Seasonal Color Analysis: The 12 Seasons Explained Simply

Some colors make your skin look clear and rested. Others make you look tired, even after a good night's sleep. Seasonal color analysis is a simple system for telling the two apart. It groups people into "seasons" based on their natural coloring, then gives each season a palette of colors that tend to flatter it.

This guide explains how the system works, what the 12 seasons are, and how to find yours.

Where the idea comes from

Color analysis grew out of color theory used by painters and was popularized in the 1980s, first with four seasons: Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. Later analysts split each season into three, giving the 12-season system most color analysts use today. The names are just labels. Being a "Winter" has nothing to do with when you were born or what weather you like.

The three things that decide your season

Your season comes from three features of your natural coloring: your skin, eyes and hair together.

1. Undertone: warm or cool. Undertone is the color that sits under the surface of your skin. Warm undertones lean golden, peachy or yellow. Cool undertones lean pink, rosy or bluish. Some people sit in the middle and are called neutral. Spring and Autumn are warm seasons. Summer and Winter are cool.

2. Depth: light or deep. Depth is how light or dark your overall coloring is. Very fair skin with light hair and eyes is light. Dark hair and dark eyes are deep.

3. Chroma: bright or soft. Chroma describes how clear or muted your coloring looks. Bright coloring has sharp contrast and vivid eyes. Soft coloring looks gentle and blended, with low contrast between skin, hair and eyes.

Every season has one of these as its strongest feature. That is why there are 12 seasons rather than four.

The 12 seasons at a glance

Neighbor seasons share a lot. A Soft Autumn and a Soft Summer both look best in muted colors. The difference is that Soft Autumn leans warm and Soft Summer leans cool.

How to tell if a color suits you

When a color is right, people notice your face before your clothes. Your skin looks even, shadows under the eyes soften and your eyes look brighter. When a color is wrong, you may look washed out, sallow or tired, or the color "wears you" and is all anyone sees.

The colors that matter most are the ones near your face: tops, scarves, collars, glasses frames, makeup and hair color. Trousers, shoes and bags matter much less.

How to find your season

There are three common ways:

1. A professional draping session. An analyst holds fabric drapes under your face in daylight and compares them. It's accurate but usually costs $150 to $400.
2. A do-it-yourself test. You compare yourself in different colors in front of a mirror by a window. It's free, but it's easy to be fooled by makeup, hair dye or indoor light.
3. An app. Huesette reads your undertone, depth and contrast from one selfie and places you in one of the 12 seasons, with your full palette, best neutrals, makeup and hair shades.

Whichever way you choose, use daylight, no makeup filter and no strong colored light behind you.

Common myths

• "I can never wear black." Many seasons look better in charcoal, navy or chocolate near the face, but you can still wear black trousers or shoes.
• "My season changes with my tan." A tan can shift your skin a little, but your undertone and your contrast usually stay the same.
• "Warm means orange, cool means blue." Every season has reds, blues and greens. What changes is the version: warmer or cooler, clearer or more muted.

The short version

Seasonal color analysis sorts your coloring by undertone, depth and chroma, and gives you a palette that works with it instead of against it. Knowing your season makes shopping faster, cuts the clothes you never wear and makes choosing makeup much easier.