Monday Musings – Color Analysis, What I Wore, and Amazing Pie Recipe
Happy Monday ladies. I have a lot on my mind this week, so fasten your seat belts because it’s a twisty ride š We resumed our Sunday afternoon drives yesterday and realized we’ve been really missing them. It’s apparently Mandarin season because they were for sale along every country road we drove down, so we loaded up.
Our first stop was this cute painted roadside stand that had organic mandarins…my favorite. We only bought one bag because I knew there would be other cute places to stop. And sure enough, I was right.
These baby goats were bleating their little hearts out when we stopped at the second place. I walked up to video them, and they clammed right up. I turned my back and they started right up again the little rascals.
I came away from this stand with another large bag of Mandarins, a bottle of local honey, and some Mandarin hand soap too. Farm stands are dangerous territory for me because I love to support local farmers and try unique things I can’t find at the supermarket.
Personal Color Analysis
I know, random, right? I have not stopped delving into the different types of PCA systems available to us. In fact, I had another in-person analysis done last week. When she proclaimed that as a Spring, I would need to always color my hair, I discounted her theories altogether. Another analyst had suggested the same thing when she proclaimed me an Autumn, but it’s utter garbage. Just rubbish.
We are not mistakes. We do not break when we get older and allow nature to take its course on our heads. When our hair goes gray it’s not always cool and not just gray. It can be silver, dove gray, blonde gray, smoke, white, cool ash gray, platinum silver, mist, pewter, warm gray, charcoal mist, and on and on. It’s the right color for your body and coloring. Full stop.
If you are struggling with your newly natural color, it’s very likely that your clothes are now the wrong shade and reflecting that onto your face and hair. So many of us are walking around with old messages in our heads about what looks best on us and what doesn’t. What worked in our 30s, will not work now so we need to stay flexible and open to change.
As I look at the color pallets I have been given, many have similar colors, but they call me varying seasons. It’s semantics and because each system uses different criteria to determine the season you are, in their system. Skill plays an important role here as well. I was certified to do color analysis 15 years ago but knew I wasn’t competent enough to do them, so I didn’t. I focused on style.
Some systems take into account your eye and hair color, some do not. Some are very scientific and only consider what happens to your skin when you are draped in colors. They are looking at contrasts and determining what colors do not change your complexion. They are focused on finding colors that harmonize with what color you already have in your skin. When we wear colors that relate (harmonize) with the colors already present in our skin, we look healthy, visible, and vibrant.
Virtual color analysis is highly questionable because the analyst can only see your skin overtone, not your undertone on a monitor. To truly see how your skin reacts to drapes and colors, they need to see you in person.
I have several interviews upcoming with experts in color analysis that I think you’ll find fascinating and I hope will answer your questions and mine.
Pie
I consider myself ready for Thanksgiving because:
- I know what I’m cooking
- I know who is coming
- I know what I’m going to wear
Other than that, I have a whole lot of work to do to get ready. Hubs ordered an organic Turkey, and bought sweet potatoes…the rest is up to me. I’m not a control freak but very persnickety when it comes to important family dinners. What I like best about Thanksgiving dinner, besides being with loved ones, is this epic Pecan Pie I make which I shared with you here.
That was a rollercoaster of musings, whew.
Has your hair gone natural?
Thanks for reading ladies and be sure to wear what makes you feel confident.
I decided to go gray, to my surprise my hair is white š. My hairdresser is putting a nice color blending white and blond. No more root cover up. I have changed my eye make up to a softer brown, Iām still playing with lip color. My daughter is the recipient of some of my clothes that just donāt work because of the color. Iām getting lots of compliments on the changes.
Love those mandarins!
Good Morning!
I am 59 – about 7 years ago I decided on a whim to see what would happen if I didnāt color my hair? I had just stopped a routine of straightening and coloring and was working on getting my natural curl back. I never went back! My hair is a subtle salt and pepper and I get a lot of compliments from hair stylists! I got another friend to try it and she converted as well! And to think women pay to have their hair dyed gray! š
The young women do
Those goats are adorable!
I find the whole color analysis topic fascinating, but also frustrating. I have been on my own journey to identify my personal style and best colors after realizing I had to rebuild my wardrobe after retirement and a little menopausal body “rearrangement.” I toyed with the idea of having a professional color analysis, but realized this process is highly operator dependent, so I decided to go it alone. Although I used a lot of resources focused on seasons, I found it was more useful for me to focus on “warm or cool” and “bright or muted”. I mostly fall into the soft autumn “warm and muted” category (emphasis on the muted), but have grey/green eyes, so find I can wear some dusty blues, greys and greens that would normally be considered part of a soft summer palette. This knowledge helped me understand why I never felt my best in very cool or saturated colors or patterns with high contrast. Recognizing this has allowed me to build a more cohesive wardrobe and made shopping more efficient and enjoyable since I now hone in on colors and styles that I know generally work for me. After a lot of trial and error, I think I am in the right place. Still, it would be great to have all this validated by a professional, or even a really color-savvy friend! I am looking forward to reading about your experience with this process.
It sounds like youāve thought this through thoroughly
I had my colors done when the trend first started. I’m considered a summer which seems correct. At least I have a guide line. But a color I can not wear ever is olive green ! I had a beautiful sweater in that color and when I wore it I was asked if I felt well. So I’m definitely not an autumn.
Love your posts !
Iām not an autumn either:)
I just love your posts Jennifer. You have such inspiring “common sense” suggestions and ideas. Thank you so much. I am late 60’s and decided a year ago to stop colouring my hair and to overhaul my wardrobe. It’s been a “work in progess” but it’s been fun and it’s been great determining what works and what doesn’t. This is an interesting time of life and I find if I feel good with how I look I can just get on with enjoying life. Doesn’t have to cost a fortune. Your ideas are invaluable. Thanks for sharing. Jan in Australia.
Pecan pie is my absolute favorite. Of course I found out it has the most calories of all pies! But I don’t care at Thanksgiving! I agree with your color analysis ideas. I mine done many years ago but don’t think it still applies as I’ve aged and let my hair go natural. How do you decide what colors to wear now? I’ve been experimenting with all colors and all I know for sure is black and grey seem to look good on me. Happy Thanksgiving.
I was told the same thing 37 years ago when I had my colors analyzed–that, as a spring (there was no warm or cool, just spring), I could NEVER stop coloring my medium brown hair. (Or what? People would run for their lives at the horror of my hoary countenance?) For many years I did only a few blonde highlights, because my scalp became very sensitive to the chemicals in the dye. Then along came Covid. Interestingly enough, as the white hair increased, the effect was similar to having my blonde highlights, so why would I go back to the expense and the hassle of that? At this point my hair looks rather taupe overall, my scalp is healthier, and I’m perfectly satisfied–and STILL wearing those spring colors.
My mom always made pecan pies. It wasn’t a holiday without one. Happy Thanksgiving, Jennifer!
Bravo!! Happy Thanksgiving
You’re right, your hair color isn’t the determining factor. It’s the hue of your skin.
Bingo! Itās all about the skin
Iām in the process of letting my grey hair grow in. I havenāt been able to grow my bangs out in 5 years because the hair bleach makes them break off. As far as color analysis I was told many years ago that I was a summer, however I refuse to only wear āmy colors ā. I wear any color I want. I love color and I donāt want to be limited.
Love pecan pie. We went over to friend’s house the other night and they offered us pecan pie, so good.
My natural is now all white, and has been going gray since my late 20’s. I have colored since my 30’s. During pandemic I let it grow out to see what it would look like, and at this time I would say with my coloring, fine flyaway thinning hair I will continue to color. My hair was med golden brown and now I dye it medium to dark blonde. I feel younger , look younger and my hair has body with color. I wish I did not have to color, but I just look better with it colored.
There are some beautiful women with white and gray hair and they are the lucky ones, but some of us just cannot pull out off.
Jennifer, you look good natural, your coloring works for you. Looking forward to more on color analysis.
Coloring is great for giving my hair body.
“I would need to always color my hair.” WOW! That is crazy. I can’t believe someone would tell you that. I stopped coloring my hair a few years ago, and haven’t looked back once.
Can you please tell us where you drove to find all those wonderful farm stands? Thank you. I am enjoying all the talk about color!
Around Auburn there are lots of them.
Pecan pie is my favorite — I’ve been making it since I was a kid!!! It’s not Thanksgiving without it. Your recipe sounds amazing!
I’m still coloring my hair, but I’ve gone a bit lighter and have highlights which seem to be better for me as I age. One of my grandmothers had beautiful white hair but I don’t think I inherited that trait!
Your color analysis posts are so interesting and helpful– I’m still trying to figure out what I am! I sometimes think I am a combination of different ‘seasons’ … is this possible?
On a side note, I purchased the eye glass wipes at Target and they are the best!!!
Their are shoulder seasons. We are all a combination of warm and cool. Itās just where along that scale we are. You will be one season but it can have warm and cool colors in it.
That’s right too, you will be celebrating your Thanksgiving in the US on the 25th! Like you, I love pecan pie (besides lemon as well as chocolate peanut-butter it is my favourite out of the three … āŗ) however I finely grind the pecans then lightly spread to form a top crust, top off with three pecans in the middle, then bake.
Looking forward to your colour expert analysis interviews. -Brenda-
Where the heck do you live? Your backgrounds are always so beautiful. And your Sunday drives are such amazing looking places. Your fashion advice for us mature ladies has been so helpful for me. I struggle with ādressing my ageā and not feeling like a dowdy old lady! COVID has been so challenging, also. I live in a smaller town, and many of our stores have closed. I love looking at clothes on line, but not buying. I am so used to trying on clothes, feeling the fabric, actually seeing the color, so my options are very limited. Every clothing item counts! Thank you. Linda
I went gray this year, going from dark brown, and I have enjoyed how it has changed my color palette. I still like to wear the cool colors and jewel tones associated with dark hair and they look all right, but now I can decently wear warmer tones. Tan still looks awful on me, but I don’t like it anyway. I just bought a hooded sweatshirt from Athleta in a very bright color called oxided yellow and love how it looks with my gray hair. It is OK to change when you are old.
It is totally ok. I agree:)
I self-analyzed for color and soft summer seems to fit the best. Jennifer you mentioned that the color palettes for different systems don’t include identical colors and that is what I’ve noticed. Soft summer is the warmest of the summer seasons, so some of the soft autumn colors can be worn. For me what has been the most helpful is choosing colors in the medium range of contrast, looking for muted, soft colors (no hard bright colors like taxi cab yellow primary red, royal blue), and paying attention to scale in patterns (small to medium) as my features are small. My overall look is low contrast so I need more color in my clothes, generally not pastels. I have warmish white hair, blue green eyes, and fair skin. Since I started working on my colors, I’ve been training my eye and getting better at seeing the differences. I don’t like or wear every color in the soft summer palette, but there is plenty to choose from. From looking at your photos, you look like one of the summers. With summer colors as a base, if you like a color from a different season and think it makes you look good, add it to your colors and wear it.
Sounds like we have been on the same journey!
I was always called a soft summer -blue eyes, fair/pink skin blonde highlights but when I bought make up in the cool range most of it looked awful on me. When I finally decided to go grey I realised I had some auburn in my natural hair (I hadnāt seen it for over 30 years) my main characteristic is muted. Soft warm or (some) soft cool colours suit me best. Iām riveted by your experiences with colour āexpertsā- donāt get me started on trying to decide the colour of my veins!
Pink Azalea & Kami add me to the list of soft summer’s.
I too think Jennifer looks great in the soft summer colors, that’s one reason I love following her. I’ve also found that smaller prints or solids, muted, soft colors really enhance my face and hair. I stopped coloring about 5 years ago after years of highlighting my mousy brown/blond hair. It’s still brown with some gray but I love it. It just seems right with my skin tone. Nature does know what she’s doing!
Iām leaning toward light summer because muted colors wash me out. I love this subject. So fascinating.
First: thanks for a lovely blog–lots of topics.
Second: had my colors done years ago and, interestingly, she did not call my colors a season!
But since then have closely stuck to the colors in my “color fan” and have had far more compliments on my clothes than ever before. My colors were softer and more heathery than I had been wearing (and no red or black). Recently I wore an outfit: soft sandy pink Eileen Fisher sweater, a taupe Eileen Fisher pair of crepe pants, and pink “saddle” shoes and one of my staff loved it —
Third: did not comment on why I really like your blog days ago-but again–it is the lovely reality of it. Yes to supporting local farmers!
Fourth: we are having duck, vegetables, apple pie with pippin apples, and pumpkin/butternut squash pie for Thanksgiving-who knew that actually the “pumpkin” in the Libby’s can is really a version of butternut squash?!
thanks again! and have a lovely Thursday–
Happy Thanksgiving Mary:)
Yes my hair is natural! When my daughter was three and I was 43, I grew tired of coloring it. We lived in the boonies of Jay Peak, Vermont, so it wasnāt practical unless I did it myself. Whether colored professionally or at home, and even a gifted trip to Frederic Fekkai in Manhattan, my brown hair would quickly lose the color and turn brassy. In turn, the coloring with my skin made me look ill. So I thought about it and ultimately decided Iād rather look old and healthy than sick!
I had it cut very short and enjoyed a fun grow-out phase with blonde tips and barrettes and mousse. With my newly silver hair, the first thing I did was embrace my cool coloring and buy a pink sweater that matched my daughterās from Hannah Andersson. Twenty years later, Iāve never regretted the decision and am often complimented on my hair. (Now my challenge is how much Iāve been losing.)
Thinning hair is heartbreaking. Iām sorry youāre dealing with it too.
I’ve let my hair go its own way and it’s mostly grey with darker ashy undertones. Funny to me, since when I was younger it was a warmer, lighter brown (or so it seemed to me then). I’ve had my colors analyzed a couple of times and they always come out “winter”. Once I was told that one’s favorite colors can be a good indication of what colors look good on a person. This makes sense to me as I usually wear what I like, right? If it makes my skin glow, all the better. If it doesn’t….well, I guess if I don’t feel good in something, I just don’t wear it again. By this time in my life I’ve pretty much settled on my basic color palette–colors that I feel confident in. Occasionally I splash out in other colors and sometimes I end up loving those pieces, and sometimes I don’t. I guess I follow the counsel you always give to wear what you like! I appreciate your down-to-earth approach to this sort of thing.
Yes, my hair is natural. It’s silver — almost white in front. I became allergic to hair color several years ago and let it revert to its natural color. I’d used temporary color for years as it gradually turned grey with no problems. Not being able to use permanent color was a big disappointment, as my hair is so fine I’d been looking forward to the color adding texture. I was lucky, and quite like it now. But my wardrobe colors are quite different. My original color was a reddish brown (not a true auburn), and the autumnal colors that suited no longer do, nor French navy. Interestingly, I can wear true white and black now, which I never thought looked quite right. The constant is true navy.
Thank you so much for your comments about hair color. To me, the pandemic demonstrated how beautiful women are when they wear minimal makeup and forget about coloring their hair. I saw so many women who looked so much better and more vibrant in their natural state. I stopped coloring my hair too and now my stylist cuts to show off my increasing gray; friends and even strangers have commented that they love my hair color (which at this point is a little of everything!). I think maybe we should embrace our aging?
And I want to come to your house for Thanksgiving. That pie looks amazing and here in the upper Midwest fresh oranges are a real treat! Enjoy the holiday.
Yours sounds gorgeous! Happy Thanksgiving
I enjoyed the meandering path through your post! Many years ago when I was a young mother, I went with some friends for a color analysis. Our hair was covered with a white cloth – the idea was that if you colored your hair, that might throw the process off. The analysis was done with draping. Both analysts thought I would be a summer, but based on the draping decided I was a winter. That has influenced my clothing choices ever since. As for hair, I chose to let nature take its course (except for the occasional pop of bright color, just for fun). And as for pecan pie, I also have a killer recipe that relies on Lyleās Golden Syrup, which is sugar based rather than corn based. Itās absolutely delicious, and as there are only three adults in the family who like pecan pie, we can have all we want!
I like the idea of covering the hair because you want to see how the skin reacts.
Your pecan pie looks really good! I have gone natural but I do get little streaks of pink in my hair. It’s fun and adds a little to my silver white hair.
How fun!!! I love it
Only have a few shiny silvers in my dark brown hair. Not sure what I’ll do when they become more pervasive.
I had color analysis years ago by a woman who didn’t go by seasons. She went by skin color and undertone, eye color and hair color. She gave you little squares of every fabric she draped on you that flattered you and a purse sized notebook to put them in. She also discussed which metals for jewelry would be more flattering as well as the shape. She was really thorough and it was so informative.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!
That is just like the color analysis I had done. I really appreciate approaching each person as an individual and not feeling the need to classify them into a group. In this way, each person gets their own unique set of very best colors.
I agree
Happy Thanksgiving Jane
In my younger years, I was an Autumn and wore lots of tan, loden green, orange, rust . . . you get the idea. When my hair turned gray, I became a Spring. Now, I look better in coral, mint green, violet, aqua, etc. It’s definitely true that our hair color affects our clothing choices when we’re looking for colors that appear flattering close to our faces. I think the key it to consider cool and warm colors. Although I’ve transitioned away from Autumn colors, the Spring colors are still in the “warm” category. Cool colors (for example, white and black) are never going to be flattering colors for me.
We need to pay attention to saturation too. How clear or muted a color is makes a huge difference
Your journey into colour analysis is the most frustrating I have heard. Well, except when I had one done (second one) many many years ago and she got so frustrated trying to figure me out that she threw up her hands and gave me autumn and winter swatches and told me I could wear any colour. Talk about a waste of time and money. Just goes to show that training is random in some cases and an eye for colour can’t be taught in a short course. I believe a painter’s eye ( a good one) is necessary to distinguish the subtleties between shades and tones and warm and cool. A set number of swatches does not necessarily work for everyone in that season, there are so many differences. Anyway, that pie looks like heaven, I would have waaaay to much of it so would have to send it home with someone else. Glad you had fun on your drive, they are good for the sould.
I am looking forward to your upcoming colour interviews. This topic continues to interest me and I’ve looked at many systems online trying to determine what their criteria is.
Going grey is another topic close to my heart right now as I will soon be natural. I’m pretty sure my hair will grow in white, and I’m also sure I’ll have to play around with my make-up and clothing colours. Even now, I’m seeing there are colours that don’t suit me as well as they used to and I’m switching my neutrals over to greys and navy.
The pecan pie looks delicious – rather like a giant butter tart.
Butter tarts are my weakness š
I did color analysis many years ago, with the cloth draping, skin tones, etc. and it was very helpful. I don’t follow it as strictly as I used to, but it’s still useful. Regarding hair color, the best stylist I ever went to (she’s now retired), told me that my hair was coming in platinum gray, and it would be a great look for me with my skin tones. She was right! I haven’t colored my hair in many years, and I get compliments on my gray hair.
My kind of post – various topics all in one post! As far as color analysis, there is a woman in my area who does them and I feel she is spot on. She came to my house and did a personal analysis with various fabric colors she brought. I have a keychain of those colors to take with me when I shop. My good colors lean towards vibrant colors like reds, royal blue and black. Pinks, grays and army greens wash out my skin tone. She also suggested how to “highlight,” not color, my hair to get more depth and have more agreement with my skin tone by adding a couple of shades of red. She also said as I age and my hair grays, that my skin tone will change and the colors we looked at that day may not be the most flattering at this point. I turn 60 next month and have some gray – it is coming in sporadically. So I use highlights to make it look purposeful and blended, otherwise I’d have one big shock of gray in the middle of my head and a few around my face. Since I’m definitely not a fashion maven, the color analysis helped me immensely. Thanks for the pie recipe! Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!
She sounds very helpful! Happy Thanksgiving to you too
Happy Monday! Dentist today soā¦..
Wow! Iāve been called a spring (mostly) and that was decades ago when color typing was super popular around here. No one hit terribly detailed with warm or cool but back then I assumed cool. My latest venture was a virtual color typing and it was Summer. Maybe Iām a Soribg/summer. Is there such a thing?
I color my hair at salon but have had the woman who highlights add both lighter and darker highlights for contrast. Iām fairly happy with this process.
Like you Iām organized and ready for the thanksgiving holiday!