Green

Green

LIGHT GREEN	Good for growth, new ideas and a fresh approach	Fresh thinking, harmony, balance, rest, vigorous growth.
DARK GREEN	Denotes long nurtured traditions	Stability, dependable, reliability, reassurance

Green is a healthy colour according to this quote:

‘When you're green, you’re growing. When you're ripe, you rot.’ Ray Croc

I’ve always loved Green, but that is not the case for many of my clients I’ve seen through the years.   Given that there is a colour for everyone to look great in AND I’ve seen many people looking great in their best shades of greens, I’ve also experienced a greater frequency of clients expressing a dislike for green over and above any colour, even when it looked good on them.  I concluded over time that it must have something to do with the energy and/or the memories it was eliciting.

Everyone in the class agreed that she looked elegant and confident in her 2-star colours, so it was a surprise to hear her say, ‘I don’t like this colour!’

AND PAUSE! The power of silence to let her process what she had just said in contradiction to the feedback given by her friends in the class. As she absorbed the effect the colour was having on her, she continued, ‘And I know why I don’t like them!  The woman that went off with my first husband wore these colours’.

Fortunately, she was now happily married so we were able to engage in a conversation about how well she looked, how many ways she could use it, how to introduce it into her life more gently so that she could learn to love the colour the way the colour loved her!

This would probably have been a different experience if she had not been able to identify the source of her distaste so clearly! 

Was ‘the other woman’ the green-eyed-monster, or was she herself ‘green with envy’ a few years earlier?  I doubt the world would have looked like ‘Green and pleasant lands’

I’m not sure that any other colour conjures up emotions quite like green.  Green around the gills suggesting a certain level of nausea has a very different application to that of green fingers and of young people today being taught well with Green principles to respect, conserve and save their natural environment.  It is a very grounding colour in my experience and hence, when you consider its energy is that of ‘stability and reassurance’, a possible explanation for seeing green as a popular colour for interior design in traditional living rooms.

Green with envy/green fingers/green eyed monster

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/green-eyed-monster.html

I love the sound of ‘sea green’ as well as the colour and the image it conjures in my mind of azure seas, Mediterranean holidays, warm balmy evenings and diving off the deck of the tourist boat. 

Equally delighted was my 6 year old recently with his illustrative description of ‘Troll Snot’ for my spinach based smoothie!

Unfortunately, I too am guilty of disparaging colours not to my liking and I’ve even heard others talk of the ‘sludge’ colour when describing autumn.  How much better to picture the leaves as they change and find something to create the image of ochres, oranges and olives in a Mediterranean orchard because, on the right person, that is the effect!

Your Greens range from:	Strong :	Light / Bright
Spring (warm & clear)	Leaf, Kerry	Apple, Mint
Summer (cool & soft)	Sea Green and Jade	Duck Egg to Pastel Aqua
Autumn (warm & soft)	Moss, Dark Olive, Forest	Light Sage
Winter (cool & clear)	Emerald and Pine Green	Ice green

Grow well with your greens, whether experimenting with the fresh and bright end of your spectrum as the vigorous growth of spring, or the deeper end enjoyed by the established trees of both conifer and deciduous forests.  There is something indisputably powerful about them, which could account for its ‘marmite’ reactions when people are introduced to their best greens!

Colour mixing your Greens
Spring	A soft background of neutrals (honey, beige, tan) can be complemented beautifully by a bright leaf green as well as a pastel collection of banana, peach and Apple
Summer	A deep collection of burgundy, plum, navy and sea green can always be lightened with a hint of pastel aqua.  Or mix sea green with rose brown and mushroom
Autumn	Olives with Orange, Pine green with Royal purple
Winter	Emeralds with…

Green with envy/green fingers/green eyed monster

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/green-eyed-monster.html

Yellow

YELLOW

Good for sharing factual information, promoting conversation, sociability, family harmony

Joy, happiness, intellect, energy, inspiration

When asked to look at being happy or angry and then attributing a colour to it, Yellow was automatically the colour for happy, Red for anger.  The child was about 6 at the time.  A purely instinctive reaction, from the heart.

‘There are painters who transform the sun to a yellow spot but there are others who, with the help of their art and their intelligence, transform a yellow spot into sun’ – Pablo Picasso

It’s a colour recognised to be good for harmony – is that why we love primroses and daffodils so much in the spring?  Energy and inspiration abounds when the newness of spring approaches and I can feel it as I sit looking out to sea with the sun shining down on the golden sands.  One of my favourite memories is stopping by a field in Tuscany and absorbing the sunshine and warm energy of the sunflower fields.  Sunflowers adorn our walls and a stained glass window adds interest to the view of the neighbours’ wall!

I once heard statistics from car insurance companies that stated yellow cars were less likely to be involved in Road Traffic Incidents.  The implication was that the high visibility was effective in raising attention and thus ensuring people kept a safer distance.  Never having been a lover of yellow and particularly not yellow cars, I did wonder whether this was more to do with the distinct lack of yellow cars on the road, I can’t see any in the car park! The bright and reflective nature of high visibility clothing certainly ensures that many people are kept safer in potentially dangerous environments.

And yet, while every season has a yellow, like orange, it is another colour which is primarily the domain of the warm toned seasons, spring and autumn.  But, unlike orange, each season has a yellow – enjoy yours!  If it’s not a 2* colour, then use it for accents and complementing colour schemes.

Try these combinations for something a bit different:

Spring (warm & clear)	With anything from your palette!
Summer (cool & soft)	Primrose, Coral Red and Hyacinth
Autumn (warm & soft)	Yellow Ochre, Orange and Amber
Winter (cool & clear)	Mole, Stone and Acid Yellow

Returning from the hairdressers where people were admiring the natural blonde highlights that adorn my son’s head when the summer arrives, I recognise that many people want to replicate the blonde hair that adorns so many young heads.  Apparently, it is the change in hormone levels as we get older which causes most of us to lose the blondeness and turn darker.    I recall a very humorous moment when I was in my 20s when someone described me as having dark, curly hair – my program of me says I have blonde, I have the photo to prove it, I was 4!  

I believe everyone is lucky to have their natural colour -  what we need is learn how to choose the clothes, make-up and hair style that will show it off in its best light!  Watch as mousy grey turns to distinguished silver and ‘bleached yellow’ turns a stunning shade of honey beige purely by changing the colours of your clothes and make-up.  It is, however very personal and some are not ready to change - if that’s the case, consider temporary colour to help the transition as mentioned in an earlier blog. 

‘Without my Johnson trademark mop of yellow hair, I think I would be nothing’ – Rachel Johnson

© Tatler

It’s clearly an emotive colour, I’d love to be a fly on the wall as they get into the nitty gritty of what shade of ‘pastel’ this yellow house needs to be repainted! 

And on a practical note, thanks to a school t-shirt, I’ve learnt that yellow needs to be washed with whites to avoid it absorbing all the colours in the wash and turning grey.  

  

Your Yellows range from:	Strong to:	Light / Bright
Spring (warm & clear)	Daffodil, lemon	Lemon
Summer (cool & soft)	Primrose
Autumn (warm & soft)	Old Gold,	Yellow Ochre
Winter (cool & clear)	Acid Yellow	Ice Lemon

As for lipsticks?  If in doubt, wear your red but if you aren’t wearing any point of red with your yellows, your favourite colour will harmonise well. 

Orange

ORANGE

A prime communication and meditation colour

Joy, enthusiasm, happiness, creativity, attraction, success, stimulation

Orange – a good colour for restaurants where happiness and joy in communication are fundamental to an enjoyable experience of eating out with family, friends and colleagues! Maybe this is why I feel it’s strongly associated with Retro. For communication and stimulation it appears it’s a highly appropriate choice that my colleague made on the flip charts we’ve been working on as we look at the long term future of the business. 

And while Frank Sinatra feels it is the happiest colour, it is a colour (as a Summer) that I struggle with - it’s not in my palette - the closest being Musk Pink, and, as a strong colour, has a strong reaction for me in my environment, to the extent that when I moved to a new house I needed to pull up all the marigolds in the garden and replace them with cyclamen and grape hyacinths!  Not so effective on bug control but easier on my eye!

An earlier blog I wrote connecting the colour of your mug to the flavour of your hot chocolate reported that Orange mugs produce the best tasting hot chocolate.  No mention was made regarding the research sample as to what season each of the tasters was and thus how much unconscious personal preference may have played a part!

And so I sit down with my purple mug (there wasn’t an orange one!) and consider the virtues of Orange every colour has its place and contribution to the rainbow:

‘There is no blue without yellow and without orange’ – Vincent Van Gogh

In its rightful place, it looks stunning and when I passed a colleague last week wearing an orange top, matching lipstick and a Kingfisher Poncho, I was reminded of the joys of wearing colours appropriately (to the wearer) and in complementary harmony with each other.  It was as if the light had been switched on and she was illuminated.  The hair colour, cut, make-up, trousers and boots served to support the strength of the picture frame and she was ‘In Focus’.

‘If the family were a fruit, it would be an orange, a circle of sections, held together but separable – each segment distinct’ – Letty Cottin Pogrebin

The thirst-quenching fresh flavour of a fresh orange presse.

The burst of zest when my finger nail first breaks the skin of an orange or tangerine.

The juicy calmness I experience from the ripest, juiciest mango.

The warming mellow as orange merges towards rust with its comforting homeliness in soft furnishings.

Orange, as a bright, can make a fantastic accent colour – Men, if you’re an Autumn or a Spring, try it in a tie; you might be surprised at how appropriately impactful it can be when balanced with your trousers/suit/shirt combinations.  Particularly stunning against a dark brown, chocolate combination.

Ideas for introducing Orange:

Spring (warm & clear)	Aquas, Turquoises and all the neutrals – navy, browns through tan to cream etc
Summer (cool & soft)	Somewhere you can look at and enjoy it!
Autumn (warm & soft)	With Royal Purple, Apricot, Amber, Rust, and with all your Greens, browns and navy
Winter (cool & clear)	Somewhere you can look at and enjoy it!

And if Orange in its purist form is a bit strong, Autumns can soften it by moving to Amber or Rust while Springs can introduce the lighter Tangerine moving into Salmon or the stronger, deeper Terracotta.

Your Orange lipsticks range from:	Strong to:	Light / Bright
Spring (warm & clear)	Terracotta	Tangerine
Summer (cool & soft)	Musk Pink is the closest but it’s not really there!
Autumn (warm & soft)	Orange, Rust, Amber,
Winter (cool & clear)	Scarlet is the closest, but it’s not really there!

Great Oranges for your Season	Soft	Clear
Warm	Autumn L308, L621, L648, L653	Spring  L308, L410

You can wear any colour – of course you can, but they don’t all suit you or make you look your best.  If you want to embrace the colour of orange in your life, maybe it’s about knowing it’s there rather than showing it to the world; a piece of orange fabric, orange underwear, a picture of wonderful things that are orange.  

I love pictures, photos and imagery – maybe I’ll try that!  Put it where I can look at it, rather than putting it on me and making other people look at it.   Remember, I make the colour look good (or not) as much as the colour makes me look good (or not)!

Brown

BROWN

Good for rustic homeliness

Warmth, earthiness, reliability, support.

Brown

What can I say about this?  As a summer it is no longer my favourite colour, much preferring the prettier shades of pink, however, I clearly remember a phase in my childhood when brown was the ‘in colour’ for me.  AND with a husband who is an autumn, surrounded by friends and family of all seasons, I can clearly see browns working well, weaving that luxurious, subtle harmonious flow of neutrals – just not on me!

As the colour of rustic homeliness, I read a recommendation somewhere to wear brown when ‘first meeting the mother-in-law’, on the basis that it’s a non-threatening colour and her son would be in safe hands!  I guess if you want to portray that image, then it’s good advice…! 

When we settle into our sofas and relax into our armchairs at the end of a long day, we need to feel safe, secure and restful.  The pace of life is such these days that ‘grounding’ is required for its restorative powers.  As I pass through friends’ homes, I recognise a proliferation of warm toned colour themes with accents being set off by the neutral of brown in its various forms: beige, tan, chocolate, mahogany, mole, oatmeal and stone.   Interestingly, regardless of what the inhabitant’s seasons are, there is still a propensity to furnishing in warm shades.  

I’ve noticed that when I’m in need of restorative time, I move towards my browns which start at Rose Brown and verge into plums/purples; when I’m in action, inspired and engaged with work, life and business, I tend to wear more blues, reds and greens.

On the basis that everyone has every colour available to them, we each need to identify which shade of the colour works best for us and, if looking for a specific colour such as brown, which shade is yours?  Is it dark brown, chocolate, moving into burnished burgundy/dark red or chestnut?  Winters particularly, need to make sure their ‘brown’ goes no warmer than the beautiful, luxurious mole, but be warned everyone else, mole won’t look luxurious on many others.  If Brown isn’t great at 75% or 50%, try accenting with piping or patterns to incorporate the colour and contrast without dominating the outfit….and you.  

I wonder whether Winston Churchill was a Winter, as a result of this statement:

“I cannot pretend to feel impartial about colours. I rejoice with the brilliant ones and am genuinely sorry for the poor browns.” — Winston Churchill

Remembering of course that every 5 years, “Brown is the new Black” and referring to Almonds, Chocolate, Nutmeg, Beer and Coffee, whoever you are.

Phrases:

·         As brown as a berry - alluding to our never ending search to be tanned.  From  

       Elizabeth I when pale, sallow skin was a sign of being able to afford a life indoors

·         Browned Off – WWII phrase signifying ‘fed up’ or ‘bored stiff’

·         To be done brown – to be deceived, taken in

·         Brown Badger – swot type of undergraduate, derived from the brown attaché case

       which students used to carry their books!

·         Brownie points - a hypothetical social currency, which can be acquired by doing good 

       deeds or earning favour in the eyes of another

·         Brown Shirts – Hitler’s Nazi Party, so called from the colour of their shirts

Your Browns range from:
Spring (warm & clear)	Light beige, through tan to chocolate
Summer (cool & soft)	Pink Beige through mushroom to Rose Brown -  a pink tinge
Autumn (warm & soft)	Beige through coffee, camel to Bronze and Dark Brown
Winter (cool & clear)	Stone through Mole – a grey tinge

Great Lipsticks for the Browns of your Season, most will work from your season because Browns tend to be neutrals and benefit from choosing a colour for your lips if your outfit is all brown
	Soft	Clear
Warm	Autumn – L308, L410, L491, L5, L506, L621, L64, L648, L653	Spring – L308, L410, L64,
Cool	Summer  - L495, L50, L35, L718, L686	Winter - L512, L54, L673, L718, L50

Red

There is much excitement in the Perkins' household because we’re flying north to see if we can find the big man himself, you know, the one who wears the red suit.  Great debate has reigned as to whether the one at the school Advent fair was real or not – apparently if there is no sleigh, he’s not the real one – the one we saw the following day in the market square, celebrating the turning on of the Christmas lights, was real, proven by the presence of his sleigh (and a wonderful explanation for why the reindeer wasn’t real)! 

Debate rages in other circles regarding the red suit yet, debate aside, there is no doubt the imagery is so powerful, we would probably struggle to convince anyone that he was anything if not dressed in the familiar red suit with fur trim. Try green for example! 

Red is probably one of the most emotive colours, having many associations with danger and warnings (stop signs), fire/heat, violence, ripeness (fruit) and blood.  It is said to be the colour of energy and drive, with dark red implying success achieved.  When working with my son recently he was very clear that while yellow is a happy colour, red relates to anger – he must feel this at some instinctive level. 

In researching this blog the power of red is obvious, arguably, the most powerful.

·         Seeing Red - becoming angry, losing self-control

·         Red Rag to a Bull – deliberate provocation sure to bring an adverse reaction

·         Caught Red-Handed – caught in the act of a misdemeanour or crime with visible
     evidence

·         Red Herring – a distraction from the real issue

·         Red Tape - rules and regulations especially involving excessive or unnecessary
     paperwork

·         In the Red - in debt

·         Scarlet Woman 

      o   Prostitute or

      o   Symbol of Pagan Rome

And my favourite, because it reminds me of my childhood and the Cornish skylines:

·         Red Sky at Night – an indication of the weather.

It is a colour associated with passion and confidence so wear it with pride but equally be aware that some will see it as an angry colour. 

A conversation with a bank manager recently related to her early years’ training and a recommendation to avoid wearing red because it is an angry colour.  With ‘anger’ being the energy in Eastern philosophy which drives a snowdrop up through the frozen ground, I think passionate would interchange well here.  Maybe with the stiff upper lip synonymous with the British culture, we need to keep a lid on ‘passion’ as much as anger lest we can’t handle it!

Having spent 12 years demonstrating how amazing the right red lipstick for you looks in spite of fears and opinions, it was really refreshing to see two women at a recent function proudly and confidently wearing strong red lipstick.  It also reminded me of the L’Oreal campaign earlier this Autumn.

Reds in the House of Colour range are fabulous - use the table below to identify from your skin tone which are your best colours:

Ideal Reds
Spring (warm & clear)	Poppy / Geranium
Summer (cool & soft)	Cherry / Coral Red
Autumn (warm & soft)	Brick / Geranium
Winter (cool & clear)	Burgundy / Carmine / Scarlet

Great Reds for your Season	Soft	Clear
Warm	Autumn – L12, L606	Spring – L12, L55, L606
Cool	Summer  - L28, L50, L307	Winter – L27, L28, L50, L55, L302, L307, L499, L512, L673

As the colour at the centre of the colour wheel, the most adaptable of all colours and the first colour the eye sees, resulting in it being the colour of ‘sale’ signs to attract spending customers in a retail environment; in the words of Bill Blass, 'When in doubt, wear red.'