I’m delighted to introduce you to colour expert and stylist, Jo Baldwin-Trott, founder of Colour First for her fascinating guest blog for this week’s #SundayBlogShare.

Colour plays a big part in our lives – from advertising to interior design, fashion to photography, colour is everywhere affecting our mood and emotions, mostly when we are unaware.

Black is repressive, yellow invigorating, pale blues and greens are calming and healing and red detracting and repelling.

In our clothing in Europe we are traditionally very muted and dark in our wardrobes.

Black only really looks good on a certain cool skin tone and it ISN’T slimming (a good Marks & Spencer 1980’s marketing campaign and myth) and doesn’t go with everything – navy does!

It is impactive and exciting discovering NEW BRIGHT COLOURS which not only suit you and brighten your natural look, complexion and your wardrobe, but can change the way you feel. COLOUR ANALYSIS may have been around for 30 years but my approach to colour is fresh, modern, relevant to current fashion and all about discovering the colours that make you ‘ZING’*!

These are the 6 or 7 colours in your seasonal palette which enhance you – and just you!  You may have an autumn palette, like the Duchess of Cambridge or David Beckham, but you will likely have a different combination of skin tone, hair and eye colour so your Zing’s* will be different.  Discovering your Zings* can be life changing – it was for me as I have English rose skin and struggled like crazy to find bright colours to wear. Now I love wearing True Green, Cornflour Blue and feel so much more vibrant wearing them, and as for Watermelon Red…!!

Europeans and Americans have a very mixed ethnicity, as history has determined!  This means that many people do not have just one obvious colour combination – their eye colour could be cool, their skin tone warm.  Hair colour warm, eyes cool and so on.  COLOUR ANALYSIS is not prescriptive and although many stylists follow certain rules and charts to diagnose a client’s season, it takes vision and creativity to be able to SEE YOUR COLOURS.

I can envisage my clients in lime green or bright orange, turquoise or camel.  And it is this skill that makes me an expert in my field and why I offer a guaranteed accurate analysis.

Due to this creativity I can also offer VIRTUAL CONSULTATION. I am more than happy to travel to any client, anywhere, but if time doesn’t allow for a two hour consultation I can consult from specific photographs and send clients their seasonal palette with their Zing colours; all done from the comfort of their own office or home.

Many of the clients who come to me have been ‘mis-diagnosed’ and given the wrong season (but they will leave with the right one).  My expertise allows me to not only be creative in colour but also styling, which is what my clients experience when I take them personal shopping.  Combining your perfect colours (especially the ones that make you Zing!) and the most flattering but authentic styling is the way to a dream wardrobe.

Not only will all the colours blend and allow you to pick virtually any item to wear with any other, but with the ideal styling perfect for you, it truly transforms your self-vision and confidence with your clothes.

A colour and styling experience with me is bespoke and as individual as you are!

Spring is without doubt THE most exciting time of year for colour, and thanks to the stunning PANTONE COLOURS OF THE YEAR there are so many gorgeous hues, tones and shades for men and women to wear and enjoy this season.  It’s the time for beautiful new colours for nature and you.

Other services offered by Jo Baldwin Trott:

• Cosmetic Consultation with directional cosmetics specific for your colouring
• Wardrobe Re-vamp
• Personal Shopping

You can connect with Jo via email: info@jobaldwintrott.com,  @ColourFirst  on Twitter and on Facebook.