In the hot seat

For some people, finding out their seasonal palette comes as a huge revelation (I'm thinking here of my friend Lucy, who was as surprised as I was when she found out she was a Winter and not a Summer like her mum). For others, who might have had an inkling and have been wearing a certain palette for years, it comes more as a confirmation of what they already suspected, rather than a lightbulb moment, with a few happy surprises along the way.

This was the case the other week when the wardrobe consultant and stylist Natasha Musson came to Kettlewell HQ to have her colours done. Natasha runs the Secret Stylist from her Somerset home and has been pointing her clients in our direction for years, as well as owning a fair few pieces of her own. With her jet black hair, pale colouring - and penchant for high-contrast black, white, fuchsia and cobalt blue - we had a good idea that Natasha was a Dramatic Gamine Winter. But it wasn't until our colour consultant Jo (author of the weekly Kettlewell blog) was able to see the drapes against her skin and discern what worked and what didn't that were we actually able to say for definite she was a Jewel Winter.

While shades of blush pink, moss green and pale yellow were instantly draining against her skin, punchy Winter hues from charcoal and indigo to electric blue, fuchsia, carmine, dark emerald and navy looked amazing. Iced lavender also looked fantastic on Natasha (giving her instant permission to go out and buy that M&S coat she had spotted in the same shade!).

Natasha’s surprise revelation of the morning? That navy, which she had always avoided in the past for fear of looking too ‘grown-up’, was actually rather amazing – chic, sophisticated and great teamed with the crisp ice whites in her palette.

“In the past year or two I have been more conscious of the colours I’ve been putting together but having my colours done professionally has been good for understanding what really suits me,” Natasha told us at the end. “I’ve always worn black in the past and steered clear of navy but now I can see how good it looks on, I’ll definitely be investing in a navy blazer and mixing it up with bold colours.”

That’s the beauty of a colour analysis. There’s always some lovely colour surprises waiting round the corner.