colormatch

Seasonal Color Analysis

Seasonal color analysis sorts every color into four families named after the seasons, then matches you to the family that shares your coloring. Upload a photo or answer seven short questions to find your season, then read on for how it works and all twelve palettes.

Free, no sign-up. The reading happens inside this page, on your own device, and your photo is never uploaded.

  • Spring
  • Summer
  • Autumn
  • Winter

What makes a good photo

Any file works — the reading is what changes. These six things move the result more than anything else you can do.

  • Daylight, not a lampStand near a window in the middle of the day. A bulb adds its own color to your skin, and that is exactly what the reading measures.
  • Not thisWhat a warm bulb doesThe same face under an indoor bulb. Everything shifts golden, so a cool coloring reads as warm. If the photo looks like this, take another by a window.
  • A plain wall behind youA bare wall in white, gray or any single color. A busy room bounces color back onto your skin.
  • Face filling the frameHead and shoulders, close enough that your face takes up most of the picture. A full-length shot gives too few pixels of skin.
  • Eyes and hairline visibleNo sunglasses, no hat, hair off your face. Your eyes and hair carry the contrast half of the reading.
  • No filters, light make-upBeauty filters and heavy foundation replace the very thing being measured. A plain camera photo, bare face if you can.

No photo to hand? Try one of these photos:

Prefer not to use a photo? Answer seven short questions instead.

Three qualities decide your season

Every color, and every face, can be described by the same three qualities. A season is simply a group of colors that agree on them, which is why colors from your season sit easily on you: they repeat what is already there.

  1. Undertone: warm or cool

    Whether the skin carries golden, peachy warmth or pink and blue coolness. Spring and Autumn are warm. Summer and Winter are cool. This is the first and most important split.

  2. Depth: light or deep

    How light or dark your coloring reads overall — skin, hair and eyes together. Spring and Summer are light. Autumn and Winter are deep.

  3. Clarity: bright or soft

    Whether your coloring is clear and high in contrast, or blended and gentle. Spring and Winter are clear. Summer and Autumn are soft. Clarity is what separates the twelve subtypes most often.

All twelve seasons, with their other names

Each season has three subtypes: one at its purest, and two that lean towards a neighbouring season. Different books and analysts name them differently, so the other names are listed too. Open any of them for the full palette with codes, the neutrals and the shades to avoid.

Spring

  • Light springSpring: the lightest version, pulled towards Summer.
  • Warm springAlso called True spring, Pure springSpring: the season at its purest, with no pull from a neighbour.
  • Bright springAlso called Clear springSpring: the clearest version, pulled towards Winter.

Summer

  • Light summerSummer: the lightest version, pulled towards Spring.
  • Cool summerAlso called True summer, Pure summerSummer: the season at its purest, with no pull from a neighbour.
  • Soft summerAlso called Muted summerSummer: the most muted version, pulled towards Autumn.

Autumn

  • Soft autumnAlso called Muted autumnAutumn: the most muted version, pulled towards Summer.
  • Warm autumnAlso called True autumn, Pure autumnAutumn: the season at its purest, with no pull from a neighbour.
  • Deep autumnAlso called Dark autumnAutumn: the deepest version, pulled towards Winter.

Winter

  • Deep winterAlso called Dark winterWinter: the deepest version, pulled towards Autumn.
  • Cool winterAlso called True winter, Pure winterWinter: the season at its purest, with no pull from a neighbour.
  • Bright winterAlso called Clear winter, Vivid winterWinter: the clearest version, pulled towards Spring.

Three ways to find your season

Draping. The classic method: an analyst holds dyed fabrics under your chin in daylight and watches what each one does to your skin. It is thorough and it costs money and an appointment.

A photo. A clear, unfiltered photo in daylight shows undertone and depth well. colormatch reads the skin in your browser — the reading never uploads your photo — and gives you a season, an undertone and a palette.

A quiz. Seven questions about your veins, how you tan, your natural hair and which jewellery flatters you. It works where a photo cannot, such as under poor light.

Use a photoDo it by hand

Where seasonal analysis comes from

The idea that coloring falls into seasonal families goes back to the color teaching of the Bauhaus painter Johannes Itten. It became popular in 1980 with Carole Jackson's book Color Me Beautiful, which used four seasons. The twelve-season system came later, to place the many people who sat between two of the four.

Personal color analysis is especially popular in Korea, where the same seasons are often called by their undertone first: spring warm, summer cool, autumn warm, winter cool.

What a season is good for, and what it is not

A season is a shortcut for the colors worn near your face: tops, scarves, glasses, lipstick and hair color. It narrows a rail of forty tops to the five worth trying on. It says nothing about trousers, shoes or rooms, and it is not a rule anyone has to obey.

Your undertone stays the same through life, so your half of the wheel rarely moves. Depth and contrast do change — most of all as hair turns gray — which is why many people drift to a softer or lighter neighbour of their season over the years. The guide to colors with gray haircovers that change.

Questions about seasonal color analysis

What is seasonal color analysis?

It is a way of sorting colors by how they sit next to a face. Each season — Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter — is a family of shades that share an undertone, a depth and a level of clarity. Your season is the family whose three qualities match your own skin, hair and eyes, so its colors make you look rested instead of tired.

What is the difference between 4-season and 12-season color analysis?

The four-season system answers one question at a time: warm or cool, then light or deep. The twelve-season system keeps the four families but splits each into three, according to which of its qualities is strongest. A Summer whose coloring is mostly gentle and dusty becomes a Soft Summer; one whose coloring is mostly pale becomes a Light Summer.

What is a "true" summer, autumn, winter or spring?

The true subtype is the season at its purest, with no pull towards a neighbouring season. True Summer is the same as Cool Summer, True Winter is Cool Winter, True Autumn is Warm Autumn and True Spring is Warm Spring. Different books use different names for the same twelve palettes.

Is dark autumn the same as deep autumn?

Yes. Dark Autumn and Deep Autumn are two names for one subtype, and Dark Winter and Deep Winter are another pair. Clear and Bright are interchangeable in the same way, and so are Muted and Soft.

How accurate is color analysis from a photo?

A photo can judge undertone and depth well when the light is daylight and the face is free of filters. Clarity is harder, because screens and cameras shift it. Treat a photo result as a strong first answer, then check it by holding two or three shades from the palette against your face in a mirror.

Do I need an in-person draping session?

No. Draping — holding dyed fabric under the chin, one color after another — is the classic method and it is pleasant to have done, but it answers the same three questions you can answer at home with daylight, a mirror and a few garments you already own.