“I think you are a Summer!”, “I love pale blue, but I’m a deep Autumn, so I can’t wear it”, “Please help me: I’m a cool Summer and don’t know how to build my fall wardrobe”. Colour analysis and specifically the four-season typology has always been a prevalent topic here on INTO MIND, and a dedicated post has long been on my to-do list. Although I’m big on colour and all for creating a wardrobe around a defined colour palette, I have so far avoided the topic of colour analysis for one reason: I am not a huge fan of typologies that prescribe a type-based solution. I don’t want to tell you exactly what to wear or what items to put in your wardrobe, I’d rather just give you a formula for coming up with your own solution. BUT… while moving to Berlin, I rediscovered a copy of Carole Jackson’s classic “Color me Beautiful”, which came out in the 80s and was a huge hit at the time. I remember finding it in my mum’s book collection when I was about 14 and being super fascinated by it. I liked all the pretty colour palettes, sure. But more importantly, I loved how it emphasized the importance of figuring out what works for you and your life specifically, instead of following trends, and the idea of slowly building up a wardrobe around your individual style.
All in all, I do believe colour analysis can be an enourmously helpful tool for curators, because it forces you to consider the role of colour in your wardrobe and points you towards a palette that suits your own complexion and away from trends. However, I think a colour profile should be used as a guide, rather than a set of rules. Relying on your colours 100% might stifle your own creativity and prevent you from fully exploring your individual aesthetic preferences.
This week will be dedicated to colour, colour analysis, the 4 season colour theory and above all: tailoring your wardrobe to your own individual colour palette (whether it follows traditional colour theory or not). First up: Finding your colour type. “Color Me Beautiful” increased the number of types from 4 to 12 sometime in the 90s, which has improved the accuracy of the theory, but at the same time made it a littler trickier to find your own type. I’ll do my best to explain the basics in this post, but feel free to message/email me for assistance. The next post will then be a complete guide to your colour palette, for every sub-type. Then, at the end of the week or the beginning of the next, I’ll show you how to utilize what you have learned about your type to curate your wardrobe and tailor it to your individual colouring (plus: what to do if your colours don’t match your preferences/ style concept).
the 4 basic seasons
The Color Me Beautiful theory is based on four colour types: Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. Which seasonal type you are depends on two basic variables:
- the undertone of your skin, hair and eyes (warm/golden vs cool/ashy)
- how light vs deep your overall colouring and specifically your hair is
The seasons represent the four possible variations of these two variables:
If your natural hair colour is lighter than medium brown, you would be typed as either a Spring or a Summer; if it’s darker you are a Winter or an Autumn. If your skin tone and hair have a warm undertone, or you are a natural red-head, you would be classed as either a Spring or an Autumn; if your skin has a blue-ish, cool undertone and your hair is more ashy and has no golden or red highlights, you are either a Summer or a Winter. Note: This is a very stripped-down summary of the whole process. The original Color Me Beautiful material provides a much more detailed explanation and also outlines various exceptions (e.g. in very rare cases a Winter type can have almost platinum blond hair).
Below you’ll find four quick profiles of the seasons and 12 typically suggested shades. Go through each profile and compare their descriptions to your own colouring (natural hair colour and bare skin!). Ignore your favourite colours and your wardrobe. For now you are trying to get an accurate view of your colour type and the colours that suit you best, regardless of whether you like them or not (we’ll deal with disparaties in the next posts). If you find it difficult to figure out your season, you might be a less pronounced or more neutral type, and will have better luck with the more refined 12-type system (more on that below).
the 12 colour types
If you immediately recognized your own colouring in one of these four seasons: congrats! If not, don’t worry. Unless your colouring clearly matches one of the two sides of each variable (i.e. is obviously light vs dark and warm vs cool), figuring out which type you are might require a little digging. Also: the closer you are to neutral in either of the variables, the less will your colour palette apply to you. If your neutral/warm colouring puts you in the Autumn category – but only just – you will suit different colours than someone who has deep, red hair and is immediately identifiable as an Autumn. For example, I have naturally light blonde hair, so I am definitely either a Summer or a Spring type. What’s my skin’s undertone? That questions is a little harder to answer. In general I would say I veer more towards the Spring side, because my skin and hair are not ashy, and when I blush my cheeks turn a peachy colour, rather than a bluey pink. Now…Carole Jackson says that all of us fit one colour season, and only one, but I have to disagree. Both variables lie on a clear continuum (light to dark and cool to warm). They are not two completely distinct groups, so treating the corresponding palettes as distinct makes little sense. The closer you are to neutral in either of the variables, the more likely it is that colours of the neighboring palette suit you just as well, and also that several of your own palette’s colours might not suit you.
This is where the updated Color Me Beautiful typology (based on 12 instead of 4 types) comes in. In order to a) accomodate for people whose colouring is close to neutral in either variable and b) to differentiate a bit better within the seasons, they added a secondary factor. This secondary factor depends on your colouring’s most defining quality: light, deep, clear, soft, warm or cool. Your secondary factor can help you further narrow down your own seasonal colour palette and also show you which neighboring palette might contain some shades that suit your colouring as well. If you veer between two seasons, it’s probably because they both share your most defining quality, e.g. if you have a deep overall colouring, you might find it hard to decide between Autumn and Winter. If you are interested in the whole colour typing idea and considering to adjust your wardrobe accordingly, I strongly recommend you figure out your secondary factor as well as your base season. It will just give you a much more accurate idea of which colours suit your individual complexion – if you are going to use any kind of typology, do it right. Here’s a run-down of the six secondary factors:
Light: You are either a light Summer or a light Spring.
Your hair colour is light (blond or light brown), your skin is light for your ethnicitiy and your eyes are either a light blue, green or grey. You look best in the soft, light and muted shades of your colour palette, e.g. peach (Spring) or a pale lavender (Summer).
Deep: You are either a deep Autumn or a deep Winter.
You have dark brown or black hair and deep brown, green or hazel eyes. You look amazing in the deep, vivid shades of your palette, e.g. deep terracotta (Autumn) or black (Winter).
Warm: You are either a warm Spring or a warm Autumn.
Your overall colouring has a distinctive warm undertone to it. Your hair is either golden blond to brown, or strawberry blond to deep auburn. Your eyes are green, topaz, hazel or light to medium brown. You best suit the mid-range colours in your palette that are neither too intense nor pale, e.g. a medium tomato red (Autumn) or a soft aquamarine (Spring).
Cool: You are either a cool Summer or a cool Winter.
Regardless of whether you have light or dark skin/hair, your overall colouring has an underlying cool quality to it. Like the warm type, you also look best in the mid-range shades of your palette, e.g. emerald green (Winter) or periwinkle (Summer).
Clear: You are either a clear Winter or a clear Spring.
Your overall colouring is high in contrast and saturation. Your hair is either a medium brown to black or a vivid, bright blond, your eyes are blue, bright green, topaz, amber or turquoise. You look best in saturated, clear colours, e.g. a bright, warm pink (Spring) or hot pink (Winter).
Soft: You are either a soft Summer or a soft Autumn.
There is little contrast between your skin, hair and eyes and your overall colouring is relatively close to neutral. Your hair is neither very light nor very dark. Your eyes are green, grey-blue, hazel or brown. You look best in soft, muted shades, e.g. olive green (Autumn) or blue teal (Summer).
If you were wondering, the women in the pictures are examples of the light Spring, cool Summer, deep Autumn and clear Winter.
So, what type are you? Was it easy to figure out or did you veer between two types? Are you into the 4 season colour typology or do you find it confusing/restrictive/not helpful?
The entire colour analysis series:
Part I: Finding your type (this post)
Part II: A complete guide to your colours (for each sub-type)
Part III: How to incorporate your colours into your wardrobe (+ what to do if your colours don’t match your preferences/style concept)
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*image sources: Spring: Noora Lappi by Kevin Trinh via FashionEditorials.com. Summer: Alexander Wang S/S 2014 via thebeautymodel. Fall: Mr.Kate Days of Ore Lookbook shot by Kat Borchart. Winter – Indigitalimages.com, Derek Lam S/S 2014 via Vogue.it.
I would love some feedback regarding my season. When I was younger (teens, twenties, early thirties) I had a beautiful hair color (medium, warm-toned golden blonde that sometimes had slightly reddish highlights; also some lighter blonde highlights near my face). As I have aged my natural hair color has become much duller, more ashy – “muddier”. I have it colored usually a light-to-medium blonde, and find that it looks best with highlights also added. My skin tone is crazy debatable: it is pretty light or fair, clearly, but about half the makeup people say yellow-orange undertones, the other half say blue-red. There’s a lot of unfortunate red in my complexion after almost 30 years of chronic acne. My eyes are blue with a starburst of yellow around the pupils. They usually look greenish, and the overall effect is more “soft and muddy” vs. “clear” or “bright”. This seems to be a spring eye color, but I look at the palettes and think that can’t be right. The absolute worst color on me is reddish-pink (not sure if it’s called “orchid” or “red-violet” – seems to just clash with everything. I don’t look great in black or stark white either. The best colors seem to be greens – muted teal, deep pine or forest green come most immediately to mind but some shades of olive have worked as well- purples, some blues, blush pink or soft peach, melon, bluish grays, off-white (I think). I’m more comfortable in soft or dark colors. Neon colors are HORRIBLE. Bright colors are uncomfortable for me – I honestly cannot tell if they are becoming or not, but I tend to feel very conspicuous and veer away from many bright colors. I prefer cocoa brown to more yellowed browns, particular as my hair color becomes mousier. It gets very confusing – any thoughts?
Hi Callie,
It seems your skin is a mixture of cool and warm undertones. Your hair has changed from a warm to a cool colour. Your eyes seem to have quite a warm colouring. This mixture of cool and warm sounds to me like you fall into the category of one of the soft-muted coulourings and that soft/neutral colours would look best on you. I’d guess you lean more towards the warm colour palette, also because warm greens and peach looks good on you, and that would make you a Soft Autumn. You might want to read this page to see if you recognize yourself:http://www.thechicfashionista.com/soft.html
Kind regards,
Holly
For point of reference concerning those unsure of their type, of course remember that if you don’t directly fit the system, then that’s just being human! No system can exhaustively quantify human colors… factors even like health could change your outer appearance. But about that point of reference… for example, if you are a redhead like me, many people assume you are in the warm category! Clear spring or clear autumn or warm spring, etc… And I’m sure plenty of redheads are… But not all! I’m a definite soft autumn, neither warm spring nor warm autumn suit me as well as soft autumn does, and none of the clear ones do either: although I would say I can swing towards some clear and warm tones without looking too silly (Redheads can pull of some pretty crazy things…), I can also swing to some soft summer shades pretty easily. But soft autumn suits me best! SO, redheads, you CAN be a soft autumn, easily. In detail: I have fair skin that is a bit ivory-yellowy-goldeny-orangey-peachy-brown on the top layer (in summer at least) but then again, as a very fair-skinned redhead (veins show through), lots of cool tones too, as well as red/pinky tones (having all these colors confused me for the longest time!); this gives me an overall generally neutral effect (although it depends a bit on the season and how I feel/how well I am), so I can swing a quite lot of quirky lip shades as long as they aren’t too deep, too clear or too cool; any color that is too imbalanced may bring out one of these tones in me too strongly: for one instance, strong, muddy, “blue”-oranges (gatorade orange, terracotta, carrot colors, etc.: Ah, the fine but meaningful line between wearing a crisp tangerine and a clumsy pumpkin!) tend to be bad one me, whereas softer, brighter, warmer, clearer, crisper, and cleaner poppy-crimsons and peaches and tangerines and apricots and yellows can work, bringing more of the warmth out of my neutral tone; wearing these colors is when I lean into warm spring territory a bit, but still with much more green/mousiness in my coloring. My eyes are basically green/hazel, but are often mistaken for grey, copper, and even sometimes blue. In truth they are mostly olivey green with gold flecks/central heterochromia. The outer ring of the iris is a distinctly murky steel-grey/steel-green shade, and in many lightings a deep aqua-y layer can be seen between the gold heterochromia and the steely ring, especially on the lower half of the iris. In direct (staring at the sun for instance…) bright sunlight my eyes appear gold/light yellow/light green. In shade they look grey/blue/green. Indoor or soft bright lighting often makes for the coppery/hazel color with the aqua. If I wear olive (or any shade of) green, my eyes show themselves for their true color: fresh olivey apple green. Wearing deep, rich, emerald/hunter/bluepine green gives my eyes the more mysterious, soft aqua-blue-grey-gold tone (basically, a lighter, more silvery hazel). As for my hair, it is coppery red/dark strawberry blond/lightish auburn; highlights naturally go to warm gold, even blond (I was a carroty-strawberry blond as a child: not orange enough to be “true” redhead, but not blond enough to be strawberry blond: just penny colored hair). The hairs which never see the sun are often quite more red-red; I find completely clear hairs as well; not white: clear, or clear and slightly gold. Hair can look mousy-greenish brown in another light though; there is a lot of hidden green in my complexion altogether, not surprising considering my eye color; my freckles can look green… I can have a lot of fun with lip shades I find, as I mentioned: Barbie bright pink, deep berries, soft nudes, blue (true) reds, poppy reds, winey-copper, peachy/corally pink: reds — blue, poppy, or burgundy — tend to make my hair look blond/yellow-brown and pink — hot, coral or pale — tends to make my hair look more bronzey/greeny/copper-brown. For blush I can swing with pink, peach, gold or a bit of subtle bronzer; even purply tones sometimes; orange that isn’t very pinky or golden-yellowy should be avoided! I can wear pinks or yellows on my eyes depending on what color I’m wearing; I can also wear many colors such as deep purple, copper, some greens, BOLD blues (who knew creamy soft true electric blue, iris-y blue, would make my eyes pop so very nicely?) and some warmer/softer/neutral-y greys; some lavenders and pinks and many golds are doable as well (lime greens, light icy blue and silver tend to be no-nos!). Coppers and browns flatter me well enough but tend to be redundant with my hair color, so I avoid them usually. Pale creamy oranges can actually look fine near my eyes. But with red hair and brows and hazel eyes, copper or orange eye shadow, brown mascara, and coppery lips is far, far, far too monochromatic for every-day; very blah (imagine a blond wearing gold lipstick, goldeny blush, gold/blond mascara, and yellow eyeshadow, for everyday makeup)! The color black tends to me a bit much for me, although I do like it for mascara in the summer when I am more tan: brown mascara just looks bad on me, my eyes are so big, I need more defintion… My favorite mascara colors are black gold and black ruby colors; warm blacks. Black shirts can look good or bad. Pure white is okayish to wear sometimes, but ivory looks much, much better next to my skin. I look good in many greys! Brown is okay to wear, but a bit too monochromatic: brings out my moles. Cocoa and taupe look nice though, make me look fresh and peachy. Navy can look quite good on me. Lots of golds and warm yellows look good on me; I can wear butter color great! Olive, MANY blues… various reds and oranges (true red and crimson are doable, maybe not always the MOST flattering). PURPLE sometimes, PINK sometimes. There are colors (i.e. hot neon magenta-y pink lipstick) I can wear in the summer when I have just a slight tan that are no-nos in the winter when I look washed out that much more easily. In the winter/spring I swing toward more of a clear autumn/winter or spring type because losing my slight tan loses a bit of my neutrality, my skin goes more clear towards blue and red: so, in autumn my colors go warmer and softer, maybe deeper too; winter they go clearer and deeper; spring they go clearer, lighter and cooler; in summer I like to play between with soft AND clear colors, with warm AND cool, and warming up from spring again in preparation for autumn. These changes of course don’t only have to do with my coloring as they do with the nature of those seasons themselves.
Oh, and neon citrine green — lime green with gold/yellow/brown/orange hues — looks smoking with my coloring too… But lime with blue tends to look poorly on me.
I always find the color concept difficult because I have “non typical” coloring. My hair is ash blond, my eyes are considered “brown” although they’re not true brown (close up in light, there’s a lot of camo green there! Although, most people just tell me I have boring brown eyes). Whenever I get foundation for use when my skin is breaking out, I have to pick the most neutral neutral beige ivory I can find, or I end up looking either pink or orange.
Most of us who are dark eyed and otherwise pale have no obvious category in which to place ourselves. I have no idea how women with very dark complexions would be able to use the season concept, although that’s a whole other topic…
My tendency is to enjoy dark autumn colored clothing– orange, red, dark burgundy– although I prefer black over plain brown any day, and dislike wearing beige or pink of any type, since I feel it just accentuates my general “beige-ness”. I get compliments for dark purple, aqua, dark green, red. As for makeup, I am at a loss, since any appropriate eye makeup for brown eyes just makes my eyes look smaller and beadier, and nothing seems to bring the green out, or make them look lighter. Lipstick for me is generally as close to my normal lip color as possible, or again, I feel as if I’m so naturally bland that “popping” makeup colors look way too obvious.
If anyone could help me figure this out I would really appreciate it!
Hair: Darkish Brown (slightly ashy)
Eyes: Dark Brown (look amber in direct sunlight)
Skin: Pale-ish in autumn/winter but I can tan nicely in Summer/Spring
I’d really like your opinion of what my seasonal type is – I’m currently thinking Winter, but not sure if cool or clear – or if perhaps another season – here is a current pic of me – I blog about makeup/colour analysis, but I’m a bit of a makeup chameleon – many colours suit me:
http://renata-beautyandelegance.blogspot.ca/2015/07/darker-hair-and-new-look.html
I can not find my season. Please help me. Here’s my description:
Eyes: brown
Hair: Blonde, very light in the summer
Skin: Light tan, slightly orange
I seem to have warm undertones. I was thinking warm spring, except that my eyes are not light brown, and the recommended color pallets for that season were not my best colors.
I have been having a hard time with my season as some other have had I am sure. Any help would be greatly appreciated:
I will give you my description:
Eyes: Medium bright green gray pinwheels with a little blue cast to them. Also with a few bright gold flecks but mostly green with a dark greenish grey lining.
Skin: Fair to Medium cool toned pink with some redness in the cheeks. I tan to a gold with redness. All my foundations or concealers cannot have neutral peach tones or else it looks orangy on my face amplifying any redness. Also any yellow toned lighting makes me appear ruddy especially in pictures. I look best in blue to full spectrum light for pictures. i learned this as young model.
Hair: I have medium brown 5 level hair with some gold not a lot but it is there. My hair lightens in the Sun to an horrible orange making my face appear very red.
I have thought at times I was Bright Winter but I am not neutral in my tones. Then think I am True Winter leading into Summer or vice versa. I can wear black very well. I get lots of compliments when I do. I also can wear lemon yellow and light icy yellow. Some pinks are bit too bright for me as well. They leave a bright pink cast under my chin. I find more blue toned pinks like rose are best
Sorry for any typos but I did that on my phone. Little keyboards…ehhh! I also wanted to say that I look really good in blues and purples. I look best in Royal Blue and Royal Purple. Sapphire and Indigo is nice on me too. As is Magenta and Orchid. I do not wear browns very well. If I do wear them I need to wear taupes. Light to dark.
Anyway, once again any help would be greatly appreciated.
Hello!
I’ve just discovered your blog and I really love the concepts developed here.
As I always struggled finding my color type, I found this article really interesting. Yet, I’m not sure if I’m more a “Spring”, an “Autumn” type. Especially with the different sub-categories: light, warm, soft or clear…
So, if anyone could help me, I would be really grateful!
– Skin: Really fair skin*. I always have to buy the clearest foundation shade. I have redness on the face and get sunburned easily, so I always thought my undertone was cool shade. Yet, if I look at my veins, especially in my inner elbow, it’s a mix of blue/purple/green, so maybe I’m just neutral.
*(even whiter than this sometimes http://makeup.allwomenstalk.com/makeup-tips-for-fair-skin/3/)
– Hair: Medium brown, a bit darker or lighter according the season. Gold and red reflects with the sun.
– Eyes: Green eyes*, with some hints of yellow and brown.
*( a bit greener than those ones http://blog.aclens.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Hazel-eye-300×212.jpg)
– Contrast: I would say low contrast between my hair/eyes, especially during the summer. Since my hair lighten, we can have the impression that my eyes have the same color. About hair/skin, I would say high contrast, especially during the winter, when my hair are darker with much less golden reflects and while I’m the whitest.
– Colors: I don’t really know with colors really suits me then, yet, I always have compliments when I’m wearing kaki clothes*. It really highlight my eyes which are the same color. I can wear black clothes, and I don’t have the impression it’s awful, yet, I would never wear them without make up otherwise my face looks like too white, and it highlights all my redness/purples acne blemishes.
*(like this http://www.photos-public-domain.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/khaki-paper-texture.jpg)
Hope it would be useful to advice me!
Meanwhile, I’m looking forward to read all the other articles of Into-Mind :)
You’re a tinted or toned spring (soft spring- one of the new seasons in the 4×4 system)
Look up the 4×4 color system, or google “tinted spring celebrities” or “toned spring celebrities” to see which of the two look more like you.
Thanks for your answer Janine :)
Yet, after looking at some pictures as you said, I have the impression neither look like me… But I do think the concepts of “tinted” and “toned” could help me more in my research, so thanks again!
Thanks for your answer Janine :)
Yet, after looking at some pictures as you said, I have the impression neither really look like me… But I do think the concepts of “Toned” and “Tinted” can help me in my research, so thanks again!
It took me a while to warm to the idea of ‘colours’. Primarily because I’m a redhead but don’t suit warm colours and never have. Yet for the first three decades of my life, people would insist that the evidence of my own eyes was wrong. You are a redhead, and therefore you MUST suit warmer palettes.
Once I learnt to look past the insistence that redheads must be Autumns (or Springs), I quickly discovered that I’m a Light/Cool Summer. And since then, I’ve found the Colour Me Beautiful theory really helpful.
Thought I’d post this because I think I’m a prime example of where the rules don’t quite fit.
I need help!
I’ve got medium blonde hair with very light natural highlights, almost black brown eyes, and in my face especially I’m often quite reddish, like the image for summer, but tan easily & quickly in summer.
I think I look best in turquoise and dark colours, but that’s just me..
Anyone know what season I am?
You have the exact same description as me, and I think that I look nice in those colors, too. Unfortunately I do not know what season I am, but I definitely have warm undertones. I was thinking warm spring, but my eyes are not light brown or hazel, but brown. And the warm spring color pallets are not my best colors.
My 4 year old daughter has similar colouring. honey blonde hair light blonde in sun, almost black brown eyes and ivory skin that tans. After much research i think now that she is a ‘soft autumn’. Autumn has all of her characteristics, however her dark eyes and ivory skin prevent her from being a ‘warm’ autumn (to be ‘warm’ eyes are to be medium brown at darkest and skin is to be more golden), and her light blonde hair prevents her from being a ‘deep’ autumn. Soft Autumn, is said to have ‘little contrast between eyes, skin and hair’. Her hair and skin are both light, and although the eyes are dark, this is the closest i can find to categorise this rare colouring!
She could have passed for ‘spring’ however there is no option for ‘extremely dark eyes’ in spring, only golden brown. So autumn it is! I also checked her against spring and autumn colours and found that the dark eyes seemed the most important aspect of her colouring as they determined whether or not a colour suited her. Autumn colours looked better. As she has borderline cool/warm skin i thought she could have been a ‘summer’ however no dark brown eyes there either, which ruled that out.
I hope this helps you in your quest :)
Hi,
I was struggling with the same thing as my eyes are dark brown and my hair is much lighter (although not as light as hers). I am pretty convinced though that she (like me) should be categorised as a deep autumn. As you said, a soft autumn shows little contrast between hair and eyes, while she obviously shows great contrast. As you noticed while trying out certain colours on her, the eyes are a better predictor of whether a colour suits her. I have this as well and have read multiple times (after a lot of searching on the internet) that you should look at the eyes first, then the hair. That would make her a deep autumn as well. I have noticed those colours are definitely the best on me, although at first I thought my complexion wasn’t “dark” enough. The colours though are much better than soft or warm autumn. Ofcourse I haven’t seen the little girl, but you could try to see if deep autumn colours suit her better than soft autumn. Good luck!
Thankyou, I had discounted ‘deep’ Autumn because of her light hair colour, but really, I should have discounted soft Autumn also, as she does have high contrast! As you said the eyes seem to be the most important factor so that would mean that the category that has the ‘correct’ eyes for her (deep) would be it!
I will try out some of the deep Autumn colours on her and see how we go. Thanks for this, I’ve had no one to speak to about this so it always helps to get a second view! I
You’re welcome, glad I could be of help :)
I was found to be a olive toned, blue eyes.
And I’ve tried that green that they have as Winter for my type. Made me look like I was very sick. I’ve had to avoid ALL green in my outfits.
I was told I was best in black, blue, brown, red, & purple. All other colours were to be avoided as best as possible.
I’ve always considered myself a Summer since my skin is definitely Cool, but my hair is Golden Blond and my eyes are Hazel (brownish green). I look best in Light Pink, Light Blue, Light or Olive Green, Brown or Black. I have redness in my face, so Black is not too harsh for me.,
Hey, there! I’m pretty sure I’m some sort of spring or autumn, but not sure. My skin is quite fair and neutral but leans ever so slightly warm. My hair is also quite neutral medium brown with natural blonde highlights that I would describe as slightly golden, perhaps? My eyes are a pure medium-dark brown; not super dark but definitely not light. The very outer rims of my irises are a deep dark grey color. I honestly don’t feel like my coloring is either muted or bright, it’s somewhere in between.
Oh, and the colors I feel like I look the best in are coral, mint green, sage or khaki, warmer toned reds, violet, plum etc. I do not like pale pink or very bright blues or yellows on me.
none of those cathegories fits me, ive got pale skin, grey, almost colorless eyes and auburn hair, im closest to the spring type but in any of those colors id look like a scarecrow
Hi :) I have naturally dark mousy hair (in sunshine has a bit of golden shine, in shadow looks neutral or cool), greyish green eyes, neutral porcelain skin. Some of my wrist veins are light blue, some are violet, but elbow veins are green. I brush a lot. Contrast between my hair and skin is high in photos with flash, in daylight this contrast is medium. I was told that I look good in dark green. Also I heard that I look neutral in general. I really dislike extremely bright and neon colors. I thought that I am Soft Summer, Soft Autumn or maybe Deep Winter. Thank you for answer.
This is so interesting! I knew that there were a lot of colours that don’t suit me because of my colouring but I’ve never come across this idea before. I think I sit somewhere between a warm Spring and Autumn. I have fair skin but dark red hair, and in a MAC foundation I’m an NW so I suppose I have warm undertones although I don’t blush peach at all- definitely pink!
Hi. I have very dark brown eyes, naturally dark brown hair (gray and silver now but dyed blonde) and warm (now lighter as I’m 56) skin – have been told I look like I have some Greek or Mediterranean in me. I think I am a dark autumn although I have been called a warm winter (I know some don’t recognize this) but either way, I have read that the deep categories shouldn’t go blonde. I was very blonde as a child and would prefer to continue dying blonde instead of growing out gray. Does being blonde as a dark always throw things off? It makes me look very young…
Hi!
I have a neutral undertone, with both blue and green veins. I have blue/green-ish eyes like this
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/55/Blue_Green_Eye.png
I have dark ash blonde hair and brows. My skin is pale, i use number 2 in foundations, and my skin easily gets red, and I have purple cirkles under my eyes.
I can’t wear warm orange colors, but I can wear burgundery colors.
Any idea witch color type I am?
I think I’m either Cool Winter or Clear Winter. I’m very pale with dark brown, almost black hair and eyes that are probably green, but they can look blue, grey or khaki in different light. This has been very helpful, thanks!
This just makes me more and more confused – I have no idea what i could possibly be color-wise. I have black-brown eyes (so dark there is almost no color to them, a gift from my Cherokee blood) but very pale, olive undertoned skin. The olive tone makes almost all autumnal colors look hideous on me – I cannot wear hardly any greens or yellows well at all. However, I have warm reddish tones to my light/medium brown hair (and very pale eyebrows) – have had family joke my hair is like deer hair, lots of natural low-lights and warm and cool natural highlights (a hodge-podge of color). Sort of a hodge-podge mix between Deep/Warm Autumn and Deep/Cool Winter, I suppose, but shouldn’t it be either or and not a mix of both? I wear these colors well: deep crimson reds, grays, whites, creams, blues, purples, some pinks (very hot pinks look best against my skin/hair).
No idea which should be my “type.”
You’re probably a clear spring.
Hello Lucy: I totally agree with you about finding what type you are. I have medium reddish brown hair/dark green eyes/very light warm skin with a cool pinkness and a redness in my cheeks. Like you, my redness is due to my Scottish and Irish heritage. I have been told I am a Soft Autumn (influenced by summer) or a Light Spring. I can wear either peach or pink in both lipstick and blusher. I think I might be a Soft Autumn in my estimation, but then again I don’t want to make the mistake and look clownish. I have talked with so many consultants, I don’t know which way to turn. I have been dressing as a Soft Autumn, which makes me happy because I like the colors. I wish someone could come up with a final conclusion. Thanks for listening :)
Hi Lucy. It’s not so much about what your coloring looks (seems) like but what sort of colors make you look your best. If you’re sure, quite sure, that the colors you described are your very best colors, then you’re probably a True Summer or Winter. Most of those are True Summer colors. True Winter has blues and purples and reds but it’s really high in saturation. All their colors are STRONG: the whitest white, sharp gray, etc. Hot Pink is much more Winter than Summer who would have a deep rose pink. (Light Summer is the most saturated of the Summers and can do strong neutral pinks but not “neon” pink) True & Soft Summer colors can get quite dark, almost black which throws off a lot of cool people teetering the line in darkness. It’s the saturation level that’s different. But cream would never look great for a True Winter. Hot pink, depending upon how hot it really is, would overpower True Summer.
I suggest you get opinions from friends and family about certain colors. Always compare 2 colors at a time so you know which one is warmer, darker, softer. I know on this post and with many analysts hair and eye color are important… but the effect of clothing color on irises and hair is, in my opinion, a total waste of time when the effect of clothing color on skin/the face has a dramatic effect in the look of health and vitality. For instance, I could wear an orange-red top and have my blue-gray-green eyes look their absolute bluest. But then my skin would look yellow enough for people to question my well-being (with or without knowing why) because I am a Light Summer and orange looks terrible on me (and black drains my face of color).
As an artist, I understand the desire for harmonizing with hair and eye color. But as a psych major I just don’t see how they even come close to the importance of harmonizing the skin. The power of first impressions and unconscious influences never cease to amaze me. Wear colors that make your face glow and smooth without losing definition. No matter how they look with your hair :)
I thought I commented but I must have not clicked, sorry.
I absolutely love this blog, its made me want to get back into getting dressed (im bedbound with severe M.E.) & I love how simple yet informative your posts are! There’s one problem for me in style, I look like death warmed up & I have no idea where to start, I just know I don’t want to wear something that’s going to make me look worse. I blush pink/red & a very pale but my skin has a yellowy tinge. My hair is ashy/mousey brown or dark blonde & I have very very vivid green eyes that don’t really sway cool or warm. So I think I might be a cool summer? Please help :)
Hi :)
I dont really know which type I am, I’ve got light cool skin colour, but with tons of light brownish freckles on my face and arms, light blue-greyish eyes and a natural golden blonde hair colour. I really want to bleach my hair into an ashy white-silvery platinum colour like Perrie Edwards had a while ago, but I’m afraid it wont look good on me?
Hi!
I still can’t figure it out, I have :
– pale yellowish skin with freckles and brown spots
– ash dark brown hair
– brown eyes with some green
I mostly suit clear, light but muted colors like the spring colors.
Am I spring or winter or something else?
Thank you very much & I really love your approach ;)
I am so very confused as to what I am. I always thought that I was an Autumn but I cannot wear red or any “autumn” shades at all. I wear “jewel tones” very well (emerald green, royal blue, purple) but I am most definitely not a winter.
Here’s my description:
Red hair (medium red, like Amy Adams in Enchanted)
Light brown/green eyes (when I was little I had super dark brown eyes, almost black but they have lightened to an light olive green/light goldeny brown)
Light golden skin, I freckle and tan very well (for a redhead) in the summer.
I know I’m the perfect description for an autumn but I don’t look very well in earthy tones as much as I do bright colors like yellow or the jewel tones. I can wear any shade of green and I look okay in black, but red is an absolute no-no! Please tell me what I should be, I know I’m either a spring or an autumn, but I look good in a combination of all the seasons.
You’re most likely a “warm” or “pure” spring if you have warm hair, golden skin and green eyes.
You sound like Bright Spring. Jewel tones are Spring or Winter with True Winter being stronger than True Spring. The colors your suggest: emerald green, royal blue, and purple, sound more Winter than Spring though. If the jewel tones are not only “jewel” but the most saturated colors ever, than you are probably a Bright Spring or Bright Winter. Bright Spring has very few “true” reds, they’re much warmer, more corally. Oranges and yellows are great for them. BRIGHT oranges and yellows. Orange oranges, not pumpkins oranges (that’s autumn). Tulip yellow not school-bus yellow. They can definitely do black just not ALL black (only True Winter can really manage that). Think the 80s: lots of black and neon pink, orange, yellow, yellow-green, and aqua blue. That’s Bright Spring.
Black is a no-no for a True Spring may the way. They’re much more sunny, less pink and coral (way more oranges), less blue-green or even neutral green (their darker greens are more yellowy like pine green).
Man, if I keep reading these comments I’m going to be replying on each one. I am not an expert but I know a pro can’t determine anything from a description anyway. I suggest to anyone who wants to learn more about the color journey can read Christine Scaman’s blog http://www.12blueprints.com/ It makes a big difference to have a pro test you in person but even then they’re not infallible. It’s best to read up on it yourself and get a sense for it.
Dear All,
help me, please!
I cannot figure out which one I am and that is driving me crazy :).
To Begin with, I have dark blonde hair (according to my hairdresser, to me- very light brown it is), with lots of natural blonde highlights (cannot decide however if these are more ash-toned or more golden), my eyes are grey-blue with a section of brown in one of them (I have sectoral heterchromia), my skin is porcelain, I do not blush, however the tip of my nose is often red and so are the circles under my eyes (if that is of any value). The eyebrowes and lashes are one tone darker than the hair. Do not have freckles. Although I have fair complection I always tann to brown- no sunburnt or redness at first.
Thank you in advance, looking forward to hearing from you!
Hi,
I have a question. When there is a great contrast between your hair and eyes (in my case, dark golden blond hair and dark brown eyes), do you need to focus on the hair (spring) or eyes (autumn)? I am definitely one of those cause my skin has a yellow-golden undertone and grey and dusty colours are terrible on me. Some sites say someone with dark brown eyes can only be deep autumn and others focus more on the hair colour, so I’m confused. I need an expert! ;)
It’s hard to say without a picture but if what you are describing is true I would say you are an autumn. Eyes are usually the key to figuring out season over hair. Google pictures of autumn celebrities vs spring celebrities and see which one you look more similar to.
My 2 year old daughter has the exact same coloring as you; golden skin, golden blonde hair but very dark brown eyes. She definitely is warm but she looks good in some pretty bright colors as well that I can’t wear.
Hi if you could please help me out. I think. I might be dark autumn. My skin is neutral light. I have dark brown almost black hair no highlights. I have few freckles (light golden brown). My eyes are light olive green with a mix of gray and golden flecks. .. thanks
Sounds like you are definitely warm and dark (autumn).
I’m confused. I have dark brown hair that is almost black, but it has a few lighter strands. I have dark brown eyes. I have olive or light brown skin, but my cheeks are pink. Which seasonal type am I?
It depends on whether you are cool or warm. Are the lighter strands of your hair reddish or more ash or even bluish? Are your eyes gold, orangey or reddish or a cooler brown? Are the veins on your wrists greenish, or blue?
That is an important step to figuring out what type you are. You’re likely an autumn (warm and deep) or a winter (cool and deep) if your eyes are very deep brown.
This idea of a Soft Autumn has been a revelation to me! I was categorized as a Autumn many moons ago. I love Fall colors, but those Autumn colors were too bright and bold for me, so I gave up on the whole idea and just defaulted to black, gray and white. But the Soft Autumn colors are all the colors I love! It is all I can do to stop myself throwing out everything black I own, right this second, and starting over. Thanks!
So, I am entirely confused. I know I am either a Light Spring or Summer but I cannot tell which one! My veins look bluish-greenish and my eyes are grey-green with a section of gold in one of them (I have sectoral heterchromia) I look good in both gold and silver and both colour palettes although I look amazing in those baby pastel shades, but my natural hair colour is a more golden blonde than I think what is normally described of a Light summer. My skin normally looks pinkish undertone but everyone always describes my complexion as “peaches and cream” which is a term for warm, right? But the description of a light summer having low contrast and being really soft completely describes me, as I cannot really do anything dramatic with my look without being overwhelmed or harsh. Still I am not sure as there are some warm qualities I have. I feel like I Amin the middle. :( What would I technically be, warm or cool? I even asked my hair stylist who said I could pull off warm and cool, what does that mean?!
The best way to know is to try the color of both palettes and see which make you look better. Also, four new types were added lately to the seasons and one of them, Toned Spring (Light Spring Soft), might be the best suited for you.
Try a shirt on.
If you notice skin tone before the shirt it is your color.
If you notice shirt before skin tone, it is not your color.
Blue and orange is a fast way to check.
Or, black and gold.
Either blue based skin tones or gold based.
Not everyone is purely warm or purely cool, in fact, few people are. Sounds like you are warm and light but that you can pull off some cool tones, therefore, you could be any of the springs except a shaded or warm spring.
Hi, not sure if you’re still replying to comments but I’m very confused about my season, because my hair, eyes and skin don’t fit into any one category. Originally I thought spring because my skin has a peachy blush to it and as a child I was golden blonde However my eyes are a dark brown and now that I’m older my hair has darkened to a med brown that doesn’t look great unless I get golden highlights put in. My skin is fairly neutral and pale but by chance I tried on a bright yellow high-necked top the other day and it looked fab (never thought I’d look good in that colour) so I clearly have more yellow in my skin than I thought. Other good colours for me are coral, salmon, ivory (never white), greens, some oranges (as long as they’re bright) bright pinks and navy (though black is okay as well). I’m torn between spring and autumn, so any help in determining my season would be appreciated. Thanks!
Gold highlights, probably summer.
Toe-headed usually summer.
If yes, choose Complex colors. Blue based. Not primary colors. Avoid orange. Silver.
Nevermind.
If you can wear yellow, not a summer. Sorry, didn’t read well
Pretttty sure I’m a warm spring. My hair is dirty blonde so that helps to narrow it down but I had a hard time knowing what kind of undertone I have?? Like I’m pretty pale but I’m half Brazilian so come summer I tan really well… My eyes are a mix of hazel and grey-blue so that’s probably not helpful either. And also I blush and turn red quite easily.
I know I look good in green and blue and sometimes pink so there’s that!
Hi, im still not sure, i seem to fit a few of the categories?? I have amber/medium brown eyes with pale skin with a pinkish undertone, and i was born with gingery brown hair… which then turned into a chestnut brown. ?
Hi! I’d really like some help please!
I have cool pink toned skin which is very fair and has a lot of redness in it. I burn easily in the sun but if I am careful I can achieve a light-medium golden tan. I have lots pale light brown/orange freckles on my face where the sun catches me, and on my body I have a mix of orangey tan freckles and mid brown freckles. My hair is naturally a mid brown (around a level 6) and is quite cool. I have green eyes with a dark blue ring around the outside, a yellow ring around the pupil that spreads out and warm brown flecks in them. When I was young I had very light ashy blonde hair which has got darker as I have grown older and my eyes used to be a light clear blue but have changed as I got older as well. (I now have the same colour eyes as my Dad – the green I described)
I have no idea which category I fit into! Pink blushes and lipsticks along with pink/blue toned reds look naff on me because they clash with my orangey coloured freckles, the only thing that looks good is bronzer and peach tones but I have to fake tan a little on my body otherwise my face is really dark in comparison to my fair chest and skin! Orange toned reds lipstick looks great on me. I feel like my warm freckles mean I can’t wear pinks and have to go by the warm skinned rule book with makeup despite my cool skin? I can’t wear foundation either because my freckles look grey! I also think my hair looks a lot better when it is warm! I am blonde at the moment – and if I use purple shampoos it just makes me look sallow and grey! Canary yellow hair with very light white highlights suits me great and just seems to per my skin up so much more.. Also can’t wear eyeshadow really as it doesn’t suit me. Apart from a light wash of shimmery champagne colour on my lids it just looks naff!
I feel like I should be a summer (soft, light, cool) but my freckles mean I can’t wear any of the pinky/purple shades :( Am I just a misfit?!
Clothes wise I look good in green, blue and orange and yellow, brown, white and cream. Black is too harsh, pink and purples clash.. grey makes me look dull.. and I can’t think of any more colours!!
I would really appreciate some help!
If you answer, thank you so much! :)!
I have been analyzed as being a warm autumn over and over, but the colors don’t seem to do anything for me. I have medium-to-dark brown hair naturally and brown eyes with a dark green ring around the iris. My skin tone is both warm and cool. (It has a yellowish hue, but my veins are blue, I blush pink, I burn very easily and can’t tan at all. Plus I have a lot of redness on my face.) I usually keep my hair dyed an orangey-red, and when I dyed it back to my natural color I actually had people ask me if I was feeling okay because I looked sick. But other than my orangey-red hair, autumn colors make me look awful. I’ve tried every shade of the colors too, for soft, warm, and deep autumn, and instead of giving me a warm glow they all make the redness in my face more pronounced. The only colors I’ve been able to look halfway decent in are a warm cotton-candy-type medium pink, and a medium warm purple. But again, that’s only halfway decent. Should I just give up and resign myself to looking sick forever?
Oh, I forgot to mention, I’m covered in freckles too.
Hi!
I find it quite difficult to decide which season I am because I have such a netural skin tone (olive)
But I feel drawn too silver instead of gold, and to cool shades when it comes to clothes.
I have black eyebrowns and lashes, green eyes (they were brown before), and fair skin (in the winter, but when It’s summer I get a golden color and I never get burned by the sun).
I once thought I was winter, but I don’t have a very cool skintone so then I thought I was summer, but pastel only looks good at me when I have been more in the sun and have more color.
I am definitely not autumn, but perhaps a mix of spring and summer?
I am unsure which season I fall into. I have naturally red hair, almost an orange color with natural highlights throughout of lighter and darker red/blonde colors, so that makes me think I would be warm, and I have light blue eyes, which again could be considered warm. The part that is throwing me is my undertone color. I have a pink/red undertone, and when I blush, my face gets bright red, and my veins look purple, which would make me think I am have a cool skin tone.
I might have missed the boat on getting a reply, but I’ve just discovered this amazing post (and blog)! I’ve read through all the information, and I think I’m a SPRING type. Not sure if I’m clear, warm or light. I have medium brown hair with golden tones, light skin (I freckle in the sun and then usually burn) and dark green eyes. Do you think I’m on the right track with a SPRING colour palette? Thanks.
A x
Hi. I think I am a clear, mainly because I look my best in bold colours and because I have both warm and cool colours in me. I’m not sure whether I’m a clear spring or winter. I should be clear spring because I am pale, but the winter colours are slightly more flattering. I’ve also tested colours suitable for light summer and light spring against myself because I think they would be the only other options, and I look terrible in most pale colours, particularly pastels. My best colours are fuschia, and red (with blue or pink undertones).
Am I on the right track?
https://plus.google.com/114348961298575829384/photos/photo/5988784661047786882
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152091765045829&set=a.431349485828.219717.648960828&type=1&theater
Thanks, and great blog btw. Useful info and also really well presented with good photography.
Hi Colette, Have just looked at your photo. If your hair colour is natural, you look like a warm season to me.
How do i identify my real hair colour? When i’m indoors my hair looks black but when i’m out in the sun it turns yellowish brown.
I think you are an autumn.
Thanks for this post and explanation. I was confused for a bit about my type because both my hair and eyes are confusing. My hair is a dark blonde / light brown. My eyes are hazel : blue with some brown but most people don’t notice the brown. So far I could be either spring or summer. However my skin is COOL – pale but prone to reddening. I’ve typed myself as a soft summer and am so happy to know what colors to wear!
Great information for Haircolorists.
I don’t know if you are still responding to comments here or not, but I’m completely confused as to what catergory I fit in. I recall my mother reading Colour Me Beautiful in the 80’s when I was a teenager and deciding I was a summer. I’m not so sure though. I have green eyes (that some people consider blue). My hair is a medium to dark brown with very definite red tones to it in the right light. My skin is very pale and freckled. When I blush, it is blue-pink. I used to own a red sweater (a cool, blue-toned red, not a warm-toned red) and never failed to get compliments when I wore it. I’ve read and re-read your descriptions above and I just cannot figure out in which catergory my colouring falls. Can you help?
I actually don’t think you’re in summer form you’re description, though it’s possible that maybe you we’re a summer when you were younger (?) or mother thought you were at the time. But from what I’ve read, you have high contrast between your skin (clear winter), hair and eyes, and you look good with vivid colors (clear spring and clear winter), you’re medium brown hair (clear winter) has a red undertone to it (clear spring), so you’re probably a Clear Winter or Clear Spring, or you’re mixed. Which is also possible since she said some people are not at all one type and can have different characteristics. Hope I helped!
Thanks for your reply! I’ve been doing a lot more reading since I posted and I think (think!) I fall between deep Autumn and deep winter. There is a great “colour wheel” and explanation lower down on this page http://www.prettyyourworld.com/colortheory.html that helps explain how people can fall between two different categories (the “flow seasonal theory”). This theory really helps me make more sense of my colouring, which does not fall neatly into one category. I think I fall right in the middle of the spectrum, a “deep Autumn flowing into deep Winter”. After a lot of reading, I realize my hair would be considered dark brown (not medium, as I stated above). But in summer, it has distinct red highlights. My skin is very pale and has cool undertones (well, at least, I blush very blue-pink) but I am covered in freckles. My eyes are dark greenish blue. So, I have a high contrast between eyes/skin/hair and cool undertones to my skin, but definite warm colouring in my green eyes, red highlights to my hair (in summer) and all my freckles. Unfortunately, I’m rubbish at telling what colours look good on me and what don’t. I can recognize when I look really good in some colours, but I can’t just hold colours up to my face and tell whether it’s “my colour” or not. As for make-up…forget it.
Interestingly, when taking the quiz to determine my colour type on the link I posted above, I had a really hard time determining if my “dominant trait” was “clear” or “deep”. I will go back and look at the “clear winter flowing into clear spring” description again.
Thank you for your input, I really appreciate it! :-)
Hi, I could use a little help. I am a cool skinned extremely fair person with blue/green/grey eyes, but was born with warm darker chestnut hair. Which season would I be? There is a lot of contrast like a winter, but not sure if I would be more of a deep winter soft or an unusual summer.
I can’t thank you enough for your fantastic site! It’s super helpful and inspiring. I was always told I was an Autumn as a child/teenager, but I’ve been starting to question that recently. My hair is a very dark brown (black in low light), but has a distinctly auburn sheen in sunlight, I have high contrast between skin and hair/eyes, and while I think my skin is technically “warm” I flush bright pink rather than peach. I defied my mother’s warnings and wore a bright sapphire blue for the very first time the other day and it was lovely on, but absolutely not an autumn color. I’d love your opinion. Here are three pics, neither with makeup, the first in artificial light and second two in natural daylight:
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/205054589257610848/
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/205054589257610805/
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/205054589257610970/
Sorry for so many posts! But i just want to let you know Im not wearing any makeup besides a little lipstick and eyeliner! I have no foundation on so you can see my true color.
I love your website!
Hi Im not sure about my season and undertone. I can’t decide between winter or autumn.And I think i may have a neutral undertone..
Description of me —
Hair: Jet Black
Eyes: Dark brown
Skin: Lightly tan? or Light Beige (not really sure)
P.S. I get compliments when I wear sorta greenish teal. Also when I wear Black. My favorite color is dark purple so i try to incorporate it in my clothing but lately im not really sure if it truly brings out my color.
P.P.S. Here is a pic of me and the color of my wrist ^^.
Me:
http://i1071.photobucket.com/albums/u510/xlovelace/IMG_20131211_120356_8001_zpsf564ef1c.jpg
http://s1071.photobucket.com/user/xlovelace/media/IMG_20131211_122225_7441_zps8871d111.jpg.html?sort=3&o=3
Wrist :
http://s1071.photobucket.com/user/xlovelace/media/IMG_20131211_122752_7251_zpsf3149bcb.jpg.html?sort=3&o=2
Hi! I wrote a comment but I think it didn’t get posted >.<
I think I might be a Soft Autumn from what I see on the charts, but I'd appreciate it if you gave me your feedback.
I have very fair skin without freckles and I'd say I have a bit of yellow undertones (not 100% certain, though) but I still burn under the sun. My hair is light brown (some say dark blonde) with clear golden tones to it. About the eyes, they're medium brown (if I look closely or under the sun there's some yellow/green) quite similar to the ones in this picture: http://media.carbonated.tv/93637_story__brown.jpg
If I had to compare my coloring to someone else… I think beauty youtuber "essiebutton" is quite similar, except of course for the eyes.
You could well be a soft Autumn or maybe a warm Spring, since you have very fair skin and dark blonde hair. Both types look great in mid-tone colours, so you can’t really go wrong with those! Essie Button seems like a warm Spring to me, and she looks amazing in truly warm shades, peach and salmon for example. I hope that helps!
Hi!
I think I could be a Soft Autumn and wanted to know if you thought I could be that as well. My skin is very fair, I think warm because there’s a bit of yellow but I’m not a 100% sure. Also I don’t have any freckles.
My hair is light brown (some people say dark blonde) and has clear golden undertones. My eyes are regular medium brown eyes, if I look closely or in the sun, they have a bit of yellow/green. They look very close to these ones: http://media.carbonated.tv/93637_story__brown.jpg
If I had to compare my coloring to someone, I’d say beauty youtuber “essiebutton” has similar coloring to mine, except for the eye color.
hi, can you help me?
I have the light brown hair, fair skin, green eyes. what are the colors that fit me best?
I also wanted to say that your blog is very nice and well built, congratulations! ^ ^
keep it up!
and if I had another question: you live in Germany, is not it? then maybe you know a brand coats or hot and stylish parka? I’m in France (Normandy) and we do not have very good brands of warm coats here, and I am cautious …
sorry for the long post …
thank you in advance for your answers
Eva
Hi!
From your description it sounds like you are either a Summer or a Spring type. Which one of the two you are depends on your overall undertone, either warm or cool.
Regarding your second question: I’m actually currently in the process of finding a new coat here in Berlin, I’ll let you know how it goes. I always love COS, although of course they’re not German.
Hello, thank you for answering my questions :)
I do not know what is my color, I do not know how I know that …
It’s nice of you to keep me informed of coat that you will find in Berlin.
I like your first post about the advent calendar :) me in the winter, I always wear my boots oiled leather stuffed with wool are very warm and waterproof ^ ^ I bought a Swedish website (Ellos) last year.
good day!
I think I’m a summer but I always worry that pale colour will wash me out. My wardrobe need a major declutter as I have clothes from 6 years ago, I’m older now and my style has matured although I still love a bit fun every now and then.
I recently came across your blog because a friend linked me to it. Very interesting stuff! I’m planning on using your posts as a guide to give my wardobe an overhaul! Having looked into colour analysis I’m definitely a “Deep”, but not sure if Winter or Autumn. While being very pale and having contrast between my hair and skin. My hair is medium brown with some grey streaks and my eyes brown/green being brown around the irises and then fading into green. After some digging I thought Deep Autumn might be the right season but due to my pale/cold skin tone I’m not sure! If you have any ideas I would love to hear them.
Don’t confuse pale skin with cool skin! You can have very pale, almost porcelain skin, yet still be an Autumn or a Spring type, if you have a yellow, warm undertone. It sounds like you might be an Autumn, because of your brown-green eyes, although in rare cases a cool type can also have greenish brown eyes, so check them again for a cool/greyish vs a warm undertone. Don’t worry if you can’t make out your type with certainty, simply knowing that you are a deep type points you in the right direction colour-wise. The deep Autumn and the deep Winter palette are related, so feel free to incorporate both into your own wardrobe!
still have some problems to figure out which type I could be. My skin is very light, with slightly yellow undertone(Mac NC15 or less); my hair are dark brown, with a little copper reflection(if you look very close), and my eyes are light green/grey(so they should be on the cool side) BUT with a brown-amber “crown” around the pupil and some dots of the same amber colour here and there in the iris. It’s a mess!
Hello. Would you please tell me what my coloring sounds like or possible options I should look into. My eyes can go from light hazel to very dark the colors are amber, light brown, gold, clear olive green, and ash olive. My hair is a VERY dark brown but the sun can lighten to a med tone but I dye it back because I much prefer my darker color it seems to go well with my very pale skin..a friend described it as blue and pink with a very slight tint of olive to it…if I wear foundation I use extra light. The colors that look the best on me are cool pure saturated colors blues, purples, pinks, grays, blue based reds and greens and berry tones are best. What do you think?
I really appreciate this in-depth explanation of the colors! I’m still a little confused, however. I always thought I was an autumn but after reading more into the descriptions I think I might be a winter? As far as if I am cool or clear or deep, I have no idea. I have very dark, almost black-looking brown hair and deep brown eyes. My skin tans very easily although my face is lighter than most of my body. On my face, I have a yellow-greenish undertone, so I guess you could say my skin tone is an olive color. Any ideas on what I might be?
Figuring out whether your skin is olive or warm can be a little tricky. If would say you sound like a Winter though, because your skin has an is olive-greenish undertone – warms skin can also be yellow but veers into golden, greenish/grey undertones are a sign of a cool skintone. In any case it sounds like your colouring is not super cool nor super warm, so you will do well with both the deep Winter and deep Autumn palette.
Kudos for the latest articles. I have been reading your blog for several months now and always enjoy your thoughtful and to-the-point articles (on all the topics so far). Reading this post has once again brought me to my own dilemma with color palettes. I can’t for the life of me figure out what type I am, which is mainly due to my skin tone, which I can’t seem to see. All the tests I’ve done with different colored items of clothing in daylight, etc. have not been able to help me see what underlying tones I have, though I’ve always figured cool tones, since I preferred silver jewelry (until it started to bore me). It was confusing to me, when I recently tried several foundations and all the cool colored ones made me look too cool, almost like I was slightly frozen.
Perhaps you have an idea?
I have dark brown/chestnutty hair with some reddish highlights, very dark brown eyes, very pale skin with light-tan freckles, pink cheeks (one reason I always assumed cool). When I tan I always seem to get sort of greyish as opposed to golden brown toasted…
Thank you for your lovely blog posts :)
My guess is that you are a deep autumn. Dark brown hair with reddish highlights is definitely a characteristic Autumn-y mix. It sounds to me like your skin is close to neutral, but still on the warmer side. Pink cheeks are not a sign for a cool undertone: I am a Spring and I can go from normal to tomato red in about 0.5 seconds. Check out the deep Autumn palette and also the deep Winter palette for suggested shades. Since your skin is relatively neutral you might also suit many of ‘soft Autumn’ colours (they are the most neutral of the Autumn palette).
Thanks for your reply. I will definitely check those colors out. Welcome to Germany by the way!
This was really helpful, thank you so much! After you recommended that I’m a cool summer, I had a really hard time finding stuff online about it, helping me to figure out if I actually IS a cool summer. After reading this, I’m pretty sure. I have blue-green eyes (kind of a blue outer circle and a green inner circle that’s melting into each other), which I can’t find mentioned any place in this text, but I still think I’m a cool summer.
I’m kind of freaking out a bit, though, because I just bought a pair of beautiful brown shoes that was kind of on the pricey side, and I can’t find brown in the colour palette to Summer, but I hope I’ll be okay with the colour anyway.
A lot of cool Summers have blue-green eyes! And please don’t worry about your new shoes! If you love them and they fit your style concept, there is no reason not to keep them and wear them to death. The only colours that will affect how you look are really only those that you wear around your face: your hair colour, make up, tops, scarf, etc. Plus, I think brown shoes can look really nice with a cool, muted outfit.
puh, thank you so much! I do wear a lot of muted clothes (to my mom’s constant frustration), and I also think brown shoes look pretty good with that, which was why I picked brown instead of black.
I’m so confused, just mixing up everything these days… You suggested that I may be a soft summer, but I think I’m leaning more towards the cool side. And I’m Norwegian, so when I say “puh”, I of course mean “phew”. I’m sorry.
I’ve always figured I was a Spring (blonde as a kid, definitely yellow in my skin, blue eyes) but now I’m wondering if I might be a soft Summer. My hair is actually on the ashy side (but in the light has reddish/golden tints) – now that ombre is all the rage I like to think of it as “naturally ombre” .. If I let it get long enough the blond part seems warmer than the roots. And my skin is thin and sensitive so it gets red easily (especially my face) and blue veins show up well, though the skin inside my wrist has always been more yellow than the people I’m comparing myself to. And gold jewelry looks much better on me than silver and warm beiges/ivory definitely trump cool beiges/white. It’s all very confusing.
Perhaps what’s most important is I have strong preferences for the colors I wear and am decent at seeing whether something works or not. I dislike wearing orange and yellow, and have yet to find a green that works for me. Your Summer and Winter colors would attract me on the rack at the store (plus warm browns/beiges) and then I would have to check each against my skin, then try them on. Maybe it boils down to warm blues and browns, and cool purples and reds? But then do my pieces clashing with each other?
I have a pretty good idea of what I like but I really enjoy your posts, so I’m looking forward to seeing what you have to say about incorporating this color information when you’re not a perfect fit.
Quick thought: your heading said “Warm: You are either a warm Spring or a warm Summer,” but did you mean Autumn?
You definitely sound like a Spring type! Ivory, yellow-toned skin, golden highlights and even the fact that you blush easily – all are definite signs for a light, but warm, i.e. Spring complexion (the green/blue vein thing doesn’t really work for many people, so you can ignore that). Now, the fact that you are a Spring type does not mean you can’t wear colours of the Summer or even the Winter palette. You do not have to wear yellow, green or orange – stick to blues, purples and reds if they are more your style. If you worry about colours clashing you could try choosing relatively neutral-toned and also light purples and other colors that are not in the Spring palette. Have a look at the light Spring, the light Summer and also the soft Summer palettes in the follow up post to this one. The soft Summer colours are the most neutral ones of the whole Summer palette, so they’ll match your complexion and the warmer colours of your wardrobe best.
Thank you for the specific feedback! You rock, you know.
How do you type yourself if you have dramatically changed your hair color- using your original color of the current one? When I went grey, I changed my haircolor to a warm light brown with slight gold highlights. My original color was very dark brown.
Like I said below, changing your hair colour will not alter your colour type, because it’s your skin tone and eye colour that above all determine which colours suit you. In general it is always a good idea to dye your hair a shade that suits your colour type, either something close to your original hair colour (dark brown in your case), or a little lighter/darker while sticking to the right tone (cool/ashy or golden/warm/red). Since you had dark brown hair, you are likely either an Autumn or a Winter, depending on your skin’s undertone. If your skin has a warm undertone your new hair colour complements your skin and you will look best in shades of the Autumn palette. If your skin has a cool undertone, you could try toning your hair to make it a little more neutral/less warm, and then experiment with colours from both the Autumn and Winter palettes, to see which ones suit you best.
Thank you, thank you! I recognized my young self in the picture of the deep autumn in part III and never would have guessed that I would still be in that range. I should have known since deep autumn colors always attract me. This year, there is a plethora of warm plums and golds and I succumbed to them feeling a little anxious that I stepped outside my usual comfort zone. But they are warm and delightful to wear. Now I will finish reading part III to find out how to begin incorporating them in my more “spring” toned wardrobe.
I have been a follower for some time, but I haven’t really utilised your advise until now. Today, I am so grateful that I have found your blog, and that you have written a blog! This post motivated me into revising, editing, re-organising my style, my wardrobe, and declutter my mind, too! I wrote a post (http://in-dubitably.blogspot.jp/2013/09/wardrobe-building-autumnwinter-capsule.html), just so I could have something to refer to quickly. However, all credit goes to you because I don’t think I could have accomplished it as quickly without your guidance. Like someone said, this should all be in a book.
Thank you so much! I love what you did in your post, it’s a perfect little summary!
I really enjoyed this post, although am now slightly confused. I am Asian but have a fairly light (slightly yellow) skin tone, dark eyes and my natural hair colour is black. However, my hair has been dyed ash blonde for the last few years. I’m unsure if the colour palettes are based only one’s natural colour? I do recall wearing a lot of bright reds and rich colours when I had black hair, but now my wardrobe consists solely of black, white, cool grey and blues.
Your colour type always depends on your natural skin tone and hair colour. If you have dyed your hair, your overall look might have changed, but your skin hasn’t and it’s your skin that ultimately influences whether you look healthy/bright/yourbest vs tired/a little under the weather. Tanning has a much bigger effect on your colour type than dying your hair: Regardless of your original undertone, tanning will warm up your complexion and you will be able to wear warmer shades than usual. The colour yellow is a good example for this: many people think yellow only suits those with a tan, but actually, if you have a true warm undertone you will suit yellow even with a pale winter-y complexion. Summer and Winter types on the other hand do need a tan to get away with yellow (except for very icy, cool yellows).
This was a really great, thorough post. I can’t quite figure out what I would be – I’ve got very fair, cool skin but my face is covered in golden freckles. My hair is ashy light brown and my eyes are green with orange flecks. I tend to gravitate towards autumn or winter colours but I don’t think I could be either of those…
If you hadn’t mentioned your ashy light brown hair, I would have definitely put you in the Spring category. Truly cool-toned hair and skin in combination with golden freckles and eyes is very rare. Try to investigate a bit more: are your freckles really golden, or more of a neutral, light brown color? Is your skin really cool with a blue undertone? With very fair skin it can sometimes be easy to assume a cool undertone. Green eyes with orange or golden/brown flecks are usually a characteristic of the Autumn or warm Spring type, so have a look at those palettes and see if you like/suit them. It is totally possible that you are quite a unique combination and won’t fit into either of the 12 types. In that case it will just take a bit of trial-and-error, experimenting with different shades and undertones, to find a set of colours that optimally accentuate your coloring.
I really enjoy your blog but with all due respect, seasonal categories – even 16 over 12 – do NOT work consistently well. People’s coloring is more varied! If everyone really fell into one one of 12 categories, don’t you think we’d be able to see it? 12 is not that many categories. Color analysis started off being done for individuals (see The Essence of You by Suzanne Caygill to learn more about the original color analyst), and each palette created was unique. They were sometimes even hand painted! This approach was then SIMPLIFIED – reducing the work to to four seasons in Carole Jackson’s book, then expanded to 12, then to 16…but it’s because categories don’t actually work! People fall between seasons and across seasons all the time. We are too individual in our coloring for categories to work. You were right in your hesitation to subscribe to such an approach! You also have to consider the brightness in the skin, the color of the whites of the eye, the brightness of a person’s eyes, the interplay between hair/eye and skin colors, etc. You can see examples of completely personalized (not cookie cutter) palettes and the people the were created for here: https://www.facebook.com/BeautyValued Many of these people I have never met, but made palettes from using lots and lots and lots of photos. Please be wary of thinking 12 seasons will lead to color success for your readers! And, keep up the fabulous work pertaining to slow fashion and more mindful living! Thank you, Kathy
I partially agree with you. Like I said in the post, seasonal colour analysis will not work for everyone. However, many people do benefit a lot from it: Even if you don’t fit any of the types, it will get you thinking about the role of colour in your wardrobe and point you in a general direction which can then be built upon. I definitely think the concept of colour analysis has its place on a list of curating/wardrobe building tools.
Yes- can’t wait to see how you incorporate your colors into your wardrobe!!!
I have had a custom color palette done, after spending too much time getting confused with this system. I have pale blue/gray eyes, peachy-ish pink skin, and dark brown hair that reddens in the sun. By these descriptions, that could mean a Clear Spring in contrast and skin color, Summer or Winter in eyes, or Clear Winter or Autumn in hair – something like that. It turns out my colors are actually deeper versions of Light Summer, mostly, with some winter and spring as well (I think I even have an autumn color or two). I love the custom palette route, because my coloring is apparently too different for the categories given. I’ve always thought I was a winter, and more recently, a bright spring. Oops. Anyway, there are some people that I know that could be easily typed under this system, and are “classic” versions of the descriptions. I assume this would work great for them!
Wow, your colouring does sound very unique, especially the combination of peach/toned skin and blue/grey eyes. What colours were recommended to you?
I’m only sure that my eyes are hazel brown. I don’t know if my hair is auburn or just a medium brown with red undertones… and my skin is pale, a little ivory, but when I blush I turn very pink! I’m so confused, since Spring says “medium brown hair/ red undertones/ hazel eyes”, and Autumn goes “medium to deep red hair/ hazel eyes/ red undertones”. Thanks for the post, it’s very interesting. :)
You sound like a typical autumn. The dark-haired Spring type is quite rare, and usually accompanied by piercing blue eyes and golden, instead of red/toned highlights.
I have really enjoyed the post and it actually ties nicely into the dilemma I have been having recently. My coloring is muted, warm and medium in intensity (green/grey eyes, tan/olive skin, warm brown hair). I would say that out of 12 subtypes I am the closest to Warm Autumn, with muted being the most dominant characteristic for me. I have little difficulty finding finding my colors for autumn/winter capsule wardrobe (I love caramel, coffee brown, rust, moss, burnished gold), but I am having real difficulty with spring/summer wardrobe (these seasonal colors do not suit me). I would really appreciate your advice on what I can do for the other two seasons and more generally what to do when your chosen colors are not sold all year round.
Thanks so much!!!
It’s always a little harder to find your colours in seasons other than your own, but I could imagine that warm autumns are especially affected by this, just because for most people colours like moss, deep terracotta, etc are so characteristic of the fall season, and the fashion industry caters to that. My advice would be to stock up on basics now, during the fall months. You might not be able to find summery dresses or shorts right now, but shoes, lightweight sweaters, trousers, even t-shirts and tops are all good candidates. I also recommend that you check out some palettes other than your own: Colours of the warm spring palette for example will be much easier to find during the warmer months. In particular its deeper shades, like salmon or a deep aquamarine, will suit you well and could help you expand your wardrobe a little bit.
Thank you, very helpful! I will try deeper shades of warm spring for spring/season summer.
amazing post! I’ve heard of the four season typology, but I never knew whether I’m a summer or an autumn. I have light brown hair, but blue eyes and warm-toned skin. Can you help?
Thanks! You actually sound like a Spring! Spring types can have anything between light blond to medium brown hair, or even darker in rare cases. Many clear Springs have brown hair, warm toned skin and blue eyes. Think Adriana Lima
would this apply if you have neutral skin? :)
If you have neutral skin, light-brown hair and blue eyes, you need to look at the undertones in your hair and your eyes to figure out if you are a summer or a spring type. Are your eyes a piercing true blue/aquamarine (clear spring), or are they more on the grey side (light/soft summer). If your eyes/hair are also relatively neutral, you are on of those cases that doesn’t fit into the groups quite as neatly. All this means for you is that you can experiment with a greater range of shades! On Friday/Thursday I will publish a big list of suggested shades for each one of the 12 types. Have a look at these four neighbouring palettes: light spring, clear spring, light summer, soft summer.