I Went to See Zyla!

A couple of weeks ago, I did something I’ve been waiting to do for nine years: I went to see David Zyla. Why Zyla? It’s the one system where I felt like I had a hard time DIYing. And I knew that even if I didn’t end up using the palette or recommendations I received, it would still be an interesting experience and a chance to see myself through the eyes of someone whose expertise I respected.

One of the reasons I’d put it off for so long is that my personal rule with analyses is that I need to be able to go and not have it be such a huge investment–financial or emotional–that I can’t leave the room and leave the analysis there if I feel like it’s something that wouldn’t work for me. And with the unconventional path my life has taken, it took a while for the financial part of that to be true.

So mostly, I went out of curiosity. I had so many friends in the color and style community who had gone, and I wanted to have the experience. I was happily surprised that not only did I love my palette and my recommendations, and I felt like everything David was saying resonated with me, but I feel revitalized in my love for fashion and style in a way that hasn’t been the case for a long time, maybe since high school nearly 20 years ago.

Seeing David is a lovely experience. The initial consult consists of about an hour of him putting your palette together, and another hour of going over it and style recommendations and, of course, the reveal of your Archetype. While you’re talking to him, your palette starts to take shape in front of your eyes. I was a little nervous when he started because some of the colors he settled on early, like my Tranquil and First Base, are a little cooler than I’m used to. But as the whole palette came together, my fears settled and I saw that it was going in the direction that I thought it would in terms of Archetype. And once my Metals went down, I knew it for sure.

Zyla palette

So I’m a Tawny Spring. In hindsight, it seems obvious, and I did come to this conclusion myself at one point, but I think I got distracted by the path of Type Four and went in another direction for a while.

But sitting across from him, even though I had felt for most of these nine years that there wasn’t an easy fit for me in Zyla so whatever I got would have to be very customized for me, veering away from the archetype’s usual recommendations, Tawny Spring just seemed so obvious and such a natural fit. Everything he said confirmed what I had figured out for myself in my explorations.

I am also very happy with my palette. It contains things that I really wanted, like a golden brown. But it also contains things I haven’t really worn since I started with color analysis, like my lilac Tranquil, blue without green for my Dramatic, and the dark blue-gray of my First Base, bringing me out of my comfort zone. I think he’s said that usually, about half would be what you thought, and the other half will be a surprise. My Essence, Romantic, Energy, and all my Bases were about what I expected. My Dramatic and Tranquil were big surprises for me. I expected something more in the turquoise/teal range for both, which are common in Tawny palettes (I’ll see if I get any at my eventual Extension!).

What I’m most excited about with my palette is the wide range it gives me. I have versions of peach, red, green, purple, blue, navy, brown, and tan–basically the entire rainbow. Having such a wide range of colors to choose from makes my palette more usable for me. I’ve seen some palettes where there is more similarity between colors, and while I think this can work beautifully for other people and their Archetypes, having a lot of different colors is something that is important to me. I want variety. I wasn’t sure if I was going to use my palette is lieu of other palettes, like Autumn or T3, but currently, I feel like I want to explore what a wardrobe consisting entirely of this palette would look like.

I’ll get into my recommendations in my next post, as I feel like this post is already very long, but mostly, I want to convey how happy I am that I went. It has truly revitalized my love for style, and I also feel like what I got works really well with Soft Gamine and gives me direction there as well. I’m also oddly glad that I waited so long because I feel like I got so much more out of it with all of the work I’ve done on my own. Please let me know if you have any questions about my experience or seeing Zyla in general in the comments.

6 Comments on I Went to See Zyla!

  1. Wez
    March 27, 2023 at 1:21 am

    I do think Zyla is an absolute genius, it’s a great take on your colouring, what’s also quite suitable is his description for the Tawny Spring in his book where he suggests the archetype’s kryptonite is, “ Sometimes she just can’t get past that one niggling detail—the fly in the ointment, the one thing that tarnishes the whole. Frustration with something relatively minor can sometimes spoil the whole thing for her.” Which I felt had been your journey you’ve always had the intuition that something was off from all your research into your colouring and style, I hope Zyla has helped you get to truth of your look. Like I said I think it’s a wonderful palette for you

    Reply
  2. Marzena
    March 27, 2023 at 4:11 am

    How happy I am for you, especially the part that says your enthusiasm for fashion and stylw got a lease of a new life. Will be much looking forward to what DZ will have to say about your style recommenations. While my own passion for fashion is indeed fading at 66 and I do not expect anything any more from “finding myself” in terms of style, I still find other people’s journeys exciting. Good luck with all the things new!

    Reply
  3. Sarah
    March 27, 2023 at 4:25 am

    I love your palette. Dressing Your Truth did not work for me and I think I know why. I think it is because I am some kind of winter and got typed as a 1. I can’t afford David Zyla and since he uses Caygil which I find hard to understand I would avoid him personally. John Kitchener says I am a Vivid Contrast Spring which I think is more like a winter in Sci/Art. I am exploring Sci/Art right now and think that is for me all along. I have commented before about DYT and I think we argued about it. Sorry! No arguments if this works for you that is wonderful and I am very pleased and happy for you! I cannot afford a Sci/Art draping but would love one. Right now I am trying to do it myself and am getting help from a group on Facebook. Anyway you look very pretty and Taylor Swift is also a Tawny Spring so you are in good company. Not that that has anything to do with it.

    Reply
  4. Elizabeth Stewart
    March 27, 2023 at 6:03 am

    Glad that your experience was so positive, and your new palette is lovely. I received a rather similar analysis from Color1 more than 30 years ago in the US, and was very happy with the result. The analyst worked in the same way as Zyla does, taking the colours from my actual skin, eye and hair colours, and adding in contrasts where needed. Color1 did not offer the Archetypes, however, and I since had to find my own personal archetype and style, which I took from Kibbe. Our personal colours are always going to look great on us, but for most of us it is really hard to put together a good, working palette based on what we actually see rather than what we wish we saw, and that’s where Zyla and Color1 have worked so well. Congratulations on finally making it to Zyla!

    Reply
  5. MH
    February 24, 2024 at 4:26 pm

    So glad you plan to return to blogging! I have missed your posts, since I find your analyses so insightful and helpful, probably more than anyone else’s in this sphere besides Kibbe and Zyla themselves. I would love to read more about your Zyla experience and how you have adapted Tawny Spring to your lifestyle and choices. Thanks!

    Reply
  6. h
    March 18, 2024 at 9:30 am

    do you use anything from the zyla recs now that it’s been over a year since you saw him or are you focusing on kibbe? how do you feel about the colours now?

    Reply

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