Hello there,

Have you ever wonder what are the colours that flatter you?
Have you ever put on a colour that makes you appear dull and tired?
Do you know your best colours to wear for the different occasions? To a formal meeting, date night with your significant other, girls-night-out?

What do you think of the personal style of these four ladies in the picture below?

Not too bad... Most of us would find black colour a no-brainer hue to wear so much that our wardrobe is filled mostly with black garments. Admittedly, I'm one of those guilty of this personal styling faux pas too. In my younger days, I've nothing but neutral colours in my wardrobe. The all-neutral dressing scheme changed after I became an Image Consultant because I learned that the use of colour is an underrated, yet, vital style element. That is when I started integrating more colours into my wardrobe. 

Through my consulting work with women, I'd discovered that people choose black over wearing colours mainly because they do not know how, or what are the best ways to integrate colours into their wardrobe. 

Part of my job as an Image Consultant is to help my clients identify their essence colours and teach them how they could use these colours effectively for different occasions through understanding colour psychology.

During the initial stage of my image career, I was determined to learn from the very best. One of the best investment I'd made on myself was to learn from Carla Mathis, a world-renown Certified Image Master and personal stylist coach. I was very privileged to have received personal coaching from Carla and had some up-close and personal interactions with her when I was in Los Angeles. That once-in-a-lifetime chance was priceless.

From Carla, I'd learned about skin tone painting and the formal process of colour analysis. Carla was, in fact, the disciple of Suzanne Caygill, the pioneer of personal colour analysis and contemporary image consulting. During my apprenticeship, it was interesting seeing how colours instantly lit up someone's look and elevate their style, just by wearing their essence colours. In this blog post, I'll share with you 3 steps to identifying your seasonal colour palette.

Our natural colour may be typed into Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter.

Identifying your seasonal colour palette will help you distinguish a set of tones that best complement your natural colouring which includes your skin tone, eye and hair colour. This understanding is essential as it can help you

• make discerning clothing decision when shopping and eliminate trial-and-error-purchases that may turn out regretful.
• dress up effortlessly and efficiently because colours within a seasonal palette share the same colour quality and can be easily paired.
• elevate your personal style.

Now, are you ready to find out about your seasonal colour palette?

Step 1: Check your undertone.

Our skin undertone is determined by three elements: hemoglobin, carotene, and melanin. Your skin tone which is the surface of your skin can change based upon factors such as sun exposure and ageing. Unlike your skin tone, your undertone is defined by genetics and will never change. Your skin tone is the outer layer of your skin, while undertone is many layers underneath your skin, which made it hard to uncover.

Your undertone may be typed into:

• warm,
• cool, or
• neutral.

If you glow when wearing gold accessories, your undertone is likely warm.

If silver lit up your look, more than gold, you're likely to have a cool undertone.

If you look great in both silver and gold, you're most probably having a neutral undertone.

Step 2: Determine your colour value.

Do you have light or deep colour value overall?

Step 3: Identify your seasonal colour.

Combining your undertone and colour value, if you're

Warm + Light & Fair = Spring

Cool + Light & Fair = Summer

Warm + Deep & Dark = Autumn

Cool + Deep & Dark = Winter

When we have this clear understanding and knowledge about our essence colour, we know the seasonal palette that best suits us. When shopping, we can instantly distinguish the colours to buy, and this insight makes shopping easier. We can then avoid buying clothing of shades that don't compliment us. Wearing our essence colours enhance our personal style and makes dressing up a whole lot easier.

For now, let's go back to these ladies dressing in black. And, please share your thoughts - what do you think of their look in black vs dressing in their essence colours?

Do you think she looks great in black?

Or is she more stylish when wearing her Spring colours?

Do you think wearing black enhances her look?

How does she look now when dressing in her essence colours?

Does wearing black flatter her personal style?

Or when she dresses in her Spring colours?

Does wearing black elevate her glamour?

Or when she dresses in her most beautiful Winter colours?

Don't you agree that wearing our essence colour can instantly lit up our look and enhance our personal style?

The truth is you glow when you put on your most harmonious colours. When wearing colours that accentuate your beauty, you'll instantly appear more stylish. I can help you achieve that. Here's a little gift for you. I'd designed a guide '3 Steps to Identifying Your Seasonal Colour Palette' to help to identify your seasonal colour palette.

I've also included the four seasonal colour swatches to help you up your style game. You may click here to download your free copy.

This blog is dedicated to helping you elevate your style and create a life you love. If you have any doubts or burning questions about personal styling, I'll be happy to address your concern and offer you some tips and perspectives on my blog. You may drop me a note using this link. I promise to keep your identity anonymous.

Thank you for reading.

With love,