Tag Archives: Color

One Woman’s Journey to Find her True Image Identity

Beauty, Confidence, Life, Personal Style, , , , , , , , ,

Most women HATE, HIDE or get HUNG UP on their image at one point in their lives. For many, this is during the teenage years, but for some it’s at a very young age, for others it comes later in life.

When we are hurting and our self image is down, we may lash out at others, blame them, or become consumed by their needs while neglecting our own. Whether you punish yourself,  shut down your heart, or try to numb the pain is a big indicator of what your personal Image Identity (Img.ID) is.

Click here to take my FREE IMAGE ASSESSMENT QUIZ

Continue reading One Woman’s Journey to Find her True Image Identity →

Why Wearing Black Could be Killing your Confidence

Beauty, Confidence, Personal Style, , ,

I can almost hear you protesting my blog already…

If you’re like most women, you love to wear black and it is the dominate color of your entire wardrobe and my suggestion that black could be killing your confidence already has you irate, doesn’t it?

“If you take my black away, I will have nothing to wear!”

This is, by far, the biggest push back I get as an image-coach.

There are many reasons people love to dress in dark, dull clothing:

Black is seen as professional

Continue reading Why Wearing Black Could be Killing your Confidence →

Color, Confidence and the Summer Palette

Beauty, Personal Style, , ,

 

 Summer colorsIf you have soft contrasts in your hair and skin, and have cool undertones, you are likely a Summer. Also, your hair may be “mousy” brown, light, medium or dark brown with auburn highlights, silvery gray, or light, medium or dark ash blonde (with a gray cast at the root).

The Summer palette of colors is soft, dusty and grayish with a blue-based undertone. Like the landscape and sky on a beautiful summer day with the humidity casting a misty quality that softens all the colors. Think pink, lavender, soft whites.

If you are a Summer, choose clothing with soft, muted colors that have cool or blue undertones. If you choose to color your hair, ask for highlights and/or lowlights, diversity in colors is beautiful on you and gives your hair depth. Stay away from warm undertones; cool, ash colors will look best.

When choosing your makeup, be sure your eyes are defined and have an appropriate cool color; without a little mascara or eyeliner your eyes can be washed away. For more tips, click the word “makeup” below the Topics bar to your right.

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To request an image consultation (what I call a Private Supreme MakeOver or SMO, which includes an color analysis and Img.ID assessment. I also do group SMOs) click on the Image Coaching tab:  

Catrina Welch is an image- and life-coach whose message is not as much “what not to wear” as it is, “Know Who You Are,” which is the title of her book of guidelines for your personal image identity. Catrina has also written a Bible study to help women overcome their image issues. It is titled Supreme MakeOver: a Rich and Refreshing Devotional Experience. Her other books includeFootprints Through the Sand: a Consolidation of Life-altering stories about Loving and Loosing a Trisomy-18 Baby and Confident Beauty: Reflecting the One Who Made You with the Images in Your Mirror and Your Soul, which will be available soon.

Color, Confidence and the Spring Palette

Beauty, Personal Style, , ,

imagesIf you have strong contrasts in your hair and skin, and you have warm undertones, you are likely a Spring. Your skin may be ivory or milky white; peachy; ruddy and golden beige when tan. Also, your hair may be golden, honey or strawberry blonde; light, medium or deep red; golden brown (usually light); or dull, yellow gray.

The Spring’s seasonal palette has hues that are clean, clear and somewhat delicate in quality with a yellow-base. This season brings with it a fresh and clear feeling in the air. It may be hard to visualize it right now as the color is fading to brown now, but think of the crisp, new greens, reds, yellows and blues that will be budding again before we know it.

If you are a Spring, choose clothing with bright, clear colors that have warm or yellow undertones. If you choose to color your hair, be sure to color all the hair one shade. Stay away from cool undertones. You will do best with neutrals and warm tints.

When choosing your makeup, be sure your lips have an appropriate warm color, as this will bring attention to your eyes. For more tips, click the word “makeup” below the Topics bar to your right.

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To request an image consultation (what I call a Private Supreme MakeOver or SMO, which includes an color analysis and Img.ID assessment. I also do group SMOs) click on the Image Coaching tab:  

Catrina Welch is an image- and life-coach whose message is not as much “what not to wear” as it is, “Know Who You Are,” which is the title of her book of guidelines for your personal image identity. Catrina has also written a Bible study to help women overcome their image issues. It is titled Supreme MakeOver: a Rich and Refreshing Devotional Experience. Her other books includeFootprints Through the Sand: a Consolidation of Life-altering stories about Loving and Loosing a Trisomy-18 Baby and Confident Beauty: Reflecting the One Who Made You with the Images in Your Mirror and Your Soul, which will be available soon.

Color, Confidence andthe Winter Palette

Beauty, Personal Style, , ,

imagesIf you have strong, sharp contrasts in your hair and skin, and you have cool undertones, you are likely a winter. Also, your hair is most likely dark (black, dark, medium or light brown) or salt-n-pepper. Very rarely are blondes Winters, unless they are platinum or white blonde, or were as a child (sometimes tow-headed children grow up to become more honey-colored in adolescence, and more brown by the adult years, and can be mistaken for a spring).

The Winter palette of colors has hues are pure, clean, bold, and sharply contrasting–like the true primary colors. They are blue-based in undertone, like freshly-fallen snow and the deep blue waters on a cold winter day. Think black, white, navy and true reds, greens and yellows like you find on a color wheel.

If you are a Winter, choose clothing with colors that are crisp and clear with cool or blue undertones. If you choose to color your hair, be sure to color all the hair one shade. Stay away from warm undertones; you will do best with neutrals and cool tints.

When choosing your makeup, be sure your lips have an appropriate cool color, this will bring attention to your eyes. For more tips, click the word “makeup” below the Topics bar to your right.

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To request an image consultation (what I call a Private Supreme MakeOver or SMO, which includes an color analysis and Img.ID assessment. I also do group SMOs) click on the Image Coaching tab:  

Catrina Welch is an image- and life-coach whose message is not as much “what not to wear” as it is, “Know Who You Are,” which is the title of her book of guidelines for your personal image identity. Catrina has also written a Bible study to help women overcome their image issues. It is titled Supreme MakeOver: a Rich and Refreshing Devotional Experience. Her other books includeFootprints Through the Sand: a Consolidation of Life-altering stories about Loving and Loosing a Trisomy-18 Baby and Confident Beauty: Reflecting the One Who Made You with the Images in Your Mirror and Your Soul, which will be available soon.

If you are interested in getting these books or having Catrina come speak at your event, you can contact her at www.CatrinaWelch.com or on facebook.

Color, Confidence and the Autumn Palette

imagesIf you have soft contrasts in your hair and skin, and have warm undertones, you are likely a Autumn. Your skin may be very fair ivory or peachy; light to dark golden beige; golden black; or ruddy. Also, your hair may be strawberry or auburn red; honey or drab blonde with golden highlights; coppery red-brown; deep chestnut or golden brown; golden or dull gray; or maybe even charcoal black (although very rare).

The seasonal palette of an Autumn is rich, earthy and mellow with a golden undertone in the yellow-base side of color–like the colors we see now in New England. Golden, orange and red hues dominate all the leaves, flowers and bushes. Our sun sets right now glows with warmth unlike other seasons.

If you are an Autumn, choose clothing with soft or muted colors that have warm, or yellow undertones. If you choose to color your hair, ask for highlights and/or lowlights; diversity in colors is beautiful on you and gives your hair depth. Stay away from cool undertones; warm, red colors are usually best for you.

When choosing your makeup, be sure your eyes are defined and have an appropriate warm color; without a little mascara or eyeliner your eyes can be washed away. For more tips, click the word “makeup” below the Topics bar to your right.

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To request an image consultation (what I call a Private Supreme MakeOver or SMO, which includes an color analysis and Img.ID assessment. I also do group SMOs) click on the Image Coaching tab:   Catrina Welch is an image- and life-coach whose message is not as much “what not to wear” as it is, “Know Who You Are,” which is the title of her book of guidelines for your personal image identity. Catrina has also written a Bible study to help women overcome their image issues. It is titled Supreme MakeOver: a Rich and Refreshing Devotional Experience. Her other books includeFootprints Through the Sand: a Consolidation of Life-altering stories about Loving and Loosing a Trisomy-18 Baby and Confident Beauty: Reflecting the One Who Made You with the Images in Your Mirror and Your Soul, which will be available soon. If you are interested in getting these books or having Catrina come speak at your event, you can contact her at www.CatrinaWelch.com or on facebook.

Color, Confidence and Seasonal Palettes

Beauty, Confidence, Personal Style, , ,

1058330-Royalty-Free-Vector-Clip-Art-Illustration-Of-A-Digital-Collage-Of-Seasonal-Icons-5Basically, there are four seasonal palettes of color—Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter. Your eye color, clarity and pattern of your eye structure, as well as the skin undertone (not its color), and the contrasts of these aspects with your hair (again, not necessarily the color) are all factors in deciding which season you are.

In order to discover your seasonal palette, you need to remove or hide all other influence of color, such as any makeup, hair, or clothing color you are already wearing as well as the lighting in the room. You want to know how each individual color influences your image.

This is very hard to do to yourself, and due to the emotional response your friends (and you) will have to color, it is not wise to simply trust others’ opinion. Without doubt, there’s enormous value in having a professional image consultant sort all this out for you by draping various fabrics over your neck and shoulder area to discover which colors make your skin tone, hair color and eyes become brighter and more alive.

Please be aware that not all makeup artists are certified color analysts. Do not be afraid to ask your analyst where she got her training. There are far too many sales people that are simply educated in color, but never tested or certified.

Your eye pattern and color and the chemical make up that causes your skin undertones and hair coloring does not change after age five. It does not mater how tan, wrinkled or gray you get; the season you are is the season you will remain for the rest of your days. You do not need to have this service repeated if it is done accurately. The money you spend on a consultation will be an investment for life.

Once you make this investment into your image, you will save yourself a lot of time choosing wardrobe purchases as well as saving yourself the expense of items you buy but don’t end up wearing because you feel washed away in it. Be sure to listen and take note of the things you are told by your analyst, because when you follow your guidelines the things you purchase should compliment anything in your closet that also is within your seasonal palette.

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To request a color analysis appointment (or a Private Supreme MakeOver, which includes an analysis) click on the Image Coaching tab. 

Catrina Welch is an image- and life-coach whose message is not as much “what not to wear” as it is, “Know Who You Are,” which is the title of her book of guidelines for your personal image identity. Catrina has also written a Bible study to help women overcome their image issues. It is titled Supreme MakeOver: a Rich and Refreshing Devotional Experience. Her other books include Footprints Through the Sand: a Consolidation of Life-altering stories about Loving and Loosing a Trisomy-18 Baby and Confident Beauty: Reflecting the One Who Made You with the Images in Your Mirror and Your Soul, which will be available soon.

If you are interested in getting these books or having Catrina come speak at your event, you can contact her at www.CatrinaWelch.com or on facebook.

Color, Confidence and Skin Tone

Life, Personal Style, ,

How well does what you wear compliment your hair, skin and eye coloring? Maybe you don’t like your coloring and have played with hair dye only to find you are now frustrated in trying to make your make up blend or your outfits look right.

Maybe you love soft, warm colors but always feel pasty and drawn when you wear them. Perhaps you often are asked if you are tired when you get plenty of sleep, and you never considered if it was the color of your blouse, for example, that made others ask that question.

Wearing the wrong colors will dull the skin, eyes and hair, making you appear bland and tired. Your skin will show its texture more and your coloring will separate into blotchy patches if you wear colors that are not within your seasonal palette. Others’ attention will be drawn to the thing that stands out most, whether it is your nose, chin, mouth, jaw, outfit or your make up … but not to your eyes.

When you are wearing your proper colors, you will receive compliments about you, how great you look. When you do a good job picking out outfits, but your choices are not your color, you may still hear compliments about the outfit, what a great dress you are wearing, but you may be lost in the picture.

A great indication as to whether you are choosing proper colors for you is if you ever have trouble getting your makeup right or not. When you wear colors that compliment your skin tone, your make up will blend easily and your beauty will radiate. If you tend to wear colors that are not within your “seasonal palette,” then you may always have difficulty with your make up. You may even have given up on wearing it at all.

If the compliments you hear are more about how “you look beautiful” or “you look great in that blouse,” then you are probably closer to making choices that suit your Personal Image Identity (Img.ID).

I recommend that you consider having a color analyst help you discover your “seasonal palette.” When you understand which colors compliment your features, it is wise to stay within that palette, especially when you are spending money on an outfit or make up. By paying for an analyst to teach you which colors you should purchase for yourself, you can save yourself a fortune on clothing and lipstick you liked on the rack, but look washed away in, or just won’t go with anything else you have when you get it home.

One of the greatest benefits of knowing your color range and style is that when you bring a new piece of clothing into your closet, it should go well with what you already own.

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To request a color analysis appointment (or a Private Supreme MakeOver, which includes an analysis) click on the Image Coaching tab. 

 

Catrina Welch is an image- and life-coach whose message is not as much “what not to wear” as it is, “Know Who You Are,” which is the title of her book of guidelines for your personal image identity. Catrina has also written a Bible study to help women overcome their image issues. It is titled Supreme MakeOver: a Rich and Refreshing Devotional Experience. Her other books include Footprints Through the Sand: a Consolidation of Life-altering stories about Loving and Loosing a Trisomy-18 Baby and Confident Beauty: Reflecting the One Who Made You with the Images in Your Mirror and Your Soul, which will be available soon.

If you are interested in getting these books or having Catrina come speak at your event, you can contact her at www.CatrinaWelch.com or on facebook.

Color, Confidence and your Canvas

Beauty, Confidence, Life, Personal Style, , ,

 imagesYour body, face, and hair are like a painter’s canvas. Any color you add to this canvas (whether hair color, make up or clothing) should compliment the whole picture. You don’t cover your canvas completely, so you want all the colors to compliment the undertones the Great Artist started you with.

If you have a soft, yellow-white canvas and you paint bright, bold cool colors on it, the colors will stand out from the canvas. The paint is what others will see. The uncovered canvas will be overpowered and unnoticed.

However, if you paint on other soft, yellow-toned colors, they will easily blend and compliment the canvas. Any untouched spot in the paint, where the canvas shows, will simply appear as part of the whole picture.

When others look at your image—your painting—you want the canvas (especially your eyes) to be what they see. It is not the outfit, your make up, or your hair coloring that you want noticed. It is you—your reflection of the glory of God—that you want to reveal to them.

When you are wearing your proper colors, you will receive compliments about you, how great you look. When you do a good job picking out outfits, but your choices are not your color, you may still hear compliments about the outfit, what a great dress you are wearing, but you may be lost in the picture.

You may feel good when someone says “that outfit is beautiful” or “that shirt looks great on you,” but that doesn’t mean that you are making the right color choices, it simply means that person likes that outfit or color, not that that outfit or color likes you. Often we choose our attire because of compliments we have received, but the compliments that we do best to listen to are the ones that speak about how we look, how others are seeing us—not our attire, our make up, or our shoes.

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To request a color analysis appointment (or a Private Supreme MakeOver, which includes an analysis) click on the Image Coaching tab.

 

Catrina Welch is an image- and life-coach whose message is not as much “what not to wear” as it is, “Know Who You Are,” which is the title of her book of guidelines for your personal image identity. Catrina has also written a Bible study to help women overcome their image issues. It is titled Supreme MakeOver: a Rich and Refreshing Devotional Experience. Her other books include Footprints Through the Sand: a Consolidation of Life-altering stories about Loving and Loosing a Trisomy-18 Baby and Confident Beauty: Reflecting the One Who Made You with the Images in Your Mirror and Your Soul, which will be available soon.

If you are interested in getting these books or having Catrina come speak at your event, you can contact her at www.CatrinaWelch.com or facebook. 

Color, Confidence and Emotional Effects

Life, Personal Style, , , , , , , , ,

The colors you wear have an emotional effect on you and the impression you make on others.

what does black say?Take black for example.

This powerful color commands respect and gives the impression of confidence–even if it’s a T-shirt. That’s why it works so well for the Bold, Proper and Exotic Beauties (the Gamine, Classic and Dramatic). If this is your Img.ID, especially if you are a Winter, then you have the strength to carry this powerful color.

Enjoy it.

It does seem to be the most common clothing color available. Maybe that is because it is a “slimming color,” or perhaps because its richness has a way of making even a T-shirt look stately. Part of the reason why we wear it to funerals is that it’s formality shows respect to the one we lost or those we love that are grieving.

But, I must warn you (especially if you are a Ingénue, Romantic or Natural or if you are any seasonal palette  other than the Winter) that black can also causes a sub-conscious emotional response of sorrow–which can do your image damage if you are not careful.

Think about this: Why don’t we wear bright yellow when we are around the grieving?

Bright colors speak “joy” and “life.” Dark colors have a more serious effect on us. To everything there is a season,right? Most of us have been taught to weep with those who weep and to rejoice with those who rejoice, but other than when going to a funeral, have you ever thought about what your clothing color is saying about you?

Here are my suggestions:

Gamines, be sure to add other colors (at least two) to your black attire, or you may come across as stanch and unfriendly. Your fun nature is one of your greatest qualities and I encourage you to bring that out to the forefront of your image. Soft or blending colors are not strong enough for you (unless you are combination of another Img.ID), but adding bold, contrasting colors will show the world the fun side of you–and it may just bring a little more joy into your temperament the days you wear it. Just as you might wear bright colors to help you through a dreary day, use this emotional effect to your advantage.

Classics and Dramatics should also be careful not to wear black only–or people may get the impression (even if it’s sub-conscious) that you are either a dictator (Proper Beauties) or unapproachable (Exotic Beauties). Monochromatic coloring may work well for either of these Img.IDs, but be sure to break it up with accessories that are inviting and inspiring or else you may find that others feel intimidated around you.

Ingénues, Romantics and Naturals who really do not want to give up black, should at least avoid wearing it around their face.

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To request an image consultation (what I call a Private Supreme MakeOver or SMO, which includes an color analysis and Img.ID assessment. I also do group SMOs) click on the Image Coaching tab:  

Catrina Welch is an image- and life-coach whose message is not as much “what not to wear” as it is, “Know Who You Are,” which is the title of her book of guidelines for your personal image identity. Catrina has also written a Bible study to help women overcome their image issues. It is titled Supreme MakeOver: a Rich and Refreshing Devotional Experience. Her other books include Footprints Through the Sand: a Consolidation of Life-altering stories about Loving and Loosing a Trisomy-18 Baby and Confident Beauty: Reflecting the One Who Made You with the Images in Your Mirror and Your Soul, which will be available soon.

If you are interested in getting these books or having Catrina come speak at your event, you can contact her at www.CatrinaWelch.com or on facebook.

Confident Colors

Beauty, Confidence, Life, Personal Style, , , , , ,

Boat-in-Autumn-Kennebunkport-Maine-credit-Bob-Dennis

As I witness the beautiful transformation of the leaves changing on the trees all around me, I feel inspired to blog about color.

When I was first certified as an image consultant, most professionals and stay-at-home moms knew what their “seasonal pallet of colors” was. Back then, color analysis was a huge part of my business. Now most people know very little about which tones and intensities make their eyes radiate, they simply follow what is in fashion, whether it washes their beauty away or not.

The largest factor in making a good first impression with your image is color. The colors you choose for your hair, skin, nails and attire say a lot about who you are for two reasons. First, because the colors you wear cause your skin tone to respond either to your advantage or to your disadvantage. Secondly, because color has a huge effect on human emotions, and the colors you choose are speaking not only to the person you are meeting, but you too may be subconsciously responding to them.

It is to your benefit to understand your colors.

Color should compliment skin tone, harmonize with the undertones in your hair, skin and eyes, and enlarge and brighten the eyes, lifting the face.

If you are interested in this understanding topic, I invite you to follow this blog. I am dedicating an entire season of blogging to color. Stay tuned for more!

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To request a color analysis appointment (or a Private Supreme MakeOver, which includes an analysis) click on the Image Coaching tab.

Catrina Welch is an image- and life-coach whose message is not as much “what not to wear” as it is, “Know Who You Are,” which is the title of her book of guidelines for your personal image identity. Catrina has also written a Bible study to help women overcome their image issues. It is titled Supreme MakeOver: a Rich and Refreshing Devotional Experience. Her other books include Footprints Through the Sand: a Consolidation of Life-altering stories about Loving and Loosing a Trisomy-18 Baby and Confident Beauty: Reflecting the One Who Made You with the Images in Your Mirror and Your Soul, which will be available soon.

If you are interested in getting these books or having Catrina come speak at your event, you can contact her at www.CatrinaWelch.com or on her facebook page.