Earrings, Face Shape, and Eye Colors

In this issue's article, Christine and I will walk you through some of the basic patterns we see among faces in the different Seasons and Image Archetypes. 

Faces are an intimidating topic, in that there are so many dimensions of variability it feels as if one could go on for pages upon pages and still not capture the full range of possibility. Quite paradoxically, there are clear and distinctive patterns in human faces. We have all probably had that moment when we see someone we know at a party... only to realize we don't know her, it's just off somehow, and yet remarkable how similar the faces of two unrelated people who never met can be (in fact, there's a website where you can pay to find someone who looks just like you, and the results are uncanny). Having studied faces my whole life and very intensively and purposefully for the last 4 years or so, I start to find a bit of someone I already know in almost every face I meet. 

Of course, when it comes to Image Archetype, face is just one consideration. Very similar faces on two very different bodies may well be different IAs, however of course it will make sense in both cases that the face have the components that it does. For example, a very curvy and petite woman who shares very similar sharply angular facial features with a very lithe, tall and linear woman may be a Yang Romantic while the latter is a Dramatic. For this reason, I will demonstrate faces in the 5 basic Image Archetype categories, with some additional notes as to how they may combine. Be advised that any Yang type may see Dramatic and/or Natural qualities to their face (possibly even primarily that) and any Yin type may see Romantic elements to their face (again, sometimes more than anything else, depending on the body type). 

 

 

The Dramatic Face

Commonly, we think of a Dramatic face as having lots of sharp points, and at times, they do. I can think of two sub-variations of this face which are common:

What an "elf" face might look like. Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images Entertainment / Getty Images

What an "elf" face might look like. Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images Entertainment / Getty Images

What a "baroness" face might look like. Photo by Mark Mainz/Getty Images Entertainment / Getty Images

What a "baroness" face might look like. Photo by Mark Mainz/Getty Images Entertainment / Getty Images

  1. The Elf face - a relatively small face (especially compared to the long body) which is extremely pointy, facial bones have an almost delicate narrowness and they tilt upwards at an extreme angle. Most commonly seen in blends of Spring. 

  2. The Baroness face - wider than the Elf, though still essentially long and narrow. The bones are more substantial but we can certainly still see plenty of points in the face. I’ve seen faces like this most often in the Dark seasons and True Winter, but I would not be surprised to see it in any Winter or Autumn blend. 

 

Both of these variants have in common an ability to handle, indeed thrive on, sharp points and long and narrow earring shapes. The Elf will have to be careful about going too chunky, and will focus especially on keeping earrings very narrow. The Baroness can handle much more width and heaviness, even sometimes wearing slightly squarish earrings, however very finely narrow earrings will disappear next to her face. There may be permutations in between them (indeed, probably there are, Katherine Hepburn might be an example, though more Baroness overall), but the point is to see the overall proportions of the individual woman’s face as well as those of the features and to use those in determining the parameters of her best earrings.

That said, some Dramatic faces do not have much in the way of distinctive sharp points. Again, at least two version come to mind:

What an "ethereal queen" face might look like. Photo by Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images Entertainment / Getty Images

What an "ethereal queen" face might look like. Photo by Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images Entertainment / Getty Images

What a "film noir" face might look like. I see glimpses of our Christine in this face, but more extreme in it's Yang and of course worn by a much larger woman. Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage / Getty Images

What a "film noir" face might look like. I see glimpses of our Christine in this face, but more extreme in it's Yang and of course worn by a much larger woman. Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage / Getty Images

  1. The Ethereal Queen face - Bones are definitely both prominent and palpable, but they have an all over blunted effect, sometimes what is referred to as “moulded”, which I like in this case because it brings to mind a face which seems to be sculpted from marble, with all the edges smoothed over by the deft hands of a master. Commonly, summer blends but I have thus far seen it in every season except Spring.

  2. The Film Noir face - Even less obviously Dramatic at first blush than the Ethereal Queen because bones are somewhat flatter and wider, though also with a “heavier” feeling to them. Nevertheless, the bones are there and so is the feeling of incredible power which comes with all Dramatic faces, usually much to the surprise of the face’s owner. The most terrestrial face of all Dramatic face types, I would not be surprised to see it in Autumn but I would guess like the above it could show up in almost any season.

 

In this second category, care will have to be taken with the sharpest, narrowest points. The face is wider and the points softer and so must the jewelry around the face be. That does not mean that jewelry will not still be long and narrow, just that a 4” long piece of fine wire will be too insubstantial, and that the point of a rapier may look too sharp. These faces may also have a tolerance for structured curves, providing they are bold and unfussy. A catalog with specific examples can be found here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Natural Face

The faces of Naturals are extremely widely varied, partially because they typically have an asymmetrical quality, which in this context refers to a greater variety of shapes and sizes of the facial features. A Natural may have say, small, sharply angled eyes, a wide, softly angled nose, and a round, lush mouth. Or, she may have large, round eyes, a sharply angled nose with a high bridge, and a small mouth, in some ways the opposite of the previous face but sharing in the more eclectic feature mix. Below, a few common types. 

The "Girl Next Door" Face - Photo by Samir Hussein/Getty Images Entertainment / Getty Images

The "Girl Next Door" Face - Photo by Samir Hussein/Getty Images Entertainment / Getty Images

The "Nymph" Face - Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images Entertainment / Getty Images

The "Nymph" Face - Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images Entertainment / Getty Images

  1.  The "Girl Next Door" face - This to me is the most obvious type of Natural face. (hint: if we marked mainly B for your facial features and bone structure on your physical analysis, it probably looks something like this). These are wide faces with prominent but generally not sharp facial bones. Hooded eyes are very common. If this face belongs to a YangN, she should avoid narrower, sharper jewelry shapes which others of her type could wear. A hallmark of this face is that nothing overly polished or fussy works against it (many hairstyles would be included). Curve shapes work fine as long as the shapes are also wide and not too embellished. Every season has this one as far as I can tell. 
  2. The "Nymph" face - Like the above, but more exaggerated and hence slightly exotic looking. May be extremely round and moon-like. With medium skintone, people will guess this person is almost any ethnicity. Similar guidelines as the GND in terms of shapes that are most effective, but the kind of simple and freshly modern motifs that work excellently well there are a little blasé here. Anecdotally, I find women with this face type enjoy bohemian and antiqued styles more anyhow. Variants with more angular jawlines tend to show up in Autumn and Winter, and very round variants are common in the Summer seasons. Personally have not yet seen a Spring with this face type. 

The above faces usually identify as a natural quite easily (though the Nymph may wonder if she is a gamine, as gamines who have natural yang do look somewhat like this). Other variants can be less obvious, because of the less extreme blunt yang in their facial features. 

The "Supermodel" face - Photo by Ben A. Pruchnie/Getty Images Entertainment / Getty Images

The "Supermodel" face - Photo by Ben A. Pruchnie/Getty Images Entertainment / Getty Images

The "Action Heroine" face - Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images Entertainment / Getty Images

The "Action Heroine" face - Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images Entertainment / Getty Images

The "Gypsy" Face - Photo by Valerie Macon/Getty Images Entertainment / Getty Images

The "Gypsy" Face - Photo by Valerie Macon/Getty Images Entertainment / Getty Images

  1. The "Supermodel" face - Very commonly mistakes herself for either a Dramatic or a Classic and doesn't look at Natural types. Often, a longer and leaner face. Most typically seen in YangNs though it doesn't have much Dramatic Yang per se, and in that case she will suit fairly sharp earring shapes with more modern designs very well, and also be able to wear things that are more traditionally Natural. Her ability to shape shift into different looks is part of why we see this face on runways, but like all Ns she must be careful about being too cleaned up or too frou frou. Every season, though Winter is common. 
  2. The "Action Heroine" face - While any of the above faces can certainly be seen in this type of role, this is the one I think of first. The woman with this face type almost always sees herself as a Yang Classic at first. Partially because her facial features tend to have slight more chiseled, defined angles, and partially because the features are slightly more uniform in design than many Natural faces. She must be very careful with overly embellished, bohemian jewelry near her face for this reason. If she is a Yin Natural, she will want to be more careful about very round shapes because she doesn't have very many circles in her face to be repeated. 
  3. The "Gypsy" face - One of the face types of any in any IA I see most often, along with the GND. In Hollywood, unfortunately the large nose which gives this face it's sensual characteristic is almost always altered. Very large eyes are also characteristic in this face, though a YangN variation with smaller eyes is also common. Usually a long and narrow face overall, sometimes quite oval and other times with a bit of a pointed chin. This type mixes lush, rounded shapes and longer, angular ones, so there is a terrific range when it comes to shapes available for repeating in jewelry. 

I'm sure there are even more varieties of faces in the Natural types, but these are ones I commonly see. Use the faces above combined with the catalog of earring examples to see how the process of using your IA to repeat facial features and face shapes can be honed to the particular individual. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Classic Face

These faces are generally defined by symmetry and an extremely balanced proportion, generally without too much exaggeration of one particular feature (sometimes a bit of that can be brought in by added Yin or Yang). It may help to think of a face which it would be difficult to describe to others who could not see it. I tend to think of Classic being the opposite of Naturals in that the face types have less variety, though there is always a range. 

The "Princess" Face - Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images Entertainment / Getty Images

The "Princess" Face - Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images Entertainment / Getty Images

The "Heiress" face - Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images Entertainment / Getty Images

The "Heiress" face - Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images Entertainment / Getty Images

The "Elegant Moon" Face

The "Elegant Moon" Face

 The "Delicately Timeless" face - Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images Entertainment / Getty Images

 The "Delicately Timeless" face - Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images Entertainment / Getty Images

  1. The "Princess" Face - So balanced, nearly everyone will recognize this woman as a classic, and the main thing is to decide based largely on the body size and shape which type. She needs the least embellishment of almost anyone and also tolerates the least deviations from the middle. (Which is just fine, as what suits her is perennially chic and very available). She may have slightly exaggerated cheekbones and jawline with more Yang or eyes and mouth exaggerated with Yin, in which case more variety shapes will be available for use, though still not all at once. Often in Summer seasons. 
  2. The "Heiress" face - The gleaming yacht to the Princess's impeccable sailboat. There tends to be just a little more in the way of extremes to these faces such that they handle more design and a little more novelty than the Princess, though in terms of shapes they are very similarly suited to moderate shapes which are not extremely round, sharp, long, wide, narrow, etc. unless extra Yang or Yin is introduced. Worthy of note that she is typically more naturally sensual looking and will wear effects of that nature well. I see these faces in Bright Winter more than any other, though the face at left is most likely an Autumn.
  3. The "Elegant Moon" Face - My apologies, that's always sort of how I think of this face in my head and I am sticking with it because of the feeling of serenity that the full moon and this face type share. As compared to the above two, this face shape always has soft edges and not really any discernible angles, but is often long enough in proportion to it's width that there is still a blend of Yin and Yang somehow.  Even if she is a Yang type, she will avoid the sharpest angles around the face. She does not have to wear longer earrings but she will suit them. 
  4. The "Delicately Timeless" Face - Commonly confused with a Gamine face, because of the small scale of the features. This woman lacks the animation and extremity of feature types to fall into a Gamine category and is more flattered by balance and symmetry, as her facial features are arranged that way. All Classic types can be overwhelmed by very large jewelry but this woman in particular has a very definite upper limit. Some novelty of design will be tolerated. Nearly always a season with a Spring influence in my experience. 

 

As with the Natural and Dramatic faces, examples of earring which will be most flattering on these different variations can be found in the catalog

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Gamine Face

In some ways similar to Natural faces in that there is a lot of variety among Gamine faces, as Gamines are defined by a mix of Yin and Yang features, which may result in a mostly Yin face, a mostly Yang face, or a mix of the two. Christine has remarked on Gamines being a type that there are as many versions of as there are members but somehow it does always come back to certain principles.  

The Pixie Face - Photo by Leonard Adam/Getty Images Entertainment / Getty Images

The Pixie Face - Photo by Leonard Adam/Getty Images Entertainment / Getty Images

The Doll Face - Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images Entertainment / Getty Images

The Doll Face - Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images Entertainment / Getty Images

The 60s Mod face - Photo by Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images Entertainment / Getty Images

The 60s Mod face - Photo by Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images Entertainment / Getty Images

The Broadway Starlet face - Photo by Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images Entertainment / Getty Images

The Broadway Starlet face - Photo by Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images Entertainment / Getty Images

  1. The Pixie Face - A face with lots of little and sharp points, like a miniature Elf face in some ways, sometimes discernibly cuter than an elf but other times equally fierce. This face has limited circles (though commonly, eyes here are sort of half-circles), and so should use them sparingly or not at all, depending on the particular variation. Usually a long and narrow face but in spring seasons especially may be square or round with similarly small, pointed features. Small triangles, star shapes, hearts, and small, slim rectangles can be excellent. I have seen this variation in every season. If a Gamine has Autumn influence, she much more likely has this face type than the others. 
  2. The Doll Face - A round or heart shaped face, usually with large eyes, full apple cheeks, a button nose and a rounded mouth. Mostly a face of circles upon circles, so that will be the most natural jewelry choice for her. If she has definition to her cheekbones or a pointed chin, she can choose some angles as well. Long and narrow earrings must be avoided at all cost. I have mainly seen this face in seasons with a Spring influence. 
  3. The 60s Mod Face - I suppose we could just go ahead and call it the Twiggy face, though it can be seen in many popular faces of that era. Large eyes, a cute nose which may be pointed or a button, usually somewhat of an angular jaw and maybe cheekbones. Sort of a face which is very circular towards the top and angular at the bottom. A wide forehead an relatively more narrow jaw is common. Mixing circles and small angles will work best. Unlike the pixie there is a limit on how sharp angles can be. 
  4. The Broadway Starlet face - Like all Yang types, gamines can add some part of their Yang with natural Yang. When they do, the end result is a more solid, brassier sort of face, which still of course retains the hallmark animation. These faces can handle both angles and round shapes, however must be very careful to avoid earrings that are overly delicate or with slim, sharp angles. 

The catalog for Gamine earrings can be found here. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Romantic Face

While it is true as a general rule that the Romantic face has a relatively limited variability compared to some other types, it is commonly oversimplified into a very narrow window (faces which seem to have all softness, no angles or bones to speak of). This is simply not the case, it is more that Yin (of both delicate and lush varieties) tends to be in the clear majority in the face (and also obviously the body). 

The "Renoir" Face - Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images Entertainment / Getty Images

The "Renoir" Face - Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images Entertainment / Getty Images

The "Velvet" Face - Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images Entertainment / Getty Images

The "Velvet" Face - Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images Entertainment / Getty Images

"The Marie Antoinette" Face - Photo by Ari Perilstein/Getty Images Entertainment / Getty Images

"The Marie Antoinette" Face - Photo by Ari Perilstein/Getty Images Entertainment / Getty Images

The "Renaissance" Face - Photo by Lawrence Lucier/Getty Images Entertainment / Getty Images

The "Renaissance" Face - Photo by Lawrence Lucier/Getty Images Entertainment / Getty Images

  1. The "Renoir" Face - Let's start with this one to establish a baseline. Soft jaw, rounded cheeks, nose, eyes, lips. Unlike the Gamine Doll face, it is sweet but not cute per se. Can be round but more often is oval. Many Rs do in fact have faces which are all softness, and it is usually no problem to identify them. Even the most unassuming bit of angle can turn these faces into a powder puff, so it is especially critical that they avoid angles. Many Naturals, especially YinNs share a lot in common with this face. I believe every season has a variation. 
  2. The "Velvet" Face - This variation adds slightly more pronounced  bone structure to the face and consequentially this woman tends to be told she isn't a Romantic (YinN or YinD are common suggestions) though all other signs lead that way. Despite the palpable bones, there is a plush softness to the face with very soft blending between features, hence the name. The face may have a slight squarish quality which can be repeated carefully in jewelry. 
  3. The "Marie Antoinette" face - Next we have a face which has a predominance of delicate yin, and hence looks a little less obviously plush than the above. The features tend to have a more medium scale, so it can make you think of a Classic or Gamine at first, but somehow it doesn't fit. The face may be slightly to extremely narrow. She may need to scale down a bit on jewelry and should definitely take care with very large circles which are also very wide. Ovals and teardrops will be ideal. Most common in YangR with or without added Yang, but also seen in YinR. 
  4. The "Renaissance" face -  The distinguishing feature of this face is huge, round, wide set eyes. It may be heart shaped or round. Many R faces look like something from another time in history, but in this one that element is the most pronounced. Most Rs will need to be somewhat careful about earrings not being too linear overall, but for this face which is both wide and has wide set features it is extra important, even if she is a YangR. 

Unlike the other types where this is not always the case, Yang Romantics typically have most of their Yang elements in their faces and for that reason may or may not bear a striking resemblance to the above types. For more information, please visit the catalog. 

Hopefully you have picked up at this point that faces are infinitely unique and that small differences in shape can make a difference. As with anything on or directly next to your face, be it sunglasses, lipstick, earrings, or anything else, I suggest you try lots of shapes with an open mind and see what happens. Too often we choose jewelry by the appeal of it hanging in a display when the top consideration should be how well it resonates with your features. 

Please note that while I will be happy to answer questions about this post in the comments or the group, I will not field questions about which face type you or any celebrity not mentioned is. The purpose of this post is to give you an idea of how to select the very best earring shapes for you personally within the larger realm of what is possible for your type and to see that people within an IA can look very different while sharing common qualities. Most people will be some kind of blend of the face types discussed and many will not find obvious matches. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The Summer Face

Apart from the immediate visual information, colour speaks to us in a language of emotion and association. Perhaps because the colours themselves are quieter, this silent communication seems louder in Summer faces. Surrounded by their own colours, the Summer face takes on an expression of loveliness and peace. Our attention is seeking this effect during the PCA process.  The eye appears to enlarge and move forward in the face, its expression calm and content.

Regardless of IA, time seems to move more slowly around the person, in the tempo of sailboats and swans, with security and comfort, not challenge. The reflections in jewelry look best when they are equally gradual. The movement of light across the surface of pearls is far more beautiful with these colours than quickly changing shifts across glittery surfaces, and more so if those surfaces also move suddenly or in rapid back-and-forth successions. Although many of the shinier pieces in the Silver and Gold catalog are labelled for Summer and Winter to offer some guidance, be judicious in terms of who wears which one. If your natural body movements are gradual, so should the movement of light be. Light shifts that are clipped or disjointed can look jerky and apart from this woman.

No particular face shape is seen in Summer, probably because most are variations of ovals, at least in True Summer.  Some faces are certainly more squared, but not extremely so. Light Summer faces tend to be wider, more closely approaching a circular shape.  The Soft Summer face is often more square, with straighter eyebrows, a more deeply set eye, and a more pronounced jawline. As with Light Summer, these tend not to be extreme and are determined as much by IA as by Season.  Repeating the shape tendencies in earrings (oval, rounded oval, and squared oval) is certainly possible, indeed easy to do, but it tends not to be the most obvious thing about Summers.

The first most obvious thing about Summers is the silver moonlight that dances off the angles of the face anytime she wears her correct colours. No colour achieves this better than her white and silver.

The second Summer feature to repeat with jewelry is the unique quality of facial expression. Words that come to mind are dream-like and meditative. For even the most Yang of archetypes, extending to their clothing and accessories, Summer colours are Yin in that they are cool and soft, associated with water and the moon.  Even the canvas of a Summer face is gently rosy, a watercolour wash of pink-beige. Summer foundation is darker and more pigmented than Winter’s more alabaster shades. Likewise, jewelry should not appear too near white in its overall colours, or in its reflections for metals. Diffusing the reflection from the metal or stone allows a less abrupt feeling and a softly grayed surface, much more belonging to the Summer woman in the eyes of the viewer.

Finding repeats for eye colour in the Summer Seasons is not only highly effective, it can be important for elevating the presence, health, and strength of the person.  The True Summer eyes are brimming with colour in her coolest (blue) light and medium blue-greens. Think of the colour range between spearmint toothpaste and a surgeon’s scrub suit.  True Summer eyes may also contain navy blue. When she wears her own navy, with the blue hydrangea’s tinge of violet, we see that the colour in the eye is the same, quite remarkable.

When the colour of Light Summer eyes is fully developed by wearing correct colour, these are never simply blue eyes. They contain green from Spring and violet from Summer. Blues with either of these, at any level of darkness, easily bring out the same properties in the eye colour.

Soft Summer eyes respond famously to soft pine green.  As with all Summers, almost any blue-green is effective, but the darker colours find the eye colour better here than the lighter Summers. Soft Summer often has yellow in the eye. The light colours in her palette, especially the lightest yellow and light neutral taupe, are excellent for creating an impression of light emanating from the iris of the eye. She might also have warmer orange and rust from the Autumn side, but not enough to drape as an Autumn. In the catalog, we show you some earrings that are the same, with bits of heat that add interest without placing the item into a warmer Season.

Brown eyes are uncommon in Summer eyes, extremely so in Light Summer, unless the person’s genetics contain various ethnicities. For this individual, the colours to wear to intensify the eyes are the darker, warmer reds and burgundy tones.

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The Winter Face

True Winter faces tend to be long ovals. Dark Winter faces are the same and may have more squared off angles. They can also be long rectangular faces. The tendency for long oval faces persist in Bright Winter, but is much more variable. With the warmth of Spring often comes a rounder face shape.  Spring features often end in sharper points than Autumn-influenced ones, which may include corners of eyes, lips or chin. Any of these can be recreated with earrings.

Many archetypal patterns can also be found among the Seasons, which can confuse self-placement. For instance, the triangular points of Spring can seem similar to the windblown appearance of YangRomantic faces or give a YangClassic face a cute look that the Autumn-influenced Dark Winter will not share. Long faces are also seen in the Dramatic IA, despite the woman being a Summer, not Winter. The lesson to keep in mind is that a lot of objectivity is needed to keep our colour and line information separate. No single feature, face shape, eye colour, or any other, is sufficient to locate our Season or image archetype.

There are three colour patterns that are fairly unique to Winter faces. Repeating them in jewelry is highly effective, perhaps more so than the face shape itself. We will show you examples in the catalogs.

1.     A Winter-coloured face is not monochromatic by any means, but not very animated colour-wise. To describe it, we might say beige and black brown. Since we don’t really register one another’s skin colour in health, we might even say white and black, or no-colour and eye-colour, since cheek colour is usually low and lips may be pale (or they may be highly pigmented).

2.     High value (light to dark) contrast. Even if it’s not obvious, it is there if the drapes found it. Earrings can find it again. The areas of light and dark need not be of equal size, nor do they need to span black to white. Simply establishing the large separation is all you need.

3.     The ability to balance colour intensity. On the Winter with dark hair and eyes, this might not be surprising. On the more medium-looking woman, the degree of colour needed might be one that few would have thought to try. A Winter scene doesn’t come to life till the sapphire is set into the diamond necklace, till the evergreen stands in the heavy falling snow, till the ruby stars gleam from the frozen vastness of the night sky. A quiet neutral background with a small area of colour that is significant in the extreme is what you’re looking for.

True Winter eyes might be blue or green but often contain a lot of gray, or might just be gray. The gray has an impenetrable quality, of ice and iron, not lakes and doves. Large pieces of glittering rock are perfectly at home next to this colouring. These eyes may also be brown, with many variations from amber to near-black. Trying to repeat this particular amber is a bigger challenge to the magic of the natural world than most of us might succeed with. More effective and easy will be to use the complement to the eye colour, as navy or Winter’s many purples. Dark green is very often seen in True Winter eyes, easily repeated with colour, the most effective green usually being of light-medium darkness from the palette. Indeed, the complementary colour to vivid crimson is bright emerald green. When the eye is very dark, the feature that changes most during the analysis is the crispness of the line between the iris and white of the eye. Repeat that in items that are laser-clear in their lines.

Dark Winter eyes may contain many blues and greens, best repeated with teal and turquoise from the palette. They complement the orange tones that are in the eyes, hair, and skin, much more easily than trying to find the few oranges that flatter the whole person. Eyes often contain flecks of dark rust, or a starburst of warm-looking colour around the pupil. These can be repeated in clothes and jewelry, taking care to choose one that is red and cool enough. Red amber is interesting. When eyes are brown, the Autumn elements of mossy greens, dark orange, and red rust are there to create the 3-dimensional world of Autumn. Warmer metals, texture to create depth, and picking up one or all the eye colours with stones are visually striking.

The Bright Winter eye is as variable as any Winter presentation. Colour ranges from ice blue (usually a mix of blue, green, and yellow in close-ups), to many darkness levels of green with glowing gold throughout, to very dark brown and black-brown. Purple stones bring out the yellow in eyes, while yellow and green stones bring out the red-violet tones in eyes and hair.  The warmth and animation of Spring position Bright Winter as the lightest Winter as well as the one that seems incomplete without some colour activity. A penguin is as much light as dark, and so much more alive for having a yellow crest, beak, and feet. Placing a sweetened version of Winter’s jewelled stones in lighter settings next to the face is the same comparison as with a penguin that is only white and black.

 

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The Warm Seasons

Autumn and Spring colouring are generally more varied in the colours they contain. Their specialty is colour contrast – distance of colours from one another on the colour wheel, rather than on a light-dark scale.

 

The Autumn Face

Autumn influence creates tawny faces whose lines tend to be straight, blunt, and meet at right angles – cubes, rectangles, ladders, and stairs. The head shape is often cubic, but not always.  These features can be repeated in jewelry. More singular and worth striving to recapture is the Autumn atmosphere.

The most provocative aspect of Autumn faces is their 3-dimensionality. Any item, print, pattern, sculpture, or design that generates near-middle-far levels is most attractive. In Autumn imagery, the world is deep, mysterious, and complex. Light is reflected in a diffused or muted way not only from surfaces but from far within. This is a deep ocean, a forest in which to lose daylight, a world of warmth so rich and abundant that the way out is the last thing on our mind.

Surrounded by its own colours, the Autumn eye is a voyage through a world of chocolate and fire, raw sugar and chilli. The facial architecture becomes solid and strong. Inside that framework, somehow the eye seems to melt, like time travel through layers and folds of velvet. Autumn’s value range is wide enough set up the foreground, midground, and background, yet never becomes hard, cold, bold, or abrupt.

Neutral colours matter in Autumn. Not only do they look good and right, these colours represent the support structures of our world, as earth, root, stem, and branch, not just flower. They contribute to the senses of depth, strength, grounding, and security, communicating both the determination and assertiveness of this individual. An Autumn outfit or piece of jewelry done in a variety of neutral colours can be complete, improved even more by use of various textures.

Metallics in jewelry are especially important because only Autumns have a natural coppered characteristic in the skin, the same way that the sun reflects from the desert sand, a stone canyon, or a Santa Fe-themed roof in the late afternoon. As the Summer skin reflects moonlight, the Autumn skin glints of warm metal.

Soft Autumn eyes may be softly painted with cool blue and green, gold and avocado green, or soft brown.  Heat in Autumn eyes is present as variations of orange, rust, and dark brown. In Soft Autumn, the heat is usually light to medium, soft, and orange-brown, warmer than in the Soft Summer eye, and in perfect balance with the rest of the eye colours. Those with avocado green eyes often have a feline or exotic appearance, reminiscent of ancient Egyptian art.

True and Dark Autumn eyes are more intensely coloured and more strongly heated. Fire colours in the eye are stimulating and so easily caught with metals in jewelry and cosmetics. Gold, green, and rust participate in creating variegated, plush browns.

As Winter exerts its influence on Dark Autumn eyes, the colour and the heat intensify. Dark orange and near-burgundy colours are present throughout the iris, evenly distributed and/or clustered around the pupil. Wearing jewelry with focal points of this type of heat can define a woman who knows herself. On occasion, a person may drape unquestioningly as a Dark Autumn but have azure, teal, green, and turquoise in the eye. Plain and simple, wear those colours somewhere near the face. Earrings are perfect because their size allows the effect to look accidental, rather than the more rehearsed feel of a turquoise turtleneck.

In the same way that neutral colours matter to anchor the brighter colours, so does the facial canvas carry huge weight to the final effect. This skin can look quite drab and gray in colour that is (relatively)safe, cool, pale, or dusty.  These colours are easy to find in any piece of attire. Truly in this Season, as for all colour-analyzed people, the learning curve is worth the time and effort.

 

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The Spring Face

Spring faces may be long ovals, often with pointed chins or noses, round, or rounded squares, any of which can be reiterated in the shape of jewelry within the archetype. Equally effective on Springs is mirroring the wisped ends and lifted corners of the features. These create diagonal lines and triangular shapes that suggest an affectionate, friendly feeling to the face.

We expect a person who is fun, funny, and sociable. Jewelry that is outgoing looks grounded and intelligent, a precursor of the woman wearing it as all attire is at its best. Without conversation pieces, innovative colours, and unconventional combinations, the picture seems insufficient. Being playful with traditional colour etiquette is Lesson 1. On you, it looks normal and necessary. Wear lime and fuchsia, denim with pistachio, or orange, yellow, and cream in a print. If your rut is the colour mainstream, this is a good time to move out of it.

Lesson 2 is to wear many colours together. The Spring Seasons celebrate colour for its own sake. Joy has a beautiful simplicity. Spring tells us that reserve and achieving can be safely set aside for a moment of pure sharing. Spring is the adult who is closest to blissful happiness by their very Nature. Share that with us. It is a special gift that few others can reach for and find so easily. Wear butter yellow with periwinkle blue. Show us every colour of coral, sparkling yellow green and gold, fireworks in the daytime.

Spring balances the absence of colour inhibition with their gentle soul. Jewelry can be highly sophisticated and also delighted. The feeling of a piece is exuberant but never driving or controlling. Spring is an invitation to join in the game however you want to play and still be uplifted. Colour saturation is not maximal. Therefore, with Light Spring, we still feel Summer’s serenity. True Spring is tender and sweet from the colour yellow. Bright Spring colour is certainly the most vivid of the three, but even here, however Dramatic the piece, the colours render the feeling a little bit fragile. Small pieces tend to work better than big chunks. Lesson 3 is glitter, not ice cubes.

Spring eyes change the most in response to colour, possibly because the other Season palettes fall very short of fully developing the rainbow in these eyes. Most Spring people, including the Bright Winter and Light Summer, have a wreath of yellow in the iris, though it may be hard to perceive in the darker eye and quite pale in the Summer eye. Lesson 4 is to pull out that sunshine.  It defines you. Wear your colours and it will happen by itself.

Light Spring eyes may be light blue, possibly becoming slightly violet in cornflower blue, and often showing aqua green in the presence of green and turquoise. Eyes may also be green or contain blue-green variations. The intensity of these colours often does not change. Instead, the eye gains in transparency, sparkle, and luminosity, and more different colours will be expressed. The red and green relationship, where they gain energy in the presence of the other, is aqua blue-green with warm cerise pink.

The True Spring eye is a progression from Light Spring. Blue green becomes turquoise. Pale yellow is now daffodil. This energy within a creamy, calm, illuminated light beige canvas is magical.  Eyes (and hair) may also be relatively dark, as green and gold in the iris, but seldom brown, in Caucasians at least. In its wonderful uncomplicated style, Spring’s eye magic happens by simply repeating one’s own colours. Adding details of contrast or dimension is not necessary.

Brown eyes in Spring belong to the Winter blend, or Bright Spring, in most cases.  We see baby blue, beautiful with the same colour from the palette, and any extension of blue as turquoise or purple. The colours will find one another if the wavelengths are present. There is no need for a 100% match. Clear copper brown, yellow caramel brown, and various shades of green are quite possible. Because the stronger yellows in the palette, those that truly intensify the topaz and amber colours, are intense as clothing, earrings are the perfect means of placing them near the face. Large colour surface is not necessary. As Winter arrives, red and purple tones may appear, which are intensified in the presence of green. Every Spring is outstandingly improved in their greens. In fact, so is every person in any of the 12 groups of natural colouring.

 

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