Seasonal color analysis, explained: all 12 seasons

What are hue, value and chroma?

• Hue / undertone: whether your skin has a warm golden or cool pink-blue cast. Gold versus silver jewelry is a quick first test.
• Value: how light or deep your hair, skin and eyes are overall.
• Chroma: how clear and vivid versus soft and muted your coloring is. High-contrast, bright-eyed people are usually high chroma.

Where the system comes from

Carole Jackson’s 1980 book Color Me Beautiful popularized four seasons. Later analysts split each into three to capture people who sit between seasons, creating the 12-season system most apps and analysts now use.

The 12 seasons

• Spring (warm, clear): Bright, True, Light.
• Summer (cool, soft): Light, True, Soft.
• Autumn (warm, muted): Soft, True, Deep.
• Winter (cool, clear): Deep, True, Bright.

How to find your season

• Professional draping: an analyst holds fabric under your face in neutral light. Most reliable.
• At-home test: compare warm versus cool and bright versus muted fabrics near your face in daylight, with no makeup.
• Selfie analysis: apps such as Style BFF estimate your season from a photo. Fast and free, but sensitive to lighting.

Mistakes that skew results

• Warm indoor lighting or beauty filters.
• Judging dyed hair or a tan instead of natural coloring.
• Treating your season as a strict rule. Use it for colors near your face; anything works on shoes and trousers.

What to do with your palette

• Wear your best colors near your face: tops, scarves, collars, earrings.
• Use your season’s neutrals for big, expensive pieces like coats and suits.
• Repeat one accent color in an outfit so it looks intentional.
• Bring your palette shopping, or let Style BFF filter outfit ideas by it.

What else should you know?