Colorful Advice: talking ‘Pop of Color’ with Life & Style

Hooray! My favorite Life & Style Weekly asked me once again to give a little colorful advice to their style ( and color) loving readers!

The stars of Twilight, Brad and Ang, Kate and Jon, Kendra and little ole me…Let’s just say being featured in this issue has me feeling as if I’m floating among the clouds in ‘pop culture’ heaven!

This time around L&S is looking to help you find the ‘Perfect Pop of Color’ to add to your summer wardrobe.

I think the page layout is so cute!  The impressive range of colorful tanks are from American Apparel ( $17)

Using Gwyneth, Garcelle, Leighton and Amy as our muses…we took a quick spin at naming the best hues to play up the colors of these lady’s oh-so lovely locks.

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Miss Gwyneth:  Gwyneth’s blonde hair is stunning with it’s natural golden shades ( warm tones ) intermixed with icy ( cool) highlights around the frame of her face- allowing her darker roots to be seen only adds to the yin and yang effect.  Blondes like Gwynnie can pick colors to play up which ever tone they want to draw the eyes to.  Her raspberry pink dress warms up not only her golden tresses, but her pale skin tone as well. An even paler pink would make Gwyneth pretty as a princess ( remember how sweet she looked in her famous pale-pink Oscar dress!)

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On the other side of the color wheel Gwyneth could easily decide to play off of her pale, sparkly ( cooler) highlights by wearing shades of blue…baby blue ( really pretty for you blue eyed beauties) or an ocean- inspired aqua ( for hazel or brown eyed siren’s- like Gwyneth) adds instant wardrobe drama.

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Garcelle Beauvais has rich, lush super dark hair.  Now very dark hair like Garcelle’s can be tricky.  True dark hair tends to be either blue-black ( making it a cool shade) or deep, dark brown-black ( a warm shade).  Luckily It’s pretty easy to figure out from this picture that Garcelle’s hair is on the warm side of the spectrum..because she is simply radiant in this little golden- orange number.

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Women with Garcelle’s coloring look amazing in all types of zesty warm shade like lemon yellow and bright coral. If they happen to desire to cool things up a bit -a dark purple ( with red undertones like the color of red grapes) would be simply regal.

Love a color, but not sure it’s your most flattering hue to wear?  By simply placing a color that you do know enhances your natural coloring close to your face can instantly make your ‘questionable’ color work as well. Case in point- I don’t think Garcelle would look as ’super hero-ific  in this gray-blue dress without that jolt of tomato red trim.

Leighton Meester is the dark eyed brunette lighting up the small screen each week on the hit show Gossip Girl.  Her character Blair has no fear when it comes to wearing loads of color and in real life neither does Leighton.

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Leighton’s hair has just a touch of caramel highlights, which not only adds dimension to her tresses but really helps to play up her beautiful complexion as well. Leighton would look fantastic in almost any shade of rich jewel-like tones, much like she does in this Sapphire Versace and below in this little emerald green Dior number.

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On the other side of fashionable hues, Leighton can also play up the richness of her hair by wearing pale shades.  For color I suggested the minty green and lavender tanks for a soft feminine look to play off of her dark hair and light skin. And because her dark locks and radiant skin have the ability to look good whether she is pale or tan ( spray tanners rejoice), brunettes like Leighton make good candidate to rock the ‘new nudes’ this season as well.

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There’s a pink for everyone- my favorite for brunettes like Leighton would be a shade like this that goes towards the lavender side.  Nude tones can be tricky, here again the choice of a nude with strong rosy undertones along with golden jewelry and a similar shade of lipstick really help to make Leighton’s dark eyes and hair pop.

Amy Adam’s naturally vibrant red hair and sparkly blue eyes have made her everyone’s favorite ‘enchanted’ starlet.  To me, Amy has proven to be a girl who knows what colors work best on her…because if you’ve been watching her on the red carpet you know that she usually gets it right.

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Amy’s best colors are ones that play up the fiery, copper highlights in her hair.  Rich nature inspired hues like Teal, Eggplant and Grassy Greens make auburn hair look even brighter. And for pale blue eyed redheads like Amy- Turquoise makes eyes look…well quite frankly like they are made of turquoise as well.

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As a fairytale princess come to life in the movie Enchanted-all eyes are on Amy picture perfect in an Aubergine gown at the King and Queen’s Ball.  In real life, Amy hits the red carpet in pure vintage Hollywood style complete with a deep side part and fitted Teal green gown.

Is there a hue that is universally flattering on everyone, no matter what your hair color?  Life & Style asked me to name just one.

For the magazine I named Red, because the thinking behind this color is set in pretty scientific reasoning.  Since human coloring is based on either warm ( golden undertones) or cool ( blue undertones) a true Red-meaning a red  that can not be described as either too orange or to blue orange and exists smack dab in the middle would most easily be able to compliment all four woman’s distinct coloring.  SEE- understanding the color wheel does come in handy!!!

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Ladies in Red: Garcelle and Leighton’s dark hair easily master the power of red, Gwyneth’s matching red lips helps to keep the focus on her pretty face, while Amy’s use of a mineral colored jewel necklace helps to keep the spotlight on her red tresses

As a little back note- I honestly believe if you love a color…there is the perfect shade of it just for you. After all fashion is fun….experimenting with it can be even funner!

If say you love the color blue but aren’t sure if you should be buying Cobalt or Cornflower…try both ( in the dressing room before you buy, please ) and judge for yourself which you honestly feel best in.  While you’re in there why not try a few colors that you rarely wear- you might just discover a few new colorful gems!

Another great color clue I like to tell people, is to take notice of which hues you find yourself getting a lot of unsolicited compliments on when you wear them.  If your true love, a trusted chum and friendly stranger all notice that a certain shade brings you beautifully to life…chances are you’re on the right color track!