My experience into the marvellous word of colour analysis

All images courtesy of Francesca Lilliu

I have been curious about colour analysis for a few years. Colour analysis is a theory that determines which colours flatter you most. Based on your overall appearance, you’ll be assigned one of the twelve colour seasons, that comes with a colour palette, specifically designed to match your natural colours. I thought I knew colours but, despite my passion for drawing, I felt that something was missing and I needed to explore them from another point of view. That's why I made myself a gift and booked a colour analysis session with Francesca Lilliu in Cagliari. Francesca has an important background in graphic design. She graduated from IED in Milan and studied colour analysis with some of the most well-known experts in Italy. 

I had my idea about my "season" but was confused. My portraiture experience made me realise how difficult it could be to understand yourself clearly. Since I was born, I have been depicted as "blonde," with all the stereotypes connected with this term: fragile, washed out, naive, maybe not very intelligent and so on... Reading articles about colour analysis on the internet made me even more confused.

This colour analysis consultation has been essential, not only from the aesthetic point of view. It has contributed to enlarging my views and learning more about myself. We make associations all the time, and our ideas of colours are also based on associations. For example, I have always been identified with cold, pastel colours. I used to think that yellow, orange, and brown didn't suit me, so I tried to avoid them all. I could have been considered a "light summer", but I had some doubts. We usually categorise colours as beautiful and ugly, but the truth is that every colour can look beautiful or ugly, depending on how we perceive it or match it with other colours.

The result of this consultation was that I can be considered a "light spring" according to colour analysis theory. This confirmed some misconceptions and doubts that I had. First of all, like many people, I used to consider light colours only as "cold" (they can also be "warm"); secondly, sometimes other people can see some aspects of your appearance and even personality more precisely than you. My mother, for example, who knows me better than anyone, always said she could see some "peach colour" in me. The results of my consultation made me realise how our knowledge about colours can be limited and also how much we need to identify ourselves from different points of view. A simple change of colour perspective can also slightly change our perception and even our attitude.

 

 

After my consultation, I asked Francesca some questions to learn more about the fascinating world of colour analysis.

 

-Francesca, when did you get interested in colour analysis?

My interest in colour analysis started a few years before the pandemic. I was feeling insecure about my appearance, I couldn't find the right colour combinations, and I used to buy items in specific colours that didn't suit me, especially didn't match my hair colour. So I started looking for more information about the subject and finally decided to book my first colour analysis consultation, which ended up leaving me with even more questions. I read more books, I continued studying and I also joined some Facebook groups and forums devoted to colour analysis. I decided that I needed to attend a course. After my first course with Rossella Migliaccio, I discovered an entirely new world. My background in graphic design helped me to take off. To practice, I started "analysing" family and friends, and I gradually came to my own idea. 

 

-Who are your clients? 

My clients are mostly women, but also men. Sometimes men ask if my services are also for them and I usually answer that colours have no gender! For example, some men asked for a consultancy about a formal dress code at work, to be able to choose the right colour combination for clothes and shoes. Men are also increasingly interested in styling consultancy because they would choose the right glasses model and shape or the right haircut and beard styles. Women usually contact me because they feel insecure and/or have doubts about certain colours and also their body shape. We generally think we are "wrong" when certain colours or garments don't suit us. Everybody is unique and has an identity in terms of colour and body shape. We are not "wrong", our clothes have to adapt to our uniqueness. 

 

-Is colour analysis part of your daily life? Do you match the colours in your house?

My house was built before the beginning of my career as a colour analysis and style expert but I've always had a special interest in colours if you also consider my background as a graphic designer. My kitchen, for example, is entirely in the summer palette: white paints with azulejos, and pastel colours. I chose neutral colours for my sofas, dove and charcoal grey, and brown, to match the warm marble fireplace. I also like warm lights in the house and, yes, I use colour analysis in my daily life, to create harmony in the house. 

 

-How can colours contribute to creating harmony and give us well-being? 

 

Some colours give us specific perceptions, for example, blue inspires a sense of peace, calm, and tranquillity. If you think about red, it immediately evokes alarm, and danger but also positive feelings like something festive and brilliant, that wants to draw attention. Colours speak, they tell a lot about ourselves. I usually ask my clients about their favourite colours at the beginning of the consultancy, to know more about their personalities. 

 

-What was the most difficult colour analysis "case"?

 

It happened at the beginning of my career, during my "apprenticeship" with family and friends, and I still think about it because it was challenging. It was a person with an unusual beauty and colour mix: very dark hair, yellow amber eyes and freckles. At first, I thought she could belong to the winter season, but compared to the winter palette, she had a warmer hue. It was challenging because, in the end, I classified her as a warm autumn but probably she is an unusually deep autumn. She has a high chroma, some winter colours looked good, light colours were underpowering, but cooler bright colours were too intense on her. I still think about this case and, in conclusion, she probably is an atypical deep autumn. I never saw a similar type of beauty and colour combinations again and I couldn't find any similar example in none of the many courses I attended.

 

 

 

 

 

-What's the most difficult part of your job?

 

The most difficult part is when, for example, a person comes to me expecting me to confirm a specific idea about colour analysis. I tell my idea, but it can be difficult when people think they belong to a specific "season", and they discover they are wrong, some people can be very disappointed. Anyway, in case of any doubt, I always try to meet them halfway. Everybody can be wrong, and experts can have different opinions because colour analysis is not a science. It's not a blood test result, and I can have a slightly different opinion in comparison with another consultant. Colour analysis is a colour theory, and everyone can perceive colours in a slightly different way, according to light, eyesight, etcetera.

 

 

-What's the most beautiful part?

 

The most satisfying part is when clients start to be aware and notice small details about colours that I showed them before. It's wonderful when I suggest specific make-up products, hair colours or clothes, and I receive positive feedback because my clients get lots of compliments. I'm happy when I see improvements in my client's lives. 

 

 

Thank you Francesca for this amazing interview!

 

To learn more about Francesca's consultancy, follow her IG profile and Facebook page.