My Story

Lu Hoogeveen – Certified & Accredited Image/Color Consultant – 402-250-2900

I have long been fascinated with Color Analysis – so much so that many high achieving individuals have long sought my counsel and advice. My initial involvement with Color Analysis was as a hobby – albeit a passionate hobby – as my original profession was in education.

Years ago – long before I had ever heard of Color Analysis, I was asked to be a model in a style show. Peach was the new color. The store manager chose peach-colored outfits for both my neighbor and me. I remember staring at our reflections in the mirror. Julie, my neighbor, looked absolutely stunning in her peach dress. But the peach suit I was wearing made me appear PALE and DRAB. I was young; I was slender; my makeup and hair were polished to perfection. I didn’t understand why I looked so DULL and LIFELESS.

Two years later, the book COLOR ME BEAUTIFUL by Karen Jackson hit the fashion industry by storm. Many consultants grabbed on to the trend and began offering Color Analysis. I was intrigued so I had my colors analyzed. I had previously noted that people had often complimented me when I wore the color fuchsia, but I hadn’t understood why – because I knew nothing about warm and cool colors. I had no way to connect the dots. After my color analysis, I realized that fuchsia is one of my best colors. Peach is a warm color; fuchsia is a cool color. I finally understood why the color peach looked so hideous on me. I look best in cool colors. Peach was out of harmony with my skin tone, eye color, and hair color.

What I learned is that COLOR IS MAGIC! An awareness of how to put this magic to use for you, and not allow it to work against you, is potent knowledge. The influence of color and how it impacted not only my appearance, but my self-confidence, finally made sense. Having my colors analyzed was life-changing. It makes shopping for clothes a breeze and so much fun! I use my color swatch to make sure I only choose colors in my color scheme – and shun anything that is not.

So … after years of fascination with Color Analysis, I decided to follow my passion and become formally trained as an Image Consultant. I flew to Florida to be personally trained by Ferial Youakim with her ByFerial4X4 Color System.

I’ve taken further training through Lora Alexander of PrettyYourWorld, who expanded the 4×4 System to 28 seasons and more.

Having developed her extensive Image Consulting System in Australia, and having trained select individuals around the world, I was inspired by Ferial and Lora’s passion and knowledge. With formal training in Color Analysis, Fashion & Style, Make-up, and Etiquette, I was able to fully connect the long elusive dots … and the remaining pieces of the puzzle fell into place.