What is Tonal colour analysis?
To put the Tonal colour analysis system into context, here are questions from a real-life consultant with my explanation how it all fits together.
Does the Tonal system cover crossing over the seasons?
I have just done a lady this morning and she only really suited Deep Winter, but liked Deep Autumn colours too. I tried to steer her away from the obvious yellow-based colours of rust, olive and ochre.
Does the Deep tonal swatch cover just the Deep of Autumn and Winter?
This would solve a dilemma seeing someone is patently Winter, but because she loves SOME deep Autumn colours, thinks she is Autumn and consequently gets hair colour wrong. Presumably likewise for the Lights (Spring and Summer), Warm (Autumn and Spring) etc.
I am newly ‘certified’ so a bit wobbly still when you get an awkward customer who insists on liking Autumn when she is patently Winter – it is worrying! And of course I really wanted to split the Autumn and Winter swatches, and make up a swatch just for her. Can I undo fans and do this?
For people who don’t easily fall into the 4 seasons
The Tonal System is for exactly as you say – in a nutshell, it’s there for people who don’t easily fall into the 4 seasons, or fall between them, which is the old ‘flow’ system of Winter => Autumn, etc.
I am absolutely a Winter but none of the Deep, Bright, or Cool tonal fans do anything for me on their own. The Deep and Bright wallets have warm colours and I have the coolest skin on the planet so they’re as useful as a chocolate teapot to me.
The Cool wallet is something I will melt delicately into when and if I ever decide to go silver grey – but not before. For now, I’m happy with the Winter fan. But my Mum could wear both cool and warm colours just as long as they’re bright, so she was much happier with just the Bright fan.
To answer the question,
- If a lady is Deep and can wear both Autumn and Winter colours, then the Deep wallet is much more useful to her.
- We do a safe tonal fan with 18 swatches, and a more conventional tonal fan with 45 colours. Take your pick.
You’re not the only one asking these questions
Di came to my home for one-to-one training in both seasonal and tonal colour analysis. She could clearly ‘see’ the differences between the 4 seasons but felt they were all she needed.
She didn’t ‘see’ the tonal characteristics and felt they were getting in the way, especially as she was just beginning her new career in colour. So I suggested Di start out by offering only seasonal colour analysis consultations.
As she began to practise on clients, she noticed that some clients weren’t totally happy with a purely seasonal diagnosis. They wanted to add other colours into their seasonal swatch, especially ladies of mature years who felt their skin tone seemed to have changed.
Di told me, “I can now see there’s something needed in between the seasons.”
So Di came to me again for a one-day training course so that she could add tonal analysis to her seasonal work, and the result is the Tonal Colour Analysis course.
Other consultants have the same insights
“Hi Kim, just ordered the Tonal Colour Analysis course. After watching your videos on Tonal colour analysis, I had an epiphany and realized that I had been using the seasonal system just because I hadn’t understood the potential of the tonal system.
“Now I’m a total fan of the Tonal system – it allows me to see and appreciate the first dominants of a woman and, after that, check my observations with the drapes. I just love it!” Anna, Italy
“I liked so much the Tonal Colour Analysis training videos with Di, I found them brilliant as they helped me better assimilate your process.” Saliha, Italy
The 4 seasons colour theory doesn’t work for everyone. The tonal system fills in the gaps and provides seasonal and tonal alternatives for those clients who are struggling to make their seasonal diagnosis work.
Why are the Tonal and Seasonal systems not different?
A website visitor contacted me…
“Kim, I’m all fired up! And I am counting on it never being too late. I had my colours done over 30 years ago and I was diagnosed as a Winter. That worked very well for me but now I’m wondering if I’ve changed seasons. I also see things on your website I know nothing about such as Tonal colouring? I’m on a page which has a list of things I know nothing about.”
Tonal and seasonal colour analysis are not different
If you understand seasonal colour analysis, you are already ‘doing’ tonal. I know this sounds a bit crazy but this was the big revelation I had back in 1999 when I finally found training and an inspirational teacher who could explain it in plain English.
Most of the tonal books and courses out there try to complicate things. I wonder why?
Because they don’t want to give their secrets away! But quite frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn. I’m happy to share everything that I’ve learned before 1999, during 1999, and since.
It’s not rocket science and I explain it all in the Tonal Colour Analysis course which shows you how to work with:
- just the 4 seasons
- Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter
- just the 6 tones
- Cool, Warm, Light, Dark, Bright and Muted
- how to combine them together into 12 seasons
- Light Summer, Cool Summer, Muted Summer, etc.
4 Seasons, 6 Tones, 12 Seasons, it’s not complicated
When Di first trained with me, she just wanted to stick to the 4 seasons so we ignored the tonal information.
About 18 months later, she told me she was ready to learn the Tonal approach.
I showed her how she’d already been using the tones without even realising it. So we separated out the 6 tones so that Di could see how they can be used on their own.
Then we looked at how she could:
- Integrate the 4 seasons
- And the 6 tones
- To produce 12 different combinations
- which some call the 12 seasons
Di decided that she preferred the 4 seasons.
She does seasonal analysis with her clients but now that she understands the Tonal approach, she can add some more depth and information into the final seasonal analysis – but only if that’s what the client wants.
And when a client is clearly not an absolute season, Di has plan B in reserve and can give her a tonal analysis and a tonal swatch wallet – but only if that’s what the client wants!
This works for everybody
My Tonal Colour Analysis course works for you, no matter how your brain works. It ensures that you are able to give a client her season if she insists on it, even if she’s truly tonal.
Di still likes to give her clients a seasonal swatch wallet but she can always order the odd tonal wallet whenever she needs one.
If you prefer to work tonally, then the same concept applies. You can just use the tonal swatches but you’ve always got seasonal information in your toolbox for if and when you need it.