Style • January 23, 2025

Cara

Do You Know Your Color Season?

We recently had our colors analyzed and both agree it was totally worth it!  Color analysis is the art of determining which colors harmonize with your natural features—your skin tone, hair color, and eyes.  Think of it as your personal color palette, one that helps you shine by aligning with your natural beauty.  And while you don’t have to follow the results to a T, you may find there are some real benefits.

Why You Should Have Your Colors Read:

  • When you wear colors that truly complement you, you'll look more vibrant and feel more put-together. The right colors can brighten your complexion, make your eyes pop, and even lift your mood. 

  • Once you know your season, you can curate your wardrobe with colors that suit you best. 

  • Finding your season isn’t just about learning what colors work for you - it’s about discovering your personal style.  Each season has its own personality, from the warm, earthy tones of Autumn to the cool, crisp shades of Winter.

How We Did It

We used this online service that was highly recommended, but we think an in-person analysis would be ideal for someone who really wants to learn a lot about this and follow it closely.  We sent in an array of photos: close ups of our hair, eyes, skin and waited a few days for our results.  Cara learned she is a Soft Autumn and I am a Soft Summer, which we think seems pretty accurate.  

What to Expect from Your Analysis: 

The full analysis is very thorough and requires some time to digest, so we’re sharing the introduction for you to get a sense of how it works:

Your analysis is all about finding colours that are in harmony with you, neither overpowering nor draining you. Your outfit should act as a backdrop, allowing for your natural beauty to shine first (we would not want to see the colour of your outfit before we see your facial features). Your colour season is consistent throughout the colours of your clothes, as well as your Hair and Makeup

Just for some context, your analysis is based on finding colours that share the same properties as your natural colouring. With this in mind, we look at these three key aspects:

Your Temperature: This refers to how warm or cool a colour is. Let’s take the colour green as an example - a warm-toned green has more yellow in it, whereas a cool-toned green has more blue added to the colour. Therefore, if you have a warm undertone, you’ll suit a yellow-green (loosely speaking, examples include lime green or military green), or, if you have a cool undertone, you will suit a green with more blue added to it (such as forest green).

Your Value: This term is used to determine how light (high value) or how dark (low value) a colour is (this depends on the amount of white or black that is added to the hue). For example, ballet pink is a high-value colour, whereas magenta is a low-value colour.

Your Chroma: This refers to the brightness and intensity of a colour. Colours that are very bright (think green screen green!) are colours with high chroma, whereas muted colours (such as dusty rose pink) are colours with low chroma.

What Tools do You Receive:

You will get a PDF with a thorough color palette for your season. They then break the palette down further showing you what are good base and accent colors, as well as good color combinations.  They even tell you what jewelry metal is best for you.  Since these palettes are viewed on a computer screen, many suggest buying fabric swatches customized to your season.  This way you can drape them in front of your face to see the results and you can take them shopping with you to help when selecting clothes or cosmetics. 

You will also receive a super helpful list of colors to avoid and celebrities who share your season. I share seasons with Jennifer Anniston and Sarah Jessica Parker, which was fun because I really like their style.  And Cara liked sharing hers with Elizabeth Olsen and Adele.  It is actually pretty helpful to take note of what colors they wear and what you like best.  If you already know your season, this instagram account shares a lot of great info on celebrities and their seasons. 

How to Implement the Analysis:

Cara and I both agree that this information was very helpful, but it doesn’t mean you have to run out and buy all new clothes and makeup to match your palette. Or suddenly wear green because that is a suggested color.  If you don’t like a color, move on and pick the right shade of another one you prefer.  We are both paying closer attention to our individual color palettes and have already made some adjustments.  

I have always worn a lot of the color camel and according to the analysis it isn’t a good color near my face, so I gave a few things away.  But since I still love the color, I will wear it in the form of a shoe or bag and I’m on the hunt for a pair of camel colored pants.

Cara switched things up at her recent highlight appointment.  Instead of sticking with her bright blonde highlights, she instead added lowlights to make her haircolor a warmer dark blonde.