It’s obvious that our colouring changes as we age. Most people are only aware of our hair growing whiter or greyer but our eyes lose pigment as well. Our skin both loses pigment (softening down) and gains pigment in uneven, seemingly random patches.

Right now I’m coming to terms with my hair in particular, softening down so much that it’s beginning to look white in some areas. Although I do have plenty of my original darker hair too, a lot of that is underneath or around the back of my head.

While I haven’t dyed my hair for well over 20 years, I’m a big fan of colour shampoos. In my opinion, they add some interest while still looking quite natural and not harsh as they don’t have the same coverage as traditional dye does. They also come without the huge financial and time investment and without damaging the hair.

There’s one brand in particular that I’ve used since I was 17, although I’ve sometimes varied which part of their colour range I lean towards. When my favourite became unavailable for an extended period, I began to experiment with others in their line and with other brands as well.

With less pigment in the other shampoos, and therefore less coverage than I was used to, more of my snow white hair has become visible, and having turned (kind of accidentally!) towards more red based shampoos, this has resulted in my hair becoming more pink instead of auburn. And I think I’m liking it but it is an adjustment…

It’s made me laugh to hear some people say they thought I was a natural redhead / auburn. I called myself the accidental redhead as it was simply the easiest way of adding some interest. In truth I miss my dark hair but I’ll never dye it back to that as it would wash me out now that my skin and eyes have softened down.

However, when I catch a glimpse of myself by chance, I’m surprised by how light I’ve become. I’ve known for a long time that black is no longer my best colour but now even some chocolate browns or navy blues are too deep for me.

So for anyone not yet convinced that the colours we wear don’t have an impact on how we appear, I’ve taken some shots of me in my long-loved orange, my newly loved pink, and a purple, some navy and sheer black, to show the difference.

The photos were taken in the same place, just minutes apart. Hair and makeup are identical in every photo. I have a ‘to camera’ pose and another slightly side on in each of the outfits. Apologies for the goofy expressions - I’m not a natural selfie queen - lol!

Then I took the same photos in another space, where the light was less direct. Unfortunately I forgot to take the photos of me wearing black; what might look like black below is actually the navy. Again, these photos were taken only minutes apart and there is no editing or filters applied to any of the photos on this page. You can see the light makes a big difference, but the colour of the outfit changes things dramatically too. Note the colour o my eyes and the presence of shadows.

I might look older in these photos but it’s not something I mind. I’m intrigued to see myself age naturally (well apart from the hair colour, I guess!). I’d be keen to hear what you think about all of the photos. Do you think some colours suit me more than others?

If these images have changed your mind about the power of wearing colour, let me know. And if you’d like a Colour Analysis, see here.