Metropolitan Gala 2015

Between my two young daughters (infant and toddler) and my clients, I have been too busy to write my posts on award shows and other subjects. I found this in my drafts from May…hahaha! Enjoy. I’m 1,000 percent sure there were other women I wanted to include in this post, but I’m going with what I have for now. I hope to get back to regular blogging sometime soon.

The Metropolitan Gala is always fun to watch to see who will go the extra mile in fashion just because they can. Fashion opinions on the outfits featured at the Gala range from whether the person was on theme or off theme, whether the outfit is “in”, whether the outfit is impressive, and whether the outfit is considered ugly or too much (even if the person is on theme). I for one, love seeing who is on theme or not, but invariably I always look at the colors they choose and if they are right or wrong based on their season. Here are my favorite looks from the Gala, based solely on COLOR.

Winter

Alison Brie, Gabrielle Union, Vanessa Hudgens, Olivia Munn

Spring

Dianna Agron

Summer

Uma Thurman

Autumn

Jessica Chastain

Linda

Today, Glowing Color features Linda.

Linda is a Human Resources Analyst from California, and her favorite thing to do is travel and take pictures.

Linda’s Color Interview:

What color do you wear the most? I wear mostly black and navy

What color do you wear the least? I hardly ever wear pastels

In what color do you feel sexy and/or beautiful? I think I look my best in black and darker pinks

In what color do you receive the most compliments? Recently, someone told me I look good in dark grey. But, I’ve also been told that I look very pale in the same color 🙂

Linda in cooler colors:

Winter

Summer

Linda in warmer colors:

Autumn

Spring

Linda is a Winter. There was an obvious difference with Linda between the cooler and warmer colors, as the warmer colors washed her out. The colors of Summer showed some promise, but were still ultimately too light. When I saw Linda in the strong blue and green jewel tones of Winter, I saw her face glow. I looked at her first instead of her shirt colors. This is always an easy giveaway with the bolder Winter tones because it is easy to want to look at the colors of the outfit first. If the eye is drawn to your face first, you have a winner.

See the difference?

Contact me at glowingcolor@gmail.com for a color analysis that will bring out your own unique glow.

Annie

Today, Glowing Color features Annie.

“I’m a tutor, performer, and artist in Texas. By ‘performer’, I mean circus-style hula-hooper 🙂 I really enjoy making costumes and doing crazy makeup and hair colors. I just got an Instagram, so if you want to follow me, look me up! @annatenae”

Annie’s Color Interview:

What color do you wear the most? Black (but trying to get away from it)

What color do you wear the least? Pink, yellow

In what color do you feel sexy and/or beautiful? Burgundy/Maroon, Mint Green

In what color do you receive the most compliments? Mint, Blues, Greens (colors that bring out my eyes)

Annie in cooler colors:

Annie in warmer colors:

Annie is an Autumn. Although she wears a lot of blacks, she stated she feels sexy/beautiful in burgundies and maroons which are classic Autumn colors. I would bet a lot of the cool compliments she has gotten with the blues and greens are due to the fact that they matched her beautiful eye color. Annie submitted photos in more cooler colors than warmer. I have some ideas of different warm tones she should seek out to liven up her glow a bit more.

See the difference?

Contact me at glowingcolor@gmail.com for a color analysis that will bring out your own unique glow.

Golden Globes 2013

The Golden Globes aired this past weekend, so you know what that means–time for another Color Right and Wrong! For my post on the 2012 Golden Globes, go here. Let’s jump right in!

Right

                

Alyssa Milano is an Autumn and looks gorgeous in this citron/saffron-hued gown. Amanda Seyfried is a Spring and looks pretty in her blush/ivory combo. Amy Adams is a Spring and looks fantastic in her pale-nued mermaid gown. Anne Hathaway is a Winter and looks stunning in white. Claire Danes is a Spring and is gorgeous in red. Eva Longoria is a Winter and stuns in black. Jennifer Lawrence is a Spring (her natural hair color is blonde) and looks fabulous in this coral-red gown. Jessica Alba is an Autumn and looks beautiful in her shimmery peachy-coral gown. Katharine Mcphee is a Winter and hits all the right notes in black. Olivia Munn is a Winter and is on the mark in her dress. Sally Field is an Autumn and looks regal in her navy gown. Salma Hayek is a Winter and gets it right in black. Zooey Deschanel is a Winter and this red looks great on her.

Right and Wrong

Connie Britton is an Autumn (her natural hair color is brown) and though this metallic gown reads warm, it is a bit too light for her. A deeper gold would have looked awesome. Halle Berry is an Autumn and like Connie, is  wearing a gown that reads warm but is too light. Isla Fisher is an Autumn and again we see an example of warm tone but too light (this is an absolutely gorgeous gown though). Jennifer Lopez is an Autumn and while the nude works, the white read of the lacy design distracts. Kaley Cuoco is a Spring. Her gown is the correct color for her season, but her makeup is way too dark. Lea Michele is a Winter. White works for some Winters but it’s hard to tell here since she overdid the tanning. Lena Dunham is a Soft Autumn meaning brown is in the ballpark, but she needs a brighter brown. Rosario Dawson is a Winter and while her mint gown is cool, it is way too light for her. Taylor Swift is a Spring and this chocolate gown is too dark for her.

Wrong

Debra Messing is an Autumn (her natural hair color is brown), and black does nothing for her. Hayden Panattiere is a Spring. This pink gown reads too cool for her. Jessica Chastain is an Autumn and this seafoam gown is ALL WRONG. Jodie Foster is a Spring and this deep, icy blue is a miss in color for her. Julianne Hough is a Summer so the gold accents of her gown are wrong for her. Julianne Moore is an Autumn. Black=blah. Kelly Osbourne is a Spring (her natural hair color is blonde) so this look is too cool for her (I absolutely love her entire look by the way, it just isn’t making her glow). Kerry Washington is a Winter and looks washed out in this sheer nude. Kristen Bell is a Spring, so this silver is off. Kristen Wiig is an Autumn and looks sickly in her black gown. Lucy Liu is an Autumn, so this secret garden is wrong. Marion Cotillard is a Winter and the orange dress was too warm for her (this photo makes it look more red, but it’s orange). Nene Leakes is an Autumn; this black and white frock does nothing for her. Nicole Richie is a Spring; this pale blue is simply wrong.

If you would like me to do a color analysis for you (includes blog feature with pictures and customized color shopping list with your own personal power color) that will bring out your own unique glow, contact me at glowingcolor@gmail.com for rates.

Cameron Diaz

I am going to wrap up the Women in Summer series this week with a different Summer blonde every day this week! Today, let’s look at actress Cameron Diaz.

Cameron in Spring: champagne (the leopard-ish pattern), gold, pink satin. Cameron looks washed out and half-melted in all of these colors.

Cameron in Summer: blue, gray, ice blue, white. These cool, crisp colors really bring out Cameron’s glow. She can handle going light to platinum blonde, and her eyes pop so much. She looks fresh in these colors.

Cameron in Autumn: N/A

Cameron in Winter: black, red/black stripes (Cameron’s hair color is too warm for her here as well), red. The colors overshadow Cameron in these photos. They are too strong, too bold for her.

Cameron in Brunette: I included this photo as an example of what NOT to do, ever, with your hair, if you are a Summer. If you are a Summer and get the call to go dark, ignore it. Let it go to voice-mail. The darkest you should go is a fairly light ash brown.

See the difference?

P.S. Check out Glowing Color’s new logo at the top of the page! I am still tinkering with the look of the blog, but I absolutely love the logo.

If you would like me to do a color analysis for you (includes blog feature with pictures and customized color shopping list with your own personal power color) that will bring out your own unique glow, contact me at glowingcolor@gmail.com for rates.

Brittany Daniel

Today we have another Summer woman featured. Actress Brittany Daniel, who many may know from The Game, but who I personally associate with Sweet Valley High. YAS! Upon first glance, I assumed Brittany would be a Spring. Once I started analyzing her in different colors, it became quite clear that Summer is her season.

Brittany in Spring: The photos in shades of gold, nude, and light yellow. Before I analyzed her, I assumed Brittany would be a Spring. As you can see in these photos of her in Spring colors, she looks washed out to hell.

Brittany in Summer: The photos in gray, lavender, and white. It seems Brittany doesn’t wear much in Summer colors, but she really should. She should also get her makeup done more often in keeping with her Summer season. These are when she looks the freshest (the lavender photo would work perfectly if she had silver earrings instead of gold).

Brittany in Autumn: The photo in navy. The navy does nothing for Brittany. Too dark, and too warm; makes her look too yellow.

Brittany in Winter: The photos in black and fuchsia. Here we see something interesting. As I have mentioned before, sometimes Autumns and Springs can share certain colors and sometimes Summers and Winters can share certain colors. Black is generally not something Summers should wear as a main color, so that’s not news here. However, Brittany looks pretty damned good in fuchsia, a Winter color. Since the color is cool, it has the potential to work and this is one color that *certain* Summers can pull off, and pull off well.

See the difference? Brittany Daniel is a Summer through and through.

If you would like me to do a color analysis for you (includes blog feature with pictures and customized color shopping list with your own personal power color) that will bring out your own unique glow, contact me at glowingcolor@gmail.com for rates.

QQ Color Snap-Autumn in Yellow & Plum

Here is some eye candy for your weekend. Once again we have the lovely QQ, featured many times here.

Autumns, THIS is how you do deep, dramatic lip color. This plum is everything for Autumns (burgundy would work as well) and the contrast, with the yellow top and gold jewelry which are classic Autumn,  is perfect.

QQ says: “I wear this specific color shirt and gold shit solely cause you’ve drilled it in.”

Once you order a Color Analysis, I am yours for LIFE (*lawyer voice* voidwhereprohibited), meaning you can continuously submit photos for posting and inquiries about specific colors/advice, etc.

If you would like me to do a color analysis for you (includes blog feature with pictures and customized color shopping list with your own personal power color) that will bring out your own unique glow, contact me at glowingcolor@gmail.com for rates.

BET Awards 2012 Right and Wrong

Today let’s look at the women of the 2012 BET Awards red carpet and see who got it right and wrong. The focus is mainly COLOR in these posts. I may make a comment here or there about style, but remember, COLOR.

Right

Elle Varner is a Winter. This gown is a classic example of pattern in your season. Although the gown’s patterns features several colors, including warm tones, the overall effect still comes through as “cool” due to the dominant black background. For those of you who have ordered color analyses from me, in your Color Shopping Lists I’ll often include a bit about pattern. So for Winters, this is an excellent example for you.

Kyla Pratt is an Autumn. It pains me to put this here because I hate this frock on her. Shapeless, looks too big, etc. But the colors are absolutely right.

 

Yolanda Adams is an Autumn. For those who have gotten Color Shopping Lists from me, this is an example of a “warm” red and is what you should look for if you are an autumn. It gives off a warm flare, along with her gold jewelry and everything is a win.

Wrong

Angela Bassett is an Autumn, so this black is not the best for her. Her skin looks a bit washed out and waxy. If this was a navy or charcoal with some gold jewelry accents, she would have shut it down because the dress’s style and fit are both wins but not the color.

Eva Marcille is an Autumn. She could technically go under Right and Wrong since she has some warmer-toned accents but the white dress and bleached hair are so dominantly cool, she can stay right the hell here under Wrong.

Faith….girl…..what even…..

Um. K. Faith is an Autumn. This outfit color choice is wrong. On so many levels.

Kenya Moore is a Winter. Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong. She should also keep to very dark brown or black hair color.

Kerry Washington is a Winter and looks like slightly thawed death in this nude color. Go back to your pure, clear, cool jewel tones homegirl, because this ain’t it. If the bustier part was white instead of nude, this would have been worlds better.

Lala Anthony is an Autumn. I will resist the urge to say that this get-up makes her look the shape of a rotisserie chicken. No to the lavender and no to the silvery tones of her shoes, outfit accents, jewelry, and makeup.

Lela Rochon is an Autumn. This blue is absolutely wrong. She could have either darkened it to navy and changed the silver accents to gold, or just have gone with an entirely different warm color for the dress with gold accents.

Letoya is a Winter. This yellow is swallowing her whole.

Marsha is an Autumn so almost every color here is wrong (if you want to except that sliver of orange on the bottom of the dress). Cute style though. She tried.

Meagan Good is an Autumn. No white. Wrong. Surprisingly, for her, the style is nice.

Monica is a Winter. She should have gone with a more vibrant red, or other cool jewel tone for this. Nice style though.

Regina King is a Winter. Just….no.

 

Tamar Braxton is an Autumn. *Forrest Gump voice* And that’s all I gotta say about that.

 

Taraji is an Autumn. No. Even though she has a bit of gold sparkle, the aqua is too dominant.

 

Tatyana Ali is an Autumn. Even the yellow is too light for her, so this is all a no.

 

Toccara is an Autumn. All wrong.

Right and Wrong

Beyonce is an Autumn. Autumns look ravishing in yellow. HOWEVER, all yellows are not created equally. This neon yellow is a bit too harsh to really bring out her glow. A Spring woman could probably pull this type of yellow off and still glow, but not Autumn. The color provides a striking contrast with her skin, but the eyes go straight to the glaring color of the gown and not her. The style is hot, though. 🙂

Brandy in this….interesting choice of fabrics for an award show. Brandy is a Winter which means the black is right, the gold is wrong. The gold overlay on top of the black tunic gives the black a faded, almost muted look which would actually make this a way for an Autumn to wear black. Whenever you have competing colors like this, unless they are color-blocked, one will overtake the other for a specific effect. Here, the gold is winning. If the gold was silver, or if this was pure black, Brandy would be glowing a lot more.

Chante Moore is an Autumn. This dress is sheer, which gives a “nude” effect, which is sort of giving up a warm aura. But the silver sparkles of the dress/shoes/jewelry/eyeshadow are throwing off the whole thing. Chante would have benefited from gold instead of silver. And a better-fit/shape to the dress, but that’s neither here nor there.

Mimi is an Autumn. The color of the dress is technically okay for Autumns, but Mariah need not go so pale. The silver embellishments throw it off as well. So does that bleached out hair color; ugh. The fit isn’t good either, but dah well.

Michelle is a Winter. So the black is right, but the nude/tan color is dominating the look. Wrong.

Selita Ebanks is an Autumn. The nude and yellow accents are spot on, but the black is just a bit too dominant to bring out her glow.

 

Tamia is an Autumn. The gold/nude is right, the black is wrong. Very nice style though.

Notice how we only had 3 that got it completely right? Celebrities, color consulting works for y’all too! Especially when you’re in the spotlight like this. My e-mail is open! 🙂

If you would like me to do a color analysis for you (includes blog feature with pictures and customized color shopping list with your own personal power color) that will bring out your own unique glow, contact me at glowingcolor@gmail.com for rates.

 

Emma Stone

I am kicking off my features on Summer women by starting with the actress, Emma Stone.

When people think of Emma Stone, most recall her with dark hair, or red hair. Then they look at me sideways like ‘what is this bish doing under Summer’? That’s what happens in my mind at least.

Emma Stone is a natural blonde and her coloring/features make her a Summer. Let’s take a look at Emma in different color tones.

Warm

The gold makes Emma look pasty and washed out, the peach is just sitting on her (also note: Never wear anything that looks like it may match your skin color too closely), the banana yellow makes her look pasty, the taupe makes her look undead, and the brown makes her look a bit haggard and old (note the brown eyeliner, a no-no for cool-toned women). Even in the wrong colors, you probably noticed that her natural blonde color looks better on her than the dark red. Almost to the glow!

Cool

Emma looks like an ice princess in the ice blue (the look would have been better if they had gone with a lighter pink lipstick). In the black, she looks stunning but not glowing. This is common when women wear the correct tone, but the wrong shade. Summers generally do not glow in black, especially when they wear a large percentage of black as Emma does here. The look we are drawn to is the contrast of the dark against her pale skin, the dark hair with the light eyes, etc. But it still isn’t the most flattering look for her. The gray…now we’re talking. Her hair, eyes, skin, everything is popping in this gray dress. Gorgeous. In the cool-toned, multi-colored patterned top, Emma looks good even though this would look better on a Winter. In sky blue, Emma’s glow shines even through the yellow backdrop and auburn hair. Picture her in this photo with blonde hair. Yas.

Emma Stone is a classic Summer. I hope she hangs on to her blonde color and keeps incorporating the pale, cool colors of summer into her wardrobe.

One last comparison:

See the difference?

If you want to request a celebrity feature, leave the request in the comments!

If you would like me to do a color analysis for you (includes blog feature with pictures and customized color shopping list with your own personal power color) that will bring out your own unique glow, contact me at glowingcolor@gmail.com for rates.

Leila

Today I am featuring Leila! Leila is a pianist, songwriter, and a piano teacher who lives in San Francisco, California. Her band’s name is Rabbit Quinn and their first full album comes out this fall! See her fan page here.

Let’s begin with her Q&A:

What color do you wear the most? Black. Flatters the figure, easy to match.

What color do you wear the least? Stark white. Reds…I am a redhead (not naturally) and reds are tricky with red hair.

What color do you feel sexy in? Earthy greens. Red lipstick,  I feel feminine and soft when I wear peach or blue. Black, of course!

What color do you get the most compliments in? Red Lipstick, Orange, and any shade of green. There’s this blue scarf I got in Paris everyone loves on me. I included a picture….

Very interesting answers! Let’s take a look at Leila’s photos.

First, notice how different Leila looks with the red hair and the brunette hair? It’s almost like looking at a completely different person! I am noticing that Leila is falling into two extremes with her hair. The deep red hair color washes her out and makes her look a bit pasty. The brunette hair makes her look dramatically pale. Not bad, just very pale. We need some kind of balance between the two, but what? Keep in mind that her natural hair color is light brown.

In this first set of photos, Leila does not look bad, but the colors she wears are doing nothing for her. They are sitting on her. Surfing the Internet. Reading books on a Kindle. There is no harmony; no flow. Where is her glow?

Let’s look at Leila in warmer colors.

Are you seeing anything? A glimmer of glow? Yes? Particularly in the 2nd photo. That hint of gold and the general brown tones of the photo are bringing out Leila’s glow. You would be able to see it more clearly if her hair was a different color (especially in the navy dress photo). Leila is an Autumn. A Soft Autumn, just like Jo.

Notice in Leila’s interview that she wears black the most because it flatters the figure and it’s easy to match. This answer is extremely common, both in my color interviews and in general. Black is definitely a safe color. But for Autumns (and Springs), it really doesn’t do us any favors (besides the aforementioned figure-slimming effect). Leila wears stark white and reds the least. That’s a good instinctual move regarding stark white because for Autumns, stark white is a one-way ticket to Deathface-ville. The reds however, we can tweak. Especially if her hair color changes.

Now, Leila’s most telling answer may be when she tells the color she feels sexiest in. Earthy greens! That’s an answer I definitely don’t hear every day and it’s definitely a color that many overlook. However, earthy greens (the ones that lean more toward warm and muted; i.e. have more yellow in them) are one of Autumns’ strongest colors. It has become one of my favorites to wear as an Autumn and I tend to seek it out more. She also mentions she gets complimented in orange, another Autumn all-star color.

Leila loves red lipstick, which is always a sexy classic. In her Color Shopping list, I go over the best reds to look for, and what hair colors would bring out her natural glow. Leila needs to go lighter and warmer with her hair color, and I think the results will be stunning. Keep us updated, Leila!

If you would like me to do a color analysis for you (includes blog feature with pictures and customized color shopping list with your own personal power color) that will bring out your own unique glow, contact me at glowingcolor@gmail.com for rates.