Why I won’t be wearing black this Christmas

We’ve just booked this year’s Head Office Christmas party and as you can imagine a lot of conversation will take place between now and then about what we’re going to wear!  This type of conversation is taken to a whole new level in our office as we’ve all had our colours and personal styles analysed so we know exactly what the perfect party frock should look like depending on our season and clothing personality.

However, this year we’ve been set a challenge - half of us in are Winters and this year’s dress code is not to wear black!

At last year’s Christmas party our table was a beacon of colour set amongst a sea of black. With all the fantastic colours now available on the High Street, it surprised me that a lot of women still went for the staple ‘LBD’, maybe because of the connotations that ‘everyone looks good in black’ and it’s the ‘safe option’ but it seemed a little predictable, perhaps wearing colour still scares some people?

Our clients will testify that colour analysis is an inspiring experience that helps you discover the right colours to wear which really enhance your natural complexion. When you wear the right colours you look healthy, more vibrant, successful and often younger - so, why wouldn’t you?

This year we’re going to our Christmas party in an array of colours - I’m sure we’ll stand out from the crowd and hopefully others will notice that colour makes all the difference which could start a whole new conversation! 

 

If you’ve had your colours analysed, ditch the black this Christmas and join us by stepping out confidently in colour, you’re our greatest ambassadors so let’s spread the message of colour this season (as well as good will!)

A True Gift

With 2 children under 4, I took advantage of a treat that actually seemed like a good investment.  We all have our own variation on ‘leading a busy life’ and I hadn’t been shopping for anything but maternity clothes, stretchy tops and jeans for 5 years.  I teach this stuff and knew that by embracing a totally different lifestyle it was easy to lose myself! I took the opportunity of a shopping trip with a Fashion Stylist. 

 

As an Image Consultant myself, I was fully aware that hiring someone, an 'expert' to help me make the most of a rare day’s shopping should be an excellent investment,; this is what I had seen my clients experiencing time and again when shopping with me.  Focus and objectivity is the key.  Staying objective when you are losing the will to live in changing rooms is a type of sanity worth paying for.  We all find it difficult to stay objective about ourselves and I’m no certainly no exception. It’s so much easier to be objective when I’m working with a client but I needed to become the client!

Within a few weeks of this shopping trip, the opportunity arose to go shopping with some of my colleagues at House of Colour, all fully trained Image Consultants.  Due to other commitments my available time was only 3 hours not the whole day, so off I went.

 

Both days were fun, both days included a break for lunch and both days resulted in me purchasing some great pieces for my wardrobe and looking outside my normal comfort zone for inspiration.  The real value for either option was making the most of someone else’s expertise to get a job done more efficiently, effectively and enjoyably than I would on my own.

 

Success is generally a subjective measure which in the case of clothing also needs to consider cost per wear for each item.  With my tendency to analysis, I weighed up the two alternatives which revealed the smarter investment was employing a fully trained image consultant. 

Statistical Analysis	Fashion Stylist	HOC Consultant
Investment	£300 + travel	£150 + travel
Time invested (hrs.)	1 day (7 hrs.)	3 hrs.
Items tried	Approx. 60	11
Items purchased	11	6
Items returned	3	0
Items kept	8	6
ROI Ratios
Productivity = items/hr.	1.3	2
Returns	27%	0%
Wasted energy = (Items tried x hrs.)	420	33

The added value came from savings in time and energy and keeping hold of my ability to make clear decisions. This relied on my ‘shopper’ remaining objective and keeping me focused – which became harder as the day progressed.  I could also see that the training of the HOC Consultant ensured they remained objective rather than being influenced by their own styles or preferences.

 

As a result, some of my nearest and dearest are receiving HOC gift vouchers for Christmas this year (let’s hope this doesn’t spoil the surprise!).  As well as being a useful and valuable present, it’s my contribution to a greener Christmas – fewer ‘things’ that they have to find a home for, less mistakes in purchases and the bonus of supporting a fully functional wardrobe that carries fewer unused, often excessive, items (frequently disguised as ‘bargains’)!

Gift vouchers are available for a class, a product or an amount of money (note - wardrobe reviews are sometimes more valuable and almost as much fun as shopping trips!).  You can purchase them from your local consultant or you could take advantage of free Post & Packing on all Gift Vouchers from the House of Colour web shop until the end of December. 
Happy Christmas everyone! J

 

Making the Most of Yourself and Your Business

There is one main (personal) reason for writing this blog - I have always been passionate about helping people to make the most of themselves.  Whether it’s job prospects, securing the home you want for the right price, careers advice, how to get out of a ‘hole’ you might be stuck in – I’ve realised over time that my skill set has developed and is consistently delivered around a central theme of ‘making the most of your assets’.

The internet, an infinite resource, has so many tips and tricks about how to make the most of your assets, whether it’s your body, your health or your business prospects.  You don’t need to hang around long before a plethora of advice and opinions will cross your e-path.  It’s fascinating and very easy to learn bits and pieces that add and enhance your skill set and knowledge base (beware – it’s a time bandit if you don’t keep focused!).  Every now and then, it’s not so much advice as a clear example of why something is possibly more important than previously thought.

‘The Tale of Two Tailors’ is a perfect example of why you need to make the most of yourself, showing yourself and your business in its best light and how the invisible cost could be the tip of the iceberg of not doing so. 

The management guru Tom Peters sums it up nicely in this quote:

‘It’s a brand new world ….Regardless of age, regardless of position, regardless of the business we happen to be in, all of us need to understand the importance of branding. We are CEOs of our own companies: Me Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called You’.                                                 

A few years ago, I was involved in a charity event where I took 3 local professionals through a House of Colour business ‘make-over’.  The DJ, The Chief Exec and the DJ were asked to turn up wearing a ‘typical work day outfit’ - their images speak for themselves!

(© stevewilliams_photo@btinternet.com)

This kind of transformation is typical of what you can achieve when you participate in the Business and Personal Brand sessions available at HOC in Business.

It’s clear that making the best of ourselves is beneficial both to our inner confidence as well as promoting confidence IN us from outside sources.  Make the best of yourself, enhance your assets and count the benefits that you receive, you may have more to do with attracting it than you realise!

 

Going Grey: A refreshing approach

Our colouring is rooted in our genetics therefore any changes in our skin or hair colour are linked to our own unique colouring.    As our hair turns grey, it will turn a shade that works with our skin tone.  Take a look at the shades Chris Evans has moved through and you can see consistent warm colouring.

 

Stylist magazine goes into the reasons, scientific and psychological, behind going grey.  However, when the odd grey strand turns into a block, are you more in the ‘I’m not quite ready to go grey yet’ school or the ‘I’ve earned every one of these and I’m proud of them’!  (Yes, they exist, people who are frustrated by their distinct lack of grey hair!)

My belief is that we’re best when we make the most of our natural selves and I’ve always encouraged people to work with their natural hair colour.  We need to soften our look as we get older, putting less ‘authority’ statements in because grey hair does carry authority.  As well as having practical savings in time and money, it can look fantastic.

But, I have neither the inclination nor motivation to commit to spending copious amounts of time or money at the hairdressers in a 12 month period:

 

Entrance stage left, my hairdressers El Esha, they have found an Italian brand product, Sens.us,  which is a professional range of toners and shaders that serve several purposes, depending on what you’re trying to achieve:

  

• Distort the white i.e. tone down the grey!
• Revive colours i.e. making your colours last longer between visits
• Freshen natural hair colour i.e. enhance your natural highlights whether they are blonde or silver!
• Neutralise unwanted tones on streaked hair 

This was the advice from, El Esha:

• Silver – great for bleached hair, to brighten white or to knock out warm tones, especially the yellowing that heavy smokers experience - I would imagine Winters loving this!
• Beige – for someone who wants less white, taking it to a light blonde (similar to Chris Evans’ colour above!)  This sounds as though it would be good for Springs.
• Gold – for keeping golden highlights fresh, it can add a gold tinge to medium brown hair.  Sounds like Autumns and Springs to me!
• Copper – to brighten naturally auburn hair, old highlights or tone red down to copper.  Autumns and some Springs.
• Red – can be used on any red but is primarily to keep your fashion red topped up.  Winters and Autumns are probably most likely to use this but if you’re daring enough to go for Red, this is for you!
• Brown – for those not quite ready, this naturally distorts the white, including re-growth, between colour visits. This is ideal for Winters and Summers, Autumns and darker Springs could also find it useful.

Brown, Red and Copper are shaders, as deeper colours they need to be left on for longer while the Silver, Beige and Gold are toners that need no more than 5 minutes. 

El Esha don’t currently have a web shop but are happy to take phone orders and offer advice on 01733 310879.

Remember, it’s not what you’ve got but what you do with it that makes the difference, never more true than with our hair. I might not be ready to embrace my grey yet but I certainly want my hair to continue looking as natural as possible while remaining ‘low maintenance’!