Improvability Blog

Animal prints just aren’t going away and, if you like them, just about anyone can wear them but sometimes it’s the amount of ’stuff’ that’s going on that will be the ultimate decider. If you feel good wearing them, then you’ll look good too.

Take these two photos of Sarah modelling at a recent fashion show:

On the left, the coat is wearing Sarah. On the right, we see Sarah first.

Now my guess is that even if we transferred the larger print to the shorter version, Sarah would still be the first thing we see and NOT the jacket.

The amount of pattern would seem to be the problem, wouldn’t it? Actually I think it’s something else but more of that later…

The choice may not be as obvious as we think

Let’s assume that Sarah is looking for a longer coat as she’d rather like to keep her rear end warm this winter! The poor lamb only has time to visit one shop and these are the only two choices available. Which one should she go for?

1. Choose the longer coat and keep her little butt warm or

2. Choose the short jacket, look and feel good, but freeze her wotsits off?

What about a third option?

3. Go for the longer coat but wear it open?

The problem with the longer coat is that it’s buttoned and belted and Sarah looks very uncomfortable.

I was modelling in the same fashion show so I know exactly what she was going through. Trying to look and behave normally while trying to show off the coat, the handbag, the gloves, the necklace and the shoes all to their best advantage, all in the same 3-minute slot, usually leaves the model a bit out of sorts. Mix into this a room full of more than 90 warm bodies plus a raging fire as you’re trying to strut your stuff, and it’s quite an out-of-body experience as you’re totally aware that you’re walking like a pregnant duck but you just can’t seem to do a darned thing about it… so we need to give Sarah a smidgen of poetic licence here.

The point I’m trying to make is that when you feel uncomfortable in what you’re wearing, you inevitably look uncomfortable too.

Personality is the key

This is all compounded by Sarah’s dispositon. She has dark, bright colouring and likes to make a statement with her clothes. Dramatics very rarely button up their coats; they understand the bigger impact they will make when they don’t.

In the longer, buttoned-up, belted coat Sarah looks like a trussed-up chicken (poor darling!).

Sarah would look and feel so much more comfortable if she had worn the coat unbuttoned and unbelted. Then we’d have seen the all-black outfit underneath which would have contrasted dramatically with the abundant animal print.

A good fit or a big impact?

Classics and Europeans, on the other hand, will be extremely comfortable in a buttoned-up coat or jacket. It will seem perfectly normal for them to try on a coat and immediately do up all the buttons, belt, etc. to check for a good fit.

Dramatics can’t be bothered with all that wasteful paraphernalia. They’re not bothered with whether a coat fits properly. All they want to know is if it LOOKS good!

Which makes YOU feel good?

• A good fit or
• A big impact

Don’t be put off by the amount of print, or the amount of colour, or the amount of fabric (of any garment, not just a coat). Put it into context with your personality:

How would YOU feel in a long, buttoned-up, belted coat?

• Comfortable or claustrophobic?

How would YOU feel in a long, unbuttoned coat?

• Expressive or exposed?

The proof is always in the pudding

If you FEEL good, you will LOOK good. So choose your clothes to suit how you feel and you won’t go wrong.

The story of my hair colour journey

• To go from darkest brown to pale white blonde

After my last newsletter ‘What to wear to a bit of a ‘do’ several ladies emailed to ask when and why I’d decided to go blonde, and how did I do it.

Here’s the first instalment of the story of my own personal hair journey. I apologise up front if you find all the chemical explanations a bit too much to get your head round but some ladies have asked specifically for all the insider details so I’ve included the lot.

This journey has taken around 18 months from when Scott Cornwall and I first discussed the possibility of me going blonde and I kept a diary during that time of the all the ins and outs. As you can imagine, I’ve got thousands of notes so I’ve split it down into 4 parts for easier reading - I don’t want you dying of boredom….

Part 1
It’s all Scott Cornwall’s fault…

He was the one who persuaded me that going from dark brown to blonde wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be.

It all started when Scott came up from London to Chesterfield in January 2008 to discuss how the hair and image industries could (and should) be working together.  Using me as the example to explain his work, this is the story of what he advised me to do and how I became a hair experiment.

I was born an archetypal dark-haired, pale-skinned, bright-eyed Winter and I have been colouring my own hair for over 25 years. Many dark-haired Winters go grey in their late 20s or early 30s and then we have to choose:

• Do we perpetuate our naturally dramatic, sharply-contrasting look or
• Do we lapse into grey, dull and lifeless?

It’s not that all Winters look dreadful with grey hair but the length of the transition process from completely dark to completely silver grey can prove incredibly depressing so most end up resorting to using chemicals. For me, there was absolutely no choice. I am a Dramatic Winter and you can’t do drama with badly-greying hair.

The problem is that as time goes on I ended up in the tedious routine of sticking a colour on my hair every two and a half weeks because the roots were, after 20-odd years, totally white.

White hair is completely devoid of colour because melanin is no longer being produced as the new hairs grow, and having white roots with dark hair made me look like Morticia Addams and I wasn’t having any of that!

Choosing to become a ‘Diamond Winter’

Scott told me, “My big issue is that nobody should be colouring their hair more than once every five weeks.

“If you are very, very white (under your artificial colour) you will get away with becoming (what I call) a ‘Diamond Winter’. What any Dramatic Winters have the ability to do is switch their hair colour from very dark to very light and it still has the same dramatic effect - it tends to work the best on pure Winters (like yourself). 

“I would only recommend it if you have more than 70% grey as too much of your own colour will ‘kick up’ warmth and the blonde colour will not be cool enough - but if you are very white you will find it fantastic to suddenly be using a light ash or pearl blonde on your roots as they will only need doing every 6 - 8 weeks because the contrast will be minimal.

“Whenever I consult with people I always try to give them a celebrity example of someone who is the same type as them and has a similar look. 

“The journalist Carole Malone is exactly the same category as you.  She’s a Romantic with Drama. In fact she’s very dramatic but she is also a Diamond Winter (she has ash/pearl blonde hair and blue eyes).  I have attached a photo of her.  Interestingly enough she has her hairstyle with lots of body and movement and it works very well for her. The same would work for you. SC.”

Why not go blonde overnight?

As a Dramatic Romantic style personality, I really wanted to go blonde overnight but as an inveterate learner (after all, if I don’t learn something new each day then what exactly was the point in me getting up?) I decided to go blonde over time.

Scott warned me that I wouldn’t like the transitional period but I’m a sucker for an experiment.

Read Part 2
‘
Another idea gets in the way of my big plans to go blonde!’

Would you like a hair journey all of your own?

Book your own individual personal hair consultation or attend a hair analysis class with Scott Cornwall

Scott Cornwall’s unique Hair Consultancy is possibly the only image resource that offers hair advice, guidance and classes to not only clients but also the image and fashion expert. Scott believes our hair should harmonise with our entire image. His method is perhaps the first to combine principles of fashion, physicality and psychology to unlock his client’s dream hair and perfect overall image.

Scott has spent many years working within the hair industry as a technical stylist (specialising in colour and chemical services) before moving into the world of image and style. Over the years, Scott has been fortunate enough to have a diverse range of clients from brand name corporations to celebrities.

Book your own individual personal hair consultation with Scott Cornwall at http://www.hairclasses.co.uk/

You too could soon be telling us all about your very own hair colour journey. Maybe yours will be a bit shorter than mine…?

Pause for Thought

What will you regret NOT doing when you’re 87, sat sitting staring out of the window with a blanket draped round your shoulders and someone you care about asks, “What did YOU do with your life?”

Do it now

And you’ll have nothing to regret later on.

The 2nd part of my hair colour journey

• To go from darkest brown to pale white blonde

Part 2
Another idea got in the way of my big plans to go blonde

My big plans to go blonde were all suddenly complicated by the fact that Scott had strongly advised me to consider a perm,

“Because I would categorise you as Romantic, curly hair and movement would suit you. A Romantic’s hair priority should really be their texture and also how healthy it looks (so nice shiny hair with movement). It’s no good me suggesting you try curling your hair with heated rollers as it will fall out - you could ideally do with a perm foundation in your hair. SC.”

But he cautioned, “You are really at an important point with your hair, simply because if you want to have a perm you cannot have the highlights done. Perms work best on hair that has no lightening colour on it and certainly no bleach. If you opt to let the perm do your style statement work for you (rather than the colour), then you can’t have highlights in your hair. SC.”

So, I tried a temporary perm first

In February 2008, on Scott’s recommendation, my hairdresser Richard used a Nexture perm - a temporary perm (a bit like using a semi-permanent colour) in that it washed out after a couple of weeks.

Scott recommended that I try it again in a few weeks’ time and, if I liked it, to ask Richard to move into an ISO perm, which is the true permanent version of Nexture,

“Because you’ve been eased in gently with the Nexture product you won’t notice any difference, except this time the curls will be permanent and resilient. SC.”

I rather liked the curly look; it reminded of the Eighties when I always had a slightly curly perm. However, being an impatient so’n’so, I decided I’d rather put my energies into the colour experiment and put perms on the back burner. If you’re really interested, I’ve already written more about my perm some time ago.

My hair colour journey begins

I have naturally dark hair which started to go grey in my late twenties and the virtually white roots come through every 3 weeks so I have been colouring it myself at home for the past two hundred years, using a permanent colour off the shelf.

For techies, my base colour is about 5.0 (dark brown).

Scott’s diagnosis was, “I feel you have colour build-up on your hair due to overlaying the colour. I think it might be worth you beginning to use a professional tint range like Wella Koleston - this will cause less build up on your hair and the 6.0 (in their range) will also suit your hair type. 

“As your roots are very white then it might even be the case that you have to switch to a 7.0. In the first instance I would advise that you try and let a hairstylist do your roots for the next few months, at least until a lot of the old colour has grown out. 

“The problem you are going to face is that if you keep putting the colour over the whole head every couple of weeks the hair will start darkening again. I understand that it can be tricky applying the colour yourself (just to the roots) so if you go to a salon and ask them to apply a 6.0 with 10 volume just to your re-growth you will begin to start getting an even re-growth. You should find that it needs doing less often.

“I have an Asian client who is practically white haired and I got her from a 1.0 (black) to a 6/7 mix - she can now get away with six weeks between appointments (whereas she was having to do it every two weeks before). 

“I would say that if you get the salon to do it and you find that the 6.0 is still showing white hair quickly then the next time you go in ask them to mix 6.0 and 7.0 at a 50/50 ratio and apply it - that slightly lighter colour can make all the difference. 

“In addition, if you are going to keep a perm in your hair at some point in the future then having only the roots covered will keep the hair in optimum condition which will allow the perms to take perfectly. SC”

Once again, I had a choice:

• Do I ‘go for it’ and go completely blonde overnight or
• Do I experiment and take it one step at a time?

What should I do?

Read Part 3
‘
Yet another choice to make !’

Fabulous new hair resource will revolutionise your consultations

Scott Cornwall has written a fantastic new book called An Introduction to Hair for Image, Colour Consultants and Stylists.

• A beginners guide for Image, Colour Consultants and Stylists everywhere to learn how to safely advise clients in the topic of hair in relation to overall image. Written by top UK hair consultant Scott Cornwall.

For decades Image, Colour Consultants and Stylists have been trying to find that magical element that will make their business complete, but for love nor money it has proven impossible to find a hairdresser who understands the world of image, colour and style.

Fear no more!

Hair Consultant Scott Cornwall resolves this issue in ‘An Introduction to Hair’ which teaches the Image professional in eleven easy chapters how to:

• Handle the subject of hair in your client consultation
• Conduct your own mini hair consultations
• Correctly diagnose the right hair colour for your client
• Identify the best colorant shades and methods to use
• Recognise cuts and styles which work

This fabulous book is available right now

An Introduction to Hair for Image, Colour Consultants and Stylists is available right now. Download it straight to your computer and print it off. 

Scott ran 3 courses for consultants here in June which were utterly amazing. I learnt absolutely loads of new stuff that I would never have found in any book or publication and certainly no other hairdresser would have shared this level of information with me.

YOU can learn from an expert

• This ground-breaking book has been written by Scott Cornwall, a recognised hair expert who has also trained in image, colour and style. Order now
• It will answer all your hair questions and give you so much more confidence when you speak with both clients and hairdressers about hair in relation to image.
• You will love the easy-peasy 5-minute hair colour consultation and the separate 5-minute hair style consultation, both of which you can do with your client within their colour or style consultation.  We’ve even provided the related consultation handouts for you to print off straight away.
• Your clients will be amazed at your ‘expert’ knowledge (and if you’re anything like me, YOU will be amazed at your own level of knowledge when you’ve finished this book). It’s absolutely fascinating. Order now

Let’s face it - every lady wants to talk about her hair.

How confident are you right now talking about hair to your clients?

Do you understand chemical colour processes, hair texture, or the difference between a cut and a style? No, neither did I until I read Scott’s book.

Adding this expert hair resource to your tool kit will:

• give YOU the confidence to talk knowledgably to your clients about their hair colour and style
• give you insider secrets that only trained hair colourists have known (until now)
• help you provide so much more value to your clients

If you don’t offer this information to your clients, someone else soon will!

So be the first in your area and order now

Pause for Thought

“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.”
- Victor Frankl -

What would YOU like to change?

The 3rd part of my hair colour journey

• To go from darkest brown to pale white blonde

Part 3
Yet another choice to make

Once again, I was faced with a choice:

• Do I ‘go for it’ and go completely blonde overnight or
• Do I experiment and take it one step at a time? 

Scott advised, “The experiment approach is to immediately have fine bleach highlights weaved through the whole top section and then left to develop to go a pale yellow.  Your re-growth can have the 6.0 applied whilst these foils are developing.  Once the bleach had lightened the hair, the bleach is rinsed and lightly washed then rough dried and a 8.0/beige/ash is applied to the whole head (mixed with 10 volume peroxide).

“This beige-ash blonde colour will tone all the bleached hair a cool natural dark blonde, so once these highlights mix up with your darker base colour, your hair will look a cool tawny brunette.  The benefit here is that your roots will not need doing as much.

“I have attached a photo of the ‘tawny’ brunette/blonde colour I spoke to you about which works for Winters.  This colour is on the pop star Rachel Stevens, who is a Winter but like most young pop stars is covered in fake tan so she looks a bit orange. But if you look closely, you will see that her hair has a very mixed brunette-blonde tone which is achieved by highlighting (ash) brown hair and then toning the highlights beige blonde. SC.”

I decided to become the ‘experiment’ and take it one step at a time.

Scott and I agreed that I would aim for a ‘Tawny Winter’ colour as an interim look but, again, he warned me that I’d quickly get tired of it. He knows me far too well!

In March 2008, Richard applied a dark blonde (6.0) to the roots only and my hair began to gradually get lighter and lighter over the following 4 months. 

Then we ran 3 hair colour and style training courses for image professionals in June and July. I just couldn’t get my notes down fast enough. This hair colour training is absolutely fascinating stuff and Scott gave everyone in the room some great ideas for their own hair - about how to change their hair colour or style, or both. He checked on how my colour changes were coming along and…

by August, Scott said it was time to go blonder…

The first task was to start getting my white roots covered with a lighter blonde.

Scott recommended putting a 9.0 on the roots only.  My hairdresser bottled out (get it? bottled out… oh, please yourself) and decided to put an 8.0 on the roots.

I wrote to Scott, “I was expecting a definite silver streak down the parting but that only appears when you flatten the hair out. It just seems to blend in right now. Around the hairline it hardly looks any different from the 6.0 / 7.0 mix they were applying before!”

Scott told me, “After the roots have grown down a while your hair will start looking a soft muted (mousey) blonde colour – which would be too dull for your colouring, so that’s why you might start wanting to applying even a 6.0 Colour Fresh* over the whole head to keep the hair looking deeper and more vibrant. 

“Once you have a whole head of (ideally) 9.0, you can get Richard to apply tons of high lift tint ashes, platinums and pearls in foils and it will transform your hair to that Diamond Winter colour you are seeking. But keeping the contrast in the meantime with the Colour Fresh 6.0 is the best idea – see how you get on over the next few months and gauge the necessity of the Colour Fresh yourself. SC.”

* Colour Fresh is a semi-permanent hair colour product by Wella. It’s available in a variety of shades and fades out over about 6 to 10 washes. Your salon wil be able to supply you with this.

For another 5 months, the salon continued these root tints together with the Colour Fresh and my overall hair colour changed from mid brown to light brown to dark blonde. 

Shocked at how dull my hair looked

Over Christmas 2008, some sneaky little person took this photo of me at a family gathering and I was shocked by the dullness of my hair colour.

I had slowly morphed into a Soft-muted blonde and I looked and felt very grey.

It was time to get rid of this awful, dreadful, vile, uninspiring colour. Now don’t get worked up here - it may look absolutely fine on you, or on someone you know, but on me, it’s absolutely ghastly.

Secret ingredient gets rid of the brown

The next task was to get rid of as much artificial dark brown as possible and in January 2009 Scott developed a brand-new product for me to try,

“A permanent colour remover isn’t like a bleach or peroxide – it’s a formula that enters the hair and shrinks artificial colour pigments allowing them to be rinsed away.  It then displays the real hair colour which lies underneath (so in your case this would be white).  In the UK there hasn’t been a decent version of a colour remover which doesn’t contain bleach or peroxide.  However I have now created a colour remover called Colour B4 which is completely ammonia and peroxide free and will remove your permanent colour.”

In February and after much initial sceptism from Richard, my hairdresser, together with all his staff who investigated the box and its contents in absolute disbelief, “We used the Colour B4 at the salon, just on the brown from about halfway down to the ends.  I’ve never had my hair washed so many times!  Richard and Callie (the colourist) agreed that it had changed from a 5.0/4.0 to a 7.0.  Callie used about ¾ of the bottle and they were all pleased but totally amazed at the excellent condition of my hair afterwards.

“They weren’t keen to try the whole process again just in case the condition deteriorated so put an 8.0 on the top with pastel through the bit that had been brown to blend it in. It is certainly blonde on top but still blonde-> caramel -> brownish at the ends. KB.”

And the results?

I sent Scott this photo, “This is about a week and a half after the Colour B4 treatment. I can certainly handle the current colour but I can see the caramel and would really like to be Dramatic again.  I really want to go to full-blown Diamond Winter now. 

“I’ve still not realised in my head that I’m no longer dark.  I still refer to myself as the archetypal dark-haired, pale-skinned, bright-eyed Winter when I’m running training courses! And I found myself sifting through a clothes catalogue the other day with the same mindset.  It is obviously going to take some time to get my head around being blonde! KB.”

Scott replied: “I can absolutely see what you mean.  Your hair is soft muted which isn’t right for you at all.  However, you’ve done really well getting through this awkward stage and I can see by the photos that you’ve actually shifted all the old brown colour.  Looking at the top and front I can see all your pale blonde hair.  My advice to you now would be go for it 100%. SC.”

Read the final Part 4
‘At last - I go completely blonde!’

How to remove unwanted artificial hair colour

Scott has developed his own branded haircare product range and you can buy Colour B4 colour remover that I used either online or straight off the shelves in Boots.

I recommend the extra strength version but if you’re in any doubt, book your own individual personal hair consultation with Scott Cornwall now - just like wot I did (sorry - I’m just a massive Eric and Ernie fan) See below for how.

Your very own personalised Hair Analysis with Scott Cornwall

This is exactly how my own hair journey began. Scott analysed what hair colour and style he thought I should be wearing to go with my colouring and my style personality. He’s so very clever that if you don’t get this done soon, you’ll regret it.

If you’re not an image professional and you would like to attend one of Scott’s amazing Hair Analysis Classes to discover your own hair colour and style, then contact him now for details of a class that you could join near you.

Are you an Image Professional?

We have a fantastic opportunity for you and your clients to receive personalised hair colour and style information from the man himself.

Book Scott Cornwall now to run Hair Analysis Classes for your clients on your own premises. You will:

• complete the service you offer to include client-specific hair guidance
• raise the prestige of your businesss
• earn commissions
• receive your own hair consultation absolutely free!

Download all the details here but beware! This opportunity if only for a limited time. The reason why is explained in this document.

Scott is already talking about a tour of Australia and New Zealand where he will be running these Hair Analysis Classes, amongst other things. Contact him directly for more details.

Pause for Thought

“Dream what you want to dream; go where you want to go; be what you want to be, because you have only one life and one chance to do all the things you want to do.”
– Anon -

What is YOUR dream, and why aren’t you living it right now?