Discover your color palette and your style type.

Finding Your Best Colors as an Ethereal

1/15/2020

This is the last post in a series of posts exploring how to combine your personal color palette with your style type.

Each of the 12 color palettes has a unique rainbow of colors. When you know your own correct palette, you know dozens of colors that are gorgeous on your skin. But because different colors express feelings and imply different associations, particular colors within your personal palette will be particularly harmonious for you, depending on your style type.

If your beauty is Ethereal, it's a grown-up kind of beauty, and it's noticeably feminine, but not in a girly or sexy way. You may have been told that your beauty is "unusual" or "striking." You may have a long or oval face, a high forehead, a long nose, gently sculpted cheekbones, and wise, oval eyes.

Ethereal beauty reads as supremely peaceful and gentle. Because of this, an Ethereal woman will look good in gentle gradations of color.

(This is true even if her palette colors are very saturated; bright colors can still grade gently into each other, and the effect will feel gentle on a woman whose coloring can carry those bright colors.

Ethereal beauty feels intangible, so if you're an Ethereal type, you'll also be flattered by your palest neutrals. Wearing them together helps to project a light-as-air feeling.

Dawn and dusk are magical, in-between times, so they belong to Ethereal. Combinations from your palette that suggest sunrises and sunsets will be good for you.

Ethereal beauty feels like it's from another world, and the sea and the sky are metaphors for the otherworldly. (They're the "other worlds" in this world!) So you'll feel right in combinations of your deep and mid-range greens, blue-greens, blues, and purples.

Shimmer is Ethereal, so sheeny silver and gold fabrics are great for Ethereals. The non-shimmery versions of those metals -- in other words, yellows, golds, tans, and grays -- can be beautiful on you too, especially when they're paired with other Ethereal colors.

Almost all women are blended types, not pure types. (Based on my experience doing personal style analysis, I estimate about 2% of women are pure types.) So even if your beauty is strongly Ethereal, you likely have at least one other core essence playing a role in your overall impression. That gives you more options, color-wise. (Check out my posts from the last few weeks to read about colors for the other six core essences.)

If you don't love the Ethereal tones in your palette, focus on your second or third essence for your color schemes, and bring Ethereal into your look in other aspects

I'm an Ethereal Natural, and I have always gravitated to blues and greens. It's interesting that blues and greens are two hues where Ethereal and Natural overlap!

If you're an Ethereal blend, how do you use color? Please share in the comments!

40 Comments

1/16/2020 11:25:41 pm

Wow! I did not expect so much color in this one. This post also brings home to me that the colors and the ID specific to them are used in each post, so, same colors, per our season, different fabrics and styling. Great series, thank you again Rachel.

Miranda

1/16/2020 11:50:22 pm

Whoa. Ethereal gets a lot more color and range of value than I thought. I have been confused for a long time because I'm not great in extremely light colors, but the saturation of Romantic colors was kinda eh on me. Bright Gamine colors make me happy and look pretty good, but they're not my magic colors. Even compared to the Soft Summer palette, the colors that look truly beautiful on me are unusually muted. Honestly, I can do quite a few colors off the Soft Autumn palette as long as they're very muted and not too warm, and they will look better than a good chunk of the Soft Summer palette.
I feel a bit silly because when Ethereal colors were described as very soft, I was connecting that to them being light and not to their saturation levels. If a characteristic of Ethereal is that the colors are unusually muted, I have finally figured out my colors.
FINALLY.
Intended recipe for REG: Romantic silhouette, Ethereal Gamine colors (mid-range, unusually muted, and triadic), and Ethereal Gamine accessories.
Seriously, I've been obsessing over the color question for at least a year and a half now.

Melina

1/17/2020 02:23:20 am

Hmm, I don't think it says here that Ethereal colors are unusually muted, per se? It even mentions very saturated colors being good, in case of those who're of a saturated season. Of course, if one is a Soft season & Ethereal, then their best colors are bound to be very muted. ;)

Being at least 25% Ethereal, I relate to a lot in here, and glad to know that very light colors are not a necessity (as I don't really like them very much). I do feel Ethereal is the most visually beautiful of all the essences, on its own - I just can't stop looking at these magnificent gowns...! Wow.

Ella

1/17/2020 09:50:19 am

Ethereal colours are so magical and gorgeous! Lucky gals :)

Eunice Pang

1/17/2020 10:10:09 am

Hi, first time posting:)

I've self-typed, since I'm from Asia and am a student, and what I've found is that I'm most likely a Bright Spring and Dramatic Classic. But something felt like it was missing in my DC essence, so I was wondering if I'm missing a tertiary essence. I don't quite fit when it comes to Ingenue (people think i look old when I'm younger and young as I'm coming into my early twenties) and Gamine irritates me plus my features are evenly spaced. My figure is very moderate and I often get comments on being slender and tall even at 5'6. I became confused when I started reading up on Ethereal types, as many required a muting of colours and a gently applied face of cosmetics. Thank you for showing Ethereal bright colours!!!

May I also ask for makeup and more accessory suggestions for the EDC board, as well as a more casual pairing for day to day?? Thank you!!!

1/17/2020 10:44:55 am

Just an idea, I'd love an article about hair colour & various essences! There are some about hair styles, but not hair colours, as far as I know.

Ignacia

1/18/2020 10:14:36 pm

That could be fun! Just some guesses of mine:

Gamine should be able to get away with dying her hair in crazy colors (or in multicolor styles). Natural should probably avoid most of those. Ingenue should probably avoid going too dark, and Romantic would look great in dark and rich shades (like auburn).

Ethereal is probably great in ombre. Also, I noticed a long time ago that the people that I feel can get away with platinum blond hair seem to have some Ethereal in them (ie: Evanna Lynch). I think it´s because it looks like they have light emanating from them, like some sort of halo effect.

Ethereal could also look great with natural grey hair, I think. It would fit their "wise" appearence, and give them a similar halo effect to the one I described above.

I feel like perhaps Dramatic could look good with a "big block" of hair of the same color, and avoid highlights and lowlights. Sort of like their head-to-toe, monochromatic look in clothes, but the hair version of it XD.

1/27/2020 10:10:27 am

I think hair color would largely depend on individual season the most but people have mentioned that I may have a significant amount of E (it seems to be my dominant type). I'm also neutral leaning towards cool toned. I'm not sure about platinum (but my natural skin tone is not fair, and I personally find that platinum is one of the hardest colors to pull off completely). I have had lilac/silver hair and found it to be quite flattering. I also have found pastel hair to be good as well, but not bright pastel, but more of a faded color with a silvery tint to it.

1/19/2020 08:40:41 am

Interesting ideas, Ignacia! :) And agree with nearly all of them. Only for Romantics, I'd say red hair would suit them, rather than dark (depending also on their season, of course), as red is such a Romantic colour? ;) (I admit that's also as I have R myself and cannot go much darker, but I can go red. ;))
Further, I think Classic and Natural would have to avoid any unnatural hair colours (which are so popular nowadays), they just don't suit them at all. :)

Not sure about Ethereal & grey hair, as I have E and yet don't feel that grey would suit me at all - see my earlier comment below this one. But as i also mention in that comment, that's probably due to my other essences, R, I & C; they override the E in that respect, I feel.

1/17/2020 10:48:07 am

One reason for my above suggestion is that letting your hair go gray seems very popular nowadays, but for anyone with Romantic, Ingenue and Classic (or all of them, like me), that might not be a flattering look at all... At least I know for sure I won't be going gray anytime soon (or even not so soon) ;)

Vanessa

1/17/2020 12:17:30 pm

Thank you Rachel for your great articles, they helped me a lot. I always struggled to find good outfits which suit me well.
With the help of your stylecalculator I´ve typed myself as a classic with some kind of ethereal and romantic.
I think the light summer palette is the best for me, so these posts helped me to better understand how I can use the different colors of my palette in my own outfits.
I try to use this knowledge now to buy new pieces of clothes...unfortunately most of the pieces in my wardrobe are more natural and casual style at the moment...and I finally realized that I need a lot of classic with soft and feminine details.
Thank you! :)

1/17/2020 03:31:43 pm

Ah! This post is great!

Thank you so much for all the great info. I had just been wondering if 'soft & light' was all ethereal consisted of. But this makes such a clear visual impression of how even darker, richer colors can be ethereal if put together in an otherwordly way. I especially love the starry look of the purple dress.

It's too bad so many of these ethereal colors only seem to show up in runway dresses. I see a lot less of these color schemes in everyday wear.

Still, this answers my question. Also, it helps me clarify my style ID much more fully. I clearly favor ethereal color schemes, without the ombre effects. I think I have way too much classic for ombre to work for me. But I kept wondering why light pink + light blue or light yellow + soft greys worked so well. I thought it must be some gamine or ingenue color blocking going on. Well, no, I definitely do best in ethereal color schemes, but in very traditional natural & classic clothing.

I recall you saying once that it often helps to wear items related to certain style IDs next to or relating to the the features most strongly affected by that ID. So if your face is very romantic, but the body is very natural, go for natural lines in the clothes, but more romantic items/styles/makeup/hair around the face. I find my coloring/face has some ethereal -- I don't have enough E for ethereal clothes to work really well, but it's enough for my best colors & hair and makeup to be more ethereal.

All that's to say, this is great info. Thank you!

1/18/2020 12:31:46 pm

Oh, one additional thought about color schemes:

Color Seeds are awesome -- I've had really great luck going to Pinterest and looking for "color seeds" or similar. It brings up pictures of... Whatever. Ice cream. A flower. A sunset. A sailboat. A pile of logs. Fallen leaves. Cranberries. A cup of coffee.

And then at the bottom, there's a swatch of colors taken from the photo. Interestingly, they really fit what you're saying here.

The sunset colors really look more ethereal. The candy colors have an ingenue cast. Pictures of natural objects fit the natural color scheme. Nautical pictures are very classic, and so on.

Anyhow, just a thought, but I find it helped to look at an image and think "ah, that's romantic ingenue" (a delicate small rose) or "totally dramatic natural" (a landscape with storm clouds) and then look to the color scheme that goes with it.

A thought anyhow!

1/25/2020 12:27:31 am

Thanks! I really love color seeds, but didn't know what they were called. Now I can Google them!

1/17/2020 04:57:56 pm

Is this top Ethereal? If not, what essence(s) is this? I’m new to this system but this is my favorite top that I own!

https://www.target.com/p/women-39-s-crewneck-cropped-cable-sweater-wild-fable-8482-lavender-xs/-/A-77378166

1/18/2020 10:39:15 am

The colour is a pastel, so that's ingenue. It's cropped, which is a gamine thing. Cable-knit sweaters are natural, I believe, so NGI. It's certainly styled that way with the jeans (natural) and headband (ingenue).

1/20/2020 07:07:23 pm

Hm.. what about this top?

https://www.drygoodsusa.com/Product.aspx?ID=1017&pos=4&pg=1

1/18/2020 09:23:29 pm

Ethereal Ingenue is my first impression, but I think it could work for other ones too. My thought process is this:

- Very light and muted pastel pink, works for both Etheral and Ingenue.

- It's cropped, so it's a bit shorter than you'd expect. That works for both youthful essences (Ingenue and Gamine).

-That "boxy" silhouette is very typical Gamine.

- The pattern is made of braids (wich are Ethereal) and they read more delicate than rustic, so I think Ethereal > Natural. However, Natural usually does well in all kinds of knitted tops.

-The dropped shoulder is a Natural thing.

So, depending of how you style it, I think it could work for NI, GI, GE, EI and their three essence mixes. I could also see it for CGI, CGE or CEI.

1/18/2020 03:45:23 pm

Ella, cable sweaters are N, but if sweater is fitted and cables has s shape it might also be Ethereal- Does anyone agree? (but this is definitely N. )

1/18/2020 04:30:28 pm

I find most slim cable sweaters are natural classic. I think the braiding effects could look ethereal (S-curves) but often cables are very even & traditional (classic) and they add a lot of bulk to the knit (natural). A lot of well-established knitting patterns look pretty classic to me -- very traditional and expected, lots of regular, even stitches. The finer the gauge, the more classic-natural, the more uneven or textured, the more natural.

Ethereal sweaters tend to be really light, airy, see-through, almost organic in their knit pattern -- more like web or gossamer than what we think of as knit. Knit suggests someone made the garment -- thus more natural, earthy, and clearly constructed. Ethereal is is less earthbound -- even ethereal natural has more of a hint of otherworldly construction. At least, that's my observation??

1/18/2020 09:38:52 pm

W, I agree, I think a lot of braided sweaters read more Classic to me, and I think it's because of what you say: traditional, well-stablished pattern, regular shapes and a finer knit (instead of a thicker one). And pure Ethereal sweaters do tend to be more organic and flowy, in general.

However, I think that when you pair Ethereal with an essence that brings structure (like Gamine, Classic or Ingenue) the braided pattern can look quite Ethereal too.

1/19/2020 12:51:52 am

Hi fellow TIB-ers!👋🏽 I recently determined my ID is RNG & I’m wondering if anyone knows of RNG celebrities, stores/brands, style influencers, etc? I’m really just looking for inspo on how other RNGs style themselves (& avoid getting washed out by overly neutral / high contrast NG outfits). For reference, I have medium golden tan skin, bright warm brown eyes, & soft black hair (I have Spring /Autumn coloring, mixed race). Thanks for all the support you guys!💕 #WomenEmpoweringWomen

1/19/2020 06:17:27 am

W. and Ignacia - thank you :)

braided shape might mess in some cases a bit but it is classic - I see it now after your validation :D

1/19/2020 08:51:47 am

This colour thing leads to quite interesting thoughts, actually - would it be so that, for example, a Dark Winter with dominant Ingenue and/or Ethereal would actually be flattered by *lighter* colours than, say, a Bright Spring with dominant Romantic, Classic and/or Dramatic? Because that seems possible to me, based on these principles. :)

1/23/2020 01:03:24 pm

Hi Melind, your comment/question is exactly how I've taken it. You started it well, thank you.

1/25/2020 06:05:54 am

Thank you, J :)

1/19/2020 09:22:59 am

I think it can have interesting consequences in the process of finding your season. For instance, a soft autumn with lots of romantic and no ingenue might think she is true autumn or dark autumn if she doesn't feel at home wearing the lighter colors in her palette.

1/19/2020 11:32:59 am

Oh, that's so true! And indeed it may be one reason why I've had such trouble in figuring out my season. Like for example, I tend to favour dark colours, but that may be just as much due to my style type (blend) as my season ;) So I guess it's wholly possible I may not be a Winter, but a Spring...

Allie

1/21/2020 05:02:54 am

Wow this is so helpful! I’m a romantic ethereal although I’m due to my height, I can pull off romantic ethereal dramatic. I have always liked muted colors and so this just makes perfect sense to me. Love the visual. Thank you so much for doing this!!!!

Victoria

1/21/2020 06:23:12 pm

This post is so timely, because today while I was getting dressed was the “breaking point” for me when I realized that I am not a natural blend (no matter how much I’d like to think it). As an REG, it took me a while to figure this out and it got even more complicated when I considered Ingenue for myself (because of the higher femininity of REG, Ingenue looked off but never terrible either). And though I knew I had youth, I didn’t fee at home in either NI or NG. And while chopping off some length was great.... the layers that I got with the haircut weren’t as great (layers are a natural thing). Just goes to show that even with a talented hairstylist, the style a customer asks for may not suit them and even undermine a stylist’s talent. Though I’m wondering how I can get a REG haircut for curly hair? Would really appreciate any tips or suggestions of any kind concerning REG style identity and non-natural IDs in general.

Anyways, so glad to see the Ethereal community thriving here!!

1/21/2020 07:42:13 pm

What made you realize you were ethereal instead of natural? I'm still a bit unsure of how much of each of those essences I have myself.

I know Ingenue is my dominant essence, and I'm pretty sure now that I have an important part of Romantic too (the article on romantic colors seems to be a final confirmation). However, though RI explains a lot of what looks good next to my face, I still need some longer lines and movement in my clothes.

People usually say I'm very "long and narrow" (even though I'm not that tall), which fits ethereal. My face, though, has some asymmetry, close-set eyes, small forehead and a bit of a strong jawbone and nosebridge, which fit Natural better.

So, I'm still deciding between those two. Right now, I think I lean more towards ethereal, though. Natural's lack of structure is too much for me, it makes me look like a weird sack of potatos, or like I'm a small head swimming in a sea of fabric.

Also, I've noticed that I don't need Natural's ruggedness to make my facial imperfections less noticeable, instead, adding feminine details next to my face seems to work. Perhaps that's because Romantic is asymmetric too?

1/22/2020 11:44:30 pm

Hi Ignacia,

Does the overall look of your face seem long? I'm trying to picture it and it seems like it does. That is usually a sign of Ethereal, as well as a gentleness to the profile. Is the strong forehead and jawline more like Jennifer Aniston, or Greta Garbo? If it is closer to the latter, might I suggest looking at Dramatics? There is a very high overlay between the two.

If it is closer to the former, might I suggest looking at Bryce Dallas Howard? She's an N with strong E - played the nymph in the Lady in the Water, and was deeply fascinating and compelling - and may aid in your journey.

Another thing I found cross checking Ethereal and Natural is the level of smoothness and detail in the fabric.

As I carry small elements of N - square jaw, slight broadness to the lips - I find a relaxed look to my D and C elements a great icing on top. However, increasing the noise of the fabric - such as jean jackets, lack of shoulder hem, too much slack in the overall look, thicker fabrics - becomes too much for me. But an elongation of the fabric and less texture immediately makes it more wearable for me.

If so, rather than Natural, maybe the gentler, shimmering elements of D might correspond to your look, and also (rather than) Romantic being asymmetrical, might it be the C shape curving lines responding to your own lines? Ingenue has it in tiny curlicues of gentle but high impact.

1/27/2020 12:03:12 am

Hey Ignacia! So once I realized that I didn’t have Natural, I knew needed to look at RCG & REG. Over the weekend I determined I was RCG and it has been perfect match!! Really opened my mind to how I can style myself on a daily basis now- without wearing Natural which really weighs me down visually. (I wrote a lot more about my experience in realizing I wasn’t Natural below in my reply to Melina.)

As for ethereal, I know Emily Browning & Ashley Moore (model) are REG. Taking a look at the styles that work (and don’t work) for them may be a good starting point. Lorde is an EG blend, but maybe with some D or N (not romantic). It might be helpful to look at a non-Romantic person with Ethereal too so you can really pinpoint which feminine essence(s) you do or don’t have and where exactly your femininity is coming from. Body does often follow the same lines as your ID, but I would say your facial features take precedence in determining your Style ID over your body shape (referring to when you said you are long and narrow). And I think asymmetry is possible for most every essence (Classics the least but it’s still do able), so I wouldn’t let that rule anything out just yet.

I would start to consider the combined impression of the colors, prints, textures, and shapes of your favorite/best items for a lead in the right direction. For example, if your fave clothing item is a jacket in a deeper color from your palette with a sharp angle in a hard texture, that would indicate Dramatic. If you find you suit floor-length hooded items in a dusty/dusky/muted shade from your palette with long knuckle-length sleeves and gentle sequins (instead of glam sequin) that might indicate Ethereal. And it’s important to consider overlap as you ID yourself as well. For example, if you’re R.E. you might like both glam and gentle sequins/jewels. Or if you are are E.I. you might like both ingenue and ethereal types of butterflies. Hope these tips help! Best wishes on your style journey!

1/22/2020 03:23:43 am

Victoria, I'd also be interested to hear what was the “breaking point” for you while getting dressed? :) (I sometimes get those too ;))

Natural is too unconstructed for me too, like you say, Ignacia, though like you I do have some N features in my face & body, but not remotely enough for N to look good.

1/26/2020 10:06:12 pm

Hi! I should make a correction- after I realized I wasn’t natural, I knew I was either REG or RCG. Since then, I’ve taken time to look deeper & I’ve landed on RGC... and it’s changed my life! All the neatness & simplicity that I’ve always appreciating so much - classic reinforces it, and wearing RCG brings out the that beauty in my features. Wearing other essences makes me look either sloppy or like I’m trying too hard. I know many find classic boring, but in the context of a classic face it really does make them glow! I never get tired of it- and with my gamine, I love how I can push the boundaries on the “new classic”. It’s funny because I’m beginning to realize that even my mannerisms & speech run very Classic... even since I was a child... it’s just something I never noticed up until now!

Melina, to answer your question- my “breaking point” was twofold. First, I loved my gamine -which I have ALOT of- but after a few months of wearing NG outfits, natural hairstyles, and natural makeup I was literally beginning to lose my love & appreciation for youth essences altogether... NI just made it worse, yet it at least satisfied my 50/50 femme/masculine levels, so sometimes I would just settle for that.

Secondly, I think I just became tired of always seeing my features being overwhelmed/underwhelmed on a daily basis by Natural, Dramatic, Ingenue, & Ethereal (which I’ve basically been wearing all my life up till now). Meanwhile, I would see classics choosing their correct Classic items and shining! Another aha moment for me was when I saw someone who was NGC and which made me realize my nose isn’t broader like Natural, and I needed to replace the N with R (I’d been dressing as RNG for a while but I knew that was still a little too masculine leaning for me). I also came across a few non-natural Classics, and realized that -like me- their features weren’t Natural wide/blunt, but they still lacked the Romantic “tiny” nose or full lips I have. Finally, I’ve been compared to classics & non-natural celebs for a while now... And loved ones have always said I’m classy or “an intellectual” but I always figured that because they knew me on a personal level. But even with brand new aquaintances, they are quick to call me “brainy” too. That, and other instances where strangers assume I’m a professional in any given setting (like doctors assuming I’m a fellow co-worker when I’m just a patient & I’m literally not in scrubs😅)... those were all more indicators for me. All in all, I’m just so grateful for this system! It has helped me style myself better, find my place in the “fashion world”, & get a better idea of how people initially perceive my overall “look”. No other system quite has this RGC category except Truth Is Beauty!

1/27/2020 02:28:28 pm

Thanks for your reply, Victoria! I know, it's great to have identified your style ID - it took me long too, I knew I have something else besides REI (that I usually get from the calculator), and went from N to D and now C. Classic really is good at hiding behind other essences, like someone said here ;)

Although, as I've understood it, one's style ID and personality are really two quite distinct things; I remember Rachel writing about this earlier. Of course it's nice if they match, like in your case, but I think one can't really draw conclusions about the style ID based on one's personality? I kind of made that mistake when I considered D as my 4th - now I realize it's more my personality that's dramatic, not so much my flattering lines. ;) I guess don't really have much C in my personality, other than wanting to look polished at all times, which I guess is something. ;) (I'd say R, E and I I have more of in my personality, too.)

Lindsay

1/24/2020 06:01:42 pm

I think Lorde is REG, and she has curly hair too. You might find some inspiration there.

fourseasonslasercenter link

7/3/2020 09:20:11 am

Wow! Amazing taste and sense of fashion! I love how beautiful and other-worldly or out of this world all these styles are for this look!

Kathryn

6/27/2021 06:42:28 am

Rachel,

This was an over-the-top article and really clarified/affirmed some things I have felt. Getting color right has been the last frontier for me--the absolute hardest thing I've had to deal with even though I've gotten a lot of help. Love your very well-considered assessments of color quality and how essence relates to that.

In PSC, my Natural/Angelic essences lead with a 30N/25A split, yet when I tried to dress with this in mind I still kept running into difficulties with line and color. Interestingly, John Kitchener sent me, not to his Natural essence video, but to the Subtle Blended video (there wasn't an Angelic one out yet). He kept stressing Angelic more than Natural even though Natural was 5% more.

So after realizing that normal colors weren't quite doing it for me, and going with my inner authority towards light colors around the face especially, I tried the face test against your pinboards and sure enough, my face looks best with Ethereal lines and colors even though I think I'm physically more Natural. I even find that certain outfits among the Ethereal blends are too heavy or stiff if they lean too far into Natural or Dramatic (one of my tertiaries) or even feel too voluminous if they are too far Natural or Romantic (my runner-up at only 5% behind Angelic in PSC).

You have really answered my questions about where and how I need to bring all my essences into play, plus you have greatly refined my understanding and intuitive sense of color. I find that I have FAR greater leeway in blues and greens, too (Surprise, surprise) as well as in my natural lip color.

Again, thanks so much for your outstanding explanations. This really finishes the process for me.

Benjamin Brown link

10/19/2022 02:08:43 pm

Tough one I though. Create accept blue rest region answer. Avoid change deal rich. Goal film try.
Public sometimes various. Own capital fine. Property type carry fast evening its near.

Truth is Beauty

Finding Your Best Colors as an Ethereal

Leave a Reply.

About Me...

Categories