YOU CAN USE THIS SECTION TO IDENTIFY WHICH COLOUR WORKS BEST FOR YOU. BUT BEFORE WE CAN IDENTIFY THESE COLOURS IT IS IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND HOW WE SEE COLOUR.

VISION
WHAT WE SEE WITH OUR EYES ARE OBJECTS THAT HAVE LIGHT EMITTING FROM THEM OR REFLECTED FROM THEM. IF THERE IS NO LIGHT WE WILL NOT SEE THE OBJECT. OBJECTS THAT PRODUCE THEIR OWN LIGHT ARE CALL 'LUMINOUS' (THE SUN, STARS, TELEVISION, LAMPS). OBJECTS THAT REFLECT THE LIGHT ARE 'ILLUMINATED' BY THIS LIGHT AND REFLECTED INTO OUR EYS. MOST OBJECTS THAT YOU SEE ARE REFLECTED. THE REFLECTED IMAGE IS FORMED AT THE BACK OF THE EYES JUST LIKE A PHOTOGRAPH. YOUR BRAIN WILL FORM THE IMPRESSION OF ITS SIZE, COLOUR, NATURE AND DISTANCE. SENSITIVE CELLS IN YOUR EYES RESPONDE TO THIS LIGHT. IN YOUR EYES YOU HAVE THREE TYPES OF COLOUR SENSITIVE CELLS CALLED CONES. ONE TYPE OF CONE DETECTS GREEN LIGHT, ONE DETECTS BLUE LIGHT AND THE OTHER RED LIGHT. RED, GREEN, BLUE AND CALLED THE PRIMARY COLOURS. THE SECONDARY COLOURS ARE CALLED YELLOW, A PURPLE COLLOR CALLED MAGENTA AND A GREENY BLUE CALLED CYAN.

LIGHT
LIGHT ENERGY TRAVELS IN A WAVE MOTION MUCH LIKE A RIPPLE IN A POND. LIGHT TRAVELS 1 MILLION TIMES FASTER THAN SOUND. THAT IS WHY WE SEE THE LIGHTENING BOLT BEFORE WE HEAR THE THUNDER. IT TAKES 8 MINUTES FOR LIGHT TO TRAVEL FROM THE SUN.
INSIDE OUR PLANET THERE IS ALL SORTS OF RAYS RIPPLING AROUND. SOME ARE CALLED X-RAYS, SOME GAMMA RAYS (THESE RAYS ARE PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS AS THEY ARE EMITTED FROM RADIOACTIVE SUBSTANCES), OTHERS INCLUDE MICROWAVES AND THE ONES WE REALLY LIKE ARE THE UHF (ULTRA HIGH FREQUENCY FOR TRANSMITTING TELEVISION SIGNALS). NO ONE CAN SEE THESE RAYS. THEY FORM PART OF THE ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUM AND THE ONLY PART WE CAN SEE IS THE VISIBLE LIGHT RAYS.

COLOUR
BY USING CERTAIN FILTERS WE CAN BLOCK OUT CERETAIN COLOURS FROM THIS WHITE LIGHT. WHITE LIGHT IS REALLY IS MIXTURE OF SEVERAL COLOURS, RED, ORANGE, YELLOW, GREEN, BLUE, INDIGO, AND VIOLET. DO YOU RECOGNISE THESE COLOURS. THEY ARE THE COLOURS OF THE RAINBOW. WE CAN SEE THESE COLOURS IF WE PASS WHITE LIGHT THROUGH A PRISM.

COLOUR PLAYS AN IMPORTANT PART IN OUT LIFE. WE LOVE COLOUR AND TO GET MANY DIFFERENT COLOURS WE NEED TO MIX THEM TOGETHER. HOWEVER, WE DONT ACTUALLY MIX THE COLOUR, WE SUBTRACT THEM. WHEN MIXING TWO COLOURS, SAY AN INK DYE, THE FINAL COLOUR IS THE ONE NOT ABSORBED BY EITHER OF THE INKS.

SUBTRACTION OF COLOURS IS CALLED 'ABSORBTION' FILTERS, PIGMENTS, DYES, PAINTS AND INKS ALL SUBTRACT COLOUR. RED ROSE PETALS ON A FLOWER LOOK RED BECAUSE THE PETALS HAVE ABSORBED THE COLOURS ORANGE, YELLOW, GREEN, BLUE, INDIGO AND VIOLET FROM THE LIGHT SPECTRUM

COLOUR RULES
SOME COLOURS REGISTER QUICKLY ON THE BRAIN AND SOME NOT SO FAST. ORANGE IS THE FASTEST TO DO THIS. THIS IS THE COLOUR YOU ARE MOST LIKELY TO NOTICE ABOVE ALL OTHERS. THE SPEED OF COLOUR RECOGNITION IS AS FOLLOWS:

ORANGE   RED   BLUE   BLACK   GREEN   YELLOW   VIOLET   GREY

YOU CAN USE THIS KNOWLEDE TO DRAW ATTENTION TO OR FROM CERTAIN AREAS. LIGHT COLOURS PARTICULARLY WHITE ARE KNOWN TO ADVANCE AND IT CAN MAKE YOU APPEAR LARGER THAN YOU ARE, DARK COLOURS HAVE THE OPPOSITE EFFECT AND GIVE THE IMPRESSION YOU ARE SMALLER. CHOOSE YOUR CLOTHING CAREFULLY WITH THIS IN MIND. A BRIGHT BELT WILL DRAW ATTENTION TO YOUR WAIST, A WHITE SHIRT TO YOUR BUST, AND BRIGHT TROUSERS OR TIGHTS TO YOUR LEGS. WE WILL NOW CONSIDER SOME COLOURS IN DETAIL.

ORANGE: THE MOST NOTICEABLE COLOUR OF ANY. THIS IS THE FIRST COLOUR WE NOTICE ABOVE ALL. ORANGE HOWEVER, IS THE LEAST PROFESSIONAL AND CAN LOOK CHEAP ON SOME GARMENTS. ORANGE IS AN IMPULSIVE COLOUR. VARIOUS INDUSTRIALS HAVE RECOGNISED THIS AND USED IT TO THEIR FULL ADVANTAGE: ORANGE, THE MOBILE PHONE BRAND, EASY JET AND MACDONALDS, MACDONALS USE THE COLOUR ORANGE HEAVILY IN THE OUTFIT OF RESTAURANTS TO FUEL YOUR IMPULSES. NO WONDER THEY TASTE SO GOOD!!! ORANGE IS AN ENERGETIC AND SOCIABLE COLOUR.

RED: RED IS THE COLOUR THAT WILL CATCH YOUR EYE VERY QUICKLY. THE COLOUR OF DANGER AND OF STRONG EMOTION. A WONDERFUL COLOUR TO WEAR IN THE SUMMER AGAINST A GOLDEN TAN BUT EQUALLY WONDERFUL IN THE WINTER TO CHEER UP A DULL DAY. RED LOOKS STUNNING ON MOST FABRIC TYPES BUT POSITIVELY SEDUCTIVE ON SATINS AND LEATHERS. RED SPEAKS CONFIDENCE AND EXCITEMENT. RED VARIANTS SUCH AS BURGANDY AND WINE CAN WORK EASIER AGAINST FAIRER SKIN TONES, MAKING IT APPEAR LIGHTER. THE OPPOSITE WITH DARK SKIN WHICH APPEARS DARKER

BLUE: THE DEEPER THE BLUE THE MORE AUTHORITARIAN. IF YOU WISH TO BE IN CHARGE, WEAR BLUE. NAVY BLUE IS THE DARKER OF THE BLUES. BRITISH NAVY THE DARKER OF THE NAVY'S AND FRENCH NAVY THE LIGHTER. CONSIDER WEARING WHITE WITH BLUES IT IS A WONDERFUL MIX. THE WHITES COMPLEMENT THE BLUES WITH STUNNING EFFECTS.. THE MID TONE BLUES LOOK BEST IF YOU WISH TO LOOK GOOD FOR YOUR HOLIDAY PHOTOGRAPHS. THE COLOUR IS REPRODUCED PERFECTLY. BLUE IS A PEACEFUL COLOUR, ORDERLY AND TRUSTWORTHY.

BLACK: AS WITH ALL DARK COLOURS BLACK SHRINKS, THAT IS TO SAY IT WILL MAKE THAT PART OF THE BODY IT IS AGAINST APPEAR SMALLER. BLACK SHOULD BE AN ESSENTIAL PART OF EVERY WARDROBE. BLACK IS YOUR NUMBER ONE BASIC COLOUR. IT IS A TIMELESS CLASSIC AND NEVER DATES. ANYONE CAN WEAR BLACK, ANY AGE, ANY SKIN COLOUR, ANY HAIR COLOUR. BE PREPARED TO WEAR MORE MAKE UP THAN USUAL WHEN WEARING BLACK GARMENTS PARTICULARLY BRIGHTER AND MORE POSITVIE COLOURS. BLACK SPEAKS FORMALITY, STRENGTH AND SOPHISTICATION.

GREEN: GREEN BALANCES EMOTIONS BUT IS NOT A PARTICULARLY EXCITING COLOUR. IF YOUR LOOKING TO BE NOTICED AVOID GREENS, UNLESS ITS EMERALD. GREEN IS A DOWN TO EARTH COLOUR WHICH SPEAKS OF SELF SUPPORT AND MOTHERLY NATURE.

YELLOW: IF YOU WISH TO CHEER YOURSELF UP WEAR YELLOW. IT IS A HAPPY COLOUR AND STANDS OUT IN A CROWD. IT WORKS BETTER ON LARGER AREAS OF CLOTHING AS ON COATS AND JACKETS. CHILDREN PREFER THIS COLOUR TO ANY OTHER COLOUR. IF YOU WANT TO BE IN THE GOOD BOOKS WITH YOUR KIDS WEAR THIS COLOUR. YELLOW IS NOT A SERIOUS COLOUR, AVOID IT AT ANY FORMAL MEETING OR GATHERING. IN THE SUN IT SHINES OUT EVEN MORE AND LOOKS FANTASTIC ON SUMMER CLOTHING.

VIOLETS AND PURPLE: THESE COLOURS CAN BE USED AS ALTERNATIVES TO BLACK. ESPECIALLY THE DEEP PURPLES FOR THAT ELEGANT EVENING DRESS. IT PROJECTS CONFIDENCE AND IMAGINATION AND AS WITH BLUE LOOKS GREAT ON PHOTOGRAPHS. IT CAN BE USED FOR BUSINESS CLOTHING AND LOOKS PROFESSIONAL. DONT EXPECT PURPLE TO BE AN UPLIFTER. IT IS NOT A GOOD COLOUR TO WEAR IF YOU ARE FEELING LOW OR ILL.

GREY: GREY AND GREY SHADES, THE PALEST TO THE DARKEST WILL MIX WITH BOTH LIGHT COLOURS AND VIVID COLOURS. IT IS A BUSINESS LIKE COLOUR AND IS USED EXTENSIVELY FIOR POWER DRESSING IN THE OFFICE. SIMILAR TO BLACK, WHEN YOU WEAR GREY YOU NEED TO BRIGHTEN UP YOUR FACE WITH STRONG COLOURFUL MAKE-UP. GREY DEMANDS RESPECT.

WHITE: WHITE IS SUCH A VERSATILE COLOUR. WHITE STANDS FOR PURITY AND CLEANLINESS. UNLIKE BLACK WHICH SHRINKS BODY SHAPE WHITE POSITIVELY EXPANDS THE BODY CONTOURS. EXPERIMENT FOR YOURSELF. LOOK INTO A MIRROR WEARING A BLACK TOP AND THEN A WHITE TOP. NOTICE A DIFFERENCE? SURE YOU DO, THE WHITE TOP REALLY SHOWS OFF YOUR CURVES.

BROWN: BROWN IS SO EASY AN ADAPTABLE COLOUR. AVOID THE TAN TONES FOR MIXING AND GO FOR A DARKER BROWN FOR SOPHISTICATION. BROWN HAS STOOD THE TEST OF TIME. A CLASSIC COLOUR TO WEAR. BROWN IS EARTHLY AND HOMELY.

PINK: PINK WILL ATTRACT ATTENTION LIKE A MAGNET. IT WILL CERTAINLY GET YOU NOTICED. SOFT PINKS ARE ROMANTIC AND SWEET WHEREAS SHOCKING PINK STIRS UP THE SENSES LIKE A HORNETS NEST. WHATEVER THE SEASON PINK LOOKS GREAT ON A HOT SUMMER BIKINI. PINK SPEAKS FEMININITY AND GENTLENESS.

THE COLOUR CHART.
CONSIDER USING A CAREFULLY PLANNED COLOUR CHART. THIS WILL GIVE YOU AN IDEA HOW COLOURS WORK TOGETHER.