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Have you ever found yourself in a rush to get dressed, only to open your closet and feel a wave of dread because nothing seems to look good on you? Naphtali Crouse, owner of House of Colour (HOC) in Ankeny, Iowa, is on a mission to show women the profound impact color can have on their confidence so that whenever they open their closets, they feel excitement instead of dread.  

HOC services analyze an individual’s natural skin undertone and figure out which color palette best suits them, ensuring a harmonious wardrobe. HOC uses four color palettes, which are called seasons: winter, spring, summer and autumn.  

Crouse is the Ankeny franchise owner of HOC, which was founded in the UK in the 1980s before expanding into the United States in 2016. It is now the global leader in color and style analysis. Crouse has been a consultant for four years and loves what she does.   

“I want to help women and bring joy to their life and help them feel confident in their own skin,” Crouse said. She is a ‘curator of confidence,’ which is the HOC tagline.  

Through her expertise, Crouse will find out whether her client has a warm or cool undertone through simultaneous contrast. She places colored drapes in all four color seasons across the client’s chest which exposes their warm or cool tones. This process can only be done in-person, as Crouse needs natural lighting to see the client’s true undertone.   

Melanin is what gives skin its pigment. Most people have more yellow or blue in their melanin or undertone. Yellow is a warm pigment, which is characterized by autumn and spring. Blue is a cool pigment, characterized by the summer and winter seasons.   

Once Crouse has indicated whether her client has a warm or cool undertone, she then compares bright and muted colors. She analyzes which colors best enhances her client’s features by using the same draping process as before. Autumn and summer are the muted seasons, while spring and winter are the bright seasons.   

Once the client’s specific season is known, Crouse will do a 90-second makeup routine to show clients how easy a flawless look can be when the right color of makeup is used. Crouse will then drape every color in their season around the neck to find the client’s “WOW” colors. This will be helpful when shopping for everyday wear and staple pieces. Lastly, Crouse encourages her clients to find harmony in their wardrobe and provides them tips. The color analysis takes about an hour and a half to analyze your season, get your makeup, “WOW” colors and information moving forward.   

“We’ll teach you about jewelry, hair color, your neutrals, best color combinations, that’s all in the book you get to take home with your fan. That’s the tool you use when you’re shopping,” Crouse said.   

Color analysis is not only for women, men are also welcome. Services are also offered for all ages. An individual stays the same color season for the entirety of their life, from the time they are a baby until the day they pass.   

Being a hairstylist for 18 years, Crouse knew enough about color before she decided to become a color consultant. Through the trading of her hair service with an acquaintance, Crouse got her colors done and was surprised to find she was an autumn when she had been dressing in summer colors all these years. The way Crouse appeared in pictures had given her new confidence, all because she started wearing her correct colors.   

“Once I started wearing the colors and makeup [in my season] you really notice it in pictures… ‘I really like that photo of myself,’” Crouse said.  

This changed the way Crouse viewed color and made her excited to wear her season because she felt like her most beautiful self. Crouse wanted to help other women find their confidence as well.   

HOC assistant to the national training team Cora Olson described her experience with colors. 

“When I get dressed it’s so easy because everything in my closet harmonizes, so I can also do fun color combinations, but because it harmonizes it doesn’t look crazy,” Olson said. “When I try something on and I don’t like how I look in it, I know it’s the color and not me. That’s such a confidence boost.” 

Crouse said that in the long run, knowing your colors will save you money. Instead of having a closet full of things that you will never wear, you will start buying the clothes you know you will love.   

“You can have five pants and five shirts, and you can make twenty-five outfits,” Crouse said. “Putting your entire closet in your season helps you get a capsule wardrobe so you scale back what you have in your closet, but you have a lot more to wear. 

It can be overwhelming knowing where to start. Olson and Crouse suggest starting with things closest to your face like makeup, hair and a shirt. It is a long journey and it is supposed to be fun. 

“Take it slow, don’t be the color police,” Olson said. “it’s tools, not rules.”  

Kerry Wise had her color analysis in November of 2021. Wise says that knowing her season helped her get out of her comfort zone and helped her start wearing clothes she felt confident in.   

“Color analysis is something I wish I would have done years and years ago. I wish I would have had access to this when I was in college,” Wise said. “Going into the workforce and going out for job interviews, I think when you are armed with your best colors, it makes all the difference. You’re going out there looking better and feeling more confident in what you are putting out.”  

75% of communication is nonverbal, so looking and feeling your best self is crucial as you prepare for the workforce. Simply going through the different seasons of life can make all the difference in how individuals present themselves.   

HOC is an experience that can benefit your confidence and help save time when shopping or getting dressed. Crouse will walk you through the “why” of what colors are best for you and give you accurate information that will last a lifetime. Now you can start the journey of being excited to open the closet, get dressed and show up for each day with confidence to put your best foot forward. 

In My Confident Aura: A Review

I got my colors done by Naphtali in September of 2024. My parents bought it as a Christmas gift for my two sisters, sister-in-law, mom and me, as a fun activity we can do together.   

I thought my season would be summer because those are the colors I always wore. Summer is a cool tone, so when we went through the first draping process to find out I was one of the warm tones was a surprise. I was happy to see I was a spring because I liked the bright colors. I enjoyed seeing my features’ differences when I had the correct color drape on. Through the simultaneous contrast process, I could see the difference in my eyes and cheeks when I had the spring colors on. My face looked brighter, and I appeared cheery.  

After Naphtali discovered my season, she draped each spring color around my neck to find my “WOW” colors, which contained six blues, two reds, a purple and green, to name a few. I loved seeing my before and after pictures with my correct makeup and colors on, and how that grew my confidence. At the end of our analysis, Naphtali gave us booklets, color palette fans of our seasons and tips on shopping, which I found very helpful.  

One of the quickest and easiest changes I made was my makeup. Before, I was wearing black mascara and the wrong shade of blush. When Naphtali put my correct makeup colors on, it made me feel so confident and made my eyes pop. I now use brown mascara and the right shade of blush, and just that small adjustment has completely changed my confidence each day.    

As a spring, a more cream off-white is better for me than a real white. It’s so helpful to know these things so that when I get married one day, I can know what shade to get for my wedding dress and what color I want my bridesmaids in. I used to wear silver jewelry but after I got my colors done, I started to wear gold jewelry. It made me brighten up and feel more confident. Knowing my correct jewelry color is also helpful, as I always thought I wanted a silver engagement ring in the future. After seeing gold jewelry looks better on me, it changed my mind. Shopping is easier now because when I go to Amazon to buy clothes, I don’t get overwhelmed with the plethora of color options anymore since I know which colors will look best on me. As I’m starting to shop for professional clothes and  get ready for the workforce, it’s so nice to know what colors will make me look and feel the best. I’m so glad I got this experience when I did so I can be prepared for all the exciting events life has to bring.  

It was a great bonding experience for the women in my family and is something we talk about often. We have a group chat where we send clothes and ask each other for advice on colors. We brought snacks and drinks to share during our analysis since there were five of us it would take a few hours. We were able to chat and bond during the whole session. It’s now something we get to bond over for the rest of our lives.