PART ONE (Guest post)
How Image Consultant Edith transform Candice (Corporate Executive) look more business professional at her new job.
This guest post was written by Candice. She is a creative, dynamic and fun professional and i have the pleasure of knowing her in person while providing my service. I have asked Candice to share her personal styling experience which she enjoys and passionate about to have a new business look.
From urban cyclist to corporate executive– How Edith helps me look more professional
I bike everywhere. I don’t know how to put on makeup. And one of my favourite activities is camping. If left to my own devises, I stick to casual, comfortable clothes in dark neutral colours.
But when I first moved to Madrid, I also got my first corporate job. When I started working at the new office, many people thought I was the intern, even though I actually have ten years of experience.
It quickly became apparent to me that I needed to improve my professional style if I wanted people take me seriously. I hate this reality, but studies have shown that people judge women in the workplace based on how they are dressed and how much makeup they are wearing.
For months I struggled with how to do this while still respecting my personal style.
Fortunately, I met Edith. When I learned about her experience as a stylist and makeup artist I knew she was the right woman for the job. Over the course of a few weeks, we embarked on a mission to up my style game with a lesson in makeup skills, a colour assessment, and a new haircut.
Today we’ll talk about her colour consulation, which is the first thing we did together. Stay tuned for a couple more blogs on how she transformed my makeup routine and my hair style.
PART ONE – The Colour Consultation: how Edith taught me to stop hating pink
My crutch when it comes to clothes is BLACK. I love black for so many reasons: it’s always in style; you can find it everywhere; it means you don’t have to think too hard about what you are going to wear; it can be casual or elegant…..you get the picture.
When I moved to Spain though, I started craving more options. It’s just too hot to wear black all of the time! And it was getting boring. I knew I needed to go shopping for some more professional outfits, but I wanted to do it right. I was ready to go beyond black. However, I didn’t really know where to start.
That’s when Edith told me about her colour consultation. I had never really heard of anything like it before, but it seemed like a great idea.
So what is a colour consultation and how does it work? Here is what to expect:
First, Edith and I sat down and she evaluated my skin tone, my hair and my eyes. Apparently just changing the colour of your hair can drastically change your “colour personality”, which I suppose makes perfect sense.
Edith also came with more than 130 swatches of colour. After we decided what colour profile I have, I sat in front of a mirror near a window with natural light, and Edith went through each swatch and placed it over my chest so we could see how the colour looked under my face.
What I learned:
One thing I came to realise is that just because I really like a colour tone, it doesn’t mean it will look good on me. I’m a big fan of bright colours, but these just don’t work well with my skin tone.
The opposite also happens to be true, which sort of surprised me. For example: pink. I wouldn’t be caught dead in pink just a few months ago, but now I realize some shades of pink look pretty good on me! And depending on the style and cut of whatever piece of clothing I choose, it doesn’t have to make me look like a Stepford wife.
The session took at least two hours. It was a really interesting exercise because it forced me to look at colours I would absolutely never have considered before. Afterwards, I had a new appreciation for colour and much better understanding of what worked and didn’t work with my skin tone. Hint: black isn’t that great. I’m not ready to entirely give it up just yet though…
After the session, Edith sent me an email with a summary of what I should look for when I hit the stores:
You belong to SOFT colour characteristics.
Your look overall is also blended, your colours need to “tone on tone’ with little contrast of cool or warm tone within the result of the colour consultation palette.
If you wear the darker shade like black brown and charcoal on your palette, balance them with other colours that are only one or two tones lighter and avoid high bright contrast. You are still in the age of 30 so be creative with your image and have fun with colour combination and become changeable look.
In theory if you have green eyes, try some warmer shade. But if you have blue eyes are slightly better in cooler tone. Because you are quite special and you have neutral colouring, in that case you can choose to wear warm and cool shades.
Your accessories choice should go for softer texture. E.g. Suede in preference to leather and matte jewellery rather than very shiny piece.
Results:
I am a lot more open to trying out different colours when I’m shopping. I also know what to avoid and I have a better understanding of what might or might not work when I’m in a store, which helps me save a lot of time when I’m trying things on.
I would definitely recommend this session to anyone who is looking to spice up their personal style. Sometimes it really helps to have a neutral observer to tell you straight up: “No, this isn’t working for you. This will though!”
Stay tuned for more blogs on how Edith helped me transform my makeup routine (or create one in the first place) and how she changed my hair style. https://edithc.com/blog-post/part-two-new-cut-new-look/
Here are some of the colour swatches I chose with Edith’s colour consultation.
For a new look ( Before and After Make-up )
A NEW HAIRCUT FOR A NEW LOOK
Last week, I talked about how Edith helped me choose clothes that go beyond black with her colour consulation. Today, I’m going to talk about how she cut my hair.
For years, I’ve kept my hair long and I’ve been trimming it myself. The ends were brittle and because my hair is somewhere between wavy and curly, it often ends up just looking frizzy. I never use product and I usually let it air dry. Occasionally, when I’m inspired, I straighten it. It was time for a change.
I didn’t want to cut it too short but I wanted something that was more manageable, so Edith convinced me that shoulder length was the way to go.
When she first chopped it all off, I was a little panicked. I have a lot of hair and it can get a little poufy. When cut shoulder length, I definitely had a serious triangle happening. But Edith is a pro. Because I have a lot of volume and a lot of hair, Edith created a lot of internal layers to lighten my cut. She also had this really cool technique where she twirled my hair around her fingers in the same direction as my natural curls to trim my hair in a way that appeared more natural. She also added minimal layers around the bottom to soften the edges so that the cut better framed my face.
Now my hair is much lighter and easier to manage. I received A LOT of compliments at work after I cut my hair. While I loved having it long, because it was so unkempt, I realise now that I definitely looked much younger and less polished. I feel as though I look more my age, and in a good way. It’s also great to have shorter hair in the summer heat of Madrid. Way more manageable, comfortable and professional all around.
STAY TUNED FOR ONE MORE BLOG ON HOW EDITH HELPED LOOK MORE PROFESSIONAL WHILE STAYING TRUE TO MY PERSONAL STYLE. UP NEXT: LEARNING TO WEAR
If you’d like my support Contact Me or book a complimentary 20 minutes call +34 654 189 358 I also team up with the professional