Sci\ART: Is the Bloom Off the Rose? Part Two

As a follow up to my last post, I’d like to discuss the following posts from Amelia Butler:

Winter Is Coming… And Coming
Subjective Timbre – Getting It Backwards
The Blonde Winter

These posts are interesting because they say something that seems to not be popular among analysts who work with the 12 Sci\ART seasons. Amelia’s perspective is especially interesting to me because she was trained and mentored by Kathryn Kalisz herself.

After years of believing that your appearance alone gives no clues at all to your season… I’m starting to come around to the idea that visual harmony matters. It’s interesting that people are very open to seeing Winters of all stripes, but a Light Spring with dark hair and eyes would be much harder to believe.

I think the point that Amelia makes in her Blonde Winter post is important–the colors need to work on you without makeup. In your natural state, you need to need that much saturation as Winter seasons provide, and no one would tell a man that they need a lipstick to look good in the True Winter palette.

In her “Blonde” post, she is mainly talking about True Winter, so I’m curious to know if she thinks a Bright or Dark Winter could be a blonde. Perhaps it’s different when there is a spring or autumn influence affecting the colors, versus the purity of winter alone.

While I think there are still room for surprises in the draping process, I think that perhaps sometimes, it’s because the wrong colors are dulling your natural coloring and making you present differently than it is otherwise. I’m not sure if I believe anymore that you can see something really unusual, like a Light Spring with dark hair and eyes as I mentioned above.

Those of you who have read my blog before probably know I identify with the Dark Autumn season. As a natural blonde, if someone believes what Amelia is saying in these posts, then one might also come to the conclusion that a Dark Autumn coloring would unlikely. But I still find that I harmonize with the fan, when I look at it under my face. Unlike many others who are blonde into adulthood, I don’t find that mascara or filling in my brows makes any bigger of a difference on me than it does on brunettes. I will frequently just put on a DA lipstick, or wear no makeup at all. So there are still surprises, but maybe not just huge leaps…

What do you think of Amelia’s posts? Do you agree, or are you firmly in the “you know absolutely nothing until you’re under the lights and in the drapes” camp?

10 Comments on Sci\ART: Is the Bloom Off the Rose? Part Two

  1. Jonna Burke
    April 26, 2016 at 3:09 am

    All I know is that I look and feel quite acceptable in my colors without makeup and horrible in colors other than mine, even with my makeup. And even worse, colors other than mine in clothes AND makeup.

    Reply
    • stylesyntax
      April 26, 2016 at 10:44 am

      That’s all you need to know, really 🙂

      Reply
  2. Monica
    April 26, 2016 at 5:44 pm

    I think it’s worth clarifying that 12 Blueprints is not synonymous with Sci\ART. Though it’s a popular offshoot in North America, it’s not the same as Sci\ART. Amelia (owner of TCI) was indeed trained as a Sci\ART trainer by Kathryn, as were Terry Wildfong and three other people. Terry trained Christine Scaman and is associated with 12 Blueprints.

    Reply
    • stylesyntax
      April 27, 2016 at 10:51 pm

      Yes, this is definitely true. Someone sent me this link a while ago and it made me realize that Kathryn’s philosophies seemed to be quite different. http://seasonalcolor.yuku.com/topic/372

      Reply
  3. Sigrid
    April 27, 2016 at 4:53 pm

    Thank you for linking to the TC blog; I’ve read many blogs on PCA but didn’t know this one!

    I think to some extent it matters what you are looking for when deciding the best palette. At Christine Scaman’s blog I keep coming back to the discussion in the comments in this post:

    12blueprints.com/looking-better-than-10-years-ago/

    For those who do not want to read the entire discussion, those who look for “harmony” may see another palette as their best than the ones looking for “definition.”. Its also discussed that this will lead to prefering darker and cooler colours than otherwise preferred.

    Reply
    • stylesyntax
      April 27, 2016 at 10:54 pm

      Yeah, I’ve seen a fair amount of 12BP BWs getting palettes from Zyla that are along the lines of something like True Spring or Soft Autumn. When I see the results, it’s hard to say which I like better. Neither have a bad effect, but the effect itself is very different.

      Reply
      • Sigrid
        April 28, 2016 at 8:30 am

        Perhaps how we perceive ourselves and want others to perceive us Plays a role too?

        Reply
        • stylesyntax
          April 28, 2016 at 12:38 pm

          Yes. Also, I think these people can choose their palette according to the occasion. I would use the BW palette for formalwear, in this case, have my workwear be a mix (BW for a big meeting, custom harmonious palette for when I need to get along with someone), and casual be all custom palette.

          Reply
  4. K
    April 30, 2016 at 10:14 am

    Two fascinating posts. I ended up reading all of the posts on TCI, too. The matter of harmony (v ‘definition’) clarified a lot for me that I’d been struggling to get to grips with.

    I used digital photos of myself and family members and tested them against different seasonal mood boards like Terry Wildfong’s (I found them easier to use than the palettes alone). Finding the harmony for each of us was easy. Whilst none of us ‘look like’ the stereotype of our season, you can clearly see the colours of which we are composed when we’re placed in the right season. I suppose an analyst would say that you can’t know your season unless you are draped in person, but the colours work. They are the best, most harmonious colours for each of us, with or without makeup.

    Interestingly, we all seem to have a natural instinct for our seasons, in line with Itten’s research. This instinct for our best colours may be why some people are draped two or three times because they’re unhappy with the results of previous drapings. We know when something is ‘off’.

    I know a lot of Dark Autumns, Dark Winters, and Summers of all stripes, far fewer other seasons. But I do know a few definite True Winters. None are blonde, all look quite monochromatic bar one who has dyed red hair – no idea what her natural hair colour is. I know one Bright Winter and one Bright Spring. Even the Brights wear their colours easily without makeup. The Bright Winter is my white-blonde 9-yr-old niece. Her hair is darkening now and she may end up dark-haired as an adult, but even as a toddler she wore the colours no problem, including black, which always amazed my sister.

    Reply
  5. Anne
    September 23, 2018 at 6:09 pm

    Hmmmm. I was placed in BW by a 12 Blueprints analyst, and it wasn’t a big surprise to me. I’m high contrast with pale olive skin, black hair, and lighter brown eyes. I felt comfortable with the decision. Fast forward a few years and I still wear a mostly BW colors, but I hate BW makeup with a passion. The eyeshadows, blush and lipsticks just seem like too much on my face. I have transitioned to different eyeshadows because grey especially around my eyes is awful. I wear softer pink/purple blush so I don’t look like a clown. I wear much softer or more neutral lip glosses most days. I can wear a bright red lip from time to time, but I feel it always stands out a lot. I never understood the 12BP credo about how Winters need to “wear their lips.” If the colors harmonize with our own coloring, why do we need lipstick to look normal? I am starting to notice that I mostly wear black (as I did before my draping) because my BW colors look better with lipsticks, but my face looks better without BW lipstick, like the saturation is too high. I’m not sure what is off, but it seems like this isn’t normal. I’m a bit bummed.

    Reply

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