group of women which all declared themselves to be the same size. Then, each women got one identical dress in the corresponding size. Finally, it was revealed that despite being the "correct" size, the dress looked different on about every woman in the room.

The point, which I'm slowly, yet steady, approaching, is that you shouldn't pick clothes after mere size. Instead, try to pick pieces of clothing that fits your body shape.

You might have stumbled upon terms such as "hourglass", "apple", "pear" or "banana". These aren't just fruits or a depiction of time. No, these are descriptive terms for our body shapes. Or, what I prefer to call them, umbrella terms for our body shapes.

Basically, each of these terms refer to the outline of our body (as decided by the way our skeleton is built). Also, they are indicators of where we store our fat. Let me break down each of these for you:

Banana: Also known as ruler, boy-ish or rectangle. May be long and lean, or shorter and broader. Hips and shoulders are in proportion. Little to no waist. Body fat is evenly distributed through the body
Apple: Also referred to as top heavy. The upper body is wider and heavier than the lower body. Slender hips. Breasts come in all sizes. Little to no midsection. The classic apple has a protruding belly, and the midsection is the widest part. Body fat is mainly concertrated on the upper body
Pear: Aslo referred to as bottom heavy. The lower body is bigger than the top. Hips are broader than the shoulders, and the upper body is usually slender with medium to small breasts. The classic pear has wide hips with saddlebags, a small decolleté, a slight waist and heavy and undefined calves. Body fat is stored on the lower half
Hourglass: Hips and shoulders are in proportion, and the waist is visibly smaller. No matter the weight, the hourglass retains a smaller waist. Even if the hourglass loses a lot of weight, she will still inhibit her curves. The classic hourglass has medium to big breasts, full hips and a waist that is 20-25 cm smaller than the hips. Body fat is evenly stored throughout the body, but it's also common for the sub-types of hourglasses to store the weight around the hips and lower belly

As our clothes lie on the outside of our body and follow our outlines, the most rational thing is to choose according to our outline rather than our size. For instance, a size 12 banana might look better in a sheath dress than a size 2 hourglass. A few common misconceptiona, are that the term hourglass refer to all ladies over a certain style, that all bananas are very skinny, that all apples have barrel-like upper bodies, and that all pears have no breasts and a saggy butt. Let me just get this straight right now: That's a whole lot of crap! All the shapes come in all sizes and a myriad of variations! You'll find apples with flat stomachs, and pears with the perkest butts in town. You'll find size 20 bananas, and size 0 hourglasses.

In the following posts, I explain the sub-shapes and give tips to how you can dress your shape:
[Bananas]
[Apples]
[Pears]
[Hourglasses]

(UNDER CONSTRUCTION! BODY SHAPE POSTS COMING SOON!)

In the body shape posts, it's worth noting that I use my "own" terms on the various sub-types. Despite referring to Trinny and Susannah's episode about body shapes, I'm not using their terminology. However, I can warmly reccomend they book, The Body Shape Bible. My shape isn't there, but it still cover many different body shapes, and they share a lot of great tips. Nor do I use the marvelous Gok Wan's body shape terms. He even has a nifty little calculator up at Channel 4's website. Trinny and Susannah did have a calculator up at Littlewood's websites for some time, but unfortunately, it's nowhere to be found for the moment. While I'm at talking about body shape calculators, be sure to check out Shop Your Shape, if calculators are down your alley.

A few ways to identify your shape

Wear either something very tight or nothing and look at yourself in a mirror. If you were to describe your body, what would you say? Big breasts? A wasp-like waist? Heavy legs? Big upper arms? A flat bum? Don't say anything like "fat" or "skinny". Look at each part, and compare them to the rest of the body. Compare what you just described to pictures or descriptions of the body shapes
Measure your shoulders, breasts, waist and hips, and compare the measurements to what each body shape description says
Pay attention to where you store your fat when gaining or losing weight
Ask a friend to look at you with his/her objective glasses on. What shape would he/she say you look the most like?

I would like to say that you shouldn't worry if you don't match 100% up with a body shape. Most people don't. Even if the beforementioned body shapes have sub-types, it doesn't mean that there still are variations on a theme! Dress according to YOUR body, and use the body types as guidelines, rather than rules carved in stone.

The magic of clothing: The belly

2010-11-30T02:26:00.001+01:00

In this series, I'll show you how clothing and accessories can help any "problem area" disappear. In this first part, I'll talk about ways to conceal a belly - a sought after tip in this festive season.

YES:

A darker top under a lighter jacket/cardigan. While light top + dark jacket is a common combination, a darker top makes the belly go away as by magic! When teamed with a lighter color, the darker color recedes and seems to shrink. It's worth noting that "darker" doesn't have to translate to "black". Any color will do, as long as it's darker than the jacket/cardigan!
Empire tops and dresses (high waisted - over your natural waist, below your bust). However, avoid excessive pleating and gathering, as that'll only make your belly appear bigger. Note: Soft pleating works
Somewhat loose-fitting (not tent-like!) tops that softly skim your belly
Vertical ruching on the sides or down the middle of the top. The folds will disguise any roll or lump and bump, and as by magic, the ruching makes the belly vanish
V-necks and similar open necklines
Colorful shoes which draw the attention away from the belly. Wedges are particularly good
Pants and skirts with a side-zip, rather than the usual frontal zipper
Pants and skirts which hit slightly under, or across your belly button
Pants with straight, bootcut or wide legs
Earrings and necklaces draw the focus away from the belly
Long, lean jackets and coat which are open. By not closing your jacket, it'll divide the top half in three narrow parts
Shaped, structured jackets with one button right under the bust
Vertical stripes and seams
A top with narrow stripes, particularly when paired with a jacket, works wonders for slimming the figure. Where large vertical stripes broaden, the skinny stripes works almost as a ladder - enabling the eye to climb upwards, thus creating a slimming effect
Patterns work nicely if they are medium sized and dense. Sparse patterns appear to enlarge an area, where dense, medium sized patterns "confuse" the eye, and blur the area - making the wearer appear slimmer
Hold in/Shape wear physically slims down your figure

NO:

Pants and skirts with very high, or very low, waist
Details around the midsection! Avoid pleating, horizontal pockets and so on in this area
Large, shapeless pieces of clothing won't make you look smaller!
...nor will skin tight clothes. Especially not those in shiny or textured fabrics!
Drainpipe jeans/Skinny pants is like an arrow pointing at your upper body
Pants and skirts with a pleated waist. If desiring pleated skirts, choose those where the pleating starts at the hips
Tucking tops into pants or skirts
Belting the waist will only draw attention to it

Examples of belly slimming outfits in various styles:

(Click the pictures to view product information)

Hungry for some fashion?

2010-11-29T19:12:00.000+01:00

First off, please excuse the rather obvious and very lame title. Apparently, my creativity has hit rock bottom. Alas!

Anyhow! Right now I'm in the middle of moving to a new place as well as studying for my exams, so I've got less time on my hands than desired to do the planned body shape posts. However, fear not, the posts are coming sooner than you think! Meanwhile, whilst browsing one of my favourite blogs, Tom & Lorenzo, I came across this rather jaw dropping eye candy I absolutely had to share with you.

All the garments are mady by the incredibly talented Korean artist Sung Yeun Ju. She makes wonderful pieces using food rather than fabric. Yes, that's right. FOOD. The concept isn't new, but this is the first time I've seen it done this well. Take a look at that bubble gum dress (and the bubble gum top on her website)! To me, it looks like a watercolor painting. You'll find more pieces on her site.

(Made out of tomatoes)

(Made out of red onion)

(Made out of bubble gum)

(Made out of shrimp)

(Made out of eggplant)

Face shapes

2010-11-27T04:17:00.000+01:00

Human beings differ in what seems to be an endless well of ways. Just as coloring and body shape are different, so are our faces. And by faces, I don't only mean the features of our face, such as the size of our nose, the shape of our eyes, the fullness of our lips, and so forth. I'm talking about the shape of the face.

Some people have a broad jaw, other people have a strong chin, other people have a small forhead, other people have high cheekbones, and so the list goes on. Our face shape is the geometrical contour of our face. Take a good look at your self in the mirror. If your hair is long, pull it back. Same goes for bangs. Now, use a lipstick, eyeliner or whatever you have that can be scrubbed away. Whilst looking straight into the mirror, try to follow the contours of your face by drawing at the mirror. Don't look at your ears, or hair or nose or anything else; just the facial contour. You might find it easier to focus on the contour if shutting one eye, or squinting. Now, take a step back. What does the shape look like? Which geometrical shape would you compare it to?

I will get in more detail about each shape, but first, let's do a quick summary of each face shape, shall we?

Long: Visibly longer than wide, with a soft jaw line
Rectangle: Visibly longer than wide, with a square jaw line
Round: About as wide as it is long. The cheeks are the widest point
Square: Almost as wide as it is long. You can draw a vertical line from the forehead, cheek bones to jaw line. Strong, square jaw line
Inverted triangle: Wide forehead, high cheek bones and a narrow chin
Heart: Wide forehead, high cheek bones and a narrow chin. Differs from the inverted triangle with its widow's peak
Diamond: Wide cheekbones, about equally narrow chin and forehead. Basically a mix between a dramatic oval and a heart (yet with a narrower forehead)
Pear: Very narrow forehead. The shape is gradually widening towards a full, rounded jaw
Triangle: Narrow forehead, almost vertical line from cheek bones to the strong, square jaw. The jaw might be slightly wider than the cheek bones
Oval: Shaped like an egg. Slopes softly from the cheek bones to the jaw. The forehead is wider than the jaw. Considered ideal due to its neutral features

I will now share some tips to looking your best, no matter what face shape you've got. I personally find all shapes just as beautiful, but the aim with these tips is to work with the shape, rather than against it. When wearing the "wrong" kind of hair style or accessories, your shape might appear jarringly exaggerated. The goal is to make it more oval, or neutral, yet still retaining the shape you've got.

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Long and rectangle

Hair:

Avoid flat, long clunks of hair running down the sides of your face. This will only make your face look longer. For a rectangular face, this will also make your jaw look more angular
Choose styles with width around the temples and ears. This will make your face appear wider, thus shorter
Often, people with long or rectangular faces have a big forehead. For those with a long face, heavy, long bangs will be flattering. The rectangular faces should opt for softer, more diagonally cut bangs. Diagonal bangs will soften a strong jaw line
The most flattering length, would be medium to medium long. If lusting long, lucious locks, add volume to the hair in the area around your neck and nape. Very short hair will display the length of your face full on
Avoid hair styles which are high on the crown. High hair will only make your face appear longer
If you have a rectangular face, you should avoid very angular hair styles. Angular hair styles with sharp edges bring forth each angular line in your face. As the rectangular shaped face often wants to make the jaw line appear softer, angular hair styles will work against this goal
The rectangle should avoid center parting, whereas the long face looks great with it

Makeup:

Contour your hair line and blend down towards your forehead, as well as on and under your chin. Use a highlighter on the top of your cheeks and at the temples
Rectangular faces could also contour on their jaw line and blend upwards to soften the angular jaw. If one with a long face would want to broaden their jaw, the jaw contouring would be placed under, and following, the jaw line, up towards the back side of the ear
Apply blush on the apple of the cheek, and pull the blusher slightly and very softly up diagonally on top of the cheek bones
Long face shapes suit flat, straight brows, whereas the rectangular face needs more of a defined arch

Accessories:

Tall, broad glasses with an accentuated top rim or decorative temples are a flattering choice. The rectangular face could benefit from a more oval shape of the glasses
Hats should be big and wide rather than small and narrow
Avoid long earrings. The rectangular face shaped person should avoid all rectangular shaped earrings, and instead opt for more rounded shapes
The rectangular shaped should avoid square necklines, and instead go for more rounded ones

Sarah Jessica Parker has a long face shape, whereas Angelina Jolie's face is more rectangular

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Round

Hair:

Go for height at the crown to make the face appear longer
Don't conceal the forehead completely. If sporting bangs, enable at least some part of the hairline to shine through
The most flattering bangs for your face shape, are long, diagonal ones. Heavy, long or short bangs, are less so
Keep your hair close to your head in the area around your ears
A short pixie crops and short bobs will only emphasize the roundness of your face. Medium long to long hair flatters your shape the most
Curls at the sides of your head will only make your hair look wider. If wanting, or having, curly hair, curls below the chin would be more flattering

Makeup:

Contour along the sides of your face and under your cheekbones. Highlight on the top of your cheekbones, down your nose and on the middle of your forehead and chin
Apply blush under the apple of your chin, and sweet it diagonally upwards towards your temples - basically, follow your cheekbones
Very high arched brows flatter a round face

Accessories:

Avoid wide, tall and round glasses. Opt for angular ones instead. Upswept, angular styles are also very flattering
Avoid round necklines. A narrow v-shaped neckline is by far a lot more flattering
Go for long earrings. Short, wide and circular earrings will only emphasize the width of your face

Charlotte Church and Kirsten Dunst both have round faces
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Square

Hair:

Avoid too much width at the sides of the faces. Instead, add volume below the jaw
Instead of straight, angular styles, opt for more organic shapes such as waves and use layers to frame the face. However, if you have short hair, keep the hair closer to your head and use layers to add life
Choose a side parting rather than a center parting. Asymmetry is key when being the owner of a square face
Where blunt bangs only will make your jaw look more angular, side swept, diagonal bangs will flatter
Medium to medium long hair suits a square face very much. A shoulder length, wavy bob with side swept bangs is one of the most flattering hair styles for this face shape
Showing everything, or nothing, of the forehead, will only emphasize the square jaw. Use bangs or layers to conceal some of the forehead

Makeup:

Contour your face at the sides of the forehead and the top of the jaw. When blending the contour from the jaw, make sure you blend upwards, and avoid contouring under the jaw line, or behind the ear. Highlight the cheekbones and down the middle of your face
Use blush at the apple of your cheek. Sweep the excess of your brush gently up along the cheekbone
Soft, gentle brows will disappear on an angular face. Instead, define your brows with color and shape. Curved or angular arched brows looks very nice on this face shape

Accessories:

If wearing a hat, choose one that is asymmetric and has a prominent, high crown
Avoid angular glasses, especially those with low-set temples or color accents at the lower rim. More oval or round shapes will look a lot better, as it will soften the strong jaw. Butterfly shaped glasses are also a flattering choice. Choose glasses that have more width than depth
Choose earrings that are longer than they are wide. However, make sure they end above or under the jaw, never right at it. By choosing organic, more oval shapes, the jaw line is softened
V-shaped and deep, rounded necklines are far more flattering than those which echo the shape of your face, such as square necklines. Also, do keep in mind that very wide necklines might appear to widen your face
Short angular necklaces, chokers and generally anything that wraps around your neck, will give an illusion of a wider and a more square face, especially if you have a short neck (which many square faced persons appear to have)

Rosario Dawson and Demi Moore both have square shaped faces

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Inverted triangle and heart

Hair:

Bangs or center parting look great. Side parting without bangs or a bare forehead; not so much
Avoid too much width above the ears - keep the width and volume around the jaw and chin area instead. This hair style, sported by Julia Roberts, is a perfect example
Keep the top layers of the hair soft and long. Avoid spiky, short hair around the crown
Long layers that frame the face are an excellent choice. Jennifer Aniston's famous 90's hair is a perfect example of a flattering layered style for heart/inverted triangle shaped faces
A chin-length (or longer) bob with tapered ends are very flattering as they balance the forehead

Makeup:

Contour along your hairline and the sides of your forehead and temples. Highlight your chin (unless it protrudes very much - then you're better off contouring softly underneath it) and you jaw
Apply blush on the apples of the cheeks and softly blend it diagonally towards the middle of the ear
Rounded, curved brows suit the inverted triangle/heart very well. If your face is short, go for a high arched round brow

Accessories:

Slender, rounded or square styles are nice picks. Go for bottom heavy frames or rimless glasses, as well as those with low-set temples. Avoid decorative temples, top heavy styles and very wide glasses
Medium long and wide earrings are your best choices. Avoid those which echo the shape of your face, that is a heart or an inverted triangle. You could instead opt for a more bottom heavy look to your earrings
Avoid long, narrow necklaces and v-necks, as that only with emphasize the narrowness of your chin and the width of your forehead. A more rounded or square neckline would be a better choice

Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Love Hewitt

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Diamond

Hair:

Styles with width around the temples and ears as well as the chin area are flattering. Most bangs are your best friend - both heavy, blunt ones, and breezier side-swept ones. Avoid short bangs and height at the crown, as well as short hair which follows the shape of the head, as the latter only will over-exaggerate the face shape.
The perfect length is chin-length or longer. If short hair, the most flattering style would be bangs with soft wispy sides. Where the Aniston haircut of the 90's would be perfect for the heart/inverted triangle shaped face, it wouldn't suit a diamond shape. A flattering variation would be to add bangs
Hair that is longer than the jaw, should be somewhat organic, either in the form of curls, waves or soft layers. A bob or long hair with waves and heavy bangs would be perfect for this face shape

Makeup:

Contour the sides of your cheekbones, and highlight your temples, the sides of your forehead and along your jaw
Apply blush to the apples of your cheeks
Curved, arched brows look great on a diamond face shape. Rounded shapes are also good

Accessories:

Upswept/cateye, oval and rimless glasses are very flattering. Frames with details at the top are a good choice. Avoid narrow styles and glasses which are wider than your cheekbones
Earrings should be wider on the bottom, such as tear drop, pear or triangle shaped styles. Oval shapes are also flattering
A narrow v-neck will only emphasize the narrowness of the jaw and chin. Aim for wider or more rounded necklines instead
Wide-brimmed hats are flattering as they widen your forehead

Elizabeth Hurley and Sophia Loren are two well-known diamond face shape owners

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Pear and triangle

Hair:

Avoid width and volume around the jaw line. Instead, add width, volume and height to the temples
Never end a hair style at the widest point of the jaw. Short or medium length is ideal. If being a long hair lover, add wispy layers and keep the hair tight at the nape area. The Farrah-cut would be anything but flattering, so avoid wispy outwards-turning layers like the plague. Short hair should not have bangs that fall over the forehead and eyes, nor should the hair at the temples be close to the head
Keep the hair style organic and flowy rather than angular with sharp edges
Long side-swept bangs and a side-parting are great for these shapes. A center part will work well if you don't have a short forehead
A long bob with fullness at the temples and which tapers down towards the jaw, is a flattering cut. The same goes for a long style with large natural waves and slightly teased long bangs

Makeup:

Contour along the jaw and blend it upwards (don't contour under the jaw and behind the ear! Keep the contouring in front of the ear), and contour along the cheekbones to make it pop out. If having a strong chin, do also contour below at, and on the sides of it. Highlight the temples and sides of your forehead, as well as along your cheekbones
Apply blush on the apples of your cheeks and upwards in a v-shape along the cheekbones towards your temples
Keep the eyebrows strong to balance out the heavy jaw. Angled or curved, arched brows are a nice choice. Keep the top of the arch defined and sharp

Accessories:

Glasses should be top heavy. Cateye/up-swept styles, semi-rimless (rimless at the bottom) and glasses with color or details on the top of the frame would be good choices. Avoid small, narrow frames and low-set temples
Avoid triangular-shaped jewelery, both necklaces and earrings. The earrings should be longer than they are wide, and not end at the jaw
Narrow necklines would be flattering, same goes for long, narrow necklaces. Avoid chokers and chunky necklaces

Ali Larter and Kathy Ireland

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Oval

Due to the neutral nature of the oval face, there are no specific tips besides avoiding very short layers, as they can make your face seem long. The perfect brow shape for the oval face, is considered to be the soft angled shape, and a good way to apply blush is to sweep it up towards the temples.

Charlize Theron and Jessica Alba

My current obsession

2010-11-25T00:09:00.000+01:00

I'm a girl who LOVE lipsticks, especially a blood or wine red one! However, due to the increasingly colder weather, I have hidden my lippies in my cave (For everyday use, that is! No party look without my beloved lipsticks!), and find myself leaving the apartment with *ghasp* my natural lip color!

You see, my beloved minions, I have succumbed to the power of the lip balm. A product I previously used only before going to sleep, I have now started wearing it in the light of day. The reason for this is simply the fact that I think I'm slightly obsessed with my balm, my dear and beloved EOS.

I was planning on buying the lip balm from Décleor. However, when visiting my family and friends back in Norway, I was so certain my lips were going to wither and die unless I bought myself something moisturizing. I poppet my head into the nearest beauty product shop, and bought myself an EOS lipbalm - a mega hyped product. As I admit I'm weak at resisting widely praised beauty products, I bought one. As they were out of the yellow one with SPF, I got myself the green version ("Honeysuckle honeydew").

Despite the very non-villainy name, I loved the smell and the feel at first... eh... roll. And now, I can't stop applying it. All day long, despite the funny looks I get when pulling out my egg shaped balm. I love it so much I sleep with it. Ok, not really, but it sits on top of my bedside table, looking rather cute and innocent if I may say so. It moisturizes my lips so well, allowing me to put on my most loved lipsticks when heading out for a night out - despite the cold winds that previously nearly tore up my lips! Sure, there are probably other products out there who do a better job at moisturizing your lips, but I doubt they look as cute, ehe. It's not too expensive either - about 3,30$ from the online store. However, you are able to buy them in physical stores as well. And, of course, they are cruelty friendly! As an added bonus, the balms are 95% organic and completely natural.

I can't wait for warmer weather which allows me to wear my lipsticks at a daily basis again, but for now, my EOS is my current obsession.

Note: I have bought this product by myself, and do NOT get paid by advertising for it.

Deep

2010-11-24T22:38:00.001+01:00

The deeps are often easily spotted by their dark hair and dark eyes. If you're a natural blonde or have pale eyes, then you can be certain you don't belong to the deep and cool nor the deep and warm. Typical hair colors are deep auburn to chestnut to dark black to blue black. The skintones, however, have a far broader range; you'll find alabaster deeps, olive deeps, beige deeps, caramel brown deeps, cocoa brown deeps, to very dark skinned deeps, to mention some. The common denominators, though, are the deep and rich overall coloring.

The deeps are truly radiant in black and jewel tones, but also in lighter colors such as ivory and taupe. However, when picking an outfit, they should refrain from wearing only light colors. They should opt for dark colors instead, or a dark + light combination. Dark and bright colors are very flattering to deeps, such as teaming black with turquoise or chili. The deeps are also possibly the ones who do dark makeup the best. Where red lips and darker eyes would overwhelm most people, the deeps have the depth to pull it off. However, not all makeup looks suit them; very light, pale and powdery makeup tend to suck the life out of their vivid coloring.

Keys:
Deep and rich. Dark eyes and hair.

Neutrals include, but aren't limited to:

Black brown, taupe, coal, dark navy, pewter, black

Deep basic palette:

Soft white, ivory, butter, stone, chocolate
Black brown, taupe, coal, dark navy, pewter
Lime, moss green, ivy, turquoise, teal
Emerald, spruce, forest green, cornflower, true blue
Royal purple, purple, damson, blush pink, true red
Scarlet, chili, burgundy, aubergine, black

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Deep and cool

Slightly cooler. Common skintones are olive, beige, dark brown, blue black, alabaster, ivory, cool beige and cool brown, however a slightly cooler bronze isn't a rarity either. The eyes are deep, and deep brown, ebony, hazel or olive. Like the eyes, the hair is dark: dark brown, black, blue black, or even a very dark auburn. The deep and cool looks absolutely brilliant in colors such as peppermint and dark teal, whilst colors like tomato red and mustard are less fortunate.

Some celebrity examples:
Eva Longoria (pictured), Penelope Cruz, Alek Wek, Cher, Susan Lucci, Rachel Bilson, Jada Pinkett Smith, Kim Yoon Jin, Anne Hathaway, Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell, The Jonas Brothers

Add-on colors:

White, peppermint, true green, dark teal
Light blue, viola, violet, plum
Candy pink, cyclamen, fuchsia, berry pink
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Deep and warm

The deep and warm have the defining characteristic of "deep", but are also warm in their overall coloring. The skin can be golden brown, honey brown, dark brown, ivory, bronze, warm olive, warm beige or merely golden. The hair is deep, in colors such as deep auburn, chestnut, dark brown or black. Like the hair, the eyes are deep, and often reflect the warmth in the deep and warm's coloring: Hazel, dark brown, ebony, golden brown or rich olive. Like the other tonal groups on the warm side of the spectrum, a golden ring or golden flecks in the pupil are common. The deep and warm looks glorious in colors such as mahogany and evergreen, but cannot successfully pull off the cooler colors of the deep and cool; like candy pink and berry pink.

Some celebrity examples:
Leighton Meester (Pictured), Sophia Loren, Kim Kardashian, Julia Roberts, Jessica Alba, Eva Mendes, Natalie Portman, Raquel Welch, Hillary Swank, Daniel Dae Kim, Denzel Washington

Add-on colors:

Mustard, camel, golden brown, mahogany
Coffee, olive green, evergreen, salmon pink
Dark salmon pink, tomato, rust red, pumpkin

Soft

2010-11-24T21:41:00.002+01:00

The two soft tonal groups, soft and cool and soft and warm, are the most misdiagnosed of all the seasons/tonal groups. Misdiagnosed as people believing they are a light spring rather than a soft and warm, for example, or misdiagnosed as people believing they are a soft, as they feel like their coloring is neutral, and they don't know where else to put themselves.

The dominant characteristic of the soft groups, are the fact that they appear, well, soft. Very low in contrast, with eyes, skin and hair often blending together, and their skin seems almost neutral, both in hue and saturation. You'll find soft groups among all races. However, they tend to be light-medium/medium/medium-dark in their skin color. They are rarely, if ever, really dark, nor are they pale and delicate like the lights. Their hair is often described as mousy, their eyes are soft and sometimes referred to as muddy, and their skin has an opaque, velvet-like look. However, their coloring isn't boring! It is soft and understated, yes, but they are fortunate enough to suit a wide array of colors - as long as the colors aren't too bright. Personally, I like to call the softs chameleons - they seem to be able to pull off a lot of looks.

When choosing an outfit, the softs look their best when the outfit is tonal/low in contrast. That means, no bright, high contrasting outfits such as a fuschia top with a black jacket. No, instead opt for colors that blend with each other. Softs best colors are soft in chroma/clarity/saturation and medium intensity (intensity referring to lightness/darkness). Dusty, softly saturated colors like sage and coal blue looks great, whereas hot pink and royal blue are examples of too bright colors. Very light or very dark colors are also overwhelming, to choose a soft white, buff or stone rather than stark white, and charcoal rather than black.

Keys:
Soft, muted, neutral.

Neutrals include, but aren't limited to:

Pewter, stone, charcoal
Light navy, rose brown, taupe

Soft basic palette:

Soft white, gray green, pewter, stone, coal
Natural beige, taupe, chocolate, rose brown, cocoa
Herb, jade, sage, mint, light viola
Turquoise, sky blue, teal, purple, soft violet
Light navy, sapphire, coal blue, damson, bordeaux
Blush pink, geranium, shell, turquoise green, spruce

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Soft and cool

With the old seasonal analysis system, the soft and cool was often misdiagnosed as a winter, due to not fitting elsewhere. However, the soft and cool is far softer and more muted than any winter (bright and cool, cool and clear, deep and cool). The skin looks quite neutral, but looks better in somewhat cooler colors. Ivory and beige are common skintones, but rose brown and light cocoa aren't unusual either. The eyes are usually soft blue, chocolate brown, hazel, gray green or gray blue. The eye patterns are soft and smudged, echoing their whole coloring. The hair is often described as mousy, devoid of natural highlights; ranging from dark blonde to a medium brown or, when older, a medium gray. Due to this, subtle highlights be very flattering, whereas solid dyes can look flat. The soft and cool will look better in amethyst and soft fuschia than the soft and warm's olive green and light salmon pink.

Some celebrity examples:
Jennifer Aniston (pictured), Sarah Jessica Parker, Jessica Biel, Miley Cyrus, Vanessa Williams, Viggo Mortensen

Add-on colors:

Eau de nil, seafoam green, icy pink, powder pink
Orchid, soft fuchsia, rose, icy violet
Lavender, amethyst, icy gray, bluebell
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Soft and warm

The soft and warm is usually lighter than the soft and cool, and is often misdiagnosed as a light and warm. However, whereas the lights are recognized by their delicate skin and fair features, the soft and warm are far more neutral, more medium in intensity, softer in chroma/clarity and the whole coloring is heavier and dustier. The soft and warm are very neutral, but favors slightly warmer colors. The most common skintone is beige, but it isn't uncommon for them to have a cooler overtone to their skin. Their eye patterns are soft and smudged, and common colors include, but isn't limited to, hazel, soft amber, chocolate brown, soft blue, blue green, grey green or topaz. Like all fall groups (which is soft and warm, warm and muted and deep and warm), a golden ring around the black of the eye is common. The hair color is, as stated earlier, often described as flat or mousy, lacking natural highlights, ranging from a golden blonde to dark blonde to medium brown. The contrast between the features is low, so the best colors are soft, dusty and blended. The soft and warm looks great in rust red and light gold, but doesn't suit the seafoam green and rose which flatters the soft and cool.

Some celebrity examples:
Drew Barrymore (pictured), Gisele Bundchen, Molly Sims, Ashley and Mary Kate Olsen, Kim Raver, David Beckham

Add-on colors:

Cream, camel, light gold, golden brown
Light moss, yellow green, olive green, dark salmon pink
Salmon pink, rust red, light peach, peach

Cool

2010-11-24T02:18:00.003+01:00

The cools are dominated by one particular feature: The lack of warmth in their skin, hair and eyes. Putting warm colors like mustard or chili up again the face of a cool, will make them look downright awful. Their hair colors range from ash blonde to blue black, their eyes from light gray to blue-green to black, and their skin from alabaster white to a very dark brown. However, what all these variations have in common, is the fact that they are all variations on a theme: Having predominantly cool undertones, no warmth whatsoever!

One easy way to discard the possibility of being a cool, is by holding an orange-based color up against your face. If it doesn't look like you have fallen on your face and aged 10 years in doing so, you don't belong in either of the two cool-dominated groups. If you are a cool, heaps of blue shades awaits, as well as a myriad of grays and blue-based pinks and reds.

Keys:
Cool colors, no warmth in skin, hair or eyes

Neutrals include, but aren't limited to:

Coal, spruce, teal
Light gray, medium gray, dark navy

Bright basic palette:

Soft white, taupe, pewter, icy green, rose beige
Coal, black, light gray, medium gray, dark navy
Dark blue green, spruce, pine, teal, light teal
Icy blue, light aqua, duck egg, sky blue, light viola
Cornflower, sapphire, royal blue, purple, dark viola
Blue red, baby pink, dark rose, dark pink, cassis

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Cool and muted

The cool and muted are first and foremost recognized by their lack of warmth in their skin, hair and eyes, but also by the fact that they are light, and compared to the cool and bright; soft/low in contrast. Ash blonde to ash/cool brown are the most common hair colors, with white and cool gray being dominant among the elderly cool and muted. Common eye colors are blue, gray blue, gray, gray green, but may also be blue green or a cool brown. Rose beige, a soft pink and alabaster are frequent skintones, but a cool light brown and beige are also existent. When choosing colors, the cool and muted should steer away from all warm colors, in addition to very bright colors, as the former will make them look sick, and the latter will be overwhelming and look unnatural. Opt for cool shades instead. Soft, yet not very dusty. Although black appears in the basic palette, the cool and muted should avoid wearing it up against their face. Instead, try coal, dark gray or dark navy. The cool and muted looks better in amethyst and eau de nil than stark white and cyclamen.

Some celebrity examples:
Sarah Chalke (pictured), Linda Evans, Paulina Porizkova, Kimberly Williams, Candace Bergen, Creed Bratton

Add-on colors:

Eau de nil, seafoam green, icy pink, powder pink,
Orchid, soft fuchsia, rose, icy violet,
Lavender, amethyst, icy gray, bluebell
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Cool and bright

The cool and bright are dominantly cool, but are also known for the clarity of their skin and eyes, as well as higher level of contrast than seen with the cool and muted. Their hair is naturally dark, ranging from dark ash brown to blue black, to silvery gray, salt 'n' pepper or white with the elders. The eyes are clear, not as clear as the high vattage brights' eyes, with eye patterns that remind of spokes of a wheel. The eyes may be dark, like a deep blue or almost black, or a bright blue, turquoise or blue-violet. The skin may be rosy pink, clear olive, ivory or alabaster white, to various hues of cool brown. However, no matter what skin or eye color, the cool and bright needs contrasting, strong colors, and should avoid warm, dusty, pastel-like colors. When comparing their own colors to their sister season, the cool and muted, the cool and bright looks better in, amongst others: black and fuchsia rather than lavender and seafoam green.

Some celebrity examples:
Lauren Graham (pictured), Brooke Shields, Shania Twain, Rihanna (bordering on cool and muted when pale), George Clooney

Add-on colors:

White, peppermint, true green, dark teal
Powder blue, viola, violet, plum
Candy pink, cyclamen, fuchsia, berry pink

Light

2010-11-23T23:14:00.003+01:00

Obviously, people who belong to one of the light color groups, have light features. Light hair, light eyes, and more or less light skin. Blonde is a common hair color, and depending whether one leans towards the cooler end (light and cool) or the warmer end (light and warm), it can be anything from light strawberry to ash to golden. However, you will also find some light brunettes, here. When getting gray, the color is more of a golden gray (light and warm), or a cool or blonde gray (light and cool).

Besides being light, the lights have low-contrasting features. Their eyes, hair and skin blends softly, and have a delicate feel. Often, they feel like filling in their eyebrows, as they often can be very fair. Lights should not overdo their makeup, though, as very dark brows and heavy makeup tends to look clown-like. A lights' worst enemy, would be hard, dark colors; they will simply seem to swallow the light person.

When choosing an outfit, go for light color combinations, or light + dark. For instance, an ivory colored top and a cocoa colored jacket. The lights are fairly neutral, and are therefore often taken for a soft season. Lights would be silk, whilst softs would be velvet. It is also worth mentioning that lights have a hard time getting a natural tan, as they easily burn in the sun.

Keys:
Light, delicate.

Neutrals include, but aren't limited to:

Taupe, cocoa, stone, pewter

Light basic palette:

Soft white, taupe, cocoa, stone, pewter,
Ivory, cream, light gray, medium gray, butter
Sage, apple green, light blue green, turquoise, light teal
Mint, light aqua, petrol, sky blue, light viola
Cornflower, light navy, violet, purple, pastel pink
Dusty rose, blush pink, geranium, light apricot, rose brown
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Light and warm

Appears quite neutral, but leans towards the warm side. Often a peaches 'n' cream, ivory or pale beige complexion. The eyes are often blue, blue green, aqua, light green or a very light hazel, and are usually brighter than seen with the light and cool. Although the light and warm are, as the name implies, on the warm side, its somewhat neutral nature allows it to borrow some cooler colors like blush pink and turquoise as well. However, the light and warm looks better in lemon yellow and coral, than in seafoam green and icy pink.

Some celebrity examples:
Kate Hudson (pictured), Scarlett Johansson, Blake Lively, Renee Zellweger, Owen Wilson

Add-on colors:

Yellow cream, lemon yellow, light gold, yellow green
Light moss, true green, lazuli, salmon pink
Coral, watermelon, light peach, peach

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Light and cool

Appears rather neutral, but leans towards the cooler end of the spectrum. Softer and more delicate than the light and warm. The eyes are often a soft blue, gray or blue gray, but light green also occurs. When comparing the eyes of a light and cool to the eyes of a light and warm, the former seems hazier and softer, as if looking at them through a sheer, pale veil. When putting together an outfit, the light and cool should keep the color combinations light and low in contrast, as high contrasting, dark outfits look both unnatural and unflattering. The light and cool shares many colors with the light and warm, but suits, to mention a couple, bluebell and lavender better than light moss and salmon pink.

Some celebrity examples:
Naomi Watts (pictured), Jodie Foster, Michelle Pfeiffer, January Jones, Anderson Cooper

Add-on colors:

Eau de nil, seafoam green, icy pink, powder pink,
Orchid, soft fuchsia, rose, icy violet,
Lavender, amethyst, icy gray, bluebell

Warm

2010-11-23T20:21:00.001+01:00

The warm group are split into two: The brighter and lighter warm and bright, and the darker and more fall like warm and muted. Their main common feature, is the abundance of warmth in their skin, hair and eyes.

The warm groups are the place where you will find most natural redheads. However, you find brunettes and blondes here too, albeit their hair colors have a warm, golden or reddish, cast.

Their eyes can range from blue to brown, but you rarely find black brown or grey eyes in either group.

The warm should aim for warm colors, colors with a yellow, orange or red undertone. Cool colors make them look ill, and should only be used if wanting to look believable for a sick leave. ;) The warm and bright should opt for more saturated, lighter and brighter colors. Not neons, but vivid shades such as buttercup or chili. The warm and muted looks the best in more muted colors and color combinations, colors you would see on a day in October; mustard, olive green, rust.

Keys:
Dominant characteristics are "warm".

Neutrals include, but aren't limited to:

Moss, gray green, pewter, bronze, chocolate

Warm basic palette:

Soft white, gray green, pewter, stone, coal
Cream, taupe, chocolate, bronze, oatmeal
Lime, moss, sage, mint, light viola
turquoise, aqua, teal, purple, light navy
Dark coral, true red, chili, flame, mandarin orange
Terracotta, amber, apricot, butter, buttercup

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Bright and warm

Lighter and brighter than the warm and muted. Their eyes are clearer, and can be warm green, teal blue, turquoise or a clear light hazel. Ivory or porcelain are common skintones, and various shades of reddish or golden blonde to ginger red hair often occur. The overall look of the warm and bright, are lighter, clearer and more delicate than the warm and muted, thus should the deepest colors be switched with lighter ones. People who are warm and bright, suit coral and spring green better than forest green and pumpkin orange.

Some celebrity examples:
Nicole Kidman (pictured), Amy Adams, Sarah Ferguson (duchess of York), Reba McIntyre, Conan o'Brien

Add-on colors:

Cream, lemon yellow, light gold, yellow green
Light moss, true green, lazuli, salmon pink
Coral, watermelon, light peach, peach

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Warm and muted

The warm and muted have a deeper look with less contrasts. Their eyes are softer, often topaz, hazel, amber brown, warm green or a muted teal. Like the warm and bright, red hair isn't uncommon, but the warm and muted often have darker hair, such as auburn, dark golden blonde or a darker red. They should avoid all light outfits, as well as steering clear of very bright pieces of clothing or accessories. Forest green and pumpkin orange look great, whereas coral and spring green are a tad too bright.

Some celebrity examples:
Julianne Moore (Pictured), Lindsay Lohan, Tilda Swinton, Marcia Cross,

Add-on colors:

Mustard, camel, golden brown, mahogany
Coffee, olive green, evergreen, salmon pink
Dark salmon pink, tomato, rust red, pumpkin

Bright

2010-11-23T19:20:00.008+01:00

Brights (I'm talking color here, not levels of intelligence) have one defining feature, which enables us to separate them from any other tonal season. Their eyes are very bright, sparkly and striking. The whites in their eyes are very white too, and the pupils are often green, light blue, topaz or even almost purple. Of course, you do find brights with brown eyes too: Often a very dark brown (a striking contrast to the stark white whites in their eyes), or a golden amber color
The bright and cool, often have dark hair and naturally very dark lashes. The bright and warm often have dark hair too, but here you will also find blondes.

It might not make much sense, but the bright's skin, are often very clear. Not as in translucent, but they don't have that velvety quality to their skin as the softs do, nor the delicate skin of the lights.

The brights should aim for bright and saturated colors. Think stark white, black, turquoise, scarlet and cyclamen. Dull colors will shut down their overall brightness. By opting for high contrast light/dark color combinations like black and white, their bright look is balanced. If wearing a faintly saturated top, opt for some bright colors up against your face.

Keys:
Strong, contrasting, intense eyes, clear skin, saturated colors.

Neutrals include, but aren't limited to:

Royal blue, dark navy, charcoal
Purple, brown black, black

Bright basic palette:

Soft white, ivory, light lemon yellow, pewter, brown black
Light gray, taupe, charcoal, dark navy, mint
Apple green, evergreen, emerald, green turquoise, light teal
duck egg, light aqua, sky blue, cornflower, Chinese blue
Royal blue, purple, dark viola, true blue, true red
Scarlet, blush pink, ruby, light apricot, black

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Bright and warm

Often overall lighter than the bright and cool. The skin is slightly warmer/more golden, and blonde hair are more common. The bright and warm looks better in salmon pink and yellow green than berry pink and dark teal.

Some celebrity examples:
Cameron Diaz (pictured), Beyoncé Knowles, Heather Graham, Tara Reid

Add-on colors:

Cream, lemon yellow, light gold, yellow green
Light moss, true green, lazuli, salmon pink
Coral, watermelon, light peach, peach

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Bright and cool

Dark, solid colored hair are quite common. The skin has a cooler cast, but isn't cold enough to be labeled cool and clear. The bright and cool looks better in berry pink and dark teal than salmon pink and yellow green.

Some celebrity examples:
Megan Fox (pictured), Courtney Cox, Liv Tyler, Alexis Bledel, Ian Somerhalder

Add-on colors:

White, peppermint, true green, dark teal
Powder blue, viola, violet, plum
Candy pink, cyclamen, fuchsia, berry pink

Your best colors

2010-11-23T03:43:00.009+01:00

I daresay it's a fair chance you've experienced having a friend who looks absolutely ravishing in a color. Smitten by this, you might have grabbed all the similarly colored pieces in your favorite shop, hoping to capture some of the spark your friend had in this particular color. However, when standing there, in the dressing room, you find yourself devastated as your skin look more like mud than sparkling fairy dust, your eye bags look like hammocks, your eyes look dead and your hair dull. Why, you even look like you've gained a couple lbs! Why? Is it just the fact that your friend is so darn pretty?

To that last question, I think the truth lies elsewhere. If a color looks awesome on your friend, and dreadful on you, the most likely explanation is that the color is one of the key colors in your friend's color palette, and one of your definitive worst choices. You and your friend are most likely quite different in color. Some people have warmer undertones in their skin, whilst other people have a definitive cool undertone. Some people have bright sparkly eyes which are enchanted by saturated clothes, whilst other people's eyes are more subdued and hazy, and look far better in softer shades.

Now, let's take a look at the singer Taylow Swift in the pictures to the right. On the left hand side: Her blonde hair, slightly golden, flatters her peach 'n' cream complexion. Her light eyes shine bright, and she looks young and fresh. Her light and warm makeup looks great, and despite the fact she's wearing gold eyeshadow, it looks remarkably natural. Now, this time, take a look at the girl on the far right. Believe it or not, but it's the same girl. This time, however, her dark hair and clothes completely shuts down her bright, light and sunny coloring. She looks older, and not in a sophisticated way, shadows appearing all over her face. Sure, the lighting in the pictures are different, but you don't get nasolabial folds and dark shadows under your eyes just like that. Her skin looks drained for life, and she looks bland, I daresay. If you keep reading, I'll elaborate on the differences in coloring in the paragraphs below.

Seasons and colors

In the late 70's, a woman named Carole Jackson started a color frenzy. She wrote books where she told us that all the people in the world could fit neatly into 4 groups. She described each group as the 4 seasons: spring, summer, fall and winter. The seasons represented what was common within the groups. The springs were light, warm and bright, like rays of sunshine in May. The summers were cool and soft, like white sand and the Caribbean sea. The falls were warm and saturated, although not bright, like a pumpkin, or falling leaves. The winters were cool and bright, dark like the night in winter, yet sparkling white as the snow.

Jackson's method sounded neat and easy. The less groups, the less hassle! Her books were like the Holy Grail to some people; yet to others, her ideas failed to impress. What Jackson didn't account for, was the fact that the world does actually have more variation than the downright stereotypical characters she sketched for each group. Where did the people go who were both warm and cool, for instance? Naturally, as many felt left out, the seasonal craze seemed to cool down. However, in the late 80's and early 90's, a company named Colour Me Beautiful (CMD for short) decided to kickstart the adoration of color analysis again, this time with a more refined method. The tonal color analysis. This time around, the seasons were still intact, but they split each season into three sub-groups (or tones):

Spring: Bright spring, warm spring, light spring
Summer: Light summer, cool summer, soft summer
Fall (autumn): Soft fall, warm fall, deep fall
Winter: Deep winter, cool winter, bright winter

Basically, each tonal group could be described like this:
The bright: Bright and clear, wears saturated colors well. Intense, sparkling eyes, clear skin. Contrasting hair and skin. The bright spring leans towards the warm end of the spectrum, and the bright winter towards the cool end.
The warm: Dominated by warmth in their skin, hair and eyes. You will often find the typical redheads here (note: Freckles is not an indicator of warm skin, despite often being found on redheads). Skintones range from golden to peachy to porcelain. The warm spring is a lot brighter than the warm fall, which is decidedly softer and deeper. Compare the months May to September, or oranges to pumpkins. The warm fall often has a golden ring around their pupils.
The light: Fair skin, light eyes, delicate complexion. Little contrast. The hair is, more often than not, light. However, not all lights are blondes. You will not find the raven haired in this group, though. The light spring is clearer and brighter than the light summer, which is hazier, like ice cream or looking through a sheer veil.
The cool: Dominated by lack of warmth in their skin, hair and eyes. Skin can be anything from the fairest alabaster to deep blue black, but has no obvious warmth. The cool winter is clear and deep, and looks stunning in black, stark white, pine green. The cool summer is just as cool, but more muted and has less contrast between hair, skin and eyes. Think pastels rather than icy colors, or blue bell over Chinese blue. Very saturated colors overwhelm the cool summer.
The soft: Very little contrasts. Soft, muted skin. However, not to be confused with light spring or light summer; the softs are more velvety looking, heavier. Mousy brown hair is common, and their eyes are soft and hazy; can sometimes appear muddy. The softs look very neutral, and can therefore pull off a lot of looks. However, strong, stark, bright, colors overwhelm them and make them appear dull. The soft summer is often confused with a winter, and the soft fall is often confused with a light spring.
The deep: Deep, dark eyes, dark hair. Skin can be any shade. The deeps should avoid bleak and dusty colors, which will draw the life out of them. Instead they should opt for rich, deep shades. A lot of Asians and black people are categorized as deeps due to dark eyes and hair being common. However, as mentioned in a later paragraphs, they too come in all colors, and should not be brushed off easily.

With this method, they were certain the included a broader array of people. Now, the person who was both cool and warm, which seemed neutral, and earlier had been misdiagnosed as a winter, could be identified as a soft summer, to name an example. When I'm doing my online color analysis, I use this method, except I use CMD's new names:

Bright spring - Bright and warm
Warm spring - Warm and clear
Light spring - Light and warm
Light summer - Light and cool
Cool summer - Cool and muted
Soft summer - Soft and cool
Soft fall - Soft and warm
Warm fall - Warm and muted
Deep fall - Deep and warm
Deep winter - Deep and cool
Cool winter - Cool and clear
Bright winter - Bright and cool

I do wish to stress, though, that I don't think of CMD's method as complete. There are still people who doesn't fit into any of the neat little boxes. People are far too complex to be labeled that easily! Just like in the field of personality psychology, people debate whether a few generalized boxes are enough to make assumptions, or if a nearly unlimited specter are needed to be able to map out human beings. There are more complex systems than CMD's (Beauty for all season's Color Alliance system claims to have approximately 4 million different combinations... They use different numbered charts, compare the different charts to your eyes, your skin and your natural hair color, and plot them into a computer. Frankly, I got pretty much the same results when being analyzed as a "True Quartz Summer" in this system, as a "Cool summer" in CMD's system. Perhaps I'm just a stereotype, though!). There are also companies out there who borrow from New Age-philosophies, claiming your personality relies on what season you are (obviously, I don't believe in this. Not by any means.), whilst other companies claim to be oh-so-scientific and very accurate.

Back to generalization: Color analysis have widely been criticized for being too general when it comes to blacks and Asians. What a lot of color analysts seem to forget, is the fact that not every Asian has golden skin, black hair and dark brown eyes (Asia in a whole continent, after all! You can't possibly say the Indians and the Japanese look alike!), and not every black person has dark brown skin, nearly black eyes and black, curly hair. No, people of all races come in all packages. I have seen African-Americans who are obvious soft summers/soft and cool, and East-Asians who are bright springs/bright and warm. Even if a person have dark eyes and dark hair; that doesn't necessarily mean that person is deep and warm or deep and cool! This is where test draping is key. I'll get to this later on.

How can I tell which tonal group I belong to?

A good place to start, is to try to find out whether you lean towards the warm or the cool end of the spectrum. Trying to pinpoint your tonal season at once is hard, unless your season are very obvious. One way of finding whether you are cool or warm, is to stand barefaced a couple of feet away from a mirror, in a well-lit room, with a stark white piece of paper under your face. Shut your eyes for a couple of seconds, then open them. Did you see the paper or your skin first? If you saw the piece of paper, you might belong to the warm end, whilst if you noticed your face first, you may belong to the cool side. While this isn't a foolproof method, it turns out to be quite effective for a lot of people.

Another way, is to flip your arm and take a good look at your wrist. What color does your veins appear to be? Blue/purple-ish? Perhaps more green? Or maybe a mix? Blue/purple veins are an indication of belonging to the cooler end, while greener veins indicated warmth. A mix is more neutral, which may mean you could be one of the more neutral tonal groups.

If you have something in gold and something in silver, like a pair of bracelets, wear them, once on each arm. If you suit the silver better, you lean towards the cool, and vice versa.

Take a look at your eyes. What color are the whites of your eyes? Stark white, or more muddy? Now, how about your eyes? Clear and sparkling with a pattern that may remind you of the spokes of a wheel, or perhaps soft and blended? Hazy or bright? Golden or grey? Dark or light? I often put an emphasis on the natural eye color when doing an online color analysis because more often than not, they can be great representatives for the descriptions of each tonal group. Such as soft, grey and hazy might be a light or cool and muted, or sparkly with bright eye patterns and stark white whites often turn out to be a clear.

The general consensus, is that test draping is key to finding your perfect colors. After all, this is the thing color analysts do after taking a good and hard look at you! Test draping basically means standing in front of a mirror, preferably barefaced with your hair pulled back (if dyed), putting different colored fabrics around your neck. I find the second you go from one color to the next, to be the moment when you see if the color is right for you or not. Basically, a good color lightens up your face, seems to have the magical power to diminish dark shadows and soften wrinkles if you have some, the whites of your eyes and your teeth appears whiter and clearer, your eye color are enchanted, your hair seems shinier, your skin seems fresh and you look healthy. When wearing a wrong color, the effect might be subtle, yet noticeable (like something is simply off), or dramatic (like looking tired or sick). When wearing makeup in your worst colors, the color appears to "sit on you", and look clown-ish. Wrong colors cast dark shadows on your face and accentuate wrinkles, unevenness in the skin, dulls down your hair and eyes, might make your lips look more yellow, and makes you look older - not in a wise way, more like a worn out way. Therefore, put your best colors closest to your face for best results. Anything below the waist won't have that effect on your face, and the area is thus called the "free zone". So, if you look as awful in orange as me, yet love the color, why not wear orange nail polish, orange shoes, or perhaps even an, ghasp, orange pair of jeans?

Examples of colors to test against each other:
Salmon pink or terracotta (deep and warm) vs fuchsia or burgundy (deep and cool)
Light moss green or camel (light and warm) vs aqua green or cocoa (light and cool)
Light mango or medium blue (warm and clear) vs pumpkin or jade green (warm and muted)
Soft white or lavender (cool and muted) vs stark white or royal purple (cool and clear)
Blue green or burgundy (soft and cool) vs olive green or mahogany (soft and warm)
Warm pink or true blue (bright and warm) vs magenta or royal blue (bright and cool)

Below is a couple of videos (Note: This isn't me in any of them nor are they my videos) showing the effects a good color and a not-so-good color can have on your face:

Tonal palettes and descriptions

Common questions

How do I distinguish between a warm and a cool color?
A warm color is red, orange or yellow based. A cool color is blue based. Examples of warm colors are lime green (a yellow based green), brick red (an orange based red) and cream white (a yellowy/beige white). Examples of cool colors are turquoise (a very blue based green), blue red and stark white. However, do bear in mind not all yellow colors are warm, and not all blue colors are cool. Lemon yellow is an example of a cool yellow, and parisian/prussian blue is an example of a warm blue. There are also some colors which are considered quite netural, due their equal mixture of warm and cool. Examples are teal and purple.

I have freckles. That means I have warm undertones, right?
This is a myth which should be put down. Freckles are genetic, and a result of increased concentrated/unevenly spread melanin and a consequence of sun exposure. Some people have more orange freckles, some are grey, some are brown, some are even black. The redheaded freckled stereotype probably derive from the fact that people with a lot of freckles have the recessive MC1R (melanin-activating peptide receptor) gene variant. People with red hair have two copies of a recessive gene on chromosome 16. This in turn, causes a mutation on the MC1R protein. MC1R plays an important role in regulating hair (in animals: fur) color, and controls the type of melanin which is being produced. It turns out that approximately 80% of all redheads have a dysfunctional MC1R gene, which in short means that the gene overproduces the yellow/red phaeomelanin. Because of their usually fair skin, they lack the melanin levels to prevent UV-induced damage, which makes the skin sensitive to the sun's UV-rays (which is a reason why redheads often get a sunburn rather than a tan). Everyone may freckle (except albinos, which lack pigmentation in their skin), but fair skinned people freckle easier due to their skin being more sun sensitive. Red haired people have more sensitive skin. The more sensitive your skin is to the sun, the easier you freckle. Sensitive skin comes in a myriad of colors (although, as stated, fair skin is commonly more sensitive).

I know I have a cool undertone, but I have read it's possible to have a warm overtone! Help!
The undertones in our skin is what is important when figuring out what colors we look good in. By test draping and doing the exercises above, you determine your undertone. Your overtone, however, is the shade which lies on top of your skin. It's not the dominating color which can bring forth glow or gloom (the undertone does this) in the skin, and is often a temporary status. Imagine being sweaty and tomato red in your face after running like crazy. That's your temporary overtone. Imaging being sick, looking sallow. Temporary overtone again. What about tanning? Well, the undertone decides the shade of tan you turn. Look at the overtone as a sheer layer, or veil. The upper layer is what is turning darker, but the constant undertone is what decides whether you turn more red, more golden, more orange, etc.

However, overtones aren't always temporary. You might always appear to look pink, even though your eyes, hair and color draping screams warm! Therefore - Choose colors according to your undertone, and pick foundation that flatters your overtone. Choose a more yellow foundation if your overtone is more yellow, no matter what your undertone is like.

Ok, let me try to narrow the explanation down further:
Undertone: Refers to your ability to wear certain colors. Your best colors, harmonize with your undertone. Your undertone is either cool, neutral-cool, neutral, neutral warm or warm.
Overtone: The top layer. Choose color according to undertone, not overtone.

Therefore, due to the various overtones, color analyzing by looking at only the skintone is impossible, in my eyes. However, when test draping, the skintone is the determining factor. When wearing the right colors, you see how the undertones bring life and glow to the overtones, and that's how you see what colors you suit.

So why is it that certain skintones, or overtones, are more common in some tonal groups than others? Well, my non-scientifically proven answer to that, is that some overtones are more sheer, thus letting more of the undercolor through. For example, when having a warm undertone, the overtone can be a light peachy, sheer tone, resulting in a peaches 'n' cream complexion; a skin tone often associated with those who are light and warm. Other times, the overtone may be more opaque, letting less of the undertone through. And if the overtone looks different than the undertone, that may be a faint answer to why an obviously warm person has rosy skin. Of course, there may be better, more scientific reasons to why we have the colors we have, but I won't dig deeper into that yet. Note: By sheer overtone, I don't mean that the skin itself is transparent!

How do I use my palette?
The easiest way is to find pieces of clothing or accessories which blends with your palette. Does the color resemble one or more of the palette colors? You could also try to match the colors up completely, but that often proves to be harder than it looks! Use the palette as a guideline.

Hello, everyone!

2010-11-22T19:49:00.001+01:00

My name is Elisabeth, and I have been running a Norwegian blog revolving around fashion, beauty and style, with a tad art and culture tossed into the mix. Over the past weeks, I deliberated whether to shut down the blog due to a hectic real life, or keep it going - although in English. I take it for granted you know which one I chose. I decided I enjoy sharing the stuff I do, and helping the people I did, too much to simply quit doing so. Also, I wished to open up to more people, hopefully drawing all kinds of readers from various corners of the world.

I'm not new to the world of blogging. I have actually had quite a lot of blogs in the past. All of them abandoned, with the exception of Manet, the aforementined little ongoing and seemingly neverending project of mine. To speak in an excessively pretentious manner: A blog which now has shed its skin, and begun a new life. More exact - same concept, yet on a new blog platform and in a new language.

Click here to read my old blog translated with Google translate.
Of course, due the limitations of this wonderful translator, some posts, or a lot of posts, will hardly make much sense. Yet I hope most of it should be somewhat clear. I plan on translating and expanding some of the more informational posts in a while.

See you soon!