🙈 Does natural always suit you best?
The thing that’s truly enticing about colour analysis is the promise of a way to embrace your natural features and still look your best. If you wear the right colour top, you can wear no makeup and refrain from dyeing your hair and still shine. But does this mean the natural ways is always the best way?
Fillers, botox, hair dye, acrylic nails, hair extensions, push-up bras, makeup, tattoos are all tools you can choose to bring into or leave out of your personal style toolbox. None of these are more or less natural than another. I opt into some of these, but not others, and I therefore couldn’t judge anyone who chooses a different set of tools. I think we can all agree that our unbrushed, wild ,morning hair, completely naked self is our most natural state, but walking out the door like this is probably not a good idea. I don’t believe that embracing your natural beauty has to mean refusing to brush your hair, put some mascara on or put on a nice dress. There is nothing inauthentic about dressing up those natural features a little.
With that said, following your natural features is the best method I have found for lighting up your face and body. I like to see my features as clues for where to go next. The colours in my eyes, hair and skin or the shape of my nose, my shoulder or hips can give me an indication of any changes I could make which would bring my best features to the forefront.
Some women jump at the chance to change their features, as it can help you feel more in control of your appearance, and distance yourself from a version of you that didn’t make you feel confident. Some people really like the dissonance of contrasting with your features, but some people end up with this inharmonious effect by accident as they didn’t realise that changing or going against your appearance so starkly would have this effect. I want to help you make informed decisions about the effects that certain changes can make.
What you will learn today…
🩰 Style Tips: 3 Rules for dyeing your hair
👗Food for thought: don’t dye your mousy brown hair
👛 Case Study: why this was my worst haircut EVER
3 ‘Rules’ for Changing Your Hair Colour
I often talk about viewing your head hair as a another piece of fabric: if you change the colour to something completely outside of your season, you can wear new colours which will harmonise with it, but that doesn’t mean your season it has changed so those pieces won’t make your face light up - in the same way that you can wear a top which isn’t in your season and trousers which go with the top, but it doesn’t mean the colours that suit you are different. So, no, changing your hair colour won’t change what colours suit you. However, that doesn’t mean you have to keep your natural hair colour. The question of whether or not your natural hair suits you is a complicated one, because many people are right that your natural hair can feel dull or one dimensional; however, it along with your eye and skin tones can give you clues as to where to take it (if you want to).
Step 1: follow your colour season description
The dominant features of your appearance, and therefore your colour season, are an amazing indication of what colour you should go for. In my case, my features are cool, light and medium-soft, therefore, the colour on my head should be the same. This can range from blonde to brown; however, I know to steer clear of anything reddish, rich, or dark.
Step 2: only move a few shades from your natural hair colour
If you want to enhance your beauty, moving from bright blonde to black can be difficult. If nothing else, extreme changes to your hair colour can lead to damage of your hair as well as being expensive and difficult to maintain. Adding brightness or depth to your existing colour is the best move to create a natural and harmonious feel for your hair.
Step 3: follow your essence
An element of dyeing your hair most people don’t consider is whether it should be dimensional or one colour. For some people, sparse highlights or balayage will create a softness or natural effortlessness; however, for others, dimensional hair looks notably unnatural and even messy (I am one of these people). Your dominant essence can give you a clue as to which route you should take. In my case, having classic essence means one clean colour looks best next to my face, just like a plain fabric would look best..
Why you shouldn’t dye your mousy hair
The most underrated hair colour is mousy brown. Shades of mousy brown, or “dirty blonde”, are almost never found in Hollywood, but are ubiquitous in the real world. Why does the media hate this natural hair colour?
Many people with this hair colour as an adult had traditional bright, white-blonde hair as a child which dulls as they get older, and although it is true that many of these people will suit bleached hair as an adult, it doesn’t mean there is actually anything wrong with their natural colour.
This ashy, summer brown is often dyed blonde when paired with blue eyes, when that is not always the best choice for that person’s features. It seems to be a trend in Hollywood to dye this hair colour either too light or too dark for the celebrity’s natural features, because there is such a stigma around the “mousy”, “rat”, or “dishwater” brown/blonde. This colour is so obviously natural, especially as its so hard to achieve in a hair salon, that it unfairly has an association with being unglamorous.
In my opinion, there is something so beautiful and interesting about this hair colour which we almost never see in the mainstream media, so if you have always hated your natural hair, take this as permission to embrace it.
Case Study: my worst haircut
When I was 19, I made the bold decision to chop my beautiful blonde hair - a decision that would haunt me for years to follow. I loved my bob… for about a month. Quickly I realised that with short hair my roots became much more obvious, so I thought I would dye it. I was absolutely horrified with the haircut. Looking at this picture on the left it honestly doesn’t look that bad, BUT, I could feel the difference in my features everyday and I felt duller. The colour was too dark and too rich for my face, and as it faded out it became too warm for my features. It was a bad idea.
WEEKLY CURATION
🎨 YouTube - Best and Worst Purchases Since My Colour Analysis by The Hannah Witton | I have loved following on with Hannah’s colour analysis journey. I feel like a lot of millennials are instinctively suspicious of these features-focused style systems because you were the responders to the brutal body attitudes in the 00s , so it was nice to see Hannah take the experience in her stride and share her new shopping habits in such a fun way.
🎉 YouTube - Why is Fast Fashion Failing by Jordan Theresa | This is a really entertaining video essay about the sustainable fashion, fast fashion, greenwashing and the effect on the high street. If you want to get up to date with the state of fashion, this is the place to start.
💆♀️ TikTok - Abbey Yung | If you want affordable, yet effective tips for transforming your hair, Abbey’s videos are for you. Some of her advice goes completely against the grain, and shares science-backed tips which actually work. I am on a mission in 2024 to grow my natural hair colour, and I cannot wait to start using Abbey’s hair care tips.
🧢 TikTok - Really fun outfits from places you’re not used to identifying as fashion icons by Mac | I love this series from Mac where she breaks the idea that only a certain type of person can wear a certain type of look. She takes inspiration from history, elderly women, children, men - it’s a fantastic message that personal style can come from anywhere.
What’s new
🐦 I am writing on Twitter! - I am so in love with writing at the moment. I have a bit of the bug. This newsletter is one of the most exciting projects in my life at the moment, and that made me think “where else can I write”? Every day I am sharing my best style tips to twitter, so make sure to follow HERE
🎁 Christmas Colour Guide - If you are struggling to make the Christmas colours suit you, this guide is for you. I have created two unique palettes for each of the four colour seasons to help you find your best looks for the holiday season. Read more here
👏 Join the community - I have launched a patreon! If you want live workshops with me every month where you get to ask me your burning questions in an intimate group, this is your opportunity. I also reinvest all the profits from Patreon back into the YouTube channel to make the content stronger and better, so every penny leads to better videos.
New Uploads:
💄 YouTube - This is Why You Hate Your Wardrobe | Your Style Key 🗝️ | I asked Style Thoughts by Rita to help me make a video all about her system The Style Key. I break the system down into its core components to help you apply it to your own personal style.
🧚♀️ Reel - Case Study - Volunteer Kate | This is my first analysis of a real (i.e. not famous) woman on my page. This feels to me like such an exciting turning point in my content, as I move more towards community-focused videos, and the response was really positive so thank you to all!
🥾 Reels - Why you should upgrade your hyper-practical items | You are probably ignoring the items of clothing in your wardrobe that would make the biggest impact on your style. Forget your basics, focus on these.
🐀🐸 Reels - Are you a rat or a frog? | This bizarre TikTok trends has its roots in yin/yang and the theory of essences. Which one are you?
Ask Me a Question!
This week’s question comes from Sophia, thank you so much! She asks…
‘is it possible to really like certain styles and style roots and be really inspired by them- and also not have that style/style root as one of your three? if so how could you incorporate that influence into your style?’
I am inspired by all of the style roots in moments. There are exiting and enticing elements from all of the style roots. At the moment I am particularly inspired by the moon style root; I am obsessed with Kate Moss and her fur coats, leopard print and leather accessories. Often your love for elements of another style root come from one of your actual style roots, in my case, my love for Kate Moss’ style really comes from the earth style root as fur and animal print shows up there too. Similarly, I love Kate’s style because it’s simple, minimal and neutral which aligns with my flower style root. It would be a mistake to start wearing studded leather belts because this doesn’t align with my roots, but I can pull from other “moon” elements of her style which make sense in the context of my wardrobe.
I would love to use this newsletter to get to know you guys a little and create a little community of style fanatics! This newsletter is a great opportunity to answer some of your biggest questions.
If you would like to submit one you can do so using the button below:
Until next time…
Thank you for reading this week’s newsletter. I post every Friday at 4pm. I am on a mission to make this the best style newsletter in the world, but I need your help. If you have enjoyed today’s newsletter, please share a link with a friend you think might like it to. And if this is your first time reading Curate Yourself, subscribe using the button below ;)
Ellie-Jean x
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