approprio, ahh! Okay, that makes more sense. However, I wouldn't say you're scary. I know I haven't met you IRL, but I would describe you as dynamic and dramatic, confident and edgy. I think you're absolutely cool. Not that the opinion of woman you only know on YLF is high toast.

Heh, it is not so much woo as that I cannot grasp it. And generally I get this stuff easily, married to an artist and all. Called upon to critique colours and juxtaposition every day.
I really like your style! It is challenging and interesting and fun. It bends gender a bit. It has a point. It is smart. Some people simply like the usual or safely conventional, and those people will probably not get you.
I wonder if we all belong to fashion tribes? And sometimes dressing to fit into the one you are addressing, is useful, for sure.
I have done that for money :-).

approprio - for what it's worth - I am guessing by "scary" you mean something in the realm of - blunt, forthright, confident, no-nonsense, assertive ... are any of these close? In any case, I think it's better to dress to reflect your personality - it's more cohesive and far less jarring for others. To over-dramatize to make the point, Madonna's personality is quite "in your face" and dramatic, and when you see her, you are ready for it ... imagine dressing her in conservative, quiet tones; you'd be in for a shock once she opened her mouth! Let your style express your inner confidence and assertiveness, not 'tone it down'. The world needs us as we are!

My last reply got lost...but it was to the effect that it was not necessarily woo, just I cannot seem to get any of the systems. So complicated. And am married to an artist, so you would think it would transfer...
I love your style. Hope that is clear. On point, smart, has an opinion, bends gender a little. Very sophisticated. Not at all scary. i always am attracted to things that have a little depth and some interesting references.
Appreciate that you want to knock it back a bit for the people who feel it is a challenging look. I used to dress for a role at work, and have come to the conclusion that am always dressing for a role. I use what i wear to repel or attract attention.
Which is why i think this is an interesting site, everyone is so different in their needs for presentation.

I think color theory is an amazing tool and I love to explore seasonal analysis theory, but seasons are based on our (usually) dominant traits so I see then more like generic guidelines that need to be worked out. Everyone has peculiar/secondary traits that also matters and will create exceptions/minor differences - so much that it's not unusual people from one season that can embrace at least a bit of a sister season palette without any problems.
I also have pale pinkish undertone skin with freckles, dark ash brown hair that is dyed reddish dark brown right now and golden-green hazel eyes. Despite having a cold undertone and high contrast (winter), I have some warmth and freckles, my eyes range from a mossy muted greenish-brown color one day to bright clear citrine color on the next, my skin go from pale and cool during winter to light and neutral-cool during summer and my ash hair color burns easily and get reddish reflexes (even without dye). I consider myself a unstable dark/bright winter who steps in the bright spring palette once in a while. I need to exclude some bright spring yellows, oranges and beiges and some dark winter greys, but other than that those 3 palettes work fine for me.

About looking too intense/scary, I don't have a soft personality so dark and bright winter colors suit me well, but I think it is possible to make softer looks too. Some light tone colors that would be "intense" for a soft season will look light and natural on us - like white. And you always can use a softer color that isn't the most flattering one for you as long as it isn't terrible unflattering too with a little bit of makeup

Fun to see you have fun with this type of analysis, Rio. I'm glad you're not ditching the colours that aren't on the palette. If you fancy a colour - you should wear it. It's HOW you wear it that counts. I'm sure you'll make those colours work just beautifully.

I'm a Warm Spring. My colour preferences are conveniently in line with what works best for my complexion - apparently. Sour Brights. But I DO wear black. AND I wear a lot of black with white - which is supposed to be a no-no for me (my colouring is too low contrast). Well. I do add black with caution to my wardrobe (although my wardrobe cannot function without it). And I wear black to wear with white. My specs, rosy cheeks and lipstick help create contrast and soften the harshness of the colour combination to my eye. So there you go. Rules are made to be broken - or at least bent back into shape. I believe that you cannot see colours in isolation - which brings me back to it's how you wear it that counts.

Approprio, when you said this:

"There's all kinds of reasons why lab analysis should be taken with a
huge grain of salt. As I said upthread, it's so important that we take
responsibility ourselves for our own colour choices, rather than ask
someone who doesn't know us to make those decisions for us. "

I totally agree - and it reminded me of two things I've read previously.

First, awhile back I read an online discussion where several of the people had experienced one or more personal color analysis sessions, done by professional analysts from various different color systems.

The upshot of this discussion was that different color systems look for different things during the color draping. Some analysts look for colors that make your face look "softer" - because that's their version of the most flattering look. Others (such as 12 Blueprints, I believe) look for colors that provide the most definition of your facial features. And so on.

I think that's one reason why so many folks have had color analysis from a variety of analysts - and get a different diagnosis every time. The analysts are simply looking for different effects during draping.

So having a professional color analysis doesn't necessarily mean the analyst's version of your best look will also be your version of your best look.

The other thing I remembered was from the blog of color analyst Lisa Ford. She says that the color palette her customers receive should be thought of as a guide, not a book of policies. She adds:

"Your color palette is NOT a fail-proof blueprint. Why isn’t it?
Because the 12 color tones are neither exclusive nor 100% comprehensive,
meaning that not everyone will fit neatly in one color space. Why
shouldn’t you utilize your book of colors like your very own personal
bible? Even if your complexion does fit well in one of the color types,
it would be a huge shame to just ignore the rest of the color
spectrum/wheel. The other palettes, especially your color space’s
neighboring one, offer a whole host of other shades to explore that
might suit you just as well and they can enable you in building a more
varied, yet still cohesive color palette for your wardrobe. Bottom line:
Use your recommended color palette as a starting point, nothing more.
Don’t reject colors simply because they are not in your palette and
don’t assume all shades in your palette look great on you. You still
need to do the legwork of examining colors against your skin and
figuring out which colors fit your individual complexion, shade by
shade."

She then goes on to say:

"Your personal style persona outranks your color space. Your color space should never restrict your ability to express your visual impression, through your wardrobe."

The above quotes are from Lisa's blog post here:
http://inventyourimage.com/201.....-now-what/

I especially appreciate her more balanced, realistic perspective on personal color analysis and use of the palettes.

I think that some seasonal palettes can more easily cheat in other non-palette colors, really, and of course you can always cheat in colors by not having them near your face, or pairing with your best makeup, or just be being reconciled to it not being your best, but something else about the clothing works. So, my partner is a cool leaning soft autumn- really he can wear a very wide range of colors and, while he looks a bit tired in black, if its soft and the fabric is right, its not devastating (although it is sad to see his spectular yellow eyes get dulled!).
As a light season, black is pretty devastating on me, but I've found I can mitigate the effect if I make sure I wear it in transparent or silky fabrics. The transparency or reflectivity of the fabric lightens the feel of the color.
However, the brilliant thing about sticking to the palette is that things really do go together beautifully- the neutrals and colors just mesh. So I find I get good use out of much fewer clothes for this reason.
Shevia, Christine Scaman at 12blueprints says that its generally the cooler skin tones who turn green or yellow in overly warm colors. In my view, the pinterest pages she maintains with Rachel Nachmias are some of the most useful ways to start to understand the palettes, in terms of landscapes.

Ladies, I can't thank you enough for all this insightful input. I'm so glad I'm not the only one struggling to get my head around this. Sorry for not responding in detail, but my head's spinning a bit with all this new stuff!

Chiara, Keturah, Marina, Jeweled et al, thanks so much for your additional info on accuracy, optimising and rule bending. I'm definitely going to review lipstick colours and see if I can find some different shades.

Angie, fun isn't the word I'd use for this, but I'm definitely learning something, so it's all good. I had you down for a Bright Spring because you seem to wear contrast so well. Just goes to show how well you can bend the rules once you know how. I've no intention of ditching the pieces I love in colours outside the palette, now that I've got a better feel for taming them into submission.

And I've been told by some of the scariest people I know that they're scared of me so it must be true. Here's a bonus shot from last year of one of my favourite scary looks.

I love your scary look! WOW! I am not scared though. I know lots of scary people :-).

Loving this scary look but not scared either. Looks dramatic and chic.

Just came across this post from 2013 on Christine Scaman's 12 Blueprints blog, discussing why different personal color analysts get different results - even when they're using the same analysis system:

http://www.12blueprints.com/an.....ent-246307

The post is excellent, but the comments below it are an especially great discussion for anyone trying to decide whether to do their own color analysis at home or go to a professional to have it done.