“Style is a way to say who you are without having to speak”

Have you ever wanted to make some big changes in your life?

I certainly did, but I was not sure how this would come about or whether I could action that change. It is said that life brings us many opportunities, but we do not always embrace them and as a true procrastinator some have passed me by until ……….

I was made redundant twice in a year, the second time at the end of 2019, and had the opportunity to start my own business, encouraged by some wonderful supporters of my ability to do so.

I set up a business as a Virtual Office Manager in January 2020. This was the start of the change and a new beginning. I started networking and met some amazing people running their own businesses, one of whom was Fiona Mobbs, Online Personal Stylist, and Shopper. We first met at a LinkedIn Local meeting In Lymington and subsequently at other networking groups. As a personal stylist, Fiona always had great stories to tell of her experience with customers and life in general. After reading a post that she placed about ‘Laughter Lines’ and how wearing the right colour can reduce them, I made a comment and Fiona contacted me.

I decided to try Fiona’s on-line colour analysis, which has been designed because of COVID-19. WOW! What an eye-opener! I am someone who loves clothes and colour and thought I had a fairly good grasp on what suited me but talking with Fiona and comparing the different shades of colours against my complexion and understanding more about my “clothing personality” was amazing.

If I had had Fiona’s analysis and wallet of my Spring colour swatches before, I would not have made so many mistakes when buying ‘bargains’, Fiona is a star

As part of Fiona’s on-line service, I received an envelope from Fiona with some coloured drapes, a colour wheel, and 4 wallets with swatches for each seasonal type. I always love receiving a parcel in the post, don’t you?

Fiona arranged for us to have a Zoom call to determine my colour group. This worked really well with my laptop in my conservatory which has lots of natural daylight. I positioned the neck drapes around me, one by one during our session. We could see the difference it made to my skin tone and it did make me look younger!!! These are the Seasonal types: -

Spring - Warm/sharp

Autumn - Warm/soft

Summer - Cool/Soft

Winter - Cool/sharp

As you can see below Fiona analysed me as a Spring

Fiona then arranged to visit me at my home in full PPE to conclude her process: going through each of the Spring colours in my wallet and relating them to my wardrobe. It was not just about throwing everything out as I had thought it might be, Fiona showed me different techniques to add the right colour, with scarves, jewellery, my makeup, and hair colour. We realised that I suited a warm blonde tone, gold jewellery, brown mascara, and I could still get funky with my glasses in red, but the right colour red of course, which I now know, as there are so many different tones and shades.

Fiona’s experience really does make the ‘magic’ happen!

This experience has encouraged me to be me again, use colour, and still be a little bit quirky, thinking about what I wear rather than just grabbing something from the wardrobe.

Why not add your colours to your life?

Surround yourself in colours that are you!

Contact Fiona on 07469 246722, Fiona.yourcolourandstyle@gmail.com / www.yourcolourandstyle.com, and see what will happen for you.

mytripflops-travel-photo-blog-by-katyushka-IJ1IV5hTuV8-unsplash.jpg — ***Balance, Harmony, Trickery***

I was pointed towards the Pomodora Technique this week, which some of you may know but I thought I would share it with you as I think it will work well while we are all working from home.

The Pomodoro Technique is a time management method developed by Francesco Cirillo in the late 1980s.

There are 6 steps to follow: -

Choose a task you would really like to get done – something that deserves attention large or small, something that you have been putting off for eternity.
Set the Pomodora (alarm) for 25 Minutes, I have found 45 Minutes works for me, so try either.
Work on the task until the Pomodora rings for the allocated time, if you suddenly realise you need to do something else, write the task down on a sheet of paper and carry on with what you are doing, you know it can wait!
When the Pomodora rings tick a box or check-mark somewhere to recognise that you have spent an entire block of time without interruption
Take a short break 10 minutes is good, have some refreshment, take a walk in your garden if you have one or a 10-minute meditation.
Every 4 Pomodoro’s take a slightly longer break 20 or 30 minutes. This allows your brain to assimilate new information and rest before your next set of Pomodoro’s.

It might be a good idea to have a Pomodoro To-Do sheet as a visual overview of the time spent on various tasks, time management is so important.

Most interruptions, phone calls, emails, text messages can be ignored for at least 25 minutes. Going forward you will be able to ascertain how many Pomodoro’s you will need to accomplish the days tasks. Setting a realistic timetable with deadlines for tasks will define your own objective which can take the time pressure off by transforming complex goals into a series of simpler goals.