March Makeover

Presented By Sandy Dumont

Juanita Taylor is a retired university professor. She’s an attractive and dynamic woman, but when it comes to image, she discovered that small details are just as important as big ones.

Color is one of those big details. Without a doubt, Juanita looks better when she’s wearing colors that have a nice contrast with her face. The brown jacket and top that she is wearing in the before photo barely make contrast with her light brown skin. This was a big change and a dramatic one, and Juanita saw how radiant her face became from the moment she put on the fuchsia jacket in the after photo.

But that was just the beginning of Juanita’s makeover. The minute I saw her, I knew I would get out my flat iron and tweak her hair. Juanita has lovely silver hair, but the cut was a little choppy. I suggested she let it grow out a little, so she has a long sweep of bang on one side, a la Meryl Streep in “The Devil Wears Prada.”  In the meantime, I smoothed out her hair on both sides with my flat iron so it resembled Streep’s elegant look. Juanita loved it.

Next I changed her makeup from warm colors to cool ones. First, the foundation; I replaced the golden tones with cool coppery-pink tones. It smoothed her face enormously. I finished her look with a deep ruby lipstick and a raspberry-toned blusher.

To finish Juanita’s look, I added bold chunky earrings in silver to go with her hair. Gold accessories would be jarring with silver hair. Brown is also out- of sync with silver hair, so when she wants to wear dark colors, brown is out and black and navy blue are in. Lastly, I added the fabric and feather pin to harmonize with her beautiful silvery hair, and also to correspond with her black pants.

Juanita is larger on the top than on the bottom, so she could easily wear pants in a lighter color for balance. That’s because dark colors recede and make you look smaller, whereas light colors stand out, making you look larger. However, fuchsia looks particularly good when worn with black, so we settled on black pants.

Juanita left my studio and headed down the street to meet her husband for lunch. Would he like her new look she wondered. I was pretty sure he would, because the beam on her face would win him over if nothing else did.  Juanita reported that he did, indeed, love her new look; so much so, in fact, that he took her out to dinner that night to show her off.

See the additional Before and After Photos for more ideas for enhancing your style!

Sandy Dumont is an internationally-known image consultant who has spoken on three continents. She is also the author of “Seven Days to a Brand New you,” a book for women. She has also produced several DVDs and boxed sets on the subject of image.