Illustration by Susann Hoffmann
I’ve always enjoyed color. I know what colors I like to wear, but I’ve never considered what colors I should be wearing.
In a historic property in the West End of Cincinnati, I’m about to find out, through the process of color analysis. The Palette Parlour is run by image consultant Annie Olson. To begin, she asks about my current style preferences: hair color (brown), the colors I wear often (neutral with a pop of color), makeup (I love a colored mascara), jewelry (my engagement ring is gold, so I feel committed at this point), and more.
Olson then leads me to the room where the analysis happens. Two different ring lights are cast on my face as I sit down in front of a large mirror and am draped with a white cloth. Behind me are rows of colored fabric in every hue.
Step One
Find out if my skin has a warm or cool undertone. Olson alternates holding two different flags under my face—each has many colors of the rainbow, with varying undertones, value, and saturation to see which make my skin look healthier and brighter. She does so in silence, alternating between each one and watching to see how the colors make me look lively and balance my features. She concludes I have warm-toned skin—the warmer shades of oranges and reds especially complement me.
Step Two
Find my “home season,” meaning which season of colors (spring, summer, fall, winter) best suits me. Because I’m warm-toned, she compares the two warm seasons: spring and autumn. After another round of flag flopping, it is clear to her that I am an autumn. Although I wasn’t always sure, I start to see how the autumn palette brings out the rosiness of my cheeks and makes my skin look brighter. In contrast, the spring colors feel overwhelming on me—they are too bright and feel distracting. Olson explains that the right colors will draw eyes toward a person’s face, not away from it.
The Final Step
Decide whether I’m a “true” autumn or a sub-season of autumn mixed with another season. Here we use flags that have autumn hues intermixed with colors from other seasons. Olson confirms that I’m a true autumn—a palette filled with rich, woodsy, earthy tones, including lots of browns, oranges, and greens with warm undertones.
To wrap up, Olson goes through every color in my palette to explain why they are “my” colors: They bring out my eyes or flatter my jawline or complement my skin tone. It isn’t always obvious to me until she points it out, but after she does, I can see what she means. Some of the colors I felt most drawn to in my palette were the shades of brown. They matched my eye and hair color and made me look warmer and brighter.
To close our session, she arms me with tools to help me embrace my palette: a booklet with color swatches, a digital guide in my e-mail inbox, and a link to a curated Pinterest board with outfits, makeup, and hair colors all suited for a true autumn. Using this information, I’ve been able to incorporate new things into my routine based on my findings, like trying a new shade of blush that works with my eyes and skin tone.
At the end of it all, color analysis is not about throwing out all your old clothes and panic-buying new ones. “It’s a way to celebrate and appreciate our natural beauty,” says Olson. “This is for the person who wants to simplify the decision-making process when shopping and be confident in what they look like.”
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