0:03

Welcome to the your color style podcast

0:06

where we believe the more you know about

0:08

color, the more you'll know what

0:10

colors flatter you best. I'm

0:12

your host Jen [inaudible] . Last

0:15

week we talked about the upcoming trending

0:17

colors for the

0:20

spring and summer season, so if you missed it, you might want to go back and listen

0:22

to it. It's a lot of fun. It can definitely

0:25

help you understand what colors you're going to see

0:27

in the stores this

0:29

season and how to shop for them for you. This

0:33

week we're going to continue our series on the your

0:35

color style methodology. The

0:37

first two episodes we're all about bright

0:40

versus soft. Knowing if

0:42

you're soft or bright can really help

0:44

you understand the types of colors that are in harmony

0:46

with you. So if you haven't listened to

0:48

those two episodes yet, you may want

0:50

to go back and listen to them first before listening

0:53

to this one. Okay, so

0:55

today we're going to talk about contrast

0:58

and intensity. This

1:00

is

1:01

really an extension on the topic of

1:03

bright or soft chroma. So

1:05

if you're confused on whether you're soft

1:08

or bright or if you feel like you're right

1:10

in the middle, learning your intensity

1:12

may be a huge aha moment

1:14

for you. I say

1:17

it all the time. The level of

1:19

chroma of a color is the most

1:21

important characteristic when considering

1:23

if a color is going to flatter you. Too

1:26

bright of a color on someone that has a

1:28

lot of soft tones will

1:30

overpower them and too soft

1:32

or muted of a color on someone that has

1:35

a lot of brightness, will likely

1:37

drain them, won't do much for them, but

1:40

there's a lot of in between here and

1:42

that's where understanding, intensity and

1:44

contrast can really help. What

1:47

I've discovered as I've developed the your color

1:49

style system is that there's a little trick

1:52

to wearing your color palette. I

1:55

am bright and warm. I wear colors

1:57

from the same color palette as another person

2:00

that is bright and warm, but we

2:03

wear our colors very differently.

2:06

Why is that? Well, it's because

2:08

even though I wear the bright color palette

2:10

best, some of the super bright colors

2:12

are too intense for me and

2:15

they may be perfect for someone else. And

2:17

this is where many people get hung up. They,

2:20

you know, they follow my course, I take

2:22

my quiz, they determine that they are bright,

2:24

but the colors feel too bright even

2:26

though they know they're definitely not

2:29

soft intensity

2:32

in your color style beans , the level

2:34

of pigment of feature has,

2:37

and when I say feature, I mean your eyes, your hair,

2:39

your skin has

2:42

in combination with its depth and brightness.

2:44

It also has a lot to do with your level of

2:46

contrast. You should know

2:48

though, the intensity is not define

2:51

your undertones. It's simply helps

2:53

you understand the types of colors you'll wear

2:55

best and how to wear them.

2:57

But it won't necessarily tell you

2:59

if you have warm or cool undertones.

3:02

We'll cover that undertones

3:05

and future episodes. Okay,

3:07

and in this series, but

3:10

for now we're going to talk about intensity in

3:13

your color style. There are six levels

3:15

of intensity. I'm going to go through each one

3:17

and describe them. And I think that this rule really

3:19

help you to figure out what types of colors

3:22

will flatter you best. So if you're

3:24

not too sure yet, if your brighter soft

3:26

, you feel like you're in between, this is going to be

3:28

a huge help. So

3:31

there are six, we're going to start the top with

3:33

level six. And so if you fall into

3:36

the levels four , five or six,

3:39

you are likely bright, meaning

3:41

that you wear colors from the bright color wheel

3:43

best. So let's start with level six.

3:47

This is someone who was bright with

3:49

extremes. Your eyes have

3:51

a high intensity, they may be a sparkly,

3:54

bright blue, or very deep,

3:56

almost black. Okay?

3:58

Like one of the one or the other. Very,

4:01

very extreme. Your

4:03

hair is likely deep and shiny.

4:06

You may fall into this high level intensity

4:08

with bright white or silver hair,

4:11

but not gray. Okay? Bray , bright

4:13

white. But your eyes or your

4:15

skin must be deep because

4:18

of those extremes. So let me say that again.

4:20

You can fall into this category of level

4:22

six if you have bright white hair.

4:25

But if so, do

4:28

you need the opposite somewhere? So either your

4:30

eyes are super, super dark, almost

4:32

black, or you have very, very deep skin

4:34

creating that high contrast

4:36

again. Okay? Um,

4:38

if you have silver or white hair with

4:40

bright light eyes, then

4:43

you're not level six because you're now lower

4:45

and contrast and you're likely more

4:47

in level four and we'll get there. Okay? So we're talking about

4:49

those high contrast individuals

4:53

as a bride level six, you have a high contrast

4:55

between your skin, eyes and hair.

4:58

You may have very fair skin with very deep

5:00

hair, bright light,

5:02

eyes with deep hair or very

5:04

deep skin with bright whites

5:06

of the eyes. Okay? So

5:09

if that feels like you, if you flick your level six,

5:12

then you are a person of extremes.

5:14

You're going to look best in a bright color

5:17

with a high contrast pattern

5:19

or color pairing. So white and black,

5:22

for example, high contrast. Your best

5:25

neutrals, geometric shapes and

5:27

high contrast patterns will look absolutely

5:29

amazing on you if you want to

5:31

look and feel your best, where those bright

5:33

and bold colors. Okay, bright

5:37

and bold lipstick, high contrast.

5:39

Close against your skin. So what I mean by

5:41

that is if, if, if you

5:43

have very dark skin, you'll,

5:46

you'll look great in a bright white

5:48

or icy pastel. Uh,

5:52

if you have very fair skin, dark

5:54

colors against your skin are going to look

5:58

so you want it cause you want that high contrast and it's absolutely

6:00

key to keep your colors

6:02

in harmony with your natural coloring and

6:04

tone. Okay, so that's level six. Level

6:07

five. This is someone

6:10

who is bright with some depth, so

6:12

your eyes have a high intensity, they

6:14

may be as sparkly, bright or a very

6:16

deep, dark Brown, almost

6:19

black. Your hair has brightness

6:21

and it may be deepen, shiny. It

6:24

may also be a bright red

6:26

or deep Auburn or a medium Brown.

6:29

The biggest difference here, and if it sounds

6:32

similar to level six is because

6:34

it is, but the biggest difference here

6:36

is that level five

6:39

has more of a medium contrast

6:41

between your skin, eyes and hair, and you don't

6:43

have those extremes like you do in level six.

6:46

Okay? Level six, your hair is

6:48

very likely going to be almost black. It really,

6:50

really, really dark where someone who's five,

6:52

your your hair could be a deep Auburn,

6:55

a cop, bright, coppery, red, a

6:57

lot of pigment in your hair, medium,

6:59

Brown, but not necessarily super, super

7:01

black. Okay? So

7:04

if this feels like you are , then you

7:06

are person that has obvious brightness,

7:08

but the extremes may be too harsh on you. You

7:11

can wear brights just like

7:13

level six, but you'll wear more

7:15

than medium darks instead of like a black,

7:17

okay? Like a medium. Charcoal gray,

7:19

for example, will look better on you than

7:22

a then extreme black.

7:24

All right ? Bright lipstick for special

7:26

occasions, medium contrast

7:28

clothes against your skin. All

7:30

will look great on you. So that's level

7:32

five and level four.

7:35

I'm an FYI, I'm a level four. So

7:38

have you seen photos of me that will help you?

7:41

Or someone who's bright and light? Your

7:43

eyes may be bright and sparkly

7:45

or light and bright. Your hair has

7:48

brightness. Um , it will also

7:50

be light. You're going to have a lower contrast

7:52

between your hair, skin, and eyes because you have

7:54

light, hair, light eyes and light skin.

7:56

But you have an obvious brightness about you,

7:59

okay ? Um, your eyes could be a

8:01

blue green, that could be a bright blue.

8:04

They have some kind of brightness to it and your hair does

8:06

as well. You could even pick a strawberry

8:08

blonde to fit into this category.

8:11

Uh, you have some color in your hair. All

8:14

right ? So that feels like you

8:16

then , um , then you're probably light.

8:20

And that means that you can wear the brights,

8:22

but you'll look better in the lighter colors.

8:24

So you can wear a bright color for

8:27

sure, but you might want to save it more

8:29

for special occasions and may feel

8:31

a little bit too bright a lot of the times

8:34

and the lighter colors are going to be far more

8:36

flattery on you. You want to stick to

8:39

low to medium contrast clothes

8:41

, bright lipstick, really more

8:43

for a special occasion every day you might want

8:45

to go lighter, okay? And

8:48

even though you are light, you , you might

8:50

want to avoid super light pastels.

8:53

I know that seems counterintuitive sometimes

8:55

when you have such low contrast,

8:57

you need a little bit of contrast in your

8:59

clothing and colors. And the

9:02

super light pastels might kind of

9:04

just wash you out a little bit. So

9:06

that is a level four

9:11

[inaudible] .

9:11

All right , so you're going to want to see some photo

9:13

examples of each level of intensity

9:16

to help you understand where you might fit. So

9:19

check out my set of two eBooks.

9:22

They are the bright color guide and the soft

9:24

color guide. They're sold together as a set

9:26

and they break down each level of intensity

9:29

with lots of photo examples and guidelines

9:31

on colors that will look best. Plus

9:34

I show you the colors that flatter you best,

9:37

the for that level of intensity

9:39

and recommended color combinations . So

9:41

it's really, really helpful. I think

9:44

that'll really um, explain a lot

9:46

more than just listening. So check those out

9:49

by visiting your color style.com/bright-soft

9:54

right soft with a dash in the middle. Okay,

9:56

so that's your color style.com/bright-stopped

10:01

and you can get that set up to color

10:03

guides and it will really help you compliment

10:06

this podcast.

10:19

[inaudible]

10:28

all right , so level three, you

10:31

are soft with some depth.

10:33

Your hair is typically dark.

10:36

Your eyes may be medium to dark

10:38

or dark Brown, a

10:40

soft Hazel, soft

10:42

Hazel. A is could be a mix

10:44

of Browns, golds and blues,

10:46

or maybe even graze greens and blues.

10:48

So you can be cool or warm Hazel, but

10:51

definitely it's like a soft Hazel. Your

10:53

hair is likely dark. You may

10:55

be a soft level three with blonde hair,

10:58

but your eyes must be darker.

11:00

You need to have some depth about

11:02

you, okay? You may also

11:04

fall into this higher level

11:06

of tensity with salt and pepper hair,

11:09

but your eyes need to be a little bit

11:11

darker as well. All right? Because everyone

11:13

, because this is a a level where you're soft,

11:15

but you definitely have some, some, some

11:17

depth to you, some darkness to you

11:20

because if you have salt and pepper hair or blond hair with

11:22

lighter eyes, the near likely a

11:24

level two which is less contrast

11:27

about you, okay? As

11:30

a soft level three, you have a medium contrast

11:32

between your skin, eyes and hair.

11:35

So if this feels like you, then you

11:37

have some depth to you, you're going to look best.

11:39

And the brightest colors of the soft

11:42

colors. Okay? So there's

11:44

the bright color wheel, and then there's the

11:46

soft color wheel. You're going to choose colors from the

11:48

soft color wheel. Those are colors that are more soft

11:50

and muted, slightly grade, and

11:53

you will look best and the brightest of

11:55

that color palette . So if you're looking at

11:58

, uh , one of my color fans, for example,

12:00

see I'm that color fan is the brightest

12:03

of that collection. And those are the colors

12:05

are gonna look the best on you. You're gonna

12:07

want to wear medium contrast patterns or

12:09

color pairings, extreme

12:11

lights and darks, including white and black.

12:14

Old probably not suit you

12:16

because you are a little soft. You need a little

12:18

bit softer tone. So charcoal, grays and navies

12:20

are going to be your best neutrals and

12:23

soft shapes and medium contrasts.

12:25

Okay? Are gonna look the best. Soft,

12:27

natural lipstick, medium

12:30

contrast clothes against your skin.

12:32

So for example, lighter colors against

12:34

darker or tan skin and darker

12:36

colors against lighter skin. Alright

12:38

, so keeping that medium contrast is key

12:41

here for you to stay in harmony

12:43

with your natural coloring and tone. So that's level

12:46

three. Level

12:48

two , uh , the best way

12:50

I can describe it as soft and neutral.

12:52

Your eyes are soft. They may be

12:54

a soft light Hazel or a soft

12:56

blue gray. You

12:58

may feel that your eyes are a little bit of

13:01

a bright blue, but when you compare

13:03

that to a bright level five,

13:06

they're not that bright and the colors

13:09

that have bright level five for bright level four

13:11

can wear are going to feel way too bright on you. So

13:13

you , you look much better in those soft, more

13:16

muted colors. Your hair is

13:18

likely soft and ashy.

13:21

It may be an ashy Brown or dirty blonde

13:23

or a mix of Browns and grays, something like

13:25

that. Something that's going to soften you. The

13:28

greatest difference between a level two and a level

13:30

three is the depth. Level three

13:32

has darker hair, whereas level two

13:35

is a little bit more flat and contrast.

13:37

Okay, lower and contrast. So

13:39

this feels like you. Then you have a mix

13:41

of warm and cool colors. You're

13:43

going to look best in the medium light

13:45

colors at that soft color palette with

13:48

a low to medium contrast pattern

13:50

or color pairing, extreme

13:52

lights and extreme darks like

13:54

white and black are definitely not going to suit

13:56

you. You want to kind of stay in that middle

13:58

range of uh , graze

14:01

. Nade gray and Navy are are

14:04

great neutrals for you and you want simple

14:06

patterns and solids that's really going

14:08

to compliment you best. Okay? Soft natural

14:11

lipstick, low contrast clothes

14:13

against your skin. And

14:15

that's level two. And then the last one is level

14:17

one. This is someone who

14:19

is extremely light,

14:22

a soft and light or soft and

14:24

gray. Your eyes are light,

14:26

your hair is soft and light, and you have

14:29

a low contrast between your eyes,

14:31

skin, and hair. You are likely

14:33

dominantly gray. People who fall

14:35

into this category typically have gone

14:37

almost a hundred percent gray and

14:40

they're very, very fair and light. If

14:42

you have white hair and

14:45

blue eyes and light skin, you've

14:47

likely fall into this category. Okay?

14:50

And so you're probably light

14:54

in gray to fit into this category. So,

14:56

believe it or not, even though

14:58

level three, level two were for softer

15:00

individuals, a soft colors, you

15:03

actually need the brighter

15:06

colors because you're already light and

15:08

gray. Those soft colors are going

15:10

to gray you further. You don't have

15:12

any , um , pigment really in

15:14

you and you need something

15:16

to help lift you up and light you up.

15:18

So we're actually going to break the rule here

15:21

and we're going to brighten

15:23

you up. And we're the bright colors because if you wear

15:26

the softer, greater color grade colors,

15:28

they're gonna gray you further and actually

15:30

, uh, give you an undesired

15:33

aging effect, which obviously

15:35

we don't want. So we want those brighter colors,

15:38

but you're going to keep them light. Okay?

15:40

So bright and light colors are going to be

15:42

the best for you. Um,

15:45

you can try the level, see bright

15:47

colors, they might feel too

15:49

strong for you. And if that's the case,

15:51

just going to lighten that up a little bit. And

15:53

so that is the level one

15:56

intensity. So we've gone through six, five, four

15:58

and three, two, one. And

16:01

uh, that I hope that that actually kind of helps

16:03

you think about your natural

16:06

coloring tone and a different way so

16:08

you can figure out what colors are really going to look best

16:10

on you. If you really

16:13

want to learn what colors look best

16:15

and to create your signature color palette

16:18

, buy the course, discover your color style,

16:20

visit your color style.com/course

16:23

and you'll get immediate access to this online

16:25

course is going to really

16:28

help you identify those

16:30

GoTo colors for you, the

16:32

colors that really light you up,

16:34

that make you look and feel

16:36

amazing. It's , it's

16:38

like a professional education without

16:41

the hefty price. So if

16:43

you really want to learn what colors look best on you

16:46

and to create your signature color palette , go

16:48

to your collar [inaudible] dot com slash

16:51

course all

16:53

right, so next week on the your color style podcast,

16:56

we're going to continue the series on

16:58

the your color style methodology. Next

17:00

week we're going to talk about undertones. This

17:03

is where everybody gets all kinds

17:05

of confused between more than cool and

17:07

neutral undertones. And we're going to dive in

17:09

starting in the next episode. If

17:12

you have a question for me that you'd like me to answer on

17:14

a future episode, please post a comment.

17:17

Go to the blog, your color style.com/podcast

17:21

on any of those episodes, post a comment,

17:24

and then I can answer that in a future

17:26

episode. Make

17:28

sure you subscribe to this podcast

17:31

by the bright and soft color guides at

17:33

your color style.com/bright-soft.

17:39

Thank you so much for listening to the your color

17:41

style podcast, where we believe the

17:43

more you know about color, the

17:45

more you'll know what colors flattering

18:06

[inaudible] .