What colour season am I?
A practical guide to identifying your seasonal type. Note: self-assessment has limits — a professional analyst will always be more accurate. But this is a useful starting point.
Start with undertone
The single most important factor in colour analysis is whether your skin has warm or cool undertones. Everything else flows from this.
- Warm undertone: Your skin appears golden, peachy, or yellow-based. Gold jewellery suits you better than silver. Your veins look green. You tan easily.
- Cool undertone: Your skin appears pink, rosy, or blue-based. Silver jewellery suits you better than gold. Your veins look blue-purple. You burn before you tan.
- Neutral: You suit both — though most people lean one way. If genuinely neutral, look to your depth and clarity to determine season.
Then assess depth and clarity
Within warm and cool, your season is further defined by two qualities:
- Light vs deep: Is your overall colouring light and delicate, or rich and deep?
- Clear vs muted: Are your colours bright and vivid, or softened and toned-down?
Quick self-assessment
You might be a Spring if…
Warm undertone. Light to medium colouring. Clear and bright, not muted. Golden, peachy, or strawberry blonde hair. Blue-green, hazel, or warm light brown eyes.
You might be a Summer if…
Cool undertone. Light to medium colouring. Soft and muted, not vivid. Ash blonde or ash brown hair with no warmth. Grey-blue, grey-green, or soft brown eyes.
You might be an Autumn if…
Warm undertone. Medium to deep colouring. Rich and earthy, not bright. Auburn, copper, or dark warm brown hair. Hazel, olive, or warm brown eyes.
You might be a Winter if…
Cool undertone. High contrast between skin, hair, and eyes. Clear and vivid, not muted. Very dark or stark white hair. Dark brown, deep hazel, or clear blue eyes.
Why self-assessment has limits
Self-assessment is a useful starting point — but it's notoriously unreliable for two reasons. First, it's almost impossible to objectively assess your own colouring when you're so accustomed to seeing yourself. Second, the sub-seasons (Soft Summer, True Autumn, Bright Spring etc.) require trained eyes and physical draping to assess accurately. Many people who believe they're one season discover they're another — or a sub-season they hadn't considered — during a professional session.
For a definitive answer, a professional colour analysis is the only reliable method.