Not Sure What Colors Flatter You Most? Here’s How to Do Your Own Color Analysis

If you’ve been on social media anytime in the past three years, you’ve probably seen a video that goes like this: One person is sitting in a chair wearing little to no makeup and their hair pulled back, while someone behind them drapes different colorful pieces of fabric across their chest. Some fabrics make them glow and smile, while others wash them out. Sound familiar? These videos showcase a process called color analysis, and the person doing the draping is typically a certified color analyst. Certified color analysts spend months training, performing practice drapings, and even passing exams to be qualified to help their clients find their season.

So how do you figure out which season you fall into? “It’s a combination of your undertone, your hair color, and your eye color,” explains Julia Valdesalice, a certified color analyst and personal stylist. Each season can be summed up using three key descriptors: undertone (warm or cool), value (deep or light), and intensity (bright or muted). Intensity refers to your contrast, while value describes your skin tone—whether you’re fair, tan, or somewhere in between. Where you fall in each of these categories determines your season. Let’s take a closer look at each to help you figure out where you might land.

Spring

If you’re a Spring, you look best in warm, light, and bright colors, explains Valdesalice. Your best neutral is camel, and standout colors include navy blue and chartreuse. Spring colors are so bold, Valdesalice says she’s sometimes nervous to tell clients that’s their season. But personality-wise, “Springs are really excited about being Springs,” she says. “They often tell me, ‘I love these colors!’”

Jill Kirsh, aka Hollywood’s “Guru of Hue,” places clients with warm blonde hair into the warm, light, and bright category. Kirsh considers hair color the most important factor when determining someone’s best palette, so her swatch books are organized by hair color—not season. All warm blondes, including celebrities like Elle Fanning and Kate Hudson, should stick to gold jewelry, she advises.

Color analysis is all about what’s on top—your hair, eyes, jewelry, and makeup should all complement your season. For Valdesalice, blush and lip shades matter most. Springs look best in warm tones like salmon or coral. As for eyes, she doesn’t always follow the warm/cool rule. “Use makeup that enhances your eye color,” she says. “Not necessarily your undertones.”

Summer

Summers are cool, light, and muted. Personality-wise, they may be a little more reserved than the bright and bubbly Springs. If you’re a summer, your best colors include dusty blue and rosy pink, and your best neutrals are gray and ivory—but not cream! Cream is too warm, explains Valdesalice. 

For Kirsh, this category aligns with clients who have gray or ashy blonde hair. She recommends silver jewelry and loves a dusty pink or taupe lip on them. Previously based in Los Angeles, Kirsh often works with actors and musicians preparing for the red carpet. She says celebrities like Christina Aguilera and Gwen Stefani fall into this category.

“The amazing thing about color seasons is all the colors work well with your features and with each other,” says Megan Diem Easton, a certified color analyst. “Matching similar hue, value, and undertone means you can mix and match all of them and not go wrong.” When asked to create a perfect outfit for a Summer, she picked a dusty rose top and dove gray pants.

Autumn

If you’re an Autumn, your colors are warm, deep, and muted. Like the other seasons, personality often aligns with palette—Autumns tend to be cozy and grounded, think Gilmore Girls energy. Your best colors include chocolate brown and olive green, and your best neutral is cream. Of course, gold is your go-to metal.

Kirsh’s warm, deep, and muted category includes clients with golden brown, deep honey blonde, or red hair. These are the clients that can rock the earthy tones, like clay, teal, and mustard yellow. Think celebrities like Jessica Chastain, Jennifer Aniston, and Jennifer Lopez. 

It’s best for Autumns to steer clear of pink lips. Instead, try something in the brown family, or go for a brick red. Contrary to popular belief, Kirsh shares, everyone can wear red lipstick—it just has to be the right shade. (Springs look best in what she calls “crayon red,” a bright, pigmented tone, while Summers should opt for burgundy, and Winters look best in deep rose.)

Winter

Speaking of winter, we’ve arrived at our final season. Winters are cool, deep, and bright, and according to Valdesalice, they’re the only season that can wear true black and stark white. Before discovering color analysis and learning she was an Autumn, Valdesalice wore black all the time. Now, after years of training, she understands why she looked almost sickly in an old headshot taken in a black turtleneck.

Winter for Kirsh means her dark brown, black, salt and pepper, and silver-haired clients. Think Andie MacDowell for salt-and-pepper and Helen Mirren for silver. It’s important to distinguish between true silver hair and soft gray, Kirsh notes. Soft grays belong in the more muted season of Summer.

Like Springs, Winters fall into the cool group, which means blue-based makeup and silver jewelry. Avoid any makeup with brown undertones, and try bright pinks instead. When asked to design a Winter outfit, Valdesalice suggested black leather pants and a hot pink cami.

Common Misconceptions

While the color analyst experts we spoke to don’t completely align on the naming of each category, they are aligned when it comes to color analysis misconceptions—the most prevalent being color analysis is easy and ChatGPT can accurately categorize someone. “ChatGPT is hardly ever right about analysis,” shares Easton. “It lacks the human elements necessary for accounting for things like lighting, consistency, etc. I know it seems like a more affordable option, but in the long run, committing to an incorrect color season will waste way more time, money, and energy than going to a pro!” 

Bottom line, certified color analysts are there to help their clients feel more confident by helping them find clothing and jewelry they will love to wear. There are no colors off-limits to any season, just the correct shades, and educating yourself on your season will only make shopping more fun, easier, and less expensive.