As promised, here’s my experience of getting my colors done while on vacation in St. Louis.

My now-friend Celeste did a wonderful job. (Isn’t it great when you have moments like that? She wasn’t my friend before I met her, but really meeting her is all that it took.) We set up a mirror, chair, and spotlight. She had a big ‘ole box of fabrics. She looked at my skin color, into my eyes, at the roots of my hair and even asked me to stick out my tongue. Then Celeste began draping me with shades of fabrics.

 As she moved through the whites, greens, blues, reds… I began to see that different shades of the colors made my face look sad, sickly, and tired. Others brought out my eyes and made my cheeks rosy. My face didn’t change, but putting new colors next to it made a huge difference.

This green is wonderful on me. I can see that in the mirror. It makes me look happy, well-rested, and trustworthy. When I know that I look this way, I feel more confident. It’s a great-big chain reaction. The happier the color makes me look naturally, the prettier I look, the better I feel about myself.

Guess what?! Nothing’s completely off-limits. I knew before going into this that black against my face is a big no-no because it deepens the shadows. I discovered that I can do dark brown or navy instead. However, I knew for sure, for sure, for sure that I cannot ever wear red. Well… tomato red doesn’t do the blotchy thing to my face or make me look like I’m trying way too hard. Look at that! I can wear red!

Celeste uses the Color Me Beautiful system which categorizes people by seasons. I’m an autumn who looks best in the deep colors, not the lights. Here are the colors that are best on me. I’m so grateful for this experience. As I embrace my role as not only an artist but a businesswoman, I’ve been gifted such a wonderful tool.

Here’s something silly. I was on my way to Dad’s church after my appointment with Celeste, so I had dressed for that before we began. When we finished the coloring, I changed into an over-sized sweatshirt. I walked back into the room and Celeste sighed, “Oh that’s much better.” Moral of the story: I look better in slouchy clothes that are in my colors than fancy ones that aren’t.

Later that day my aunt took me shopping to get shirts and sweaters in my colors. It was the most fun shopping I’ve had in a long time. Going only to things in autumn hues cut waaaay back on the overwhelm-factor I usually feel in stores. Not to mention it made it possible for us to whip through 5 or 6 places in 90 minutes. Turn me loose in a fabric store and I can be there all day. Clothing shopping in the past has just made me feel ugly. So I hated doing it. No longer. Now I just need to look for fit and style. I already know the color looks great. Now I’m going to go rock my mustard sweater and coral lipstick on my grocery store trip.

If you’d like to know more or would like a color consultation yourself, just ask Celeste. celesteoakland@gmail.com She learned from her mother, who was hand-picked by Carole Jackson of Color Me Beautiful.