Colour consultation by Nicola Davis

The starred shades are the ones best suited to me

Good colour...

...bad colour...
Today I did something I’ve never done before. Yes one, used the buses here in Southampton (A+ super friendly drivers and on time!) and two, had a colour consultation. For those of you that haven’t heard of it before, a colour consultation is where a consultant analyses which colours suit you best and enhance your looks by determining your ‘dominant’ (whether you are deep – brown eyes, brown hair – clear – dark hair, blue eyes etc) and using this to develop which shades you should and shouldn’t be wearing.

This wasn’t in the name of me having lost all direction of what lipstick to wear but as part of an interview I conducted for an article. So after a flurry of emails I journeyed on down to Upham where Nicola, a consultant trained by Colour Me Beautiful lives and works. I was taken into her gorgeous studio which is professionally presented in white, pale blues with a number of wicker baskets, where I carried out my interview.

After the formalities the fun part began! Through filling out a questionnaire and with Nicola’s expert knowledge, it was decided that I was a ‘deep’ in terms of hair and eye colour which meant make-up wise browns, deep dark reds (lipstick only) and aubergines were best suited to me. Removing my existing 7.30am-applied make-up (yes really), I was left with a clean base for the lesson/advice to begin.

Nicola applied foundation, concealer, powder, eye-primer, and a cream blush then gave me a choice as to which of the selected shades I would like to try on my eyes. Now as the novice I am when it comes to applying eye make-up – only ever opting for mascara, a brown or black pencil and a touch of eye-shadow that looks more like a powdery mess – I wanted to try something different. So I went for the aubergine pencil and a combination of a light brown and a purple eyeshadows.

We also played around with the drapes Nicola uses to conduct a full colour analysis in terms of clothing as well as cosmetics and it showed how much difference wearing the wrong colour can make – I seriously can not pull off pale pink, pale blue, or mint green - practically any pastel shade for that matter!

So as well as gaining my interview, experiencing the service first-hand and spending the morning with a lovely lady, I also discovered that...actually I’m going to save the details for my article, sorry! But if you are intrigued why not pop along and have a consultation yourself. Nicola offers everything from style consultations to personal shopping - you can find her website here. If you feel unsure, stuck in a rut or are lacking in confidence, this is your solution! There is no sales exec pressurising you to buy the products, Nicola is simply there to steer you in the right direction and give you that boost. She also offers gift vouchers which make for fabulous presents for friends and loved ones, and is soon adding bridal consultations to her extensive list too.

It was a super fun and insightful experience. I mean what girl doesn’t love to be pampered? Thank you Nicola!

Have any of you heard of colour analysis before? Are you keen to try it?