Reveal your true beauty with personal color analysis (PCA) and personal style analysis.

Where's My 10 Percent Essence?

6/4/2018

If you've used the Style Identity Calculator, you may have seen that your percent totals don't necessarily sum to 100. Sometimes they sum to 90 or 95.

40 plus 25 plus 25 equals 90. Where's that last 10 percent?

A reader wrote me about this recently. What's going on here? Where's that missing ten percent?

Well, you may have noticed that the essences for which you weren't given a value say "negligible" instead of "0."

I created the calculator like this because it's possible that you may have a teeny tiny amount of one or more of those negligible essences, but anything less than 10% really isn't worth bothering with; it has no discernible impact on your look. I din't want to provide that information, because I felt like it might inaccurately imply to women that the 10% is meaningful.

But maybe, like the reader who recently wrote me, you're curious about that missing 10%. I might be, if I were you! :-)

If you have a missing 10%, and you want to know what it is -- just for the sake of satisfying your curiosity -- here's what I recommend:

Use the key at the end of the calculator to list out the Style IDs of every board you gave yourself points for.

The key at the end of the Style Identity Calculator. Use it for determining which board is which.

Manually count how many times each of the seven essences appears in the name of a board you chose.

Whichever essence appears the most frequently after the essences identified in your total is likely responsible for any missing 10%.

You can of course ignore it altogether, and perhaps you should.

But you can also use the missing essence as a "filler" to complete any small part of an ensemble that's missing.

For example, I have 10% Classic, and I almost always ignore it. But I can also use it to justify, for example, a little Classic pin, or a bit of Classic trim, if that element can't be avoided in an ensemble that otherwise works for me.

You can also use a missing 10% as an enhancer to one of your existing essences. So, for example, if you find out you have a teeny weeny smidge of Gamine, you can add Gamine's youthfulness to a 30% Ingenue to make it "extra childlike," or add Gamine's tailoring to a 40% Classic to make it "extra tailored."

Not sure of your Style ID? The Style Identity Calculator is affordable, and many women have had a great experience with it. You may also consider investing in a more detailed and personal Virtual Analysis.

91 Comments

Rosetta

6/4/2018 11:42:26 am

Interesting! Every time I do the calculator, I get 30% each of Romantic, Ethereal and Ingenue; but I have myself added some Natural to my blend, also as a tweak because of my body, and all the corresponding blends with N suit me very well too, i.e. RNI, ENI, REN, etc. So I obviously suspect my missing 10% is N, though have never checked it the way described; also, I suspect I have a tiny smidge of Classic, though no idea where that percentage might lurk ;)

I definitely think 10% is not negligible, but definitely worth bothering with; it is for me, at least! I realize it may confuse some, but for me all the essences I have even a tiny bit of are important - I'm not complete without them! :)

Rosetta

6/4/2018 12:13:17 pm

Actually, I re-did the calculator again just now out of interest, after reading this article, and this time got 25% each of Romantic, Ethereal, Ingenue, and Natural ;) So it seems I have been right all along ;) (Though after changing just a few scores a little bit, it went back to 30% each of R, E & I. Intriguing.)

Shawna

6/6/2018 05:41:59 pm

Rosetta, I to am REI but I think my 10% is classic. I have mostly gravitated to classic clothing and your comments about wanting that bit of natural add to my idea that those of us without a lot of or any classic or natural probably feel it is both difficult to find clothing or difficult to dress like a 'normal' person. In Western culture at least, Classic is essentially business attire and sometimes formal attire and Natural is casual wear or relaxed business. Adding Dramatic, Ingenue or Romantic is sort of stepping away from the norms and if we aren't prone to trying to look different from everyone else this might be something we have actually avoided. Perhaps I am full of nonsense but this is what I am currently thinking.

Rosetta

6/7/2018 04:24:10 am

I think you definitely have a point, Shawna; one only has to take one look at the otherwise lovely & beautiful REI board here, to see that it's not really something you can go around dressed as in everyday life! ;) (At least in current Western societies, as you said, too.) That's one reason I tweaked mine with N, to be able to find items one can actually wear in everyday life (though the tweaking is partly also because of my body).

Leighah

6/4/2018 11:49:54 am

Mine is 30 romantic, 30 natural, 30 ethereal. Leaving 10. I know Andrea Flaumer advises that a bit of Classic (being both masculine and feminine) can be pulled off by anyone (or variations in personal style ID like a more flowy white shirt etc.) What are your thoughts on that, Rachel? Classic also can pull things together a bit in a work setting it seems.

6/4/2018 01:34:53 pm

Not Rachel, but I feel like everyone is expected to conform to looking good in Classic work/formal clothes as well as Natural casual wear. I'm not sure this is actually flattering on everyone so much as it's "expected," and we see people in these styles so often that we don't react viscerally when the clothes are out of sync with their faces. Our perception of "work" clothes as being "boring" or "stodgy" would indicate that they indeed are not flattering on the majority of non-Classics and not complicated enough for many people's features. That being said, I can imagine many variations on a "flowy white shirt" that would genuinely suit various style IDs. Like an avant-garde structural white top for D and a frilly white blouse for I/R - you could incorporate a "button down" element in all of these and they would still work.

I have questioned, though, if the Kibbe concept of Classic as "totally balanced" between "yin" and "yang," rather than Classic as being "perfect," bears a lot of truth and may be an easier way for people to conceive of the ID. Like most strong Classics (at least as I would imagine!), I struggled to think of my features as "perfect" as Rachel described them, especially since "perfect" in our current culture is defined more by extremes than by balance. (I think some type of D-R-N would probably be "perfect" in our culture, but certainly not flattered by Classic clothes). But I can more confidently recognize the somewhat androgynous, even, "chiseled but not sharp" elements in my face and see those repeated in a flattering way by Classic clothes. I wonder too if people who may not be typically "Classic," but who have a lot of androgyny (but not in a childlike way), may be unsuspectingly flattered by C styles.

Also curious if one's masculine-feminine ratio can influence what "side" of Classic they fall on. A lot of preppy C clothes are not really gendered (which was originally rooted in Puritan ideals about sexlessness, passed down through the New England upper class who originally popularized those styles...) but I wonder if a strong C with other masculine IDs might look better in suits (or variations on them) than sweater sets or midi skirts, which have Ingenue associations for me, strangely enough.

6/4/2018 07:11:06 pm

Interesting! Really good thoughts on classic and why it works.

In looking through my shopping guide, I find I can take or leave the classic elements. They're not bad, because they're "expected", as you say. But they contribute nothing necessary for me. I imagine a true classic would find they must do classic elements. So I guess classic is my 10%.

What I find is, as you say, the mix of balanced masculine/feminine is primary for me - and that hard/soft balance looks classic at first. But breaking down the elements of my look, I actually require a different source of balance.

Gabriella

6/5/2018 02:02:17 am

I totally agree, AM. Classic work/formal clothes are not flattering on everyone. And Natural casual wear is only flattering for Naturals.
Everybody can dress formal without going Classic. And every style-ID has its own casual wear.

Alex

6/5/2018 07:50:44 am

I'm mostly Natural with some Ethereal. Once, when I was dressed in a business suit for an event, I asked a friend, "Do I look appropriately corporate?" Her response was, "No. You look like an artist pretending to be corporate." *Sigh*

Alex

6/5/2018 08:16:21 am

I do find, as a Natural, that I can pull off a pant suit with relaxed lines. But a pencil skirt on me is so wrong you can't even express the wrongness!

My office is pretty casual, thank goodness, so my regular work outfit is a relaxed-fit oxford shirt with the sleeves rolled up and relaxed-fit cotton trousers. (My only Ethereal element in the office is my earrings.) It's professional enough and comfortable enough, so it works well, and feels like me, not like a fake Classic!

6/5/2018 11:01:42 am

W, I agree those of us with almost exact masculine/feminine balance need to personalize how that balance is going to look. And C is not always the answer. I think that C is not just defined by its masculine/feminine and proportional balance but by the "disappearing" act that C features play in the context of too much detail and too many disorganized lines. I think this can be flattered by typically C, conservative clothes, but I also think that so long as everything near the face is restrained, so as not to compete, and there's a luxe/somewhat formal vibe going on (which can come down to material, perfect tailoring - if a piece is cut slightly wrong on me, it's extremely apparent), C features will be flattered. (Though I have been just bowing to the fact that I am probably primarily C, or at least as C as E, and have been feeling very much "myself," very much seen without other lines competing with my face, in perfectly cut polo shirts and navy cardigans.)

And Alex, that's so funny. I am an artist who is often mistaken for a law student (this conundrum is actually really useful at the types of events you mentioned where a suit is appropriate - I'm seeing now that looking so "myself" in super-professional attire absolutely helps me appear at ease and succeed in these settings despite my anxiety about networking!). While I was so resistant to dressing in this sort of attire for so long, because I felt it compromised who I actually was, I'm realizing how dressing truthfully actually helps people to see our personalities more clearly - the "seeing the woman, not the dress" sort of deal. I am so much more imposing as a real Classic than as a fake Dramatic, so much more feminine and pretty as a real Ethereal than a fake Romantic, so much better with N masculine touches than G bow ties/accessories that look confusing and wrong on me.

6/5/2018 06:41:55 pm

A RDN blend does sound about right for the current standard of beauty in Western culture (though a lot of women with Gamine features also seem to be very popular), but I'm going to get all semantic and argue that beautiful does not equate to perfect. That's kind of the whole point of this system is that six out of the seven essences are beautiful in their deviations and exaggerations!

There's also the fact that standards of beauty change every decade or so, whereas Classic beauty is timeless and traditional rather than trendy. I always envision Classic perfection as the Platonic ideal of human appearance (notice not the Platonic ideal of man or woman, but human being regardless of gender :) ). If you stripped a face of all the signifiers of age, gender, and individual variation, you'd basically be left with the prototype of a Classic.

Greek art and its emulators (Roman and Renaissance art) prized Classic beauty. The faces of subjects in Greek-derived art often have that "chiseled but not sharp" look, and I don't think it's coincidence that nudity is favored for those subjects--you don't get less detailed than that!

6/6/2018 12:17:49 am

KC, the interesting thing about defining C as derived from a Greco-Roman ideal (which only partly works, as it excludes people of color) is that the "classical" ideal of beauty is so unpopular in our current culture - and some features of classical art, such "Roman" noses, are considered actively ugly, or, at best, "unconventional." I think we would tend to see a Greek statue or Renaissance painting as having Ethereal elements because that particular depiction of beauty, while "mathematically" beautiful and certainly aesthetically appealing, is somewhat alien to our modern sensibilities.

The notion of a consistent "beauty" detached from cultural standards is interesting to me. You can argue either way, I think.

Rosetta

6/6/2018 03:49:50 am

Yes, it's so true what AM said, that everyone nowadays is expected to conform to looking good in Classic work/formal clothes & Natural casual wear!! And both (on their own) are very bad for me.

I'd love to see examples of, for example, Romantic and/or Ingenue casual wear! ;) And Ethereal and/or Ingenue work clothes. I have my own ideas of those, of course (being a REI with some N), but they don't seem to fit other people's - i.e. what I find casual on me is something else (like party wear) in most other people's opinion... Oh well.

Alex

6/7/2018 08:25:15 am

AM: Looking so "yourself" in super-professional attire must indeed be an advantage in those settings, and help you appear at ease and succeed! I have anxiety about networking, too, and I find that what I wear makes a big difference. I used to have a super-Classic suit that was just all wrong on me, and it heightened my anxiety. Now I have a much more Natural suit and it makes me feel so much more authentic, and therefore more at ease - yes, I'm dressed in a suit, but I'm still ME. It's helped my anxiety and made me more successful. (Thank you, Rachel!) As you say, dressing truthfully helps people see us more clearly.

Alex

6/7/2018 08:30:52 am

KC, the idea that Classic beauty is a Platonic ideal, that if you took away all signifiers you'd be left with Classic - that is fascinating!!

Megan

6/7/2018 05:27:25 pm

Really interesting that you say R/D/N may be the cultural ideal. As an R/D, I often feel like I'm going to be judged for looking too dressed-up and/or sexy--and now I'm thinking that this is due in part to the fact that I have basically zero Natural in my style identity. In theory, I enjoy having a "dressy" style ID, but in practice, I do feel like having some N would be helpful.

6/4/2018 01:13:03 pm

I'm disappointed the calculator only works for PCs! I think the 10 percent essence(s) could be significant if it contributed to your masculine or feminine ratio - I would like to know mine for this reason, though I suspect from all Kibbe quizzes/engagement with the community here that I am totally split even. Is there any way to access this if you only have Macs?

Victoria

6/4/2018 05:40:35 pm

It works fine on my Mac! It just comes up in Excel. :)

Janet

6/4/2018 07:04:00 pm

It also works on my Mac. I use Googlesheets.

Nancy

6/6/2018 03:33:42 am

Yes, maybe a RDN blend is the current standard of beauty in Western culture. I don't know if you have noticed it, but when it comes to beauty ideals it seems that the Romantic essence is always envolved. And personally I find that a little boring. It's so traditional! And old- fashioned. A blend without the Romantic essence would make a much more interesting and contemporary beauty ideal in my opinion.

6/6/2018 10:27:47 am

Has R always been included in depictions of female beauty? I feel like if you go very far back (say, to the ancients, as we were discussing above) the depictions are beautiful in a more aloof or eerie way and totally detached from anything we would deem "sexy." It's only once you get into the mid-Renaissance that you start to see Romantic features consistently included in portraits of women, and even then it's not all the time. Even among Old Hollywood stars - Marilyn and Elizabeth Taylor have a lot of R, but I see no R in Veronica Lake, Greta Garbo, etc.

While R is still very "in" (even though the body totally fell out of fashion for awhile in the 2000s - remember when people rediscovered that an hourglass figure was attractive with the Kardashians?) I think we do have an appreciation, through our culture's fixation on the traits we see in runway models, with D, E, and "Flamboyant Natural" beauty. However, I'm not convinced that this beauty appeals to men so much as women aspire to mold themselves to it.

Perhaps there have always been two standards of beauty this way, and what we see reflected in a lot of art is the "rare" beauty that is fascinating but not necessarily sexy. Or perhaps past concepts of "sexy" were contrary to what we define that way today, and the R essence was not necessarily always considered the "sexy" one, even if it has always been the most "womanly" and consistently flattered by the same lines.

I've also wondered if R is an exceptional essence that you don't see a lot, or if R (probably mixed with something else) is the "feminine" equivalent of N - the mostly earthly, "common" femininity. (It does not make sense to me that N would be most common among women as it is a masculine essence, unless I am misunderstanding how this works and there are many women without feminine essences).

Ilona

6/26/2018 12:46:28 pm

Works well on my Mac. The sheet opens up in Numbers. Some fonts are not supported. I checked my results on our old PC laptop and they were the same.

Victoria

6/4/2018 05:51:43 pm

I came out 30% each Romantic, Natural, and Gamine. I looked at the boards and have two appearances each of Dramatic, Ingenue, and Classic. The results make perfect sense for me, especially based on the two other analyses I've had, which also showed me as having a mix of these types. :)
PS- Do you think Halle Berry is a RNG? I know she's a Kibbe Soft Gamine, but I see her looking great with natural touches, which she seems to favor anyway...

Nancy

6/5/2018 02:08:09 am

I think Halle Berry is a DRG.

Victoria

6/5/2018 10:45:43 am

Nancy, that was certainly my other thought as well. I do see her crushing some relaxed looks with natural fabrics, accents, and draping. She can also rock a boho vibe I only see working on Naturals. I see the dramatic as well, but I guess I chalked it up to the Kibbe version of Soft Gamine which is short dramatic bone structure, and romantic flesh. She's also pretty well muscled, which might be a Natural thing? Hmmmmmm. I'm see both sides. I'm confounded by the fact that she is one of the most beautiful women in the world...she always looks amazing!

6/5/2018 11:16:16 am

Halle Berry is one of those people who is so beautiful, I struggle to see her as being unflattered by anything. But I think that "never looking bad" relates to some N - she looks great "undone."
(She's also an example of what I was discussing above with "perfect-looking but not C" - I was paging through Google and found a picture of her in an actual suit where she looked very, very R, and then another where she looked so G/N athletic, like the suit was constricting rather than harmonious, which brings D into question for her too. Again, not that she looks bad in anything. When her hair is straight and slicked back, more D or C, she still looks great, but not quite like herself, if that makes sense - the G or N tousle/R curving line makes her look more at ease, I think.)

6/5/2018 05:53:08 pm

Halle Berry is like Rihanna in that her beauty sort of rises to meet her styling, in a way. I think of Halle as a Romantic Gamine, simply because I can't see any of the features ascribed to Naturals in her, but I can see boyishness and womanliness in the way she's flattered by tousled, finished-looking pixie cuts and long wavy hair. A loose, shapeless outfit would be incongruous with her face to me.

Nancy

6/7/2018 03:00:58 am

AM, Maybe R hasn't always been included in depictions of female beauty but it is in our time. There is an appreciation, through our culture's fixation on the traits we see in runway models, with D, E and N, but it's not really considered as feminine beauty or sexy. And like you said, this beauty doesn't appeal to men.
To me it seems like if a woman doesn't have R included in her style-ID she can't be considered beautiful or sexy. Most of the Old Hollywood stars had a lot of R: Ava Gardner, Anita Ekberg, Sophia Loren, Raquel Welch etc. Many of the sex symbols had a combination of Dramatic-Romantic. That goes for the sex symbols of today too: Sofia Vergara, Monica Bellucci, Jennifer Lopez etc. In some cases there are Ingenue instead of Romantic or both of them : Grace Kelly, Hedy Lamarr, Rita Hayworth etc.
I think this stinks. In my opinion a Dramatic/Natural can be just as beautiful and sexy as a Romantic blend.
I don't know why so many women and celebrities aspire to mold themselves to the Romantic beauty. They look pathetic with their fake boobs, duck lips etc . They would look much sexier without that. They don't have the body or the face for it. I've heard that the Romantic essence is rare. Not many women are Romantics.

Katja

6/7/2018 03:47:55 am

There are so many kinds of beauty, but a woman always looks her best when she is true to herself. An authentic Dramatic/Natural is more beautiful and sexy than a fake Romantic. No essence or style-ID is more beautiful than the others. They are just different from each other. And beauty and sex appeal don't sit on the outside, they both come from the inside.

Rosetta

6/8/2018 06:19:48 am

"I have heard that the Romantic essence is rare", I wonder who has ever claimed such a thing, and where..?)

Romantic essence definitely isn't rare (in women), after all it's the feminine essence - pure R type may be rare, yes, but not blends with R.

Fake anything is bad, for sure (whether it's fake lashes, teeth or boobs), and that should not be a beauty ideal by any means, but to claim that R is naturally rare in women is simply distorting the issue.

Beth

6/8/2018 08:42:18 am

I agree with the points Rosetta makes above re: Romantic essence.

I also would argue that growing up as a romantic, I’ve never experienced or felt the supposed idealisation on the romantic archetype. I was never a willowy teenager with long coltish limbs- and everyone loved to remind me of that. I’ve frequently been told by men that I’m ‘attractive, but I don’t usually go for girls as ‘big’ as you’ (I’m not even big, I’m the same clothes size as lots of my friends, I just have heavier thighs, bum and bust.) My husband’s friends have commented on how he likes ‘bigger women’ because I don’t have skinny legs.
I look at the media and the majority of idealised women are tall narrow dramatics/ingenues (especially Victoria’s Secret- the supposed ideal of femininity). I just don’t buy the idea that Hollywood and the media in general is swarming with idealised Romantic blends, especially any who are over average height. Can I think of a celebrity who has a similar body to me? Even a thinner version of my body? I’m really struggling, maybe Kat Dennings? But that’s it.

6/4/2018 07:14:27 pm

Quick question: is a boatneck/bateau neckline classic or dramatic?

6/7/2018 05:22:13 pm

I believe boatnecks are usually recommended for Classics and Gamines, but a particularly severe or avante-garde boatneck might work for a Dramatic.

Rosetta

6/8/2018 06:24:53 am

Ah, now I see why that neckline never properly worked for me ;)

Gabriella

6/10/2018 03:19:52 am

Beth and Rosetta, look around you! How many Romantic blends do you see?

Beth

6/10/2018 03:49:52 am

Gabriella,

In day to day life, quite a lot, but not as much as I see Ingenue blends. I stand by my point thought, that overall, the majority of women held up to us as beautiful sex symbols in the current media, are not romantic blends. I think the reality is that the movie industry especially, still likes women to be extremely slim, something which I think is very difficult for women for a lot of romantic to achieve, apart from maybe romantic gamine blends.

I think you only have to look at the James Bond films of recent years, nearly all the Bond girls of the Daniel Craig era have been dramatic blends, and of the two romantic blends we have seen, one, Isabella Rossellini, is a Dramatic as well.

6/10/2018 04:13:51 pm

Do we not see all the R because it's such a formal essence? And R in particular is not flattered by N leisure wear, especially with no makeup and hair undone, so we might "miss" the R? J Lo doesn't look very R in the picture Rachel has in her post when she's in sweatpants. (I agree I see more I and N, however.)

Zara

6/5/2018 08:17:12 pm

I bought this but I just feel so lost, It’s like I can’t look at myself objectively. Same with skin tones, I think I’m a summer, but which summer?

Rosetta

6/6/2018 06:01:43 am

Zara, I respectfully disagree with the "what do you see first" approach that Katja suggested, also known as the Dominant trait theory of seasonal color, used by e.g. CMB, but not Sci/Art (that also this site is based on, as I understand). IMO, there are much better ways to decipher what season you could be; have you, for example, tried Rachel's draping cards? Or the lipstick draping list on this site? :) (Though not all are spot on, but they may give a general idea.)

Gabriella

6/10/2018 04:28:44 am

Beth, I'm not talking about sex symbols. In day to day life I don't see many Romantic blends. Ingenue blends I can see quite a lot.
Not even the sex symbols in the current media are Romantic blends. Well there are of course Christina Hendricks, Beyonce, Jennifer Lopez, but many clebrities are fake Romantics.

Rosetta

6/6/2018 06:04:33 am

And of course, there's Rachel's quiz as well: :)
https://www.truth-is-beauty.com/color-analysis-quiz.html

Zara

6/8/2018 07:23:16 pm

How do I know if yellow looks good on me? Lol I’m hopeless.

6/6/2018 12:41:13 pm

Zara -- I completely hear you. I have played around with the style calculator for a while now, and the seasons, too. I feel like I'm finally figuring out what works for me, but it took a while for me to do it myself, and I've had to work into it. I do not have a natural eye for fashion.

A couple thoughts (Take or leave!): over the past year, I bought a lot of things in an attempt to find 'my style' that I now regret (and have donated. :/ ). Yet, I also found I had to sit with things before I saw they didn't work. I tried a number of summer colors as well, before I found the right one. Summer seasons are hard to figure out, I think, because they're all so muted!

Rachel has a number of great posts on 'which summer am I?' -- if you search for 'summer' on this site, you'll see what I mean. She breaks down colors that are unique to each summer type. LSu, for example, has less blues than you'd think for a summer - there are several blues that are awful on LSu, and TSu can do more range than I thought it could. I found I had to read up on and get familiar with ALL the seasons to get a sense of what I saw in the mirror.

For the style calculator, I ultimately found if I used multiple pics of myself and asked myself what outfits I would put on myself *unaltered* (no tucking in, no changing out jewelry, no changes of any kind) - I was able to 'see' things better. Certain styles became 'that looks like normal clothing to my way of thinking' and some became 'oh, but THAT actually looks good on me.'

I now sort of think of the style-types as a sort of fashion 'coding.' It's like packing up a bunch of disparate elements that make up a high-concept 'look' -- then unpacking those elements on the other end. Once I got into the style shopping guides, it became much clearer to me what elements were working together and which were not. But honestly, I had to patiently sit with this a while because it's really like learning to code and uncode a totally different artistic language.

Eh, I don't know if any of that helps. Just a bunch of random thoughts as I've been combing through this myself. Best of luck!

Zara

6/8/2018 07:25:07 pm

You’ve given me a lot to think about.

Katja

6/9/2018 04:48:23 am

Don't rule out any season. The easiest way to begin is to determine if you are cool or warm. Try draping with both warm and cool colours. If it turns out warm colours are better for you then you only have Spring or Autumn to concentrate on. Ask a friend for help!

Katja

6/6/2018 02:33:32 am

Zara, ask a friend for help. Let her have a look at you. Ask her: when you look at me, what do you see first? Lightness? Coolness? Softness? Is your colouring light, cool or soft?
Let her have a look at your skin. Can you handle both silver and gold or can you handle only silver?
If you have a very light colouring and you can handle both silver and gold you could be a Light Summer. If your colouring is all cool and only silver flatters you , you are probably a True Summer. If your colouring is very muted and you can handle both silver and gold you could be a Soft Summer. Hope this helps !

Zara

6/8/2018 07:22:11 pm

Thanks. I probably should ask a friend who’s good at this.

Katja

6/9/2018 04:42:21 am

Zara, you are not hopeless. You can learn these things. If you want to know if a colour flatters you ask yourself : does this colour make my skin look healthy? Does it bring out a natural glow on my cheeks? Does it make me look younger? Prettier? Does it make your eyes pop? Does it make your wrinkles, double chin, dark circles under your eyes seem less visible? If the answers are yes then the colour is good for you.

Shawna

6/6/2018 03:01:58 pm

This is interesting to me because after spending ages examining your Pinterest boards and then doing the Style ID Calculator test I have to conclude I am a Romantic Ethereal Ingenue and I have tried forcing myself into Kibbe Soft Classic. Classic is my 'missing 10%'

Shawna

6/11/2018 03:23:48 pm

Updated info: My missing 10% is actually divided evenly between Classic and Natural. This makes so much sense to me because as I see it Soft Natural has similarities to Ethereal and Soft Classic has similarities to Ingenue. In choosing something Soft Natural or Soft Classic I am probably trying to pick from the realm of 'normal' clothing and Kibbe categories which get closest to what I look like.

6/7/2018 01:27:10 am

My BW palette tricks the eye into giving me a smidge of Gamine. Interesting. Anyone else's palette do something similar? I thought my mom had Dramatic for awhile but it's actually just that she's a True Winter. Colors and lines are weird.

Alex

6/7/2018 08:17:08 am

I've been wondering if it's easier to find your season and style id if they "match" than it is if they're at odd with each other? I wonder if my confusion over my season (probably Dark Winter) is just because my style id is Ethereal Natural. Dark Winter colors are best with my skin, but the Dramatic feel of many Dark Winter looks is all wrong for me. If I take DW colors and wear them in an EN way, though, it feels right.

6/7/2018 11:08:30 am

EN in DW sounds so pretty!! Earth goddess in earthy, rich, Victorian hues!

6/7/2018 11:05:40 am

Yes! This is a big part of why I've struggled to find my style ID!

I'm LSu, and somewhere in the realm of 50/50 or 60/40 Ethereal-Dramatic. I'm not positive on the percentage, but it's mostly ED. (I've tried natural and classic elements - I can use them, but I find I have to keep them to a minimum).

So yes, I also find a season/ID clash, especially in ready-to-wear. LSu is light, but surprisingly bright -- more often I find LSu Inguenue or gamine-classic items. And LSu dramatic is supposed to be an oxymoron. I find I'm using a fraction of my palette: the range of whites-to-pewter grays, and the range of light to almost navy periwinkle blues.

But while it's hard to find clothes (really hard!), it is also kind of fun to have a mold-breaking vision. I'm completely loving this site for opening up those possibilities!

Shawna

6/7/2018 07:47:59 pm

W, you have hit the nail on the head about mold-breaking possibilities being something so special about this system and this site. And it's better to know that you have a difficult style/colour ID to execute but that this is the fault of clothing makers rather than believe there is something about you that is unattractive because you can't make the styles/colours you think you are supposed to wear look good. I suspect knowing how to tweak a less than ideal outfit goes a long way and using a fraction of your palette but wearing flattering colours is better than not knowing which colours work for you. I cant' wear all of my palette either, but I find that I love the ones I wear well. Does it work for you to make dramatic colour combinations rather than looking for individual colours which read as dramatic? Complementary colour pairings would certainly read as dramatic and maybe you could add that in accessories or shoes.

6/8/2018 09:16:29 pm

Agreed! The best thing about Rachel's style system is that I no longer blame myself for not looking right in clothes that don't sits me. I look at the clothes and say, "Hey, if you're not working for ME, forget it." And then I find clothes that play nice. :) So much healthier!

Yes, I do sometimes pair bright and unexpected LSu bold colors with my neutrals for a change of pace. I find the corals and butter yellows are fun: they tend to surprise people. And I love the LSu marshmellow whites. But that LSu Pewter grey is the backbone of my wardrobe. I snap up every thing I can find in that color.

6/7/2018 05:16:58 pm

I thought I had Dramatic for a long time because I'm a high-contrast Winter (recently narrowed it down to True Winter thanks to this site's draping cards--thanks Rachel!), but I'm actually an ENG. TW ENG is not necessarily an intuitive combo, but I've been thinking I could tailor it surprisingly well to my personal preferences. I love E and N styles, and I've discovered I already dressed very NG for everyday wear, but I'm not personally attracted to most straight Gamine styles. I do like bright colors, however, and they look good with my level of depth and contrast, so I've been thinking I should try to find more EN-style clothes in bold, TW Gamine colors. Easier said than done, lol!

Shawna

6/9/2018 03:15:50 pm

I have used the calculator tool several times for myself, curious to see if my results are consistent. Even if I attempt to manipulate them although still within the realm of what truly looks good, I only achieve a slight fluctuation in percentages. Any attempt I make to manipulate is generally based on what I know about my body, rather than my face and the change is not really significant other than that I can pull off Classic if I have to, as long as I tweak it to make it more in line with Ethereal, Romantic or Ingenue.

Shawna

6/7/2018 06:00:51 pm

Such an interesting discussion about the use of colour with the style IDs. Perfectly matching colour and ID is probably not that common though I agree it is likely easier. It seems to me that colour analysts tend to encourage clients to use all of their colours, perhaps because people who are put off colour analysis object to the idea of being limited. In my experience I deliberately limit myself. I have preferences and colours that I just know work better for me than others in my palette. I am better in the lighter colours and knowing my style ID is REI makes me even more confident that I am using my colours in the most effective way. I'm a Warm Autumn and I love to wear cream, peach and gold. Earthy colours and the darker colours of the palette seem too heavy for me, too dramatic and too natural.

Alex

6/9/2018 12:36:28 pm

Reading this, I realize I deliberately limit myself, too. I don't mind being limited - it's makes things simpler and easier, actually!

Shawna

6/10/2018 09:46:13 pm

I agree, Alex. I have a highly detailed and ornamented style ID but I like things to be simple. Knowing my style ID is part of making things simple even if it's a fancy ID. LOL

Beth

6/8/2018 02:29:39 am

The style ID/ season clash is one I find difficult to negotiate. My friend is a DNC Autumn, and as a result, finds it so easy to find clothes that suit, as the rich autumn colours lend themselves so well to texture and weight in fabric. I’m a tall ERC, but I’m a warm spring. I’m on a Spring Facebook group, and the majority of people on there are Ingenue or Gamine. Spring colours naturally lend themselves to Ingenue or Gamine, as they are so youthful. For me this is a minefied, as nearly every top I find is either in a ditsy print, or has a Peter Pan collar. I want draping and an open neckline and sheer fabric. But in bright flamingo pink, or bright red. At the moment, I just don’t think these things exist.

Alex

6/8/2018 06:01:46 pm

Hey, did anyone else read Noel Streatfeild's books as a kid? Ballet Shoes, etc. Ballet Shoes and Wintle's Wonders (the latter entitled Dancing Shoes in the US) were the first time I realized that the same clothes can suit one person and really not suit someone else - not just in color but in style. There's a bit in Dancing Shoes/Wintle's Wonders about a character named Rachel in one of the dancing audition dresses: "To dress Rachel in such a frock was like putting a cloth over a lamp, for it dimmerd her until there was no Rachel left. It was not just that the dress was wrong for her, but so wrong that it took away a sort of dignity that was part of her, and made her instead look silly".

Lena

6/9/2018 04:31:57 am

Rachel, which essence would you say is the rarest? And what blends are the most uncommon?

6/9/2018 05:39:38 pm

Great question! I'm also curious.

Rachel

6/11/2018 10:47:47 am

This is a fun question for me, data nerd that I am. :-) I took a quick look at my last 26 virtual style analyses, and found that all seven essences were more or less equally represented. At the high and low ends, I had seven appearances of Ethereal and ten appearances of Gamine. Each of the other essences appeared eight or nine times. So perhaps Gamine is slightly more common, and Ethereal is slightly less common? Or the difference could just be due to chance -- though I didn't test it, I doubt these differences are statistically significant. And there's also the possibility that women who contact me are not a representative sample of all of the types.

As for the question which combinations are the rarest, there are a couple of combinations that stand out as being underrepresented in products ordered from my store. They are:

Dramatic-Gamine-Ingenue
Dramatic-Natural-Gamine
Ethereal-Classic-Gamine
Ethereal-Gamine-Ingenue
Dramatic-Natural-Ingenue

Dramatic-Gamine-Ingenue is far and away the least ordered type. So perhaps it's the rarest type? Or it could be that DGI woman are less likely to type themselves as such, or to visit my site, or to order from my site. Hard to know. :-)

The trend I notice above is that each apparently uncommon type combines a supernatural-ish essence (Dramatic or Ethereal) with a childlike essence (Gamine or Ingenue.) I do think it's rare to see people with those combinations.

Shawna

6/11/2018 11:06:39 am

Rachel, this is interesting information indeed. Having two of the possibly less common essences, certainly the not as widely recognised ones, I know I would have seen or understood them without you and your site. Of my three in the blend, Ethereal and Ingenue are the most important. I could drop the Romantic and probably not notice its absence much and it's the bit I don't really see in myself other than the fact that it seems you can't add too many ruffles and lacy bits to me so let's just add Romantic to the name. It has only just hit me, due to your words, that I am a supernatural child. I will be amused by this all day!

6/11/2018 11:45:31 am

So interesting Rachel, thank you! I agree it's rare to see youthful plus supernatural because of the shortening vs elongation - hard sometimes to picture what that might look like. I think youthful-plus-supernatural is perhaps more commonly seen amongst runway models and people in the media. Extreme narrowness plus extreme youthfulness is advantageous in a visual field, in a culture where we prize skinniness and the eternal youth (unjustly, perhaps).

I think so many E's and D's we see in the media are blended with I or G. Because we like rareness, but we as a culture don't like E/D noses or genuinely offbeat features. I and G are also sexually appealing to many people, I think. Baby-faced women are extremely popular with men. "Baby-faced, but in a supernatural way" certainly appeals to our cultural ideal of beauty.

Lena

6/12/2018 05:11:26 am

Thanks!

6/10/2018 03:57:23 am

I have a question about make up.Does anyone have an idea about mixing styles of make up together?

I have some idea about pure style make up, but I don't know how to mix them for blendes type.These are my ideas, please correct me if I'm wrong.

Dramatic - I think the current trend of US make up in youtube is dramatic - matted skin, dramatic eyebrow, dark smoky eyeshadow , cat eye eyeliner, false eyelash, heavy contour, brownish pink blush, matted nude lip.

Natural - minimal as possible - light coverage foundation (may be BB or cushion), heavy but straight eyebrows mascara, brownish pink bush, MLBB lip,no eyeshadow or eyeliner, no contour.

Romantic - Typical make up in magazine -Dewy skin, gentle arch and quite dark eyebrows , any type of eyeshadows and eyeliner, heavy eyelash (either mascara or false eyelash) minimal to no contour, pink or peach blush, glossy red, pink or peach lip.

Ingenue - sweet - dewy skin, gentle and light eyebrows, no to light eye shadows, mascara, pink or peach blush, glossy pink or peach lip, no red lip, no contour, no eyeliner.

Eheral - light and magic - light coverage foundation, gentle and light eye brown, shimmering light colur eyeshadow, mascara, highlight but no contour, light pink or peach blush and lip, no eyeliner, no dark color.

However, I have no idea of gamine and classic(may be neutral coloe for C), which is kind of frustating since I'm RIC(50-25-25%).And I don't know how to mix R and I together other dewy skin and pink color.Should I wear eyeliner or not?Should my eyebrow darkbor light?Any idea?

Beth

6/10/2018 04:24:40 am

Hi PJ,

Your dominant essence seems to be romantic, do you have a very romantic face or is it more ingenue? I’d say the best option is to take the romantic look and make it a little less heavy or glamorous. I think romantic is a very glamorous essence, and I think romantics look awesome with winged liner, especially if it’s not too sharp. So take that, and make it lighter, so maybe a small wing with very neutral or no shadow on the lid?
Ingenue essence is all about youthful femininity, so think about what reads as young in make up - fresh dewy skin, long fluttery lashes, fresh colour. You can take that and make it more romantic, by adding a darker lip or stronger brow.

I also think season makes a huge difference with make up - I’m a warm spring, so need bright saturated colours especially on my lips, as it brings my face to life. I’m a ERC with an ethereal face, so ‘should’ be able to pull of sheer colour on my lips - but it just looks wrong wrong wrong, because nothing else in my natural colouring is sheer, it all very bright. Do you know what your season is?

Katja

6/10/2018 04:44:28 am

Good advice from Beth. Since your dominant essence is Romantic you can go for a romantic look, just don't go all the way. Your other essences are both restrained.

6/10/2018 05:10:24 am

Thanks for your advise.It's so helpful.

I did Rachel calculator style so I think my result base on my face.But if I change a little score my result will switch to 30%R-30%I-30%C however when I looked at pure I board compared to my face I will look ridiculously childlike, pure C board is tolerateble but not as beautiful as pure R.So I think 50%R-25%I-25%C is more accurated than 30%RIC, however lots of people always treat me like "little sister" so my I definitely take a role!

My season is true winter, well I'm not sure at first time since I'm Asian and almost everyone says Asians have warm skin tone.But after reading Rachel blog I found out that I'm looked better in true red, hot pink, pure white, and black.Brow, light yellow, especially orange make me look awful.

Beth

6/10/2018 10:12:02 am

So as a true winter PJ, you have lots to work with, as you palette already has lovely colours that marry well with the romantic essence. I’d definitely think about using brighter lips and keeping the overall contrast of your makeup quite high, whilst still not going full on overblown blousy romantic.

I noticed you asked a lot about liner which I forgot to answer- in my opinion, tightlining should be left to dramatics, as should lining the waterline. I only ever wear liner on my top lash line, I can’t make it work for me on the lower lash line. What I do instead is apply eyeshadow underneath my lower lashes and smoke it out with a blending brush. I usually use the shadow I’m wearing in my outer crease. It adds the definition I need, but stopped everything becoming too heavy, which I find ages me.

6/10/2018 08:44:45 pm

Thank you so much.I would try as your recommend😁

Katja

6/10/2018 11:36:56 am

PJ, Classic makeup should be moderate. No extremes. Gamines look their best with minimal makeup.

6/10/2018 04:42:58 pm

One thing I've found as a Classic blend is to use makeup only to "perfect" skin and to "balance" those features which are not quite so perfectly balanced due to influence from the other IDs. I have quite full lips and quite narrow eyes (D is probably my 10 percent), so I'm off balance if I do the "bold lip, minimal eye" look - I never wear anything beyond extremely subtle tinted balm unless I have a full face of makeup on, when I can apply the same "level" of makeup to all features. Since discovering this site, I've experimented with a variety of looks, and I've found that typical E makeup works for me, even though it's more highlighter than my skin can take on a daily basis, as does my personal interpretation of C makeup, which is very much the Bobbi Brown, minimal but not *too* minimal look (as opposed to the younger "Glossier" minimal look, which is also fine on me as it suits N).

A particular (restrained and natural-looking, not Kardashian!) version of contour can suit C and N - they have the masculinity/typically the bone structure to pull it off. Bronzer (and tanning) is great for C/N blends as it implies both vacationing/luxury and athleticism. Looking at Ingenue blend friends, contour is typically atrocious on them. They look amazing with minimal makeup that is genuinely easy to do, aka just some mascara and a subtle lip, and I think "retro" would suit R/I/C really really well (you've got the winged liner and red lips, the structured/conservative element, and the demureness).

I also think G looks great in smudgy, playful eyeliner and nothing else.

E/D are flattered by those runway looks that aren't intended to be remotely sexually appealing, that would look confusing, or like a mistake, on anyone else. (My ability to carry some of these, palette-depending, and high fashion in general, leads me to believe I have a smidge of D.)

My favorite E makeup inspiration, that often has a touch of D, are the Rodarte fashion shows. Particularly 2016 and 2017. Perfect E "no makeup," with those dark lips on some of the girls that could also work for E/D or perhaps even an E/D/R with not too much R.

6/11/2018 08:22:47 am

AM, Thank you,that's a great idea.
I love the idea of perfect and balance what imbalance for classic.And your idea of "retro" for RIC is interesting.I can't wait to try them now.

Shawna

6/10/2018 09:53:34 pm

Some great discussion of makeup looks here and great advice to help PJ. I probably can't help much but I have really struggled with makeup and my ERI style ID really explains to me why. I don't look very good in makeup. It's easily too much even when it is theoretically in my good colours and I need to go with the lightest, softest look. I think I have mostly Ethereal and Ingenue with only a dash of Romantic and I definitely can't pull off Romantic makeup. I am better of lightly enhancing colour but not adding any weight to my look. Even mascara is a bit iffy and lipstick has to be heavily blotted or dabbed on as a stain. This seems consistent with what Ethereal and Ingenue would prescribe.

Katja

6/11/2018 02:06:47 am

AM, " use makeuo only to "perfect" skin and to "balance" your features". I like that very much! That is what Classic makeup is all about.

6/11/2018 09:26:37 am

Thank you, Katja, and glad I could help, PJ - I think RCI enables you to do so much fun, "makeup" makeup with a glamorous and classy element.

6/11/2018 09:21:50 am

Shawna, is your struggle with makeup perhaps due to issues finding makeup colors in your correct palette? Soft or Light seasons absolutely might struggle with colors that are not exact, or colors that a lot of makeup people falsely claim are "universal," like black eyeliner and blue-based red lipsticks (though those "universal MLBB" colors that have a rosy brown base can be good for Softs - Sephora's last couple of years of birthday gifts, the "nude" lip option, have been decent for SS/SA, for instance).

I think the "just lipstick," if blotted and palette-appropriate, could work for you if you feel you desire to wear a little bit of makeup. I could imagine an ERI with just some tinted moisturizer depending on your skin, a bit of highlighter to pick up dew (you could do shimmer), and whatever "rose-bitten" lips look like for your palette. One color I like for this look (I have no idea how it would look on other people) is the NARS matte pencil in Dolce Vita. Particularly if you concentrate the color on the center of your lips and smear the edges a bit - none of your IDs suit overly-precise lip liner looks, I think.

Shawna

6/11/2018 11:20:09 am

AM thanks for all the thoughts and suggestions. My struggle with makeup seems to mostly be not about finding good colours but about how the pigments are nearly always too much. I am not a Soft season as greyed colours are too drab on me and I am purely warm but I do need the softest lightest version of purely warm colours. I need softness by de-saturation more than greying. I am best suited to True Autumn in clothing although not using the darker colours and not going earthy in my look. I have the most success with the warmest of Soft Autumn makeup, I think. The colours of Autumn and even Spring can look really good but saturation or pigment level is too intense. Light season makeup looks like candy smeared on my face. You are right that the just bitten lip look is right for me and I am lucky to have good skin and don't need foundation or often even blush. A dab of concealer sometimes, a dab of a soft and brown eye shadow and a rose-brown lipstick applied lightly with my finger is best. I am currently using Nars Pigalle applied thinly with my finger but it's just slightly too dark and dull. I have taken to skipping mascara and oh boy do I look bad with my eyebrows done. I am keen to try Dolce Vita as my colour analyst also recommended I try it. It's not available where I live but am travelling to a city next weekend and hope to find it at Nordstrom. I am even considering it in the sheer lipstick formula although I understand that might be a waste of money as it is basically lip balm. I'm also going to try tolede. I don't really need lipstick, or makeup I suppose but I feel grown up wearing a little of it. LOL Finding out I am REI actually makes so much sense regarding the makeup struggle. Thanks again for your thoughts and suggestions.

6/11/2018 11:35:03 am

Shawna, a warmer, somewhat brighter shade (more "red" looking, at least on me, but in a good way) is Undone by Kosas. Harder to find but it may suit you more than Pigalle. I think Pigalle, based on online swatches, leans a bit cool.

What about peach or orange lips? Nars Isola Bella is a great peach nude for me, it's light enough and soft and brown/peach.

Shawna

6/11/2018 04:38:07 pm

AM, I have Nars Jane and the colour is a fantastic colour on me if you are just looking at how it looks with my skintone but on my lips reads as too orange to be quite believable and I think that's the problem. I've really got to find MLBB and in a sheer formula. People tend to almost swoon when they see how good lippies in the browned coral/orange range look on me because I suppose they don't see it as often. But it's a difference again between a colour that looks right with my skin but not natural enough on my lips. My actual lips are a sort of browned peach so browned mauves and browned pinks read as almost right. I think my biggest issue might be formula more than colour but finding that elusive browned coral is tricky too. Too orange in a Spring direction and I look like I was eating spaghetti, but anything with pink in it looks too pink on me. I had a look at the Isola Bella colour on Temptalia. I suspect it will read as too pastel on me. I am sure I have tried every pink, peach, melon, coral, brown and red that exists in my local drugstores and wasted money blind buying a few Nars from Sephora online. I appreciate your efforts to help though and don't want to sound like I am just dismissing everything. I hope next weekend to get a chance to explore a Nars counter more thoroughly. I must add that I also can't stand scents and flavours of most lippie brands but am comfortable with Revlon and Nars, though there are also tons I've never tried. So I appreciate suggestions that might make my Nars exploration a little more focused. TLDR! LOL I should just buy some Burt's Bees tinted lip balm and forget about it.

Really it's just lipstick that is difficult. That and finding a brown mascara is suppose.

Susan

6/13/2018 03:52:44 pm

What type is Kristen Scott Thomas?

Katja

6/14/2018 10:48:44 am

Ethereal/Classic/Gamine? I haven't seen her very much, but my first impression is ECG.

Katja

6/15/2018 02:54:26 am

Or maybe ENC.

Nancy

6/14/2018 11:02:45 am

I think she has Dramatic.

Shawna

6/16/2018 01:11:24 am

I agree, Nancy. She is stunning and can be fairly flexible in her looks for movie roles. I think Kibbe has her as a Dramatic Classic and that seems like a good fit though there might be something else in there. Was it in Four Weddings and a Funeral where she had the very geometric haircut and was styled very much as a Dramatic. I don't think pure D is her best look and she seems very Classic too. I can picture EDC on her.

Where's My 10 Percent Essence?

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