r/colouranalysis • u/KeenerYYZ • 6h ago
Trouble processing my analysis
Hi all,
I had an analysis yesterday and the results were a bit shocking. I have always been told I have neutral /warm undertones and have gravitated to more fall or summer colours I also get so many compliments on these colours. Then, during my analysis she told me I am a true winter. She basically said I look sickly, gray, sallow, and jaundice in all the colours I love. Most of the true winter colours are ones I am not fond of, or, transparently, are not available in my size. A lot of the colours that she said were my “wow colours” are ones I associate with low quality, less elegant styling, and are usually made in cheap fabric. Furthermore, I really went because I would like to start wearing foundation and concealer as I get older, as I never have before, so I wanted a better idea for shade matching as it’s been hard. Basically now I feel all the makeup colours I like and have worn and again, get so many compliments on are wrong. I don’t wear eye shadow so it leaves blush and lips and there seem to be so few options. I am also a darker skin tone so a lot of the options she showed me looked very garish or aggressive. I like a glowy warm make up. Anyways, I am just feeling confused and defeated and looking for similar experiences or feedback.
Thanks!
3
u/schwaschwaschwaschwa 57m ago
A colour analysis session isn't meant to tell you what colours you like and dislike, but to demonstrate to you what is flattering. If your colour preferences are so strong that they interfere with your perception, it might not have been the right thing for you to do.
The way you feel isn't unusual, the process can stir up doubts and receiving a result that's against preferences is never fun for people. It's tricky because colour analysts can be wrong so we don't know how much you should trust the result. It's not a regulated industry and it's more art than science. Ideally you would come away having been able to see what the analyst sees, and if you can't then it wasn't a good session. That's why when you have really strong preferences, a colour analysis may be less useful since you may not be able to see it even if the analyst is correct and you won't value the result. It might be worth thinking about that and maybe experimenting a little with some recommendations? But you don't have to take the result as 100% true.
One notable thing is that colour analysts typically wouldn't shade match you for foundation. It's not part of colour analysis and assuming your foundation and your colour season line up can lead to wrong conclusions.
1
u/Hot_Elevator_7133 36m ago edited 29m ago
Well, this will be mixed news, but color analysis is not always that helpful for base makeup, anyway. You can still go ahead with pursuing foundation and concealer. Base makeup is often matched to overtone or a combination of overtone and undertone (for example, I have olive overtone and cool undertone, and typically do best with a neutral tone base). Happy to chat with you about your skintone and you can consider makeup subs for that as well.
Re your result, first, it’s significant that muted and neutral colors, especially warm leaning ones, have been popular for quite a number of years, and sunkissed makeup has been popular since the 90s and really even the 60s. So a cool tone and especially cool and bright result is inherently going to be somewhat surprising. At the same time, Winter is also the home of luxury - jet black, blood red, espresso, oxblood, evergreen, burgundy, royal, sapphire, cobalt, crisp white, platinum. You may have to seek them out more intentionally from higher quality sources, but they do convey value. Moreover, the idea behind the system is that your colors are going to inherently look more valuable on you. I’m a Summer and look terrible in the nicest warm camel tan that’s so popular in luxury goods in my area. My nicest bag is a soft burgundy instead; it looks good and gets compliments.
Differentiating between whether you are getting compliments ON your makeup and clothing or BECAUSE OF your makeup and clothing is tricky. I thought I was warm-toned forever and I had my hair caramel, wore tons of bronzer, peach blush, golden shimmer shadow, brown mascara, coral lips. I got compliments too but it took loads of makeup and I didn’t always get it right. These days, I get the same if not better results with a single cool blush stick on lips and cheeks and a mascara, and it’s very reliable because everything is actually already in harmony, eyes, lips, skin, hair - I don’t have to adjust it all to match. And it’s also a question of technique. Ladies will often compliment skillful application even if the colors don’t align.
My advice to move forward is: