In our last blog, we discussed some basics of self-care and personal style. We didn’t even talk about clothing — the reason is — your Indianapolis Personal Stylist believes clothing is only part of the equation. Grooming, caring for clothing and yourself is also very important to your personal style.
More Recommendations from Your Certified Image Consultant
Getting into more details, I often discuss hairstyles with men and women in my consultation — I, your Certified Image Consultant, have often recommended a new hairstyle, and set the appointment and accompanied the client to the haircut. I wanted to make sure the stylist agreed with and carried out my direction. One client, in particular, was in the C Suite, in his mid-40 with a nice head of hair–yet it was cut strangely almost like a child’s haircut. First of all, he was happy he still had a great head of hair. So true. His hair was thin and fine, however, so it required a certain type of haircut. We went to a salon that was not a barbershop, yet they styled men’s hair. I thought that was a good, in-between vendor to use.
The results were mind-boggling. He looked completely different: more professional, looked his age and sophisticated in an effortless way. Keep in mind: with style, the goal is not always to start out. For men, it’s to blend in and then purposely stand out for a reason. Many men have told me this: I want to fit but be memorable.
It’s a little different with women. They often want to stand out. The way I, your Certified Image Consultant, would approach a style to consult about hair and makeup with a female client is to first do a color analysis. This work might reveal a woman is coloring her hair the wrong color. This is often a difficult conversation since we all hate change and often color our hair because our stylist recommended it; they want a certain look (blondes look younger and more fun, etc.) Once we talk through this and the client agrees with the colors that look best on her, the hairstyle and color conversation is quite easy. I can tell you one general principle: if you are a winter or a summer and have very cool coloring (such as ash brown/black; deep, even blue-black), you should NEVER, NEVER have red or caramel highlights in your hair. Why? This fights your natural coloring. It may bring out orange or yellow in your complexion. Also, if you are an ash blonde or had pale hair color as a child, do not go dark black or brown. Your goal with your hair is to harmonize with your natural coloring. It’s true this is harder as we age and our hair starts to grey or turn white. I, Certified Image Consultant, suggest letting a little of the grey be seen in your hair, but this is a discussion you have with your stylist.
Second, in makeup and hair consult with a female, we discuss coloring: if you have warm coloring, you should wear warm makeup colors. (Bobbie Brown is perfect for the woman with warm coloring.) If you coloring is cool and very fair, you wear cool colors. For instance, a woman with ash or cool black hair looks fabulous in the bright pink lip or cool red. If you are warm, such as I am, you can rock a coral or red lipstick.
Keep it sassy, Indy.
Beth Divine, MA
AICI Certified Image Consultant and Personal Stylist
