What is seasonal color analysis?
Seasonal color analysis matches the colors you wear to your natural coloring: your skin, hair and eyes. The goal is practical. When a color harmonizes with you, your skin looks clearer and more even, and people notice you before they notice the outfit. When it doesn't, the same face can look tired or washed out.
The four-season approach became widely known in the early 1980s through the book Color Me Beautiful by Carole Jackson. Since then, many stylists have split each season into three subpalettes for 12 in total, because four seasons alone left too many people in between. Some systems go further, to 16 or more, and the names vary from system to system. This guide uses The Season Index naming.
The three qualities behind every season
- Undertone (warm or cool). Autumn and Spring are warm and golden. Winter and Summer are cool. In our system, your undertone stays the same for life.
- Depth and contrast (light to dark). How deep your coloring is, and how much difference there is between your hair, skin and eyes.
- Chroma (clear or muted). Whether you look best in clear, saturated colors or soft, grayed ones.
In our system, each season has three subpalettes. Soft is the most muted and blended. True is the season at full strength. Dark is the deepest and richest.
All 12 seasons at a glance
| Season | Undertone | In short |
|---|---|---|
| Soft Autumn | Warm, golden | Warm and muted. Low contrast. Dusty, grayed earth tones. |
| True Autumn | Warm, golden | Warm at full strength. Medium contrast. Rich, spicy earth tones. |
| Dark Autumn | Warm, golden | Warm and deep. High contrast. Chocolate, pine and mahogany. |
| Soft Winter | Cool, blue-based | Cool, eased contrast. Pewter, icy lavender, muted sapphire. |
| True Winter | Cool, blue-based | Cool and vivid. High contrast. Clear jewel tones, black and white. |
| Dark Winter | Cool, blue-based | Cool and deep. Very high contrast. Black, navy, deep burgundy. |
| Soft Summer | Cool, rosy | Cool and very muted. Low contrast. Dusty rose, grayed blue, sage. |
| True Summer | Cool, rosy | Cool and gentle. Soft contrast. Powder blue, lavender, cool rose. |
| Dark Summer | Cool, rosy | Cool, muted but deep. Navy, deep rose, burgundy, charcoal blue. |
| Soft Spring | Warm, clear | Warm, light and tender. Peach, soft coral, light aqua. |
| True Spring | Warm, clear | Warm and bright. Coral, clear aqua, warm yellow, fresh green. |
| Dark Spring | Warm, clear | Warm and saturated with depth. Warm red, bright teal, golden brown. |
How to find your season
You'll get the clearest answer by looking at your coloring now, in good light. A few ways to start:
- Take a quiz. Our free 10-question quiz asks about your coloring as it is today and gives your likely season and subpalette.
- Try the gold vs. silver test. In daylight with a bare face, hold gold, then silver, near your face. The one that makes your skin look even and clear points to warm or cool.
- Try the white vs. cream test. Optic white tends to favor Winters. Cream or ivory tends to favor Autumns and Springs. Soft white tends to favor Summers.
- Check the black test. If black near your face looks crisp, you may be a Winter, especially a Dark or True Winter. If it looks heavy, you're more likely another season.
- Get an analysis from a photo. Our AI color analysis reads your season and subpalette from a selfie, with no salon visit needed.
Why it matters, especially after 40
Knowing your palette saves time and money. You stop buying pieces that almost work, and your closet starts to mix and match on its own. It also explains why colors you loved at 30 may feel wrong now. Your season hasn't changed, but your contrast may have. Read Does your color season change with age?
Season guides
- The Soft Autumn color palette
- The True Autumn color palette
- The Dark Autumn color palette
- The Soft Winter color palette
- The True Winter color palette
- The Dark Winter color palette
- The Soft Summer color palette
- The True Summer color palette
- The Dark Summer color palette
- The Soft Spring color palette
- The True Spring color palette
- The Dark Spring color palette