It is my pleasure to introduce Dark Winter, Meg Casebolt, founder of Love At First Search, an agency that guides small online business owners, especially female entrepreneurs in creating search friendly websites and strategic content. She helps her clients to optimize how they show up in search results in Google, Youtube, etc - Search Engine Optimization.
For years, I had heard from many colleagues that I needed to seek out the services of the world's "Queen of SEO". I was so inspired when I finally connected with Meg and shocked to learn she was located right in my hometown of Rochester, NY. She's fun and down to earth and easy to place your trust in with her exceptional knowledge of how the internet search world works.
I learned to start by identifying the core essence of my business, to choose visuals and words that would be send out a clear message in an appealing way and how use all the tools to help viewers see me clearly and navigate around my site effortlessly. It is so similar to how I help my clients understand their coloring and style and how to authentically maximize a natural look in the simplest, most streamlined way. Meg and I both help our clients to be seen!
Read more about Meg's journeys with her color analysis and how it has influenced her online image.
Growing up in the 80s, my mom had "had her colors done" at a color party, and she knew that she was a "winter" ... and both of us knew that we weren't the same (she has light hazel eyes whereas mine are dark brown) and that I looked overwhelmed in colors that were too bright (like vivid pinks, which look great on her).
I think because we didn't know, and my eyes were brown, we sort of just assumed that brown = autumn ... but I look awful in oranges! So for all this time, I just felt confused and sorta bleh.
Then I met Kerry, through some colleagues and decided to give color analysis a try. Kerry explained that there aren't four palettes but twelve, and my mind was a little bit blown. We went through the color analysis process, and went back and forth a bit between Dark Winter and Dark Autumn to see the difference--that I actually did belong in the winters! My dark hair/eyes and fair skin tone looked great in the darker end of the Winter group.
Turns out my mom and I are both winters but I'm Dark and she's Bright - while she can be bold in her choices (those magentas and ceruleans that I thought disqualified me from Winter because they were too bold for me) whereas I choose richer tones (I can pull off burgundy and forest like nobody's business).
So what does this mean for me?
For years, I was highlighting my hair, trying to make myself feel less dark, more glowing ... but the warm, gold tones of the highlights ended up looking brassy against my cool skin. But after my color analysis, I decided to embrace the darker, bolder tones that look best on me. It even gave me the courage to do something I'd always wanted to do but didn't think I could pull off: dye my hair purple! (Yes, I brought my swatches with me to the hair stylist, Andrea Bonawitz who thankfully is already familiar with Kerry's work!)
I'm also way more likely to lean into a bold lipstick choice -- I used to think going too dark would overpower me and make me look washed out, but I've found that the right tone can actually bring my face to life! And switching my blush from a warmer peachy color to the Indigo Tones plum blush made a huge difference too.
I also took some time to purge all the old "autumn" clothes out of my closet, to make room for more black, eggplant, burgundy and teal not only makes it easier to find complimentary options in my closet, but I know that everything I reach for will feel more "right." Plus I've never loved clothes shopping, so now that I know what I'm looking for, I can pretty much skip the mall during the seasons when the stores will be pushing other color palettes and feel ok with only shopping around the holidays.
I think the biggest difference for me is how I show up on my YouTube channel.
While Kerry was explaining the whole process, I found myself thinking of the fantasy romance series, A Court of Thorns and Roses, in which the heroine Feyre finds herself in the Spring Court surrounded by light colored peonies and white roses, and never quite feels at home. Then she is kidnapped into the Night Court, where she embraces her own darkness as part of her beauty, and it's there where she finds her home.
My color analysis, and newfound identity as a Dark Winter, gave me permission to let go of the feeling that I need to be light and soft and muted to be beautiful. There are plenty of people who do well with light and soft ... but I'm not one of them. My strength comes in my boldness, and embracing the darkness gave me the ironic permission to truly shine.
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It’s a treat to introduce you to this month's colorful lives feature, Soft Autumn Tim Stich who is also my son!! Tim’s experience with shopping for clothing and wearing color is unique as I become a color analyst when he was quite young. When he and his sister Clare were little, I tried dressing them in bright colors with strong patterns as was the style then.....but even before learning about personal color harmony, I started to sense that the clothes overwhelmed them and began dressing them in softer colors and solids. I was even shocked the other day to discover when I pulled out his school photos that every single photo (even before I learned of his color palette) was taken in a Soft Autumn color. You can see how his life has evolved wearing the soft, earthy colors that suit his ruddy hair, freckles and soft blue/green eyes.
Over the years, he has mostly been very eager to wear what suits him and looked to me to help him distinguish soft autumn colors from the two seasons nearby - warm autumn and soft summer. We enjoy shopping together, especially now that he lives in Manhattan and the shopping is abundant. It can be a challenge to find his colors in sizes and style that fit but when its perfect, it feels great and he knows it. Read on to learn more about what it’s like to be a guy whose mom is a color consultant!
I am so excited to introduce you the “entertainingly irreverent” (Associated Press) Soft Summer, Valerie Peterson. Valerie is an extraordinary storyteller in a variety of media including scriptwriting, screenplays, fiction, non-fiction and book publishing/consulting. I analyzed her colors years ago in Rhode Island at a girls weekend hosted by a mutual friend (color analysis and girls weekends make a great combo!). In the years since, Valerie has embraced her Soft Summer colors in spite of living and working in New York City where black is a standard and practical.
It was a thrill when her publisher chose a photo of my family for her wonderfully spirited book, Peterson’s Happy Hour. On page 46, you can find me with my family - brothers, Mike and Tim and my parents Marcia and J. Michael Jones circa 1970. The book features many more photographic gems and recipes for a fabulous social gathering!
In this month’s colorful lives blog, Valerie shares her journey with her color palette. As with all her writing projects, she is humorous, colorful and entertaining! She has kept in great condition and still uses the Sci Art swatch book that I provided back in those days!! Be sure to check out her large body of work on valeriepeterson.net and read more in the blog:
While doing color analysis in Boston in June, I had the pleasure of meeting Danielle Burton and giving her a 12-Season Color Analysis. Danielle had recently experienced a 4-Season Color Analysis with a House of Colour consultant and was told she was a Winter. I was skeptical that she was any type of Winter (in the 12 season system, there are actually 3 Winters - Dark Winter, Cool Winter and Bright Winter). Her light eyes, natural lighter and soft brownish hair and skin tone were much more consistent with my clients who fall into the lighter seasons, especially Summer.
Since her hair had been highlighted, we covered it with a neutral gray cap to do the testing portion of the analysis, ensuring that the lighter color did not sway the results of the analysis. It was clear from the beginning that Danielle was responding more harmoniously to the cool tones even some of the lighter cool winter drapes which was consistent with her 4 season color analysis.
But, while she contrasted with any drapes that were dark and bright, she was softened and balanced by the lighter cool tones, particularly Summer. The dark colors brought out shadows under her eyes and the brighter colors overwhelmed her and brought attention to themselves. In the end, she looked lovely and perfectly balanced and harmonious in the Cool Summer colors!
"While I had a great experience at House of Colour, I do think they are missing out on a ton of research and color science by not including the 12 seasons and variants. The added layer of cool vs bright vs dark was a huge difference for me and really solidified which category I best fit”.
Enjoy reading more about Danielle’s experience with both systems and her reaction to her diagnosis as a Cool Summer:
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