Meet Ginny Hudnut of House of Colour Dallas in Richardson

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ginny Hudnut.

Ginny, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
In 2013 my sister was raving about an appointment where she learned what colors of clothing and accessories looked the best with her natural coloring. I was incredibly skeptical and all but rolled my eyes at her. I don’t need to pay someone money to have them tell me what looks good on me, thank you very much.

After receiving a color analysis as a gift, fast forward a few months and I was on my way to my own color analysis where my eyes were opened to the fact that so many colors that I was wearing were not doing me any favors. I looked sickly in some colors. Some would make my skin appear splotchy and red. In others, you would see the color before me because it was too strong for my features. However, in the right colors, my skin cleared up and I look healthier and more alert. I saw the same process on my mom and she looked ten years younger in the right colors. Her fine lines were more pronounced in one palette. Her skin looked dull in another. After this appointment, I was sold on the color analysis process and always thought it would be a dream job! I became obsessed with the palette that flatters me the most. I sorted through my closet and confidently donated things that I knew were not flattering me. To this day, I have not spent one penny on an item of clothing that does not fall into my season. If it comes in color and goes on my body, it’s in my colors.

Two years ago, I applied to purchase a franchise with House of Colour. After interviewing with our fabulous managing director, Helen Venables, I proceeded to intense, hands-on training in Kansas City. The training was seven days and I was able to not only learn the theory behind color analysis but also to practice with so many faces and watch the color magic happen.

I actually began by sharing my franchise with the remarkable Lindsey Benda in June of 2018. She had been working with the House of Colour for a few years and was an excellent partner. She has since moved on to pursue a full-time teaching career and her masters.

In college, I studied education and before House of Colour, I was a teacher. I find that I am still educating people and using those same skills. I absolutely love my work with House of Colour because I not only help people feel confidant and empowered in their own skin, but I also love forming relationships with people. The bulk of my business comes from referrals so I see one client, then I get to meet their mom, sister, kids, neighbor, husband, etc.

People leave their appointment feeling like a better version of themselves, although sometimes surprised ay their season. Rather than feeling limiting, knowing your colors and style makes me feel a huge sense of freedom! I love knowing that I can easily shop by simply scanning a store rather than considering each piece. I also love knowing that as trends come and go, I can fully embrace some of them but I don’t need to try out everyone if they aren’t going to flatter me.

Has it been a smooth road?
Overall it has been a very smooth road because the service that we offer speaks for itself. Once people experience or see the color analysis process they can’t help but share with others.

One struggle has been people telling me “oh yes, my mom did that in the 80’s!” This is not your grandmother’s color analysis! House of Colour is absolutely the best company offering these services in the world. There are more than four types of people in the world so while everyone does fall into either Winter, Summer, Spring or Autumn, there are different types of each season based on your best colors. You leave a color analysis knowing not only that you are an Autumn but that you are a Vibrant Autumn and that the brightest shades in the palette are your very best. You are given a practical rating to know which colors are great for an evening gown, which colors are professional and which are best in patterns, jewelry or accessories. Each season has multiple sub-seasons that help you understand your natural coloring better and give you direction on where to start shopping.

Another, I won’t say obstacle, but balancing act is the fact that I have two young children. I am constantly searching for the ever-elusive balance of motherhood and work. I know that I will not do it perfectly but I am thankful to love the days that I am home with my children, responding to emails and packing orders, and the days that I am seeing clients. It’s busy but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I would say the last obstacle is that people have a hard time separating their preferences for certain colors from what actually looks good. People come in all the time expressing which season they want to be but then they see that a completely different set of colors makes them look healthier, younger and helps others to see them more. Clients sometimes think that because they have received a compliment in a certain color, then it is their color. While this very well may be true, there are other reasons they may be receiving that compliment. Maybe they are simply drawn to that color but aren’t necessarily saying it’s flattering to you. When you receive a compliment, you need to listen carefully. Are they saying, “Wow, that dress is so beautiful!” Or are they saying, “You look amazing, are you doing something different?” There is a difference there. Maybe that coral dress is fine but maybe rose would be outstanding!

We’d love to hear more about your business.
House of Colour is a UK-based company that offers color and style analysis as well as accompanying services. Johannes Itten did the majority of the work on color theory in the early 20th century. He wanted to understand what differentiated two reds, greens or blues from each other. He understood at the time that all colors come from the three primary colors: red, blue and yellow. But what Itten proved was that beyond primary red, all colors have either more blue or more yellow in them. As a result, he broke color into two main groups: warm and cool colors. Within these two groups, he noticed more differences. He found that some colors were warm but earthy and rich and some colors were warm but bright and splashy. In the cool category, he found that some colors were bold and vivid, while another group was soft and smoky. So, Itten named these four categories after the four seasons.

Later, Itten’s work would be applied to people through color analysis. Not only are colors warm or cool but people are warm or cool. We all have undertones, a fatty layer under the skin, that are either tinged yellow or blue. Based on the color of your undertones, you fall into a certain category of colors that look best on you. You cannot see the color of your undertones so it is through our process  that we determine what color they are. This is the reason that online tests or simplified versions of this process are not accurate.

Personal color analysis at House of Colour is the most premier option for finding your absolute best colors for clothing, hair, and accessories. The 35-year proven process helps to pinpoint not only what season a client falls into but what makes them stand out in their very best colors.

What should you expect when coming to a color analysis appointment? A male or female clients (yes, men love knowing their colors too) needs to come to my studio with no make up on, and we work in natural daylight. The process is a series of comparisons. Do you look better in cream or white? Does aqua or electric blue suit you better? We use precision dyed drapes to compare different shades of greens, pinks, yellows, etc. This is where your skin tone will look older or more youthful, splotchy or bright, cold or warm. Next we do 90-second makeup. The most important place to start wearing your colors is in your makeup because if it is in the wrong colors, it will create and unflattering clash. House of Colour has high-quality, season-specific makeup and in a color analysis class we use our primer, foundation, blush, mascara, and lipstick. It is a simple routine because when you are wearing the right colored clothing, you already have an incredible baseline where you look like you are wearing makeup. Lastly, I rate the colors in your season and we find your wow colors: the very best ones!

Style analysis is part of body measurements, part personality test. We want to find the cuts, textures, patterns and silhouettes that truly flatter your temperament as well as your physical shape. This class helped me embrace my true style personality instead of feeling the need to be like someone else because I now understand that the style of clothing that looks best on me helps people to see me, not the clothes and flatters my figure more than other styles. I look forward to training in Style Analysis in February of 2020! We also offer various other services such a personal shopping, closet edits, and children’s color analysis.

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Dallas is a style-forward city and with the wealth of designers, retailers and influencers that are based here, House of Colour is in a perfect position. People are willing to spend money on clothing and appearance. It makes perfect sense to make sure that the money you are spending on clothing, makeup and hair color is well worth it through a color and style analysis.

Pricing:

• Individual Color Analysis $300
• Saturday Small Group Analysis $245
• Weekday Small Group Color Analysis $210
• Developing Style Class $265

Contact Info:

• Website: houseofcolour.com
• Phone: 9726749546
• Email: ginny.hudnut@houseofcolour.com