colormatchFree Color Analysis From a Photo
Upload a photo or answer seven short questions. You get your color season, your palette with names and codes, and the colors that are worth avoiding. Free, and your photo stays on your device.
Nothing is uploaded and nothing is stored. The reading happens inside this page, on your own device, and takes about a minute.
- Spring
- Summer
- Autumn
- Winter
No photo to hand? Try one of these photos:
Prefer not to use a photo? Answer seven short questions instead.
How color analysis from a photo works
A stylist doing a color analysis looks at three things in your face, and so does this page. It finds the skin in the middle of your photo, leaves out the background, clothes and hair, and measures what is left.
Undertone: warm or cool
The color under the surface of your skin. The page reads the hue of your skin in the same color space printers and paint makers use: golden and peachy skin sits on the warm side, pink and rosy skin on the cool side, and the narrow band between is read as neutral.
Value: light or deep
How light or dark your coloring is overall. It is measured with the individual typology angle, the scale dermatologists use to place skin from very light to dark, rather than by plain brightness, which shifts with every lamp.
Contrast: clear or soft
The gap between your skin and the darkest parts of your face — hair, brows and eyes. A big gap calls for crisp, clear colors; a small one for gentler, dusty shades. Warm or cool picks the half, light or deep picks the season, and contrast settles the close calls.
A sample color analysis result
Pick a season to see it draped on a photograph, then tap any color in the palette to try it on. Your result looks the same, with your own season at the top: ten colors to wear, four everyday neutrals and five colors to be careful with, each with a name and a code you can take shopping.
Worn with Coral #E8734A
Spring: warm and light
Spring colors are warm, fresh and full of light, like a garden in early morning sun. They have yellow or golden warmth in them and stay bright rather than dusty. Next to these colors your skin usually looks rested and even.
Warm (golden)
Tap a color to drape it:
See the difference a color makes
The same person, the same light, two different tops. Drag the handle — or use the left and right arrow keys — to swap between them.
A color close to your face bounces light back onto your skin. One that matches your natural warmth evens out your skin and lifts your eyes; one that fights it adds shadow under the chin and around the eyes. That is why the same jumper can look wonderful on a friend and tired on you.
The 12 seasons of color analysis
The four seasons are the start. Each one splits into three, depending on which of its qualities is strongest, which gives the twelve seasons most stylists work with. The free result gives you your season; the full report adds which of its three subtypes you are.
| Season | Its coloring | The three subtypes |
|---|---|---|
| Spring | Warm and light | Light spring, Warm spring, Bright spring |
| Summer | Cool and soft | Light summer, Cool summer, Soft summer |
| Autumn | Warm and deep | Soft autumn, Warm autumn, Deep autumn |
| Winter | Cool and clear | Deep winter, Cool winter, Bright winter |
Every subtype with its palette and the other names it goes by is in the seasonal color analysis guide.
Online color analysis or a stylist?
Professional color analysis is done in person: you sit in daylight while a stylist holds dyed fabric under your chin, one color after another, and watches what it does to your face. It is pleasant to have done, and it answers the same three questions this page measures.
| With a stylist | colormatch | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Usually $150–$500 in the US | Free; full report $9.99 once |
| Time | 1½–3 hours, booked ahead | About a minute, any time |
| How | Fabric drapes under controlled light | Your photo or seven questions |
| You keep | A fabric swatch book, often extra | Color names and codes, a shareable palette |
A stylist sees your face in person, which no photo can match. Start here, check the palette in a mirror against a few clothes you already own, and book a session only if you still want a second opinion. No photo you trust? Take the color analysis quiz instead.
Color analysis questions
What is color analysis?
Color analysis is a way of finding the colors that flatter your natural coloring — your skin, hair and eyes. It sorts shades into seasons by three qualities: undertone (warm or cool), value (light or deep) and contrast (clear or soft). The season whose qualities match yours is the palette that makes you look rested rather than tired.
Can you do color analysis from a photo?
Yes, if the photo is a fair record of your face: daylight from a window, no filter, no beauty mode and little make-up. The skin, hair and eyes in the picture carry the same undertone, value and contrast a stylist looks at. A yellow lamp or a heavy filter shifts them, which is why the quiz is there as a second opinion.
Is online color analysis accurate?
It is a strong first answer, not a measurement. Undertone and value come through a good photo well; contrast is the hardest, because cameras and screens change it. Hold two or three colors from your palette against your face in a mirror — if they brighten your skin and lift your eyes, the result fits.
How much does professional color analysis cost?
An in-person session with a stylist usually costs somewhere between $150 and $500 in the US, takes one and a half to three hours and often has to be booked weeks ahead. Here the season, palette and colors to avoid are free; the optional full report with your subtype is a one-off $9.99.
What are the 12 seasons in color analysis?
Each of the four seasons splits into three. Spring: light, warm and bright. Summer: light, cool and soft. Autumn: soft, warm and deep. Winter: deep, cool and bright. The middle one of each is the season at its purest; the other two lean towards a neighbouring season.
Is my photo uploaded anywhere?
No. The reading happens inside your own browser and the photo never leaves your device, so there is nothing to delete afterwards. The free report keeps no email address and no account. Buying the full report stores your season and the address Polar used for the receipt, so the link in that email opens your report again — and if you then ask for the lookbook, that one photo is sent to an image service to make the pictures, which you can delete from the report at any time.
Is the color analysis really free?
Yes. The season, the palette and the colors to avoid are free and always will be, with no sign-up, password or email address. If you do not want to use a photo, the seven-question quiz gets you to the same kind of result.