Yes! I stopped coloring my hair 10 years ago as my dark brown hair was always fading, giving me an orange look. As a winter season, it was so wrong. Now I'm a beautiful salt and pepper, my eyebrows blend perfectly, my skin looks younger and I get compliments. Great video❤
If you want to make the transition to silver hair or are in the process, you may wonder how to look as vibrant and healthy as ever. What should you change, what should you keep? How to think about it all? I find that answers start with questions. If we were in a room together, what would you ask me? That might be a place to begin trying a few changes. I hope that the video leaves you with some answers, a few new directions, as well as some questions 😊 Keep in mind a good rule in the video and your own pictures: look at the face as you decide about a colour, rather than looking right at the colour. Wearing great clothes is about what suits YOU, not the clothing on its own. Many have asked why my hair isn't silver since I'm such a fan on others. This is my natural colour and if we met, you'd see that it's more silver than it appears on screen. I actually welcomed the silver a few years ago because I finally, finally! saw that I had the right colour highlight. Really, it's not that I'm an advocate of silver so much as wearing our natural hair colour at every age. It's the one colour that is always in harmony, that never goes wrong, needs adjusting, costs money and time, or confuses our self-perception, and most always looks better than the woman may believe. Life: becoming more and more ourselves.❤
I just discovered your videos and was thinking how perfect your hair color is on you.. now I know why! ;) I find your way of explaining things very useful, which isn't always the case for me with this subject - thank you! I'm a SA and have had to basically delete all the cream, grey, & beige from my wardrobe since I now wear those colors on my head full-time since I stopped coloring my hair. I love my natural hair color now, but am quite limited to the darker shades in the SA palette for clothing, and must avoid shine more than ever or my hair will look dingy by contrast. More vids about these 1st world problems please? Thanks again!
I'm glad the explanations are helpful. I have the same experience of finding the explanations confusing, which was conflicting in the beginning because it was obvious that this Sci\ART colour system works and can help people, but across the industry, there was so little consistency that no wonder consumers couldn't make sense of things and gave up on colour analysis altogether. Now I just accept it and have become more conscious of keeping a moderate perspective, balancing all the emotion and drama around appearance (and media about appearance) with theory and facts, which is where the truth is more likely to be found. Too much of one or the other skews our judgment about things. Yes about first-world problems :)
I really appreciated this video. My mother is 94 and I always thought her coloring was light, but like Betty she wasn't a natural blond, just wore blond hair for many years. I felt stumped that the light season palettes and summer and spring palettes didn't really connect with her. Then I held up a Bright Winter palette to her and whoa...magic! There was her natural lip color and her whole face came into focus and authority. Her eyes popped with more clarity and brightness than I'd ever seen. It was thrilling to put her in fucshia with a black and white blazer and to see that the person I always thought of as needing delicate colors actually came alive with strong colors. Still, I doubted myself. Bright Winter? How could that be when her natural hair color was not dark? Her coloring is, well, very similar to Betty Whites. In fact, in the photo where Betty is wearing a white top with a ruffle around the neckkline she looks so much like my mother, who has an outfit just like that, that for a second I thought it was my mother. The entire video helped confirm for me that my mother is indeed a Bright Winter. She refuses to see a color analyst, but she deserves to be wearing her colors. And, now I feel completely confident that I can give that to her.
Thank you for sharing this lovely story. My first 'client' was my father, 87 at the time, a Dark Autumn. The change in how he looked and felt about his appearance was surprising to me, he'd never mentioned it before and now he was buying a suit with his palette. When the colours we wear recognize us, especially with someone we know, the power of what they can do really hits home. I'm glad you were able to help your mother find her colour home.
@@ChristineScaman Thank you, Christine! I remember seeing photos of your handsome DAu father wearing his colors on your blog. It is gratifying to see anyone in their true colors, but especially gratifying to see a parent who you think you've known all your life, suddenly come into focus in colors you've never seen them wear before. We almost have to get to know them all over again!
How you describe the impacts of colour is extremely interesting and thought provoking. Considering how colour can lead to impressions and assumptions such as ‘fragile’, ‘vulnerable’, ‘healthy’ is much more meaningful than the usual variations of ‘pretty’. Thanks for a great video!
Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed the video. I also find the vocabulary so interesting, how pretty or handsome can mean something different to everyone, but health and vitality are often interpreted the same way.
Hello Christine! Awesome video! It would be supper helpful if you did a video please on warm-toned folks successfully wearing their colors with their natural grey hair. I feel that cool-toned people are a more intuitive choice for not coloring their grey hair, because grey is also a cool color. Thanks for considering!
Great idea, thank you. One point that might help: you know how all 12 Seasons have grays and other neutrals their colour palettes, and the grays are in perfect harmony with the Season? There are cool grays, neutral grays, and warm grays. Think of gray hair that way, meaning it's not a cool colour unless it's growing out of a cool person's head and is already adjusted to your warmth level. Our version of gray is just a shift to a neutral tone in the same palette we've always had, with the same warm-neutral-cool setting we've always had. Spring have creamier grays, Autumns have warm pewters, the neutral Seasons have their variations, and so it goes for all 12 types of colouring. I love your suggestion though, great topic for a video, thank you!
@@ChristineScaman Light spring here, and stopped coloring my red-blonde hair a couple of years ago after 25 years. I found out that my natural gray hair color is pure ivory blonde, no streaks at all. Completely freaked me out! My hairdresser couldn't find any streaks of white or brown in it. She said it looks like it was bleached and treated with toner, except it's much healthier than bleached hair. I'm still trying to learn how to be a pale blonde.
I really appreciate this video. I am a draped BW who has dark hair and going grey. I have been using demi colors to cover it up. It ends up being a very vibrant dark cool hair. My real hair is slightly lighter and slightly warmer. However the stark contrast has gotten me many compliments and does look better than warm or blonde by far. I may embrace the gray after all just to try it.
I'm glad the video was helpful. Yes, even for BW, who wears high saturation colour so well, there comes a day when the amount of pigment in dye is too much for the skin tone. A question I'd ask a colourist about chemical colour for BW at any age and especially in the silver hair years, is whether there's a way to turn down the opacity. If a product could put a 'cellophane' coating on the hair, that might a good thing. And for silver hair, use a pearl or diamond cellophane rather than changing the colour (no idea if such a thing exists). This said, BW natural silver is usually very sparkly on its own and chemicals may not make much difference.
I loved Betty, she seemed a very genuine person. IDK if she's a Winter, Summer, or Spring. No idea from pictures. I could guess about no Autumn in the mix but looking back at the first picture in the red dress, even that's possible. Everyone's eyes change with what they wear, but Betty's really seemed very reactive that way.
I went gray for about a year…and went back to my old dark brunette dye. The reasoning is that my gray hair was extremely contrasty white and black streaks. And while I did not dislike the streaks, I felt that the contrasting colors (black/white stripes essentially) drew the eye as it competed so strongly for attention away from my muted coloring (I think I might be a dark winter) and small delicate features. My eyes and face just seemed to fade into the background. One of my dreams has become to try out the white/black hair again one day and visit you in Canada to see if there would be a way to make that super-high high contrast look work for me!
Your hair sounds amazing! I find distinct areas of colour so artistic to look at. I hope our paths cross one day and we can help you feel comfortable with your natural colouring. This type of colour pattern happens often enough with many Winters and they have the natural contrast in their other colours (and therefore clothing) to balance it beautifully.
And as the colour analyst, it can be quite hard to do, right? It feels better to take care of others' feelings, especially our clients who are having this new experience. We give a lot of thought to how we present information and how we arrived at what we say. If it were me, I'd be more upset that people don't tell me the truth because I might overreact or feel sad. It's up to me to decide if the truth is their truth or mine.
This was a wonderful video Christine . I just discovered your channel last week and have been binging all your videos. I’ve finally grown out my silver and it’s a time to redirect my choices on Colour. I was told 30 years ago I was Summer in the old Colour Me Beautiful system . With cool ash blond hair I probably didn’t always follow my true colours but now with very silver white hair I think it more important than ever to get my colours right ! I need to work out if I’m soft summer or true summer ! I’d love to see you do a video like this one for Betty on Silver hair for a cool summer person !
I'd love to do a silver hair video for Summer, Spring, and Autumn. If you happen to have any people in mind as models, please share their name. I've looked at a few Summers but they're wearing blonde hair in these years, which detracts from even the best clothing colours.
Hi Christine, I feel like I had once seen a blog post of yours that talked about fabric textures that work for different seasons. Is that a post you did, or am I just making stuff up? I can't seem to find it anymore. Thanks, Mandy
Hi :) I don't recall a place where that information was the focus of the post or podcast, my sense is more that it's been mentioned in many places. Possibly, texture came up a lot in the article series, The Right Skin Polish for Summer Skin (and the other 3 True Seasons) on Chrysalis Colour, possibly more related to skin and cosmetic reflectivity. Texture in fabric is covered in each chapter of the book (Return to Your...). There may have been a blog post long ago, which was taken down when the web site migrated to a new platform last July, but I don't recall the particular post (and I haven't any copies of that material).
I really enjoyed this video and, as usual, heard some statements that made me think. Thanks! Another celebrity that I would be interested in watching a video of you analyzing is Drew Barrymore. She's had various hair colours and worn many different styles, so there should be lots of photos for you to work with.🙂
I'd be happy to look at Drew. In my approach to appearance, I'm looking for the real person and from there, the version of appearance that rings true. I have trouble settling on the real Drew. She's someone I could picture as having parts of any of the 4 main Seasons, let alone their blends. With Betty, I had images of the real (or close enough) person in adulthood, at least one GPS point from which to understand her, and then images from which I could triangulate my way towards an opinion as possible as pictures allow. With Drew, I'd be starting with no anchor and continuously coloured hair which has to affect how all the other colours look. What's interesting about Drew, despite I couldn't guess about her Season, is that she wears more hair colours well than many people. Second interesting thing, her appearance seems to change quite a bit over her life. Actually, those could make an interesting theme for a video, since my goal is helping folks answer a question they have, not so much coming up with their Season. Betty could be a Light Spring for all I know, or a True Summer. I'll look at more images and see what bubbles up. Thanks for the suggestion :)
@@ChristineScaman I've always wanted to claim Drew as a SA like myself, but I'm far from expert on this subject. It's because she's so unusual in the ways you describe that I agree she'd be a great (educational) choice for analysis. There are lots of images of her as a child available also (shouldn't that help?), and one adorable interview of her on the Johnny Carson show (promoting E.T. the movie) can be found here on YT.
I agree Drew might be a great person to look at and I plan to study her pictures more carefully. About childhood images, they're actually of little use. For some people (I don't have numbers, just personal experience), their colouring doesn't seem to change much from early childhood, for others, it changes very much in adolescence. Whether Season changes or not, childhood hair colour is sometimes useful in adulthood, sometimes it would look impossible to believe. You'd see that in folks with big change in natural hair colour in their teens, usually Winters. I'm thankful for the suggestion and conversation about Drew, I can see how she'd be a great person from a few angles.
Yes, of course. As a person who is cold from October to April, warmth matters! The brand is Avalanche, website is avalanche outdoor supply dot com. The colour is on the teal or purple side of black, probably better for True or Bright Winter, but the jacket is very warm, well made, practical, and washable.
My golden brown eyes have developed a greyed ring around them, and my dark warm hair has lost its coppery highlights to dark brown and ivory with a silvery shine.
I got my 1st gray at 12. I'm 38 now and it looks like natural highlights (I'm a Dark Autumn with off black hair). It's a conversation starter for sure. Strangers are generally confused and say I look too young to have gray. I also really like your views on aging and acceptance. A lot of my peers are seriously freaking out over their changing hair. I'm very "meh" about it. I guess it's been apart of me for so long. As always I love your videos! I also ordered your book awhile ago and it's great too!!
I loved reading your thoughts on this topic. I’m 26 and I noticed my gray hair last year. I ran to google and it’s normal to have one or two at that age. I haven’t noticed any others. I have the same “off black” hair you describe, I think that’s the best name for it 😂 it’s nice to play with makeup when you have hair that’s both bold and muted like that.
I figure silver hair is only a problem if we say it is. Goes for anything. On this subject, we're fighting to lose, why would we do that? People can see what's going on, same as we can in them. If they want to change their beliefs about me because of silver hair and make comments (as they will), that's about them. I agree that silver in hair makes cosmetics magical, they do so much to look visually amazing, more play with light than when hair had colour. In how I see things, your silver is as bright or muted as all your other natural colours, meaning that you can create truly artistic looks over the years and always have a perfect contrast level with hair that's obviously real. That's the hair I look at and think, "Wow."
Yes, makeup is fun to play with too. I also noticed my clothing and accessories need to be simpler. This might be partly age/personality, but my hair just seems much more of a statement than any necklace or piece of clothing. I have textured/curly hair and sometimes the short gray hairs around my hairline will pop out framing my face. I had a coworker tell me it looks like I am surrounded by a cloud ha.
@@yuppie992001 That sounds gorgeous. I love dark hair with texture and body like that. My hair is just straight and doesn’t hold a curl or a wave, but it definitely suits me. I can be a bit serious I think. You’re right, our hair makes a statement on its own. Just a bit of makeup looks like a big “wow” amount of makeup, so it’s fun to take a less is more approach.
Mine is straight, like yours. I've finally understood why, with most every line in my body being straight, curly hair looks almost funny. And I so agree, the silver cloud does sound gorgeous. Interesting too about wearing less makeup with silver hair, needing less and having an even-better-than-before effect.
My hair is salt and pepper and I am a winter. My hair was dark brown with luster. I miss the shine. Now my eyes which are almost black feel piercing and I don’t know how to soften the look without losing clarity.
Your colouring brings to mind the actor, Richard Gere. Eye colour that could be described as piercing, including today with white hair. There are images where he wears softer colours, both now and when his hair was salt and pepper, and I find he looks more aged. The white hair he has now is just a different kind of high Winter contrast than his previous look. My opinion, salt and pepper is gorgeous on Winters, and white too, because it places a neutral colour where the hair colour once was. This adds to the neutrality of the background that works so incredibly well for Winter visually, and is an opportunity to wear more colour, since there's a limit to how many colours they wear at one time. The shape of our features soften with time and the edges blend, but our colours losing clarity, I'm not convinced because it's unflattering when softer colours are worn. This is a time to wear our Winter colours next to the face to return definition to features and add interest and vitality. I do agree that black can become dark or severe, as it may have with Mr. Gere, but taking a step back from black and wearing dark gray or navy, he looks fantastic. Softer Summer grays didn't work well back when he made the movie Pretty Woman, and the discordancy would only be more pronounced today. Besides switching from pitch black, colour can be softened and still be Winter by using matte or slighting woven fabrics rather than intensely pigmented synthetics. One of the most flattering effects with silver hair is to use shine products. Winters wear high shine naturally, all the way to a mirror finish, which should be taken advantage of! There are so many great products on the market. Paul Mitchell makes Super Skinny Serum. Colour Wow makes Pop&Lock, both cruelty free and good with various hair textures.
Great comment... if you couldnt wear your hair colour as apparel, why would you wear it on your head ... I had to pause the video and think about that. Very insightful video. Thank you.
Lovely. The animals have lost a true advocate and we will miss her beautiful smile. So enjoyed this chance to compare different colors, tones and shades on her as the years went by. Thanks Christine. 💕
I've always admired Betty. She didn't seem to soak up negativity or get lost in emotion, rather a balanced person who reminded us (or me) that kindness, happiness, and humour were enough.
"You don't hire me to take care of your feelings..." 🤣 So true, one goes to a color analyst for the truth. The salespeople at makeup counters or clothing stores are happy to indulge our delusions i order yo get a sale.
Agree. It's interesting how transparent they are, in that you can see them watching you for how you feel about the item. If it's positive, they amplify the compliments. If negative, they go along with it, a kind of solidarity between friends. Putting myself in their shoes, with one person after another asking about one garment or colour after another, how could anyone give great advice? Besides their own tastes, how many know what to look for? I'm not sure what would be a better system besides women having their own info.
Christine, I'm not sure if I'm a Cool winter or a light summer. I've had a couple of analysts baffled just looking at me.( no$to spend to be draped)I have clear blue eyes with dark blue rims ivory or porcelain skin andI had light Ash toned blonde hair which is white now.. I have always thought my best colors were icey pink, icey blue, frosty green, clear lavender, and butter yellow or lighter and soft white, which lines up with the cool winter, but lighter ash blonde gone gray doesn't see to line up. I also love these same icey colors as interior paint colors in my house, they make me happy... I wear clear grays all the way to charcoal, navy and some black but limited. I get the most compliments when wearing these colors. I can't wear orange, or strong yellows and olive greens they look horrible. Thanks.
I appreciate the challenge in deciding the Season. I wouldn't be able to tell just by looking either. I'm usually able to guesstimate the one Season a person is not just by looking and I'd likely have similar possible Seasons, but once we get into the fine-tuning, I need the drapes. I hope you find your definitive answer one day :)
This might be off-topic to color analysis, but I noticed in Betty's animal prints that she might be a gamine Kibbe type. They animated or funky prints are so right on her!
I think the problem isn’t looking old, it’s the idea of looking old in a derogatory way rather than in a complimentary way. Why would I want to stagnate and freeze myself in time? I want to keep growing up, growing old if I’m lucky. The only way to freeze yourself in time and never age is to die. And that’s tragic. It would’ve been amazing to see Marilyn grow old along with her contemporaries!!!
Yes, a big topic with many trade-offs along the way. Eventually, maybe we all make our peace with it in our own way. What we're willing to do or believe and what falls outside what we're willing to value or care about. I like knowing I did what I was able to do and then come what may. The world can be so loud and superficial but we choose where to place our attention as much as possible. We choose the action, others choose the reaction, and sometimes you can work in reverse, find the reaction you're OK with and follow that path. The right 'others' seem to appear :)
@@ChristineScaman Definitely a big topic! I wrote half an essay without realising but cut it down. I’m really lucky I’ve got to spend so much time with elderly people, mostly but not only my grandparents. Some people seem to have only thought about aging long enough to be scared of sickness and death but there’s so much to look forward to! And my grandparents weren’t scared so I don’t expect to be either. Wrinkles and grey hair certainly don’t worry me, going white is my only hope of having pink hair so I’m looking forward to it! Sadly I have to wait at least a few more decades 😂 I guess I can learn patience and my best pinks in the meantime
This was fantastic. I am Betty, lol. Right down to needing a cool taupe brow on very light, clear skin with the light yellow tones. Was assessed “light” but needed some depth to ground me. Now it makes sense. Will be in touch to buy some makeup!
I thought Betty might resonate with you :) Whatever Season you may be, where and how we use our colours is a huge part of what they can say. Consider buying the Sample Sets of makeup before full size product though. The great comment was made, 'the colours I expected to work weren't so great, whereas others I might not have tried were perfect'.
I am a 64 year old DA. My natural hair that has grow in is nearly white. Some lights it looks white and others it looks like a creamy white. No dimension. My eyes are deep golden brown. Skin has lightened but still warm although red brown lip no longer works. I honestly don't know where to go from here as my hair color is way to light to be in my palette but it's my natural color. Any thoughts on how to bring my whole look together?
That switch from hair having colour to becoming a neutral tone is one of life's adjustments. There is no right or wrong way to manage it. Thoughts I might have are to wear more colours in apparel to balance out a previous coloured area (the hair) becoming a neutral, wear more light colours and neutrals from the palette near the face for the vitality and illumination, consider textiles with a bit of glow, like satin, or touches of metallic for more reflection of light, and choose lip colours that are lighter in colour and possibly more creamy or sheer from your palette. What will work best depends on your starting point in terms of clothing and cosmetics, but the result can be stunning when eye colours stand alone and clothes and makeup elevate them further.
@@ChristineScaman Thanks Christine. I'll be experimenting with the ideas you present. As DA is all about darkness, would it be best to avoid repeating my hair color in clothes, shoes , bags and jewelry? I'm thinking about my hair being just a bit more gray than a creamy pearl and wondering if wearing pearls would be unharmonious? Sometimes it's hard to see myself and determine these things. How light is too light?
Every Season has light, medium, and dark colours and looks best wearing all of them. DA may do well in an overall medium to darker darkness level but their presentation would include light and medium colours. Think of Dark Season as meaning 'the lightest colours are not very light compared with other Seasons'. Same as Light Season could mean 'the darkest colours don't get very dark'. How light is too light...any colour outside your palette is too something and the boundaries stay the same as your hair colour changes. I would think creamy pearls were lovely, like a creamy white collar.
Haha! You said you didn’t know anyone who went back to coloring her hair after going gray. Well I have - twice. I’m a Dark Winter with light skin and dark hazel eyes. I used to have brown-black hair (really it was black). Now I’m 75 and have a mixture of medium and dark brown color. It reads dark, and some people seem surprised to learn that I color my hair (strange but true). My gray hair was too mousy for me. Once I’m really white, I’ll let it go. Until then, I’m a brunette.
Always an exception! I'm sure your hair is lovely, if anyone wears hair colour well in the mature years, it's TA-DA-DW. Good on you for honouring your individuality :)
Those soft colors all over do scream "old lady" on me and I'm not even close to old. It adds 10 years to me lol. I'm a deep winter and even with lightened hair it ages me and not in a good way. Looking older isn't always a bad thing, in my early thirties and baby faced but somehow the wrong colors make you look more "dull" than "mature" when I prefer the latter. Betty was fabulous and I hope I live to be an awesome old lady like her.
Betty was fabulous, a role model for how I'd like to age as well. And you know, if she had worn soft colours, not only would others have seen a different Betty, she would have too. Eventually we buy into what we see in the mirror over and over, so important to reclaim that person.
I know of a number of consultants who believe that we become cooler as we age. John Kitchener seems almost the lone holdout on that. I think he's right. We simply have less intense coloration, which may *seem* to create a coolness, but really it just means we have less of what was once there. It is a fading, but even fading can be beautiful with faded versions of our old palette.
If I met the consultants who believe that we change Seasons, I would respectfully ask how they came to have this information. Do they have particular data or observations that led to the idea? It cannot simply be an impression, since we know things are not always how they appear, the Earth being flat as an example. The language isn't perfect, with 'fading' being the best we may have, and neither is our understanding of exactly what happens in the skin layers and genes that control our pigmentation (if the information at the molecular level is available, I'm not familiar with it), but to change Seasons...I'm not sure about that. I'd be interested in how Mr. Kitchener came to his belief as well. As for me, my direct and indirect observations over the years and suspicions about what happens are my own and continue to support my belief, but I'd change in an instant if more convincing information came along.
Yes! I stopped coloring my hair 10 years ago as my dark brown hair was always fading, giving me an orange look. As a winter season, it was so wrong. Now I'm a beautiful salt and pepper, my eyebrows blend perfectly, my skin looks younger and I get compliments. Great video❤
Silver hair is so beautiful and refreshing for our complexion, I'm happy that you're enjoying your silver with confidence :)
If you want to make the transition to silver hair or are in the process, you may wonder how to look as vibrant and healthy as ever. What should you change, what should you keep? How to think about it all? I find that answers start with questions. If we were in a room together, what would you ask me? That might be a place to begin trying a few changes. I hope that the video leaves you with some answers, a few new directions, as well as some questions 😊 Keep in mind a good rule in the video and your own pictures: look at the face as you decide about a colour, rather than looking right at the colour. Wearing great clothes is about what suits YOU, not the clothing on its own.
Many have asked why my hair isn't silver since I'm such a fan on others. This is my natural colour and if we met, you'd see that it's more silver than it appears on screen. I actually welcomed the silver a few years ago because I finally, finally! saw that I had the right colour highlight. Really, it's not that I'm an advocate of silver so much as wearing our natural hair colour at every age. It's the one colour that is always in harmony, that never goes wrong, needs adjusting, costs money and time, or confuses our self-perception, and most always looks better than the woman may believe. Life: becoming more and more ourselves.❤
I just discovered your videos and was thinking how perfect your hair color is on you.. now I know why! ;) I find your way of explaining things very useful, which isn't always the case for me with this subject - thank you! I'm a SA and have had to basically delete all the cream, grey, & beige from my wardrobe since I now wear those colors on my head full-time since I stopped coloring my hair. I love my natural hair color now, but am quite limited to the darker shades in the SA palette for clothing, and must avoid shine more than ever or my hair will look dingy by contrast. More vids about these 1st world problems please? Thanks again!
I'm glad the explanations are helpful. I have the same experience of finding the explanations confusing, which was conflicting in the beginning because it was obvious that this Sci\ART colour system works and can help people, but across the industry, there was so little consistency that no wonder consumers couldn't make sense of things and gave up on colour analysis altogether. Now I just accept it and have become more conscious of keeping a moderate perspective, balancing all the emotion and drama around appearance (and media about appearance) with theory and facts, which is where the truth is more likely to be found. Too much of one or the other skews our judgment about things. Yes about first-world problems :)
I really appreciated this video. My mother is 94 and I always thought her coloring was light, but like Betty she wasn't a natural blond, just wore blond hair for many years. I felt stumped that the light season palettes and summer and spring palettes didn't really connect with her. Then I held up a Bright Winter palette to her and whoa...magic! There was her natural lip color and her whole face came into focus and authority. Her eyes popped with more clarity and brightness than I'd ever seen. It was thrilling to put her in fucshia with a black and white blazer and to see that the person I always thought of as needing delicate colors actually came alive with strong colors. Still, I doubted myself. Bright Winter? How could that be when her natural hair color was not dark? Her coloring is, well, very similar to Betty Whites. In fact, in the photo where Betty is wearing a white top with a ruffle around the neckkline she looks so much like my mother, who has an outfit just like that, that for a second I thought it was my mother. The entire video helped confirm for me that my mother is indeed a Bright Winter. She refuses to see a color analyst, but she deserves to be wearing her colors. And, now I feel completely confident that I can give that to her.
Thank you for sharing this lovely story. My first 'client' was my father, 87 at the time, a Dark Autumn. The change in how he looked and felt about his appearance was surprising to me, he'd never mentioned it before and now he was buying a suit with his palette. When the colours we wear recognize us, especially with someone we know, the power of what they can do really hits home. I'm glad you were able to help your mother find her colour home.
@@ChristineScaman Thank you, Christine! I remember seeing photos of your handsome DAu father wearing his colors on your blog. It is gratifying to see anyone in their true colors, but especially gratifying to see a parent who you think you've known all your life, suddenly come into focus in colors you've never seen them wear before. We almost have to get to know them all over again!
So many things start making sense, person comes into focus is the perfect way of saying it.
How you describe the impacts of colour is extremely interesting and thought provoking.
Considering how colour can lead to impressions and assumptions such as ‘fragile’, ‘vulnerable’, ‘healthy’ is much more meaningful than the usual variations of ‘pretty’. Thanks for a great video!
Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed the video. I also find the vocabulary so interesting, how pretty or handsome can mean something different to everyone, but health and vitality are often interpreted the same way.
Hello Christine! Awesome video! It would be supper helpful if you did a video please on warm-toned folks successfully wearing their colors with their natural grey hair. I feel that cool-toned people are a more intuitive choice for not coloring their grey hair, because grey is also a cool color. Thanks for considering!
Great idea, thank you. One point that might help: you know how all 12 Seasons have grays and other neutrals their colour palettes, and the grays are in perfect harmony with the Season? There are cool grays, neutral grays, and warm grays. Think of gray hair that way, meaning it's not a cool colour unless it's growing out of a cool person's head and is already adjusted to your warmth level. Our version of gray is just a shift to a neutral tone in the same palette we've always had, with the same warm-neutral-cool setting we've always had. Spring have creamier grays, Autumns have warm pewters, the neutral Seasons have their variations, and so it goes for all 12 types of colouring. I love your suggestion though, great topic for a video, thank you!
Yes true spring here…and the grays are coming! Would love to see actual content on this. So hard to find clear warm grays, especially online shopping.
@@ChristineScaman Light spring here, and stopped coloring my red-blonde hair a couple of years ago after 25 years. I found out that my natural gray hair color is pure ivory blonde, no streaks at all. Completely freaked me out! My hairdresser couldn't find any streaks of white or brown in it. She said it looks like it was bleached and treated with toner, except it's much healthier than bleached hair. I'm still trying to learn how to be a pale blonde.
I really appreciate this video. I am a draped BW who has dark hair and going grey. I have been using demi colors to cover it up. It ends up being a very vibrant dark cool hair. My real hair is slightly lighter and slightly warmer. However the stark contrast has gotten me many compliments and does look better than warm or blonde by far. I may embrace the gray after all just to try it.
I'm glad the video was helpful. Yes, even for BW, who wears high saturation colour so well, there comes a day when the amount of pigment in dye is too much for the skin tone. A question I'd ask a colourist about chemical colour for BW at any age and especially in the silver hair years, is whether there's a way to turn down the opacity. If a product could put a 'cellophane' coating on the hair, that might a good thing. And for silver hair, use a pearl or diamond cellophane rather than changing the colour (no idea if such a thing exists). This said, BW natural silver is usually very sparkly on its own and chemicals may not make much difference.
So fun. I love seeing this beautiful woman analyzed. May she Rest In Peace. 🌸🥰😍
Me too. I didn’t know she was a winter, like me!
I loved Betty, she seemed a very genuine person. IDK if she's a Winter, Summer, or Spring. No idea from pictures. I could guess about no Autumn in the mix but looking back at the first picture in the red dress, even that's possible. Everyone's eyes change with what they wear, but Betty's really seemed very reactive that way.
I went gray for about a year…and went back to my old dark brunette dye. The reasoning is that my gray hair was extremely contrasty white and black streaks. And while I did not dislike the streaks, I felt that the contrasting colors (black/white stripes essentially) drew the eye as it competed so strongly for attention away from my muted coloring (I think I might be a dark winter) and small delicate features. My eyes and face just seemed to fade into the background. One of my dreams has become to try out the white/black hair again one day and visit you in Canada to see if there would be a way to make that super-high high contrast look work for me!
Your hair sounds amazing! I find distinct areas of colour so artistic to look at. I hope our paths cross one day and we can help you feel comfortable with your natural colouring. This type of colour pattern happens often enough with many Winters and they have the natural contrast in their other colours (and therefore clothing) to balance it beautifully.
"You don't hire me to take care of your feelings - you hire me to give you accurate colour information." Yes and YES!
And as the colour analyst, it can be quite hard to do, right? It feels better to take care of others' feelings, especially our clients who are having this new experience. We give a lot of thought to how we present information and how we arrived at what we say. If it were me, I'd be more upset that people don't tell me the truth because I might overreact or feel sad. It's up to me to decide if the truth is their truth or mine.
Betty certainly was beautiful and well dressed her whole life!
Yes, with a great sense of choosing what suited her as an individual.
This was a wonderful video Christine . I just discovered your channel last week and have been binging all your videos.
I’ve finally grown out my silver and it’s a time to redirect my choices on Colour. I was told 30 years ago I was Summer in the old Colour Me Beautiful system . With cool ash blond hair I probably didn’t always follow my true colours but now with very silver white hair I think it more important than ever to get my colours right ! I need to work out if I’m soft summer or true summer !
I’d love to see you do a video like this one for Betty on Silver hair for a cool summer person !
I'd love to do a silver hair video for Summer, Spring, and Autumn. If you happen to have any people in mind as models, please share their name. I've looked at a few Summers but they're wearing blonde hair in these years, which detracts from even the best clothing colours.
Wow thank you really helpful information.
You're welcome!
Hi Christine,
I feel like I had once seen a blog post of yours that talked about fabric textures that work for different seasons. Is that a post you did, or am I just making stuff up? I can't seem to find it anymore.
Thanks,
Mandy
Hi :) I don't recall a place where that information was the focus of the post or podcast, my sense is more that it's been mentioned in many places. Possibly, texture came up a lot in the article series, The Right Skin Polish for Summer Skin (and the other 3 True Seasons) on Chrysalis Colour, possibly more related to skin and cosmetic reflectivity. Texture in fabric is covered in each chapter of the book (Return to Your...). There may have been a blog post long ago, which was taken down when the web site migrated to a new platform last July, but I don't recall the particular post (and I haven't any copies of that material).
I really enjoyed this video and, as usual, heard some statements that made me think. Thanks! Another celebrity that I would be interested in watching a video of you analyzing is Drew Barrymore. She's had various hair colours and worn many different styles, so there should be lots of photos for you to work with.🙂
That’s a great idea! I would love to see this.
I'd be happy to look at Drew. In my approach to appearance, I'm looking for the real person and from there, the version of appearance that rings true. I have trouble settling on the real Drew. She's someone I could picture as having parts of any of the 4 main Seasons, let alone their blends. With Betty, I had images of the real (or close enough) person in adulthood, at least one GPS point from which to understand her, and then images from which I could triangulate my way towards an opinion as possible as pictures allow. With Drew, I'd be starting with no anchor and continuously coloured hair which has to affect how all the other colours look. What's interesting about Drew, despite I couldn't guess about her Season, is that she wears more hair colours well than many people. Second interesting thing, her appearance seems to change quite a bit over her life. Actually, those could make an interesting theme for a video, since my goal is helping folks answer a question they have, not so much coming up with their Season. Betty could be a Light Spring for all I know, or a True Summer. I'll look at more images and see what bubbles up. Thanks for the suggestion :)
@@ChristineScaman I've always wanted to claim Drew as a SA like myself, but I'm far from expert on this subject. It's because she's so unusual in the ways you describe that I agree she'd be a great (educational) choice for analysis. There are lots of images of her as a child available also (shouldn't that help?), and one adorable interview of her on the Johnny Carson show (promoting E.T. the movie) can be found here on YT.
I agree Drew might be a great person to look at and I plan to study her pictures more carefully. About childhood images, they're actually of little use. For some people (I don't have numbers, just personal experience), their colouring doesn't seem to change much from early childhood, for others, it changes very much in adolescence. Whether Season changes or not, childhood hair colour is sometimes useful in adulthood, sometimes it would look impossible to believe. You'd see that in folks with big change in natural hair colour in their teens, usually Winters. I'm thankful for the suggestion and conversation about Drew, I can see how she'd be a great person from a few angles.
I love your coat. Any chance of sharing where you bought it?
Yes, of course. As a person who is cold from October to April, warmth matters! The brand is Avalanche, website is avalanche outdoor supply dot com. The colour is on the teal or purple side of black, probably better for True or Bright Winter, but the jacket is very warm, well made, practical, and washable.
My golden brown eyes have developed a greyed ring around them, and my dark warm hair has lost its coppery highlights to dark brown and ivory with a silvery shine.
Sounds beautiful! Interesting about the gray ring, I haven't seen that. I do love the silver lights in hair though, not just mine, everybody's!
I got my 1st gray at 12. I'm 38 now and it looks like natural highlights (I'm a Dark Autumn with off black hair). It's a conversation starter for sure. Strangers are generally confused and say I look too young to have gray.
I also really like your views on aging and acceptance. A lot of my peers are seriously freaking out over their changing hair. I'm very "meh" about it. I guess it's been apart of me for so long.
As always I love your videos! I also ordered your book awhile ago and it's great too!!
I loved reading your thoughts on this topic. I’m 26 and I noticed my gray hair last year. I ran to google and it’s normal to have one or two at that age. I haven’t noticed any others. I have the same “off black” hair you describe, I think that’s the best name for it 😂 it’s nice to play with makeup when you have hair that’s both bold and muted like that.
I figure silver hair is only a problem if we say it is. Goes for anything. On this subject, we're fighting to lose, why would we do that? People can see what's going on, same as we can in them. If they want to change their beliefs about me because of silver hair and make comments (as they will), that's about them. I agree that silver in hair makes cosmetics magical, they do so much to look visually amazing, more play with light than when hair had colour. In how I see things, your silver is as bright or muted as all your other natural colours, meaning that you can create truly artistic looks over the years and always have a perfect contrast level with hair that's obviously real. That's the hair I look at and think, "Wow."
Yes, makeup is fun to play with too. I also noticed my clothing and accessories need to be simpler. This might be partly age/personality, but my hair just seems much more of a statement than any necklace or piece of clothing. I have textured/curly hair and sometimes the short gray hairs around my hairline will pop out framing my face. I had a coworker tell me it looks like I am surrounded by a cloud ha.
@@yuppie992001 That sounds gorgeous. I love dark hair with texture and body like that. My hair is just straight and doesn’t hold a curl or a wave, but it definitely suits me. I can be a bit serious I think. You’re right, our hair makes a statement on its own. Just a bit of makeup looks like a big “wow” amount of makeup, so it’s fun to take a less is more approach.
Mine is straight, like yours. I've finally understood why, with most every line in my body being straight, curly hair looks almost funny. And I so agree, the silver cloud does sound gorgeous. Interesting too about wearing less makeup with silver hair, needing less and having an even-better-than-before effect.
Excellent as usual Christine. I truly hope to have a color consultation with you one day.
Thank you. I hope the same thing :)
My hair is salt and pepper and I am a winter. My hair was dark brown with luster. I miss the shine. Now my eyes which are almost black feel piercing and I don’t know how to soften the look without losing clarity.
Your colouring brings to mind the actor, Richard Gere. Eye colour that could be described as piercing, including today with white hair. There are images where he wears softer colours, both now and when his hair was salt and pepper, and I find he looks more aged. The white hair he has now is just a different kind of high Winter contrast than his previous look.
My opinion, salt and pepper is gorgeous on Winters, and white too, because it places a neutral colour where the hair colour once was. This adds to the neutrality of the background that works so incredibly well for Winter visually, and is an opportunity to wear more colour, since there's a limit to how many colours they wear at one time.
The shape of our features soften with time and the edges blend, but our colours losing clarity, I'm not convinced because it's unflattering when softer colours are worn. This is a time to wear our Winter colours next to the face to return definition to features and add interest and vitality. I do agree that black can become dark or severe, as it may have with Mr. Gere, but taking a step back from black and wearing dark gray or navy, he looks fantastic. Softer Summer grays didn't work well back when he made the movie Pretty Woman, and the discordancy would only be more pronounced today. Besides switching from pitch black, colour can be softened and still be Winter by using matte or slighting woven fabrics rather than intensely pigmented synthetics.
One of the most flattering effects with silver hair is to use shine products. Winters wear high shine naturally, all the way to a mirror finish, which should be taken advantage of! There are so many great products on the market. Paul Mitchell makes Super Skinny Serum. Colour Wow makes Pop&Lock, both cruelty free and good with various hair textures.
Brilliant! ❤️
I hope the video gave you some new perspectives on the topic!
@@ChristineScaman It did! Thank you very much.
Great comment... if you couldnt wear your hair colour as apparel, why would you wear it on your head ... I had to pause the video and think about that. Very insightful video. Thank you.
How the world seems to me :)
Lovely. The animals have lost a true advocate and we will miss her beautiful smile. So enjoyed this chance to compare different colors, tones and shades on her as the years went by. Thanks Christine. 💕
I've always admired Betty. She didn't seem to soak up negativity or get lost in emotion, rather a balanced person who reminded us (or me) that kindness, happiness, and humour were enough.
"You don't hire me to take care of your feelings..." 🤣 So true, one goes to a color analyst for the truth. The salespeople at makeup counters or clothing stores are happy to indulge our delusions i order yo get a sale.
Yes! I get so frustrated when I know I’m not getting an honest response with the salespeople, whether it’s makeup or clothes.
Agree. It's interesting how transparent they are, in that you can see them watching you for how you feel about the item. If it's positive, they amplify the compliments. If negative, they go along with it, a kind of solidarity between friends. Putting myself in their shoes, with one person after another asking about one garment or colour after another, how could anyone give great advice? Besides their own tastes, how many know what to look for? I'm not sure what would be a better system besides women having their own info.
I keep thinking about the resemblence to Sally Field.
Been told that a few times over the years, more often when I was younger, my face may have been a little rounder then :)
Christine, I'm not sure if I'm a Cool winter or a light summer. I've had a couple of analysts baffled just looking at me.( no$to spend to be draped)I have clear blue eyes with dark blue rims ivory or porcelain skin andI had light Ash toned blonde hair which is white now.. I have always thought my best colors were icey pink, icey blue, frosty green, clear lavender, and butter yellow or lighter and soft white, which lines up with the cool winter, but lighter ash blonde gone gray doesn't see to line up. I also love these same icey colors as interior paint colors in my house, they make me happy... I wear clear grays all the way to charcoal, navy and some black but limited. I get the most compliments when wearing these colors. I can't wear orange, or strong yellows and olive greens they look horrible. Thanks.
I appreciate the challenge in deciding the Season. I wouldn't be able to tell just by looking either. I'm usually able to guesstimate the one Season a person is not just by looking and I'd likely have similar possible Seasons, but once we get into the fine-tuning, I need the drapes. I hope you find your definitive answer one day :)
This might be off-topic to color analysis, but I noticed in Betty's animal prints that she might be a gamine Kibbe type. They animated or funky prints are so right on her!
Certainly seems possible, I'd agree, although I only know a little about the types :)
I think the problem isn’t looking old, it’s the idea of looking old in a derogatory way rather than in a complimentary way. Why would I want to stagnate and freeze myself in time? I want to keep growing up, growing old if I’m lucky. The only way to freeze yourself in time and never age is to die. And that’s tragic. It would’ve been amazing to see Marilyn grow old along with her contemporaries!!!
Yes, a big topic with many trade-offs along the way. Eventually, maybe we all make our peace with it in our own way. What we're willing to do or believe and what falls outside what we're willing to value or care about. I like knowing I did what I was able to do and then come what may. The world can be so loud and superficial but we choose where to place our attention as much as possible. We choose the action, others choose the reaction, and sometimes you can work in reverse, find the reaction you're OK with and follow that path. The right 'others' seem to appear :)
@@ChristineScaman Definitely a big topic! I wrote half an essay without realising but cut it down. I’m really lucky I’ve got to spend so much time with elderly people, mostly but not only my grandparents. Some people seem to have only thought about aging long enough to be scared of sickness and death but there’s so much to look forward to! And my grandparents weren’t scared so I don’t expect to be either. Wrinkles and grey hair certainly don’t worry me, going white is my only hope of having pink hair so I’m looking forward to it! Sadly I have to wait at least a few more decades 😂 I guess I can learn patience and my best pinks in the meantime
This was fantastic. I am Betty, lol. Right down to needing a cool taupe brow on very light, clear skin with the light yellow tones. Was assessed “light” but needed some depth to ground me. Now it makes sense. Will be in touch to buy some makeup!
I thought Betty might resonate with you :) Whatever Season you may be, where and how we use our colours is a huge part of what they can say. Consider buying the Sample Sets of makeup before full size product though. The great comment was made, 'the colours I expected to work weren't so great, whereas others I might not have tried were perfect'.
I am a 64 year old DA. My natural hair that has grow in is nearly white. Some lights it looks white and others it looks like a creamy white. No dimension. My eyes are deep golden brown. Skin has lightened but still warm although red brown lip no longer works. I honestly don't know where to go from here as my hair color is way to light to be in my palette but it's my natural color. Any thoughts on how to bring my whole look together?
That switch from hair having colour to becoming a neutral tone is one of life's adjustments. There is no right or wrong way to manage it. Thoughts I might have are to wear more colours in apparel to balance out a previous coloured area (the hair) becoming a neutral, wear more light colours and neutrals from the palette near the face for the vitality and illumination, consider textiles with a bit of glow, like satin, or touches of metallic for more reflection of light, and choose lip colours that are lighter in colour and possibly more creamy or sheer from your palette. What will work best depends on your starting point in terms of clothing and cosmetics, but the result can be stunning when eye colours stand alone and clothes and makeup elevate them further.
@@ChristineScaman Thanks Christine. I'll be experimenting with the ideas you present. As DA is all about darkness, would it be best to avoid repeating my hair color in clothes, shoes , bags and jewelry? I'm thinking about my hair being just a bit more gray than a creamy pearl and wondering if wearing pearls would be unharmonious? Sometimes it's hard to see myself and determine these things. How light is too light?
Every Season has light, medium, and dark colours and looks best wearing all of them. DA may do well in an overall medium to darker darkness level but their presentation would include light and medium colours. Think of Dark Season as meaning 'the lightest colours are not very light compared with other Seasons'. Same as Light Season could mean 'the darkest colours don't get very dark'.
How light is too light...any colour outside your palette is too something and the boundaries stay the same as your hair colour changes. I would think creamy pearls were lovely, like a creamy white collar.
@@ChristineScaman That's very helpful. Thank you!
Haha! You said you didn’t know anyone who went back to coloring her hair after going gray. Well I have - twice. I’m a Dark Winter with light skin and dark hazel eyes. I used to have brown-black hair (really it was black). Now I’m 75 and have a mixture of medium and dark brown color. It reads dark, and some people seem surprised to learn that I color my hair (strange but true). My gray hair was too mousy for me. Once I’m really white, I’ll let it go. Until then, I’m a brunette.
Always an exception! I'm sure your hair is lovely, if anyone wears hair colour well in the mature years, it's TA-DA-DW. Good on you for honouring your individuality :)
Those soft colors all over do scream "old lady" on me and I'm not even close to old. It adds 10 years to me lol. I'm a deep winter and even with lightened hair it ages me and not in a good way. Looking older isn't always a bad thing, in my early thirties and baby faced but somehow the wrong colors make you look more "dull" than "mature" when I prefer the latter. Betty was fabulous and I hope I live to be an awesome old lady like her.
Betty was fabulous, a role model for how I'd like to age as well. And you know, if she had worn soft colours, not only would others have seen a different Betty, she would have too. Eventually we buy into what we see in the mirror over and over, so important to reclaim that person.
I know of a number of consultants who believe that we become cooler as we age. John Kitchener seems almost the lone holdout on that. I think he's right. We simply have less intense coloration, which may *seem* to create a coolness, but really it just means we have less of what was once there. It is a fading, but even fading can be beautiful with faded versions of our old palette.
If I met the consultants who believe that we change Seasons, I would respectfully ask how they came to have this information. Do they have particular data or observations that led to the idea? It cannot simply be an impression, since we know things are not always how they appear, the Earth being flat as an example. The language isn't perfect, with 'fading' being the best we may have, and neither is our understanding of exactly what happens in the skin layers and genes that control our pigmentation (if the information at the molecular level is available, I'm not familiar with it), but to change Seasons...I'm not sure about that. I'd be interested in how Mr. Kitchener came to his belief as well. As for me, my direct and indirect observations over the years and suspicions about what happens are my own and continue to support my belief, but I'd change in an instant if more convincing information came along.
@@ChristineScaman Being open to new and improved data is a strong point I have always respected in you!