Analyse your personal colors online with a Scarlet Pixel color analysis

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Established 1999

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Analyze your personal colors online with Scarlet Pixel...

Welcome to the American and Canadian homepage of Scarlet Pixel, the online Personal Color Analysis specialists. This is a sister site of our UK site, www.scarletpixel.com being created especially for the USA and Canada, to help us meet the high demand that we have from these areas. Scarlet Pixel, a successful new Internet company, has been online worldwide since January 1999, during which time we have learnt that you folks just can't spell some words, such as color (color) and grey (gray) and one reason for developing this site is to address this issue!

Our websites are being developed to provide helpful information for all those interested in discovering the power of color. Via the Internet, our Color Consultant is able to offer advice and a worldwide online/postal high quality Personal Color Analysis service. Being a modern company, we keep our prices low by making full use of the Internet and email in order to run our business. You can contact us by email at any time and you will always receive a personal response.

Using our site you can also read book reviews on related topics and make purchases from Amazon. Interesting items are presented from time to time and a selection of past articles are stored in our 'All about color' section and have covered a range of topical issues. Maybe you want to discover more about crystals or gemstones - so start here! Perhaps you want to explore the chakra or decipher your aura? Or maybe you wish to know whether your color season is winter or summer, perhaps spring or autumn? We can show you how to use natural healing to alter your moods, to combat stress and to improve your general health, beauty and well-being.

We are also creating related links and product pages and our 'just for fun' section includes periodic competitions too. Enjoy your visit - and come back soon!

Scarlet Pixel, online since January 1999, is located in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England.

The changing colors of the fall...

For many people autumn is a time of beauty, when the natural world treats us to a last burst of color before the onset of winter. But, have you ever wondered why we are treated to this annual feast of colors?

The leaf colors in autumn 2003 were particularly spectacular, more vibrant and varied than usual. A surge of interest in the 'hows' and 'whys' of leaf color change was reflected in numerous newspapers articles, radio and television interviews and website pages devoted to the subject.

The annual color change and leaf shedding that is characteristic of broad-leaved trees is closely linked to the way they obtain food.

Trees, like the majority of plants, produce their own food by a process called photosynthesis. It takes place in the leaves which contain a chemical pigment called chlorophyll which makes leaves look green. It's produced in leaf cells throughout the growing season when it is warm and sunny and has an essential role in photosynthesis.

Carotene, is another chemical pigment found in leaf cells throughout the growing season and has a secondary role in photosynthesis. The yellow color of carotene isn't visible in spring and summer leaves because it is masked by the green of the chlorophyll.

As summer turns into autumn, the shorter days and cooler nights trigger two major changes in the leaf, both of which have consequences for its color:

chlorophyll production slows down and eventually stops, the remaining chlorophyll breaks down and the green coloration fades to reveal the yellow carotene. Trees with yellow autumn leaves include birch, horse chestnut, sycamore and hazel.
a layer of corky cells forms across the base of leaf stalk, in preparation for leaf shedding, which restricts the movement of sugars back to the main part of the tree. Sugars become concentrated in the leaf and are eventually converted to anthocyanin, a red/purple chemical pigment. The red leaves of maple and beech contain high levels of anthocyanin. Leaves with a combination of anthocyanin and carotene appear orange.

It's not only chemical changes in the leaves that affect their color. Autumn weather conditions also have an effect:

cold nights - low temperatures destroy chlorophyll so the green leaf fades to yellow, but if temperatures stay above freezing anthocyanin production is enhanced and the leaves take on a red color.
dry weather - sugars become concentrated in the leaves, more anthocyanin is produced and consequently leaves are redder.
bright sunny days - although the production of new chlorophyll stops in autumn, photosynthesis can still occur on sunny autumn days, using the remaining chlorophyll. Sugar concentration increases, more anthocyanin is produced and the leaves are redder.

So, for the greatest variety and intensity of autumn colors, sunny, dry autumn days with cold but not freezing nights are best, especially if preceded by a dry summer. Cloudy and rainy autumn days on the other hand, lead to muted autumn colors.

If the weather conditions of summer and autumn 2003 are typical of climate warming we can expect to see many more vibrant autumns in the future. If you are thinking about all the lovely colors that trees display for a few brief weeks, why not take a look at the lovely wood colors displayed when they are made into fine furniture that can be enjoyed all year round? www.thechairdesigner.com

Scarlet Pixel would like to thank Nature Detectives who kindly allowed the above article to be reproduced here. Nature Detectives is a website for teachers, parents, youth groups and kids to discover the natural world and explore the changing timing of the seasons across the UK: www.naturedetectives.org.uk