Watch out for enemy colors! It is not enough that you like a color to be able to say that it is truly "our" colour. The shade of a dress or glasses must meet specific requirements. There is a way to find the "friendly color". And it is science that comes against us. He explains it below Marina Mastropietro von Rautenkrantz, creator of “Progetto Colore”.
How many times have we women found a wonderfully colored dress on our hands, but which then, placed close to our face, made us horrified? “It's a color that makes me crazy!”, we say. Color is an important factor and must be chosen with care. Always. Marina Mastropietro has devised a system, with absolutely scientific bases, which allows us to identify the colors that suit us best and which also make us feel better. To make no more mistakes.
Is it possible to identify the “ideal” color?
Chromatic sensitivity and good taste are not enough to identify our ideal colours, i.e. those which, when approached to the face, illuminate us, light up our gaze and make us more refined. It takes a scientific method to identify these “friend” colors of ours. And each of us has different friend colours, according to our 3 face colours. ProgettoColore, applying the rules of color harmony, identifies for each of us the ideal colors for clothing, hair shades, eyeglass frames, make-up and stones or jewels. It's about all those colors that we bring close to the face and therefore react with its 3 main colors.
In addition to clothes, color is of fundamental importance for hair.
When a woman wants to tackle the color of her hair – to hide gray hair or simply to change her look – she turns to hairdressers. But often they know neither the rules of color, nor the science behind every color combination, so too often they recommend the wrong shade of hair dye, which only makes the situation worse, making our gaze duller and our palest skin. Not everyone knows that every time we bring two colors together we have to apply the scientific rules of color in order to create armochromic combinations. And we must not forget that hair color does not react with just one colour, but with our three facial colours: eyes, skin and of course natural hair and eyebrow colour.
What are the basics of color consultancy? What can you get?
At the base there are the 3 parameters of Munsell and the NCS method. With these methods I measure the color of the eyes, skin and hair. Through these measurements I can identify the range of ideal shades of each color for each customer. No color is forbidden, but I can define the ideal shades for each color. Let me explain: we are all fine with red, but each of us will have ideal shades of red and "enemy" shades of red. This goes for every color. While Julia Roberts goes very well with a warm shade of red, such as Valentino Red, the color of the long evening dress worn for the opera in the film Pretty Woman, this shade will instead be the enemy of Angela Merkel or Carla Bruni Sarkozy: their Facial colors call for a cool red, like cherry red. At the wedding Lady Diana had a cream-white dress, Katie an absolute white dress. Reason? Their three face colors were totally different.
How is the color consultancy carried out?
The method divides people into 12 chromatic types, according to the 3 colors of the face. Each type corresponds to a range of friendly colors, to be preferred because they illuminate the face. Colors with opposite parameters will be his enemy colors, to be avoided or worn away from his face. It starts from a first phase of Testing. In this phase the face is illuminated with technical lights similar to sunlight (color temperature > 6000 K) which allow me to see the colors of the face well. Then, in front of a mirror, I bring some colored sheets (of known Munsell parameters) close to the face, alternating them. Finally I measure the skin with the NCS method. From the NCS value and the reaction/change I see on the face, I can tell which of the 12 chromatic types the customer belongs to and therefore which colors are his friends and enemies.
The second stage is Learning. I teach my clients to distinguish warm colors from cold ones, saturated colors from soft ones, light from dark, with explanations, a guided lesson and clothing simulations of friend/enemy colors in front of the mirror. The Draping phase follows: in this phase, in front of the mirror, I show the ideal shades of white, yellow, blue, red, green, brown, etc.. Business and confidential colors and elegant colours, therefore the best combinations.
Then there's the make-up phase, where I show the ideal colors. We start from the client's friendly lipstick and then view the make-up colors used together. We comment on them together and a selection is made. The same is done with the frame of the glasses and with the jewels / stones that are worn close to the face, such as earrings or necklaces. Finally, with a hairdresser's catalog in hand, I show the ideal shades of hair and what to avoid.
The client comes out of my consultancy with a know-how on color that allows her from that moment to never get the wrong colors again in any situation. You know what you must do and what you must never do. Since her face colors don't change, this consultation is only done once in a lifetime and it's an excellent investment because it allows you to never buy the wrong colors again and always have your hair dyed in the right colors.
At the end of the consultancy, as a reminder and a small guide, I hand over the Colorflash: it is a graphic palette containing 20 friendly colors in the form of graphic samples, the colors of the make-up and of the stones and the must-haves on the use of colour. In this way everyone will be able to feel brighter and more confident, bringing out their personality. At that point, a T-Shirt purchased on the market in the right color is better than an Armani jacket in the wrong color.
Style consultancy, looking for shapes.
Here too I apply a method based on the harmony of the proportions and geometry of the shapes, on the morphological characteristics of the face and on the shapes of the body. It is thus possible to identify the best hairstyles, the shape of the glasses, the earrings. Then follow the advice on the type of neckline, the line of jackets and dresses, length of skirts, line of trousers, up to the size of bags, accessories and shoe models. But we will have the opportunity to talk about this again on Lifely in the next episodes.
What are the factors that make a person youthful?
There are many: how she moves, how she smiles, how she dresses, the accessories she wears, from shoes to glasses, hair with the right colors, correct lines and a well-groomed hairstyle. If we see an image we like in front of the mirror, it is clear that we relate to others with greater sympathy and enthusiasm.
The rules for a 50-year-old woman?
Usually, by virtue of the skin which, as it ages, "cools down", the friendly colors are very often after the age of 50, the cold shades. So beige, brown, earthy and autumn colors are to be avoided. As well as yellow gold jewelry and gold frames. If eyewear becomes a must, we can transform it into a true ally, if chosen in the right shape and colour: it can give a touch of great personality and charm to our face. Over the years, the colors of the face can fade and the shapes relax. Then we need to turn it back on! Let's add some color, always from the range of our friends colors! Wearing make-up with a little lipstick in a friendly colour, a lip pencil, a touch of blush, always in friendly colours, lights up our eyes.
