Thank you, thank you, thank you. I had my colours done when I was a girl and found that I was a ‘winter’. I had great fun wearing those ’80’s colours (bottle green, Schaiparelli pink, royal blue etc), but lately I haven’t felt like wearing those colours anymore. Finding out my ‘new’ colours(and that I don’t have to wear black) has given me so much more choice – especially in the ‘neutral’ end of the range.

I feel so much more alive, I feel like I’m a real person again – people ‘see’ me. I ‘see’ me. Knowing the colours that suit me has given me the freedom to spend much more time deciding whether I like the cut and line of the clothes, and whether they actually suit me.

It also alleviates the fear of being pushed into buying something I don’t like. If I don’t want to buy something, all I have to say to the pushy sales assistant is ‘it’s not my colour’. I have bought fewer clothes, but what I have bought, I can’t wear enough. It’s also given me permission to buy that egg-shell blue suit that I’ve been eyeing off since 1990. If only I could find one with cut, line and style…

It’s given me permission to go blonde; last time I tried it, people looked straight past me, but this time, I’ve got a blonde colour that suits me, and with the right colours, I’m still seen as a smart, capable woman. I’m looking forward to going back to work and shopping for new work clothes that I like, rather than those that will ‘give me authority’ on the building site. Even better, as a mum of two toddlers staying at home for the next year or two, I’m looking forward to buying new winter clothes that aren’t the ‘regulation’ black tracksuit pants that I’ve been wearing for the last two years. Yes they were comfortable, but black really shows up the spew!