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The most timeless beauty of all is your natural self. Still, in a world governed by endless fleeting micro-trends and styles, it’s easy to get lost and overwhelmed. Imagine, instead, knowing how to find the colors that truly flatter you; the shades that make your skin glow, your eyes sharpen, and your presence exude effortless beauty. It’s no coincidence — rather, it’s the art of color analysis, an aesthetic science revealing the chromatic palette that enhances your natural allure. Understanding your colors doesn’t have to be complicated. It’s actually so much easier than you think to master the refinement of wearing shades and hues that feel unmistakably you.
The Foundations
Color analysis comprises 12 subtypes, each corresponding to one of the four seasons. Every analysis begins with undertones: warm or cool. Warm undertones carry notes of peach or olive beneath the skin. Think of this complexion in terms of sunlit colors like golden yellows, burnished oranges, and earthly greens. Warm seasons include Spring and Autumn. A cool undertone, on the other hand, reveals hints of pink, rose, or blue — colors with a dustier undertone and cooler feel. Colors best for cool tones tend to be crisp jewel shades: sapphire, fuchsia, and icy lavender. Cool seasons include Winter and Summer.
If you don’t know which best describes you, think of your jewelry. If you look best in gold, you’re warm, and if you gravitate towards silver jewelry, you’re cool. Still unsure of your undertone? A simple trick is to hold out your wrist and look at the colors of the veins. Purple or blue-looking veins indicate a cool undertone, while people with warm undertones have green-looking veins.
Once the undertone is established, the analysis narrows to your complexion and whether you’re bright or soft/muted. First, try on a bright color or lipstick and a muted color of those same shades. If those bright colors overwhelm you, you’re soft. Bright is Spring or Winter, but if you are soft and muted, you’re a Summer or Autumn.
The last step turns to contrast: Dark or Light. People who are Dark have a lot of contrast between their features. Think dark hair and eyes, set against very pale skin. Whereas Light features have very low contrast. For example, dark skin, brown hair, brown eyes, or fair skin, light hair, and light eyes. Dark seasons are Winter and Autumn, and light seasons are spring and summer.
Together, undertone, complexion, and contrast form your season.
Spring (Bright, Warm, Light)
Spring is all about warmth and brightness. It’s the season of blooming flowers and golden sunlight, the perfect reflection of its wearers’ luminous energy.
- Bright Spring combines high contrast with warm undertones. Eyes can be any color as long as they’re bright, standing out against the whites of the eye, and hair color tends to have a golden hue, whether it’s warm blonde, medium brunette, or copper. This color palette is reminiscent of tropical and exotic hues, with the most saturated colors out of the 12 seasons. Celebrity Muses: Emma Stone, Jared Leto, Brittany Snow.
- True Spring radiates pure warmth with medium contrast. Eye color ranges from light blue to light green and hazel, while hair color ranges from medium golden blondes to light coppers and warm brunettes. True spring colors are warm with a clear yellow undertone. Celebrity Muses: Amy Adams, Blake Lively, Nicole Kidman.
- Light Spring softens warm tones, creating low contrast with overall light features. Eyes and hair are the lightest shades of each color. This palette is still warm and fresh, but light and gentle with more pastels. Celebrity Muses: Elle Fanning, Sophie Turner, and Candice Swanepoel.
Summer (Light, Cool, Soft)
Summer palettes are cool, muted, and romantic. Picture dew drops on flowers, vintage film tones, and fluffy clouds.
- Light Summer thrives in powdery hues, complementing light features with low contrast. A cool undertone means eye colors are light with blue and greyish notes, and hair ranges from icy blondes to ashy browns. Periwinkle, rose, and gentle greys are in this palette. Celebrity Muses: Kirsten Dunst, Taylor Swift, Margot Robbie.
- True Summer is classic with noticeably cool qualities. Eyes are softly greyed, no matter the color, and hair is more muted tones of dark ashy blonde to dark brunette. Soft berry and dusty blues are among the colors in this muted palette. Celebrity Muses: Emily Blunt, Margaret Qualley, Emily Didonato
- Soft Summer leans towards subtlety and balance with low to medium contrast between features and a cool, muted complexion. Eyes can be grey, grey-blue, or green, and muted light browns. Hair tends to be muted from dark blondes to any ashy brunette shades. These features look best in low contrast colors like mauve, smoky pinks, and tints of blue. Celebrity Muses: Taylor Hill, Kate Middleton, Denise Richards.
Autumn (Soft, Warm, Dark)
Autumn is deep and warm with a sophisticated color palette drawn from fall leaves, copper hues, and soft candlelight.
- Soft Autumn features gentle, grounded colors. The overall hue is muted warmth, with eyes that can be dark grey-blue, soft greens, and warm browns that tend to have a grey tint. Hair color ranges from strawberry blonde and golden shades of dark blonde to medium warm brunette, and may still be more muted in tone. There is little contrast in this palette with colors like olive and warm taupe. Celebrity Muses: Hailey Bieber, Gisele Bündchen, Adele.
- True Autumn embodies the season’s full warmth. Deep, golden undertones are seen in the eyes, often a mix of brown, green, and golden hazel. Hair colors are rich in shades of auburn, dark golden blonde, and warm brunettes. Think of a walk through an autumn forest. The colors, like burnt orange and mustard yellow, create a natural harmony. Celebrity Muses: Beyonce, Julia Roberts, Jessica Alba.
- Dark Autumn carries intensity and contrast in its dark appearance, yet remains warm. Eyes are dark hues of green, hazel, and brown, with hair tones typically dark auburn and any dark, warm brunette. This palette combines depth and warmth with colors like espresso and deep teal. Celebrity Muses: Simone Ashley, Natalie Portman, Zendaya.
Winter (Dark, Cool, Bright)
Winter is striking, sleek, and powerful in its colors. These palettes mirror freshly fallen snow under midnight skies of twinkling stars.
- Dark Winter blends cool undertones with dramatic depth and high contrast features. Eyes are dark browns and black, with hair color composed of cool dark brunettes to black. This palette is composed of the colors of the night, like deep emerald, ruby, and sapphire. Celebrity Muses: Lucy Liu, Anne Hathaway, Salma Hayek.
- True Winter is the essence of cool contrast. Eyes, hair, and skin have a brilliant and clear appearance. Cool blue, dark browns, and black are common eye colors in this palette, and hair colors range from dark ash brown to black. Think of bright snow upon bare trees under the light of a full moon. True red and icy shades of pink fall under this category. Celebrity Muses: Lily Collins, Jennifer Connelly, Janelle Monae.
- Bright Winter shines in its stark contrast between features and cool undertones. Eye color is bright from crystal blue to sparkling black, and hair color ranges from medium brown to black. This palette is composed of crisp colors like electric blue, fuchsia, and bright white. Celebrity Muses: Megan Fox, Viola Davis, Alexis Bledel.
The Power of ColoRs
Understanding your season isn’t about restriction; it’s about refinement. When your makeup and wardrobe echo your natural colors, you look alive, not decorated. This adds intention to your beauty, purposefully highlighting your given features. So, in a world full of trends, forget them! Your best colors are already written by who you are.