Do you want to bring some life to your wardrobe by adding color but not sure where to start? Do you want to ramp up your style and reinvent your wardrobe without spending a bunch of money? You may ask, “What color am I?” You’re not alone, and people turn to the internet to take a seasonal color quiz to answer those questions. Disappointingly, after completing a online color analysis test you still aren’t sure of your skin tone. You are also not any closer to understanding which colors would be most flattering for you. In fact, you might be more confused than before.
If you’re like me, you don’t have the time, nor money, to throw everything out and start over. Chances are you have some good pieces to work with, so start with what you’ve got and be intentional about adding the right colors as you build from there. You can save yourself time, money, and frustration by coordinating your close around your season.
I”ll discuss why color is important and the pitfalls to avoid when determining the colors that make you look your best.
Why do some colors look better than others?
Ready to dive in and start adding some color to your wardrobe? Let’s get started with understanding skin tone.
For starters, our skin colors are made up of a wide variety of shades and tones, and each and every one of them is beautiful! We need to embrace who we were made to be and highlight that natural beauty. To do that, choose colors that are not only flattering to our skin, but hair and eyes as well. This is initially narrowed down by learning your skin tone, which is either a warm undertone or a cool undertone. We look our best when we wear colors with the same undertone as our skin. But undertone isn’t the only thing that matters, intensity and value are huge factors too.
that are similar in intensity or value to our other features, such as hair and eyes. For example, if someone has a low contrast in their features, high contrast colors will be too intense. Bright colors would be overpowering, where tints would enhance the woman’s natural beauty.
What’s Seasonal Color Theory?
Seasonal color theory is an area of study that looks at colors and the effect they have on the appearance of the person wearing them. The original categorization included four groups: Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. Schools of thought, with slightly different categorizations, all stem around these four groups and each have their slight spin on them.
The most notable publications are “Color Me Beautiful” by Carole Jackson and “Color Me a Season” by Bernice Kentner. I highly recommend, and often reference “Color Me a Season” and her color fans because I feel she is the most accurate, based on research and my professional experience. “Color Me a Season” starts with the four original seasons, called absolutes, and breaks each individual season further into 3 more blends. A person may be a Winter, but if they blend with Autumn, they are a Winter-Autumn, Sunset Winter or a Deep Winter depending on which book you read.
What are the benefits for knowing your season?
Harmony results when you know your season and wear the correct colors for your skin tone; in other words, you wear the colors instead of the colors wearing you. It brings a healthy, vibrant glow to your complexion and reduces the appearance of blemishes. Knowing your season can help you look and feel more confident, and it can save you time and money on your wardrobe because you already know what’s going to look fabulous. You can also create a cohesive color palette to your wardrobe that makes every piece you own even more versatile. You only have a limited amount of time to make a first impression and color is the first thing people usually notice, so why not start all those first impressions off on a fantastic note?
How can I find out my season?
I’d love for everyone to find out their best colors with a personal color analysis quiz. The internet is littered with them: “Take the color analysis test”, “What hair color is right for me quiz?”, “12 season color analysis quiz”, “What color suits me best?”. I’d create a seasonal color analysis test, if I really thought it would be helpful. But, ultimately, here’s why I don’t think an online color analysis or an online skin tone analysis can work.
Hair Color
Every seasonal color analysis quiz I’ve found online, states that having black hair would put you in the Winter category, but a perfect example of why you can’t put everyone with black hair in the Winter category, is from my first draping client who had gorgeous black hair but a warm skin tone. We discovered that Winter colors were too severe for her, but that she draped out beautifully in Autumn colors. Most people would have made her a Winter, but the Winter palette wasn’t even second best on her. She is a blend with summer, which means she should choose the lighter colors on the Autumn color fan.
Tan easily vs burn
People tan or burn more easily based on the amount, or lack, of melanin in their skin. Melanin controls the darkness or lightness of the skin, but its not indicative of the undertone. There are fair, medium and dark complexions of both undertone categories.
Vein color in wrists
In most tests, it says, if the veins on the underside of your wrist appear green, you have a warm undertone and if they appear blue, you have a cool. But what if they are both or a different color like purple? Do you see how this may become confusing fast and not offer a definitive answer?
Jewelry color
Which jewelry color looks best on your skin? Silver or gold? Some people are blends of a cool and a warm season, so both metals could look good on them. There may be one that looks better, but both can be complementary. Personal preference could be at play if someone likes the look of one better than the other. For a while, silver was a popular trend, but gold is making a comeback!
Celebrity Comparisons
While celebrity comparisons do offer some demonstrative value, there are a couple of reasons that they shouldn’t be used for determining your season.
- How many of you have a celebrity with the exact same coloring as you do?
- Do you know of any celebrities that don’t dye or highlight their hair?
- Celebrities have professional makeup artists that can make up for the deficiencies of wearing the wrong color.
- Celebrity images are often photoshopped, and you can’t believe everything you see.
- They are images and not the real person. You can look at photos of the same celebrity and in one they look cool toned and the other they look warm.
The way to find which colors look the best on you is to have an in-person color draping color analysis. Spoiler Alert: I can teach you how to do it for yourself at home.
What is color draping?
Color draping is a personal color analysis in which the color consultant, such as myself, will place a series of fabric drapes or chin cards around the front of the subject or under the chin and observe the effect it has on the complexion. You can get more information about how to do a color draping at home with my FREE Color Course or schedule your appointment with me here.
Each seasonal color palette is different, but may have some colors that are very similar to another palette.
| What colors look good on a Winter? What are the most flattering colors for an Autumn? Which types of colors should a Summer wear? What are the best colors for a Spring? |
If you’d like to be the first to know when the class goes live, sign up below. I’ll even be selecting some on the wait list to beta test before the actual go-live date and . . . if you can’t wait that long, be sure to check out my Seasonal Color Theory page where I discuss the color palettes and what it means to have a blend.
Go Be Adventurous!
I wish I could drape each one of you in person, but because I can’t, I’m developing a FREE color course that will lead you through discovering and implementing your best colors so that you can be your most fabulous self every day.
I truly believe that every woman deserves to look and feel her best every day, and its achievable! You no longer need to go online to take a quiz and be in doubt, and no more time-consuming shopping trips or wondering whether that new Chartreuse shirt your friend is wearing would look good on you. Now, you know what your season color palette is and what will make you glow or what needs to go. So, go and be adventurous with your wardrobe and have fun!
FREE Color Course
Once you’ve determined your season, be sure to follow the appropriate section on the color board on Pinterest.
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