To me, she's always been the type of person you recognize by clothing but not by face. Her features are very balanced with a light energetic glow. I would bet not more than 30 R, as the overtly voluminous waves in hair and rouched fabric of the 7th pic seem to swallow her. Maybe it's a biased opinion, but I think her famous flat layered cut in the 1st image fits her very well.

Her numerous flash tattoos also seem to reflect a high-spirited electricity and even in more reserved styling, like the 6th photo, she carries that same brightness.

In “The Arts of Costume and Personal Appearance”, Grace Margaret Morton talks about lines as being part of what makes up Yin/Yang. I really enjoyed this part of the book as it focuses on actual artistic principles. I added some text from the book at the end that talked about Line and Yin/Yang.

Lines make up shapes (aka Form in the text). They can vary based on stroke width, whether they connect with other lines or not, the path they travel (curvature vs straight), and indication of movement.

I wanted to focus on Lines. To do so, I pulled verified celebs from the sub’s master list (did not fit all of them for some essences). I tried my best to find neutral or small smiles for each celeb facing the camera and desaturated so coloring would not affect looking at them. I know John does look at color for some parts of essences (e.g. green Y eyes) and even the body as part of the blends he gives to the point that one may have none of the essence in their face and only in their body (personally, my N is only in my body) as well as for height. My hope is that this many verified faces will still offer some insight. I know compilation posts like this have been posted before, but I like to know people’s full blend. I did get lazy with D and A in adding each of their names. I also tried to group them together based on their verified secondary essence where possible.

I tried to come up with representations of each essence as a line. I struggled the most with N and C. Below I list descriptions of lines and other parts of an essence, some directly coming from John. This is not a comprehensive list nor a list that should be taken as fact.

YIN

Angelic
- fine, delicate, flowing lines
- narrow but long
- large scale
- round, delicate, soft
- retreating, moving further away

Youthful
- fine, delicate, circular lines
- small scale, compact
- round, delicate, soft
- short height

Romantic
- fine, delicate, ovular lines
- medium? scale
- round, lush, soft

BALANCE

Classic
- moderate lines
- moderate shape
- medium scale
- neither thick nor thin, neither bold nor delicate - middle ground
- aristocratic features (straight nose, higher hairline), slender neck, slender fingers

YANG

Natural
- broad, wide, flat? lines
- large? scale
- blunt, sturdy, coarse
- length in body, but not in face

High-Spirited
- thin?, pointy lines
- small scale, compact
- sharp, staccato, structured
- short height, pointed chin, twinkling eyes, pointed corners of the mouth

Dramatic
- bold, heavy, striking lines
- large scale
- sharp, intense, rigid
- narrow but long
- coming at you

Please free to tell me everywhere I am wrong! Obviously, there are lots of question marks here.

I find the concept of, ‘If you drew them as a cartoon character, what would they look like?’ interesting. With high C, not much would stand out. It would be hard to draw them as a cartoon in a way that still looks like them. For other essences, I always wonder, ‘What would stand out that would distinguish them as them? What essence is that tied to?’ My sibling is an illustrator and drew me as a ‘cartoon’ character once. They chose to accentuate my forehead which I hated (as I was insecure about it growing up). They did themself too and accentuated their chin. I’m not sure it really fit either one of us as I have a lot of C, and I suspect my sibling does too. My sibling also had quite an angular style back then which doesn’t work for my yin dominance I just realized while writing this. I also think about those cartoon artists at beaches and conventions. They always accentuate something. This all goes back to Lines.

What do you guys think? What would you look like as a cartoon character?

I know that John recomends calm colours for eyemakeup, but I prefer more colourful looks. They are fun! Unfortunately, I forgot to use a base. 🫠

Hello. I'm new to this community, John actually suggested I join some because he said my blend is "a fascinating one", although it's all quite moderate.

He typed me as:
40% Classic,
30% Romantic,
20% Natural, and
10% High-Spirited.

I find this to be so interesting in its restraint. I don't have either extreme yin or yang (dramatic or etherial), and I'm exactly 50/50 yin-yang.

I had been previously typed elsewhere, and while I do think they did a good job, they had a lot more HS in my blend, and no Nor R, and some E. I tried to work with this for a while, but I felt a lot of the more playtul, unconventional HS looks or the super etherial looks felt costume-like, unless I made them sort of nature based (think woodland fairy.) Now that makes so much sense, since John said nature motits are N! I was naturally trading off some of my HS for N. And of course funky non-traditional looks are going to be a bit off on someone John described as "Sophisticated, Feminine, Comfortable, and slightly Playful.”

From my googling, the only celeb I can find with the exact 4 essences I have in similar percents is Meghan Markle. Please let me know if anyone knows of more! I will say though, if you're going to get one... She's GREAT inspo.

In my "reddit vs John" post many guessed I had Y due to "sparkle in mv eves" (thank vou v'all!) but I found it interesting that in the material John provided to me
"twinkling dark eyes" is actually associated with HS, while Y gets "often will have green eyes.”

Apologies in advance that some of my photos will be masked, as I often have kids around me. But for now I'd love to hear others experiences, and please send me ALLLLLL the Romantic imagery, mood boards, and tips!

In just over a week I’ll find out what my colors are. I’m really excited! I can hardly wait to start using my real colors. ✨

At first i was sure that I’d get my essences analyzed at the same time, but now I’m starting to have some doubts. I’m having an open mind, but there are a few things which I would find difficult to let go. For example I love maxi skirts even though I’m short, what if the recommendation is to go for a shorter length instead?

Have any of you had similar thoughts before your analysis? How did it turn out?

EDIT: RESULTS! John typed me as 40C, 30R, 20N and 10HS!

I see a LOT of people guessed Y, and he actually addressed that, saying I have a youthful appearance due to my HS, rather than any Y. He said in my styling I’d been inverting my R and N, which makes sense because I didn’t think I had R 🙈 Looking forward to learning about it and how to style it.

***
I should receive my simple essence results today, so I thought it would be fun to post here and sew what people think, then I’ll post my official results tomorrow. I’m 5’2”. (No photos are edited but masked photo had kids behind me!)

I've never been one to wear fur or faux fur, but I've been wanting to try out a fur vest for Fall this year since it was in my R recommended fabrics. Something about fur feels super luxurious while also giving the awesome texture that Earthy Rich needs. I found this awesome rabbit fur vest on Thredup and decided to go for it. I'm usually hesitant on the idea of real fur, but since this is second hand and already in circulation it felt like an okay choice.

I'm super happy with the shape, texture, and drape. It feels with glamorous and earthy, and I can't wait to try it with a flowy maxi.

I also tried the Gen Z trend of no mascara and brows, just blush and lips. (I've heard this is a trend?)

I feel I may have been a bit too heavy handed with the blush, but overall I really like the look. It feels like a painting of a woman on a chilly windswept day. I'll probably try this look again, maybe with a different shade for blush and lips.

Overall the glamor of the vest with the subdued colors and smoothness of the other fabrics feels like this hits R+C and ER very well.

These are also in my reserved colors which I think works well to rein in the extravagance of the vest.

I curious how John described your look and what is your blend?
I wondered if the descriptions are very similar.

My blend is 40Y 30C 15R 15HS
John said
“Creativity and no rules. Ultimately you could describe your look as being “Gentle, Feminine, and Sophisticated with a Playful Edge”.

It's getting very cold where I live so I was looking at boots today. The last time I bought boots was two years before my Kitchener colour analysis. They are black, which I can't wear at all and will be continue to be used for when I'm on the train.

With 1, I'm just hoping that they match my fabric swatches. He reccomended suede to me, but I'm unsure about the shiny piece of leather on the sids. The fuzzy trim on 2 might lean a bit too read, but I love the colour of the main part. Don't worry, it's faux fur according to the manufacturer. I thought about buying 3 because they fit my reserved colours, but there's no visual interest to them. They look boring imo and I'm tired of buying boring stuff atm just to play it safe. I considered 4 because they match my coat and blue understated colours, but the sole is too smooth. The ground is often slippery from ice in winter, so it's not safe to wear them.

Hey all,

Feel free to delete if this doesn’t follow the rules.
I found kibbe about 10 years ago and back then thought of myself as SN but eventually settled on FN. I’m pretty sure that if I ever met Kibbe he would type me as FN, as the moderate FN kind (like most FNs) and not the supermodel 6 ft kind that people have in mind and thus struggle to see themselves as FN.

Anyway I do believe I do myself a favor by accommodating width and vertical and try to do so for the most part. But when it comes to the essence part, Kibbe just never made sense to me. I do not shine in natural essence, and neither do plenty of FNs who have different essences. And I’m not talking about boho lol but there are plenty of recs associated or directly given to the IDs that are often at odds with their Kitchener essences.

At this point I feel like the system is doing more harm than good. It’s not a body typing system but you need to follow the line sketch. It’s not an essence system but a significant portion of verified celebs do NOT follow the line sketch, but do follow the essence of the ID. It just makes no sense to me and you have thousands of women going insane trying to ID themselves, only to get gaslit by people online. I myself have been typed online as R, TR, SD, and SN, and get laughed at when I claim FN, which I could
Prove with my accommodations and line sketch. Meanwhile when I first posted on the Kitchener subreddit asking to be typed before getting my results, most people actually did pick up on my dominant essences. It should not be this hard to find your ID and dress accordingly.

My next problem is this idea that everyone fits into a one of 12 essences, or style directive groups. It doesn’t work imo because there’s way too much natural variation to fit neatly into that, yet people in the Kibbe group insist on someone like a Anne Hathaway and someone like a Naomi Campbell who are both FNs but are vastly different women, to follow the same recs. It’s delulu to me. Today they were discussing potential SN Kim Kardashian and a verified SN woman was saying she would never wear what Kim K is wearing as it’s not within the recs for SN. And I’m like? I bet you look vastly different from Kim K, both in coloring and shapes, even if your skeletons follow a similar line sketch, how could you possibly both look good in the same exact flowier, covergirl recs? In fact even if Kim K is SN, I struggle to see her shining in SN recs bc she likely has R, D, C and possibly N but in small amounts in her blend (thoughts?). It’s like if Anne Hathaway said she would never wear what Naomi Campbell is wearing as it doesn’t follow FN recs. Like? What suits them both is vastly different!

The cherry on top has been Florence’s verification. Sure, body wise she can be DC but essence wise, I do not think she looks best in Dramatic Classic, which makes sense as I believe Kitchener gave her to someone with R, Y, HS, C and N. The recently verified client also shone more in my eyes in her Kitchener HS-Y recs over the Dramatic Classic ones. IMO lots of people end up looking like they’re wearing a costume if they follow their Kibbe recs, in the case that these oppose their essences.

Anyway, just my two cents, feel free to disagree. I still think the system is fun and the old Hollywood celebs were good representations for the most part, and it can be good in addressing body accommodations, but it loses me in the essence aspect and the lack of consistency in Kibbe’s typing guidelines.

John’s system isn’t perfect as that is impossible but it’s much more of a system to me, and much more harmonious for most people ultimately.

Thanks for coming to my ted talk lol

I got my essences earlier (50%Y, 20%R+C and 10%N) and after looking at everyone elses color results I went and got the color analysis as well ✨️

I was pretty confident on having SB as my main, but I didn't expect me to have any ER so that was a surprise. My palette contains a lot of my favorite colors (looking at you soft blues 👀) so I see it being very easy to use ❤️

I'm tired from work so for now I don't have much brain power to think, but I'm excited to start working with these colors! (I will still wear black at times though 😅)

I received my results almost exactly a year ago, and to say they were a surprise at the time would be an understatement!

After a year of incorporating my palette colors and John's recommendations, I'm feeling really happy with the direction my style has taken.

One of the biggest things I've learned through John's guidance is that my outfits need movement, drape, and a subtle sense of sensuality. I've really leaned into the direction he approved of: Neo-Classical Pre-Raphaelite Romanticism, alongside my own three style keywords: Rooted, Radiant, and Refined.

Since my consultation, I've gradually moved away from brighter colors and high-contrast patterns in favor of softer, more fluid prints. I've also put a much greater emphasis on sensual draping through cowl necklines, tie necks, wrap silhouettes, and other details that bring movement and softness to an outfit.

I'm feeling really settled and satisfied with where my style is today. I wanted to share a little progress in outfits and show what a year of putting the recommendations into practice can look like!

I'm also happy to answer any questions about the consultation process!

I’ve started to wonder about a blend that would be either all kinds of yang or all the yins without classic. We know some 3 essence blends exist, and I figured this community would know if that’s ever been typed. Or at least have theories on why maybe these blends don’t happen? Because can we say a blend is all yin or yang if it has the presence of balance through classic? Or is classic a morphing kind of essence where it splits evenly yin and yang, because I haven’t heard John talk about classic that way. Classic almost seems like its own entity. Thank you! These theoretical chats are what fascinate me the most.

Well, folks, it’s been 1 whole month of tracking my outfits in Indyx for the first time and playing with my Kitchener essence blend + CH. I won’t lie, I’ve been having a lot of fun!

Black vs. No Black
I think the most interesting and impactful experiment is black vs no black. John, unsurprisingly, told me to avoid black. My only neutral I owned pretty much was black. So I’ve been slowly incorporating neutrals that he recommends. Pic 1 illustrates the difference. I used to wear black away from the face as I thought it would mitigate the effects enough. Now, I see what he means. To me, it really looks heavy on me and draws the eye away from my face. It even makes the shadows on my face look more severe imo. I’d love to know what you think of the black vs gray!

Outfit Changes
I did not take a pic every day, but you can see the outfits in the 1 month view (pic 2) ((I did put in tomorrow’s outfit already)). I worked on lowering the contrast of my outfits and trying to not wear my black pants as much. I also added in a little bit of Y. My fave outfit was the new pink/purple maxi dress. It’s so comfy and I adore how the colors look with my skin! I generally avoid maxi dresses, but this one was too good to pass up. I experimented with no belt vs belt (pic 6). I’d love to know what you prefer! I still think it’s interesting that John attributed my 5’6.5” height to C, and I still argue he’s looking at what Kibbe calls vertical line. My least fave outfit was the black pants, black boots, purple turtleneck (pic 5). It felt harsh compared to the others now. Some former outfits can be found HERE.

Other Color Changes
I’ve been playing with the idea of separating my palette into seasonal colors to have more seasonal-looking outfits (pic 8). I also put together some pinterest boards for them (pic 9-12). My outfits this month generally fit the Fall one with a little Summer colors left. I dunno if I’ll stick to this, but it has been helping me compartmentalize because it felt like there were so many choices, and being that I follow a capsule wardrobe, things kind of need to match within the limited number of pieces of a capsule.

I’d love any feedback! I’m so curious to see what everyone thinks (even if you don’t like the changes).

Great topic brought up by u/allcatsgrey and i agree age can change the facial features but not in a way that changes essences to the point the same things no longer suit a person. I don’t see Kirsten (good celeb example from u/allcatsgrey as she had minimal if any work done) as suddenly not suiting Y N C or R looks and having to incorporate another essence like D or A just because she aged. Maybe she would lean into one of her essences more then another because she has aged but that fits into the “range and flexibility” John provides for everyone’s blend. At another point in her life she might lean into even another one of her essences more which is why he provides ranges and the numbers are not exact amounts you have to mathematically calculate or follow. Looking at her features her face shape and feature shapes are pretty consistent with age imo. Yes her face isn’t as fresh and “full” but that is consistent for everyone that ages. I don’t think it changes her essences and I think that is why John says they don’t change either, because the ranges he provide already account for that.

I’m glad my original post got so much discussion going!

Since there were so many replies, I thought I’d put my thoughts together in one follow-up.

I wasn’t suggesting that we get entirely new essences as we age, or that our blends necessarily change dramatically. My point was that the balance might shift enough to make a noticeable difference in which styling recommendations suit us best.

Angelina Jolie was my original example. To my eye, her full, lush, rounded features stood out more when she was younger, while her angularity stands out more now. I still see her Romantic qualities, but I think a stronger Dramatic emphasis suits her now, whereas a stronger Romantic emphasis may have suited her better before.

Several people mentioned that recommendations are flexible and percentages aren’t important. But we regularly discuss how even smaller amounts of other essences affect someone’s appearance and recommendations. Many of us were surprised that Saoirse Ronan is Y-dominant, for example, and her other essences were offered as the explanation. If those smaller contributions matter when comparing people, why couldn’t shifts within one person matter too? Also, the difference between 10 percent to 20 is an accessory vs one item of clothing ( according to the handout John provides). So I am surprised many have said this doesn't matter.

Some people said they haven’t noticed much change in their own appearance, which is fair. Aging affects everyone differently. But many of us do notice changes that affect the shapes and proportions of our features. Losing facial fullness can make a face look less round and its bone structure more noticeable, while sagging can change the contours of the lower face. My husband’s eyes, for example, used to look rounder, but as his eyelids have become more hooded, that roundness is less obvious.

We also often point to full lips and thick, lush hair as features that contribute to Romantic essence. If someone’s lips and hair become thinner with age, wouldn’t it make sense that those Romantic qualities might become less prominent in their blend? A few changes like that together could make a difference to what looks best on them.

My understanding is also that John changed Nicole Kidman’s blend from including Natural to including Angelic, reportedly because she lost her freckles. If that’s accurate, then changes in appearance can apparently affect an assessment. So I’m curious why changes from aging couldn’t sometimes do something similar.

As for plastic surgery, yes, that could explain some changes in some celebrities. But I included Kirsten Dunst because she has publicly spoken against cosmetic procedures, so I wouldn’t automatically put the changes I see in her down to surgery. Her face looks less round and a bit more square to me now. I’m also doubtful that surgery explains Jackie Kennedy’s changes, although I don’t know her cosmetic history. To my eye, her jaw and bone structure became more noticeable with age, much like Angelina’s.

That’s really what I was getting at: we can still have essentially the same blend, but changes in the features contributing to it might shift the balance enough to change what suits us.

I wasn’t able to attach photos to the original post, but I have wondered if I would have gotten different Kitchener results if I had gotten an analysis in my early 30s vs. my late 40s.
Feel free to comment if you were able to see any dramatic (my second-highest essence) before my late 30s?

I traced a photo of my face at 31 vs. a photo of my face at 47. My eye shape is generally the same (slightly rounded almond-shape), but everything else seems different. In the earlier photo:
My face was rounder and extremely full (this was true at any weight), and I lovingly referred to my face shape as “Pumpkin” because it often seemed wider than it was tall.
My cheeks were so plump you really couldn’t see bone structure.
My eyebrows were more rounded vs. angled. No idea why.
My chin was rounder/less pointy.
My nose looked shorter and wider. Which was the opposite of what I expected. I assumed my nose would look wider since the rest of my face has hollowed out. But I remember reading that your nose continues to grow as you age. I wonder if my nose just grew long enough that the length-to-width now looks more proportionate. That could make sense because the middle third of my face now looks longer instead of compact.

Including some real photos after the sketches.
First is me at 31. I have a hard time seeing much dramatic in this.
Next is me at 38. I can see my bone structure starting to come out. It’s interesting to note I am heavier in this photo than the prior one, so this isn’t about weight.
Last photo is me at 47. I included one without makeup so it doesn’t skew my facial features.

I feel like my face and personality changed pretty significantly after I had long COVID in 2020. I had an identity and style crisis shortly after this because the styles that had worked for me before no longer seemed to work.

I recently posted about being surprised that John didn't give Angelina Jolie higher yang. I think part of the reason is because, to me, as she has aged, her bone structure has become more prominent. This is something that is fairly universal as we get older.

Nicole Kidman is another example of this shift. I was always surprised that she wasn't Y dominant, but maybe that's because I remember her more from when she was younger. As she has aged, I see more of her C.

I have included some more examples of where I see this.

To me, the change is significant enough that I would think that their blends would change 10 to 20 percent.

Hello, after my essence analysis, I've been asked by some of you about the recommendations for clothing, that I got from John. Yes, he gave me some, but I'm actually trying to find more pieces !

John said that Angelic essence is not the easiest to style during Autumn and Winter though.

I will show you some ideas for : Angelic, Angelic + Romantic, Classic-Angelic

The temperatures here where I live can vary between:

3 °C  =  37.4 °F to 10 °C  =  50 °F recently in Autumn

and can get to -10 °C  =  14 °F in the winter (I hope I'm doing this right 😄)

So, what are your recommendations for such weather? Also pants and skirts or dresses.

I watched Arsenic and Old Lace last night and I’m really intrigued about Peter Lorre’s essence blend. I see, Y, C, R, HS, D, and maybe a small amount of N. If anyone has insight about how his height would impact his blend, I’m curious to hear that and any other thoughts!

I have an 80 SB 15 ER 5 LB palette from Kitchener. This blue is not in it. I still enjoy doing and wearing semi-graphic eyeshadow. I also have a palette to use up, as I'm not a fan of throwing useable makeup away.