Red lips are set to stay a key look for 2010. The look is achieved by creating beautiful skin, paired down eye make-up and defined red lips.

While our clients love being shown which lipsticks suit them and how to wear them, most of them run a mile from the red lippy! But there is no need to be terrified of red lipstick, everyone can wear it and look great. Here are a few easy steps to help you get the WOW! factor from your red lipstick.
1. Create a beautiful base. Most of the time for this look will go on getting your skin looking natural and radiant. When your lips are red they are in contract to your skin therefore your skin needs to look great. Always use a primer Silk Foundation Primer £15, 30ml before your foundation. It will not only help your make-up last all day, but it will create a much more even texture to you skin, making foundation much easier to apply and look great. (If you are having a bad day with your skin - don't wear red lipstick as it draws attention to other red areas on your face). I would also recommend using JFC Shadow Lifting pen just around the eye area to brighten up your eyes.
2. Prepare your lips. Use the primer over your lips to help prevent bleeding. Red lipsticks are notorious for ‘bleeding' or ‘feathering' - it's all to do with the pigments that are used. Outline you lips using a brush and then fill in still using a brush and work well into the lips. The brush will get the lipstick into all the creases in your lips and it is far less likely to bleed. If you apply lipstick straight from the stick it simply sits on the surface and is more likely to spread or rub off. If you want to add gloss on top, wait a good ½ hour to allow the colour to stain your lips. Then you can add the gloss without fear of it making the lipstick bleed.
3. Choosing your red. This is the part that puts most people off! Looking at a sea of reds and knowing which one to pick - and because red lipstick is quite a statement if you get it wrong is obvious! Use this guild to help you confidently choose the red that is right for you:
If your skin tone is yellowy, olive or sallow pick a slightly cool red. Cool reds from Jane Fardon Cosmetics include Cranberry (bright), Fiesta (light and bright), Cherry (pinky red) and Burgundy (deep).
If your skin tone is honey or pinky, or if you have red hair, pick a warm red. Warm reds from the Jane Fardon Cosmetics range include Rudy Red (deep), Flame (strong), Fiesta (bright), Poppy (light and bright). Garnet Red is a great ‘safe' red for all skin tones.

Jane C and I (Jane F) are both thrilled and relieved to have just completed (and passed!) our masters qualification in Image Consultancy!  We are now among only 40 or so in the world to hold this qualification! Yippee!

Exciting news, Adelle Aderhold will soon be able to offer style consultations and workshops along side Jane Chapman and myself.

More exciting news, we have a new consultant joining us, called Cath Livesy.  As well as soon being able to offer style consultations and workshops she is also qualified in Myers Briggs personality profiling.  She will be a great addition to the team.

As you shop for spring and summer, remember that true style is about putting your own individual twist on the current fashions. Mix your wardrobe ‘staples' with one or two of ‘on trend' items. Have a read through the keys to this season, and see what takes your fancy.

Key colours
Blue -electric, royal (both cool colours) and cobolt (a warmer blue, with a hint of teal).
Raspberry
Mango
Nudes/blush

How to apply it to your season?
Winters you're lucky, electric and royal blue and raspberry are great for you so make the most of these colours being available!
Summers, tone down the strong cool blues by putting it with soft pink or greys. Raspberry is good for you too. Remember a colour looks softer if the fabric is textured.
Autumns, the cobalt is great colour for you. You can also do the nudes well, but teams them with something stronger or you may disappear.
Springs, mango is great for you and the nudes could be good teamed with some brighter colours. If you want to do the blues, you will need to tone down the cobalt or go for a light royal blue. To check the blue is working, make sure it sits well with your warm red and your warm greens.

Key garments.
The ‘see through tops' are still with us. Go for a sheer fabrics with a great colour underneath.
Jumpsuits are back form the 80'S! This is great for the young and slim, but if you want to revisit it and you are neither of those, you will need to go for a smarter style made from good quality fabric.

Key body parts!
Shoulders are still in focus this season often by using asymmetric detail; on one shoulder and off the other, fitted on one and full on the other, detail on one and plain on the other. Shoulder pads are back too, another revisit to the 80's!

Key detail.
Ribbon and fringing.
Lots of satin ribbon that gives linear detail around simple jumpers, jackets, and dresses, adding dramatic contrast. Fringing on all sort of things.

Key looks.

Nautical - red, white and blue plus motifs and accessories.
Tribal - use accessories with an African theme and leather strappy sandals.
Relaxed tailoring - slouchy jackets and trousers in fluid fabric, clinched at the waist. Slouchy bags
Sporty - lots of zip detail and large pockets give a new twist to the sporty look. Parachute silk gives it a luxury feel.

Our next free True Colours Evening will be next week on Thursday, the 26th of March, 7.30 to 9.30pm at the Studio.

To kick off the evening, I'll be giving some Top Tips for Beating the Credit Crunch  - easy ways to save money, shop better and get the most from your clothes.  Plus, for those of you who couldn't make our last evening there will be the chance to try out Jane Fardon's fabulous cosmetic range.
 
As usual, we'll keep things informal and relaxed with drinks, nibbles and plenty of time to chat!  We're also happy to answer any questions you have or give style advice - given that we're talking about how to save money, you might even want to bring along an outfit you can't get to work and we'll see if we can suggest some new ways of wearing it.  

True Colours Evenings are regular events which we hold for our clients and friends. If you're visiting the website and are interested in coming along, just let us know - we'll give you a warm welcome.  And remember, there's no obligation to buy or book anything when you come - the reason we have special events like this is so that we can see you, not your purse!

All of us at True Colours and Studio One would like to wish our lovely clients a very merry Christmas.

If you decide to hit the January sales, don't forget it may be a bargin, but it still has to make you look and feel fantastic, i.e. suit your colouring, style and personality - otherwise it's just another garment that's going to hang in the wardrobe and 'look' at you!

Have a truely blessed holiday,

Love from us all. xx

A team of True Colours consultants and I, had an amazing Sunday that involved well over 40 make-overs! I had been asked to use Jane Fardon Cosmetics to do the make-up for a fashion show in aid of Caner Care. We had ‘real' women of all ages and races that had volunteered to model the clothes. The fashion show came at the end of ‘Working Woman Expo', an exhibition that celebrated women in enterprise held in the centre of Sheffield at the Mecure St Paul's Hotel. They had a vast room full of stalls and businesses all aimed at women and, in smaller rooms off the side, various talks were being given. Siobhan gave a talk on ‘Taking the stress out of getting dressed', and Faye and I manned the stall selling make-up and doing mini make-overs. It was a marathon! It opened to the public at 10am and from 2- 5.30pm we did the make-up for the fashion show models. To say we were dead on our feet is an understatement! We did have fun though and there was a great atmosphere. Click to see some pictures .

Last week I went to London to a seminar on Ethical Fashion.  It is nice to know that at last the fashion industry is getting a conscience...well beginning to. There are some sobering facts for you:

•  in 2000, 1 trillion dollars was spent on fashion, and 1/3 of that was in Europe?
• 1 million tones of clothing is put in land fills every year and the figure is growing.
• When you take clothes to a charity shop, 1/3 is sold in the shop, 1/3 is put in land fill and 1/3 is bought by an exporter who sells it in under-developed countries.

So what can we do to be more responsible?  Two ideas for you:

• Take the clothes you are bored with (but are still in good condition) and swap them with someone else. When lots of people get together to do this, it's called a swishing party.  Watch this space as we shall be having some!
• Take an old garment, or two, and make it into something new.  If you are not confident at sewing, ask a freind to help you.  If you want some inspiration go to http://www.junkystyling.co.uk . They do some very funky re-designing, as it is called.

If you have a favourite shop that you love shopping in but you don't thing it's ethical, rather than feeling guilty, ask them what they are doing to be more responsible.  The retail trade know that happy customers is good business, so tell them that you care about where and how clothes are sourced. Keep telling them, they will have to listen eventually!

I can away form the seminar realising that feeling guilty and never buying another piece of clothing (as if I could manage that!) is not what it is about. It's about everyone taking small steps and making small changes that they can stick to, or as a friend of mine says, 'You eat an elephant one bite at a time!"

At True Colours we love to stay in touch with our clients. We want to hear how you are doing with developing your own unique style and are always happy to answer questions and offer advice.  One way we do this is through regular, free client evenings.

Our next Client Evening is on the 9th of July, 8pm at the Studio and we're linking it with a Clothes Swop because so many clients have said that they have good quality clothes in the wrong colours or styles which they want to swop.

The Evening will be informal and relaxed with drinks, nibbles and plenty of time to chat!  What a great motivation to review your wardrobe and have a clear out!

If you're just visiting the website and thinking I'd love to come but I'm not an existing client, then you're invited too. And feel free to bring a friend.

We hope lots of you can make it on the 9th, it should be a really good night. Please let us know if you are coming and whether or not you are bringing clothes to swop. 

All the best, Jane C