Color analysis trend of ’80s surges in popularity in Colorado Springs, beyond
Mother Nature knows what she’s doing.
There is a season for everything, even your coloring.
Molly Kozlarek is clearly an autumn. The redheaded hairstylist, seated in front of a full-length mirror in Wendy Rodenberg’s home studio, vibrates with anticipation for her color analysis. She’s ready to learn what season she is, which will help her ferret out what colors of clothing are most flattering to her complexion, as well as what makeup, accessories, jewelry and glass wear will do her the most justice.
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But to do that, Rodenberg, an image consultant for House of Colour, a personal styling company with franchises around the U.S., must first decipher whether she has warm or cool undertones to her skin.
“Everyone has told me I’m cool so maybe I’m a cool season,” Kozlarek said. “My friend who recommended me is a winter and we look completely different. She’s very dark-haired and has fair skin and very different features. So I’m probably not a winter because I’m not like her at all.”
Rodenberg neither confirms nor denies her client’s guess.
“We’ll let the drapes do the talking,” she said.
By drapes she means swatches of material in an endless rainbow of colors: moss green, old gold, rust, oyster white, jade, kingfisher blue, corn, coral, rose, tangerine. During an analysis Rodenberg will place each swatch, like a bib, around her client’s neck to gauge what affect the color has on their skin. What lights up one person can drag another down.
“I think of how much time, money and effort I’ve spent over the years wearing the wrong makeup and wrong clothing,” Rodenberg said. “If my friend had a cute new lipstick on, I’d go get it and it wouldn’t look as cute because it wasn’t right for me. Same thing if they had on a great shirt. I’d ask where they got it, go get one, and it wouldn’t fit me right. It would sit in my closet and I’d waste that money.”
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Seasonal color analysis first catapulted into the public domain in the early ‘80s when color consultant Carole Jackson’s “Color Me Beautiful” book suggested each of us, based on hair and eye color and skin tone, is one of four seasons. And adhering to that season’s palette of colors would bring out our best side.
Though the idea dimmed in popularity through the decades, it’s back and trending on the socials, particularly TikTok, Rodenberg says. Three years ago, she watched her friends and family get their colors done and felt an urge to find her season. So she made the 11-hour drive to Des Moines, Iowa, a state where the trend is quite popular, and found, much to her astonishment, she was an autumn.
“I was living my best life in every season except what I was,” she said. “I sat in front of the mirror and was in complete shock, watching the drapes come off and seeing how my face changed. I couldn’t believe it. I always say once you see it you can’t unsee it.”
That analysis prompted her to train with House of Colour and purchase her own franchise. Since then she’s worked with hundreds of clients, both women and men, to find their season.
“Men spend a lot of money on clothing, too, and they want to look good,” Rodenberg said. “We talk about their best neutrals — their wardrobe is heavy in neutrals. They want to look professional, yet friendly, and want to look approachable. They also want their words to carry weight.”
And you only need to get your colors done once.
“Nature is always going to get it right. That’s even as you gray,” she said. “You’re going to gray in a way that works for your season. Your season doesn’t change. It has to do with your undertones and genetics.”
To explain the process of determining Kozlarek’s undertones, Rodenberg points to a color wheel, explaining it’s based off research by Johannes Itten, an artist at the Bauhaus school in Germany in the 1940s. After realizing his students always leaned toward certain colors, he did some investigating and found there are three primary colors: red, yellow and blue. When a little yellow is added to red, it harmonizes with a certain batch of colors and clashes with others. The same thing happens when you add a little blue to red — it harmonizes with some colors and clashes with others.
“The top of the color wheel we have warm colors. The bottom half we have cool,” she said. “That’s the first way we separate colors. The second way is we separate them by whether they are clear and bright or blended and muted.”
A question is posed to Kozlarek: “Is there a color you gravitate toward?”
“I often wear dark olive green,” she said. “With red hair I gravitate toward that. I wear greens a lot.”
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Rodenberg places multiple swatches of warm-toned and cool-toned colors, one at a time, over her client’s shoulders, neck and chest. In the natural light of the studio the difference is obvious — Kozlarek has warm undertones. A warm coral swatch is a particular standout. It’s a color Kozlarek never wears, she says.
“But you should because that coral is in love with you,” Rodenberg said. “Look how you’re glowing right now. Look at your cheeks. It’s not red. It’s a healthy glow. We’re going to compare that to a cool rose. You instantly went pale.”
“It sucked all the life out of me,” Kozlarek said. “That’s wild.”
Because she’s got warm undertones, that means she’s either a spring or an autumn. Cool undertones are either winter or summer. Once again Rodenberg pulls out her swatches, trying different colors against her client’s skin. As she compares the two palettes it seems like spring colors make her look unhealthy and over exposed. The earthy colors of autumn make her look fresh, radiant, beautiful.
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“I feel like everybody needs to be doing this,” Kozlarek said. “This is so fun. It sounds so high maintenance and I’m not a high maintenance person.”
Sussing out your best colors doesn’t mean you go home and throw out any clothing not in your palette. It’s simply a tool to help you know what to look for in the future. And in the meantime, makeup can help bridge the gap. During a color analysis, Rodenberg gives clients a 90-second routine of primer, foundation, blush, mascara and lipstick, all plucked from the proper seasonal palette. It can be easier and cheaper to replace makeup than clothing.
“What I love is when you’re wearing all the right colors and surrounding yourself with it, look at your eyes, your skin, your teeth,” Rodenberg said. “Everything looks fabulous. To see people come in and not have to alter anything about themselves. You can just bring out the best in yourself.”
Contact the writer: 636-0270
Contact the writer: 636-0270
