Manila Bulletin
Lifestyle
Fashion and Beauty
'Hue' are you? We consulted a professional color analyst and here's what we discovered
Lifestyle
Fashion and Beauty
'Hue' are you? We consulted a professional color analyst and here's what we discovered
'Hue' are you? We consulted a professional color analyst and here's what we discovered
Certified image consultant Ginny Villegas helped us uncover our 'wow' palette through color analysis
By John Legaspi
Published Apr 11, 2023 06:59 am
Playing with colors is always fun. There is joy in mixing paintings, creating a salad with a myriad of colorful vegetables, and decorating a space with the hues you love. But when it comes to dressing, wearing colors can be challenging. Even if a garment comes in your favorite color, sometimes, it still ends up being thrown into the “do not wear” pile. It looks like narrowing down the best palette continues to trouble many of today’s fashionistas as color analysis, while not a new concept, is currently one of the trending subjects on Tiktok.
To see how it works, Manila Bulletin Lifestyle got a chance to experience a professional color analysis with Ginny Villegas, a certified image consultant and founder of [Flair Image Consultancy](https://imagebyflair.com/). After getting a degree in Fine Arts at the University of Santo Tomas, Ginny went on to pursue image training studies at John Robert Powers in Manila and International Image Institute in Canada. For her, knowing the palette that better suits you can enhance how you feel about yourself. It has the ability to empower you and bring out your confidence.
In a nutshell, color analysis is a process where people discover the palette that perfectly complements them. Its result can be applied when shopping for new clothes, selecting jewelry and other accessories, and even in picking makeup.
As for this writer, my journey to finding my colors started by removing my makeup and jewelry and wrapping my hair in a scarf. Doing that eliminated the unnatural colors from my face that can affect the result of our test. Ginny then laid on the table her fabrics in varying tones that fall under seasonal categories: winter, spring, summer, and autumn.
But before we go through the fabrics, Ginny first assessed if my skin has a cool (bluish) or warm (yellowish) undertone. Based on my skin’s dusky complexion and my dark features (eyebrows and eye color), she concluded that I have a cool undertone. In some ways, I agreed with her when we started layering the fabrics on me. First were the metallics. My skin looked more glowing with the silver fabric compared to the gold one. Then we moved on to the other colors, comparing the warm and cool shades of jewel tones and the neutral colors. Yes, even black, gray, and white have cool and warm tones.
I bet you’re confused now. How can you even tell if your skin is glowing? That’s the beauty of having a face-to-face session with an expert. During the process of looking at yourself with the different colors and proper lighting, you will notice that some colors have the tendency to wash out your complexion. While some colors can make your features more striking. The key thing here is to see if you stand out with the color or if you get lost in it.
Once you determine your season palette—your “wow” colors—comes the “flow” palette analysis. It is where you and your analyst check out if you fall in between seasons, which can be in deep and bright tones.
After a series of fabric layering, Ginny and I found out that I am a true winter with no flow. Before coming into the session, I had the idea that warm earth tones work best on my skin. It was a pretty eye-opening experience. I never knew vivid pink, red, and purple will suit me. I was happy that my go-to black and white are in there as well. Dressing-wise, color analysis will challenge (and/or motivate) you to go and take risks when it comes to incorporating colors into your wardrobe.
One of my biggest takeaways is how it can improve our understanding of colors. That there are cool shades of red and blue tones can be warm. Color analysis can also be beneficial to stylists and fashion designers. Through it, they can advise their clients much better in terms of color curating with clothes or creating custom pieces.
Now, it doesn't mean that you are only limited to using the palette you get after the test. While many color analysts and image consultants say that the color palette won't change even if you age, you can still play with the tones from the other season. Ginny's advice is to wear your "wow" colors closer to your face. Whether you follow the result religiously is up to you. For what it's worth, color analysis offers an interesting way to discover more about yourself—your true colors and all.
*Hello, readers! Do you have a story you want us to feature? Send us a message on* [*Facebook*](https://www.facebook.com/ManilaBulletinLifestyle)*,* [*Instagram*](https://www.instagram.com/manilabulletinlifestyle/)*,* [*Tiktok*](https://www.tiktok.com/@manilabulletinlifestyle)*, and* [*Twitter*](https://twitter.com/MBLifestyle) *and let’s talk about it.*
To see how it works, Manila Bulletin Lifestyle got a chance to experience a professional color analysis with Ginny Villegas, a certified image consultant and founder of [Flair Image Consultancy](https://imagebyflair.com/). After getting a degree in Fine Arts at the University of Santo Tomas, Ginny went on to pursue image training studies at John Robert Powers in Manila and International Image Institute in Canada. For her, knowing the palette that better suits you can enhance how you feel about yourself. It has the ability to empower you and bring out your confidence.
In a nutshell, color analysis is a process where people discover the palette that perfectly complements them. Its result can be applied when shopping for new clothes, selecting jewelry and other accessories, and even in picking makeup.
As for this writer, my journey to finding my colors started by removing my makeup and jewelry and wrapping my hair in a scarf. Doing that eliminated the unnatural colors from my face that can affect the result of our test. Ginny then laid on the table her fabrics in varying tones that fall under seasonal categories: winter, spring, summer, and autumn.
But before we go through the fabrics, Ginny first assessed if my skin has a cool (bluish) or warm (yellowish) undertone. Based on my skin’s dusky complexion and my dark features (eyebrows and eye color), she concluded that I have a cool undertone. In some ways, I agreed with her when we started layering the fabrics on me. First were the metallics. My skin looked more glowing with the silver fabric compared to the gold one. Then we moved on to the other colors, comparing the warm and cool shades of jewel tones and the neutral colors. Yes, even black, gray, and white have cool and warm tones.
I bet you’re confused now. How can you even tell if your skin is glowing? That’s the beauty of having a face-to-face session with an expert. During the process of looking at yourself with the different colors and proper lighting, you will notice that some colors have the tendency to wash out your complexion. While some colors can make your features more striking. The key thing here is to see if you stand out with the color or if you get lost in it.
Once you determine your season palette—your “wow” colors—comes the “flow” palette analysis. It is where you and your analyst check out if you fall in between seasons, which can be in deep and bright tones.
After a series of fabric layering, Ginny and I found out that I am a true winter with no flow. Before coming into the session, I had the idea that warm earth tones work best on my skin. It was a pretty eye-opening experience. I never knew vivid pink, red, and purple will suit me. I was happy that my go-to black and white are in there as well. Dressing-wise, color analysis will challenge (and/or motivate) you to go and take risks when it comes to incorporating colors into your wardrobe.
One of my biggest takeaways is how it can improve our understanding of colors. That there are cool shades of red and blue tones can be warm. Color analysis can also be beneficial to stylists and fashion designers. Through it, they can advise their clients much better in terms of color curating with clothes or creating custom pieces.
Now, it doesn't mean that you are only limited to using the palette you get after the test. While many color analysts and image consultants say that the color palette won't change even if you age, you can still play with the tones from the other season. Ginny's advice is to wear your "wow" colors closer to your face. Whether you follow the result religiously is up to you. For what it's worth, color analysis offers an interesting way to discover more about yourself—your true colors and all.
*Hello, readers! Do you have a story you want us to feature? Send us a message on* [*Facebook*](https://www.facebook.com/ManilaBulletinLifestyle)*,* [*Instagram*](https://www.instagram.com/manilabulletinlifestyle/)*,* [*Tiktok*](https://www.tiktok.com/@manilabulletinlifestyle)*, and* [*Twitter*](https://twitter.com/MBLifestyle) *and let’s talk about it.*