by Florentina Mossou (The Netherlands)
Featuring 12B colour analysis and Align style analysis
You’re invited!
The real magic of makeup is to draw attention to the eyes. Harmonious colours, proportions and textures do not distract the gaze, but guide it. The viewer settles peacefully on the eyes.
Body type is key to knowing how to play up your eyes.
A statement of scale
Vertical yang is most effective at drawing attention to her eyes when her skin is even and featureless. A unified skin tone emphasises her large scale. With nothing in the way, her eyes become arresting.
A statement of dimension
Horizontal yang is most effective at drawing attention to her eyes when her bone structure is emphasised. The 3D shape of her face guides the gaze. With the dimensions of her bone structure showing the way, her eyes become magnetic.
A statement of curve
Vertical yin is most effective at drawing attention to her eyes when her curves are emphasised. Blush enhances those curves, inviting the viewer to travel around her face and always return to her eyes. Her eyes become enthralling.
A statement of detail
Horizontal yin is most effective at drawing attention to her eyes when the details in her face are clean and precise. Defined eyebrows and lashes draw the viewer in. Surrounded by light curves and fine points, her eyes become hypnotic.
In the spirit of sharing, I invite you to my free Aligned Makeup Masterclass on the Chrysalis Colour blog. You’ll discover my best tips and tricks, experiment with products and applications, to develop a signature makeup look that really works for you.
The four statements above are the first glimpse of the Makeup Masterclass. In the upcoming weeks we’ll discover what these statements mean and how to apply them, to adapt your makeup to emphasise your eyes. To do that, we’ll do a deep dive into makeup for Season and Align body types.
Why this masterclass?
To share the freedom that comes when you feel beautiful and true to yourself. We are living in challenging times, and the near future will require all of us, and perhaps especially women, to step up and help create fair relationships and equality for all.
Through the lens of makeup, we can access how our appearance plays a part in our self perception and sense of self. That’s a powerful thing.
Feeling beautiful is nice. Knowing you are beautiful and able to express beauty at will, is a different thing altogether.
The need for external validation will simply leave you. And that will make a difference, to you and the people around you. For too long, women have felt inadequate in the face of hyper-beauty standards. I hope I can help bring women back to free and easy self-acceptance.
Beauty is naturally aspirational. Relate to it in a positive and centred way, and it becomes inspirational. Those who have experienced a colour analysis, an image archetype analysis, or my own Align system, will recognise.
Also, makeup is fun! In the privacy of your bathroom, you can try anything. You’re free to experiment and reinvent yourself. Makeup is ideal for playing with shapes, textures and techniques, because you can use the makeup you already own. Any product can be applied and reimagined so many ways. And if it doesn’t work, you can just wipe it off.
Yet, I also realise that some people feel pressured to do it ‘right’. Please know this: the internet is full of unfortunate makeup tutorials. So much advice works only half the time for a quarter of people. Well-meant, definitely, but there is simply no one-solution-fits-all.
The secret – you saw this coming – is knowing what works for you. That’s why I’ve gathered the best tips and insights from both 12Blueprints colour analysis and Align style analysis.
If you haven’t heard of Align yet, it is my revolutionary system for body type analysis, developed using my experience as a researcher in biology. So far, Align has been incredibly successful in helping women finding what works for them, and understand why. It has proven to be a powerful tool in uncovering the hidden beauty in every woman.
“I found that Floretina’s style analysis is something to fall in love with. Through her detailed and carefully explained recommendations you are given the perfect building blocks to find your own personal style with confidence. (…) You will gain an understanding of the what and why of your clothing choices. I can’t recommend her service enough for the knowledge that Florentina possesses and teaches with such patience and professionalism.”
K from Canada
Story time
I didn’t always understand my body type and face shape as I do know, and I certainly wasn’t handy with makeup.
I discovered makeup a little later than my classmates, at around 16 years old. My friend put mascara on me at school camp, and I liked how that looked. Shortly afterwards I bought my own mascara wand. Also, my mum gave me an eyeshadow palette she had never used. It was a narrow metal tin with many different colours. I can still remember the pale white-pink shimmer eyeshadow, quite a lucky choice for my unknown Bright Winter colouring, that I wore so often it was the only colour I used up.
I experimented and went through that classic teenage phase of wearing slightly too much makeup. In my defence, I did stick to the slightly cooler tones in the palette and avoided the rustier browns and tans that upset my colouring. But I over-plastered my eyelids with unsuitable colours regardless – this was the mid 2000s. I was also a slave to concealer, as my teenage acne had started when I was 11 and was in full swing by this time. (I didn’t know then that it would continue until I was 29, which was probably a good thing.)
With practice, I developed some application skills and fell into a routine. It was a very minimal routine, as Dutch makeup culture, at least in rural parts, divides itself into two categories: no makeup looks and no makeup makeup looks. Take a guess at how much product these involve, then halve it.
My routine was also minimal because I didn’t know what else to do. Having grown out of the plastered eyelids, I learned how to balance the amount of makeup. But I could never achieve the look I liked, or even make myself look better compared to no makeup. Makeup made me look different, but it wasn’t really enhancing me. I felt very confused. Why didn’t it work for me like it seemed to do for others?
The online makeup tutorials didn’t improve matters. Most of them turned out ridiculous, except once when I tried a tutorial for Asian faces. Which was unexpected, to say the least. Only now do I understand why.
I kept looking. The following years saw multiple colour analyses (if you’re curious, read the first part of my colour journey here), a style journey, training to become a 12Blueprints analyst and the development of Align, my own style system.
These days, the way I put on makeup has changed profoundly. I still have a minimal routine, because a) Dutch, b) casual work environment and c) I mostly rely on wearing the right colours to make my skin look good. Also, I’ve got so comfortable with the way I look, I will easily skip makeup altogether.
When I do put on makeup, I understand my face, both in colour and shape, and can enhance my look with high precision and creativity. I’m able to get exactly the effect I’m going for. If that sounds like something you’d like for yourself as well, this masterclass will come in super handy.
But what if I don’t know my body type, or Season, or both?
You’ll still be able to play along! It’s not necessary to know body type or Season, because the most important part is that you experiment. I recommend everybody to try out all of the techniques, even if you know beforehand they’re not going to work for you. The information you gather will be invaluable, and the best starting point for your signature makeup look.
If you try some things and they don’t work, that’s great, you’ve learned a lot. Try something totally different. You’ll find the things that do work so much quicker this way. And sometimes, it’s the things that you didn’t expect to work, but somehow they do, that are the key to a makeup look that’s unique, interesting and magnetic.
Normally, only my clients receive this information on makeup.
To help you (finally) discover makeup application that’s true to who you are, I am offering this Masterclass FREE to all readers of the Chrysalis Colour blog.
There will be six posts on this blog, starting in two weeks’ time. Each post will look at a particular makeup product from the perspective of the Align dimensions. We will cover:
Introduction – Light, colour and shape
A Statement of Scale – Foundation for Vertical Yang
A Statement of Dimension – Contour for Horizontal Yang
A Statement of Curve – Blush and Lipstick for Vertical Yin
A Statement of Detail – Highlighter and Eye Makeup for Horizontal Yin
Creating Your Signature Makeup Look
Together, these posts are an introduction Aligned Makeup system for your Season and body Type. I’m looking forward to see you in my makeup Masterclass!
