June 2006 - Jan Thirst - Colour Analysis

Jan Thirst demonstrates colour theray on Tessa Makepeace using coloured scarves

The professionalism and resourcefulness of members of Andover Women in Business Club was demonstrated at this month’s meeting, when at short notice, the scheduled speaker was unable to attend owing to illness.

The Club’s June speaker, due to talk on how to make the world wide web work for business, was unexpectedly unable to attend and, less then two hours from the meeting, another speaker had to be found.  Committee members set about producing quizzes to keep the members entertained, but happily President, Tessa Makepeace, was able to contact one of the members booked to attend, and filled the gap with colour analysis consultant, Jan Thirst.  Jan has been a member of the Club for many years, with a wealth of experience talking about the subject, and was happy to oblige.

Members of the Club, many of whom were unfamiliar with colour analysis, were delighted to hear Jan talk and enjoyed hearing how great the influence of colour can be on a person’s looks and well-being.  The colour of ones clothes can affect mood, cheering you up and in turn attract more compliments.  Correctly chosen colours lift the complexion and bring a sparkle to the eyes, enhancing the way we look with very little effort and cost.

Jan has been a colour consultant for 18 years and bases her analysis on skin tone, rather than skin colour.  With modern day techniques of artificial tans and hair colourings, her job is more difficult, but she has learned to look beyond these factors to decide what the real natural tones are.  The area inside the wrist is usually a good guide to skin tone as it is rarely tanned and gives original colour.

Based on cool or warm colours, an individual can enhance his/her look by being selected as one of four seasons – Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter.  As important as colour, metals such as gold and silver, need to be worn appropriately, with silver being for the cool seasons and gold for the warm ones.

A typical consultation will take between 45 – 60 minutes, and Jan has both male and female clients. “Men are much more aware of how they look these days,” says Jan “and it is as important for them to make the most of the advantage of colour.”

During the talk Jan demonstrated on President Tessa Makepeace to explain how she can deduce someone’s ‘season’ from a consultation and it was clear from the reaction of the audience, that members and guests were impressed with the effectiveness of the correct colours. 

Members quizzed Jan about the extra cost of having to buy new outfits as a result of a consultation.  “There is no need to go out and buy a whole new wardrobe if you find some of your existing colours are wrong,” insisted Jan.  “With the clever use of correct colour scarves up against the face, you can make ‘wrong’ outfits last until they wear out and then start to buy those in the ‘correct’ colours!”  Clearly having enjoyed the talk and thankful for Jan being able to stand in at the last minute, many members went home wondering if their colours were doing the best thing for them.

Andover Women in Business Club meets again on Tuesday, 4th July at the Bourne Valley Inn, St Mary Bourne for a Networking Plus meeting, where members can display and promote their services and several members will have the opportunity to talk about their businesses.

For more information about the Club and how to attend the April meeting as a guest, please contact Tessa Makepeace on 01264 772415