I was writing recently about some of the things that Esmeralda and I had been discussing during her VIP training intensive. Here’s a quick re-cap. Esmeralda was struggling with the swatch wallets,
“It’s the tonal wallets. I just don’t understand what they are or what they’re for. I think I get the 4 seasons but I just don’t like using the swatches. Do I have to use the swatch wallets with colour analysis clients?”
So it’s time to talk about tonal colour analysis and how easy both the tonal and seasonal approaches can be.
What is tonal colour analysis?
The six tones are Cool, Warm, Bright, Muted, Deep and Light and here are some other words you could use instead:
- Cool = rose-toned or blue-toned
- Warm = golden-toned or yellow-toned
- Bright = Clear
- Muted = Soft
- Deep = Dark
- Light = Fair
Colours for the 6 tones
- Cools
look good in only rose or blue-toned colours, and will look rather poorly in Warm colours - Warms
look good in only golden or yellow-toned colours, and will look less than well in Cool colours - Brights
look good in bright, clear, high-contrast colours which can be either cool or warm - Muteds
look good in soft, muted, low-contrast colours which can be either cool or warm - Deeps
look good wearing one or more dark colours which can be either cool or warm - Lights
look good wearing one or more light, pale colours which can be either cool or warm
Beware of the out-dated idea – that everyone with dark hair has to be Deep
…that’s just garbage!
And there’s the equally fatuous idea – that everyone with fair hair has to be Light
…that’s utter drivel too!
Dark-haired people are not always Deep. Light-haired people are not always Light.
These are total nonsensical urban myths that some dear heart came up with in the early days of colour analysis, and only because none of us knew what the heck we were doing. We were pioneers back then, building the foundations of the business you know today, and we made some pretty daft mistakes.
Unfortunately it’s clear that some image consultants have just not moved on and still churn out this out-dated rubbish. Poor darlings! I could tell you stories about some of the poor souls who have been mistakenly diagnosed as Deep – just because they have dark hair – and as Light – just because they have fair hair – but that will just have to be for another time.
Meanwhile, if you want to get to grips with the issue of seasonal and tonal analysis right now, there’s loads more detail in Colour Analysis Training in a Box.