Colour Analysis by Susanne
Susanne Almestad
Business Hours:
By Appointment Only
ABOUT ME
My best vivid memory of colours and me comes from this picture. I was about 4 years old and I had gotten some presents for either Christmas or my birthday consisting of some plastic jewelry and a handbag. The handbag was dark blue patent (plastic) leather with light gold hardware, the bracelet was emerald green, the earrings were coral red with white accents. What colour my outfit was I can’t remember, but I still love the style, a simple turtleneck and trousers. Since that time, I have always been interested in colours and knew that some day I wanted to work with them in one way or another.
That some day has taken some time. To date I have worked in the corporate world for over 30 years and in 2025 I have finally took upon myself to educate myself in Munsell colour theory and become certified in SCI/Art 12 tone colour analysis. My studio is based in Oslo, Norway and is set up according to the standards within the 12 tone system with regards to lighting, calibrated drapes and the works.
This is a choice that I have not regretted. When I work with colour analysis, I love the one to one interaction with my clients and I know that I am bringing out a fantastic potential that lies within all of us.
I have a passion for textiles and makeup and also offer advice on how to use your colours to your best advantage and how you can create easy and simple outfits, makeup that enhances your features in a natural way and how to get started in becoming the best version of you.
Besides colour, I love the outdoors, gardening, cooking and sports (running) and the very small but often overseen things that makes your heart sing. Like a simple cup of coffee on a Monday morning or the meditative ritual of cutting vegetables for a hearty stew. If you are interested to see how much my passion for colour extends into other areas, check out my blog whatabouthtecolour.com.
MY OWN COLOUR JOURNEY
I was not a typical stereotype you would find in one of these seasons. Even though I was flat broke at that time, I did put up the money to have a colour analysis. I was typed as a deep autumn. Hmn… I didn’t feel right and I actually went back and asked for a retake. Then I was typecast as a warm spring and I even went to the hair dresser to “warm up” my hair. I felt and looked like an overcooked carrot.
Even still, I believed in the advice that I got, and tried my best to make warm spring work for me for years. One summer, during a vacation, I wore an orange T-shirt (nice and expensive) to the point where the colour made made me physically ill and I had to rip it off in want of feeling well again. That’s how determined I was to make the colours work – for they were the experts – right?
Then for years I left the notion of colour analysis alone and wore colours that were basically cool. At least they did not make me feel ill. Then, decades later, I noticed that personal colour theory was changing and expanding. Instead of spending money on a colour analysis (due to my prior bad experience) I was determined to solve the puzzle myself. This led me to lots of experimentation, some good and some no good at all. Alongside my self- experimentation, I was also convinced that there has to be some type of logic at all and that colour and human pigmentation could not be all one fluke. I was searching for the logic behind it. So I probed and asked, how is the analysis done, what types of drapes are used to determine a season, does hair and eye colour matter at all and so on. And when the season is determined, how is the palette put together, are colours there by accident or is there a reason behind it?
All this research brought me to the SCI/Art 12 tone season system and when I was draped in this system, I was typecast as a Dark Winter. This was the first draping that I had had that 1) felt and looked right 2) made logical sense and 3) did not make me physically ill and 4) gave me the room to find where within the palette was my sweet spot.
I am a Dark Winter leaning to True Winter, meaning that I wear cool colours best, they need to be softened, but I can also take some brightness. Brown or colours leaning brown, age me or look muddy on me. The wrong type of winter yellow becomes too bright on me and therefore sits on top of me. This is particularly important with colours close to my face, so I avoid them all together. So within my season and I have found my sweet spot.
This does not mean that I sometimes go off track, I love a khaki green dress I have or my mauve turtle neck – both not colours you would find in my Dark Winter palette, but I love them on occasion anyhow. My eye colour, hair colour and skin pigmentation all work with me now, I don’t fight them anymore and know with simple measures I can look put together for any occasion.
Want to know how you can look equally effortlessly put together without going through an agonising trial and error process? You will find me and my colour studio in Oslo, Norway just 16 min by Metro from the Oslo Central Station. Contact me on susannealmestad@gmail.com or visit my website colouranalysis.no and we will sort your colours out once and forever.