Take our free Seasonal Colour Analysis Quiz (What season am I?) and find out what season are you and what colours will look best on you based on your seasonal colour palette. There are 12 season types, because each of the 4 seasons (Winter, Spring, Summer, Autumn) has three variations. In order to tell you which of the twelve season types you fall into, the quiz focuses on 3 aspects: 1) it will help you see if you have a warm or cool skin undertone, 2) it will help you determine your value (light or dark), and 3) it will help you find out your chroma (soft/muted or bright). The 4 seasons have the following characteristics:
- Winter (Cool, Dark, Bright)
- Spring (Warm, more
Light, Bright)
- Autumn (Warm, Dark, Soft/Muted).
Based on your season type, you will see what kind of colours harmonize with you and will be able to adjust your colour palette.
- Autumn (Warm, Dark, Soft/Muted).
Based on your season type, you will see what kind of colours harmonize with you and will be able to adjust your colour palette.
White Paper Test / Cloth Test
1. Grab a piece of white paper or white cloth and hold it next to your bare face in the mirror. Don’t forget to cover your hair with a white towel. How does your skin look like against true white? (If your skin has a warm undertone, it will appear yellowish, golden or peachy, and if you have a cool undertone, it will appear bluish, purple or rose pink.)
A) My skin appears bluish, purple, or rose pink (cool pink) next to the white paper or cloth.
B) My skin appears yellowish, golden, or peachy next to the white paper or cloth.
Metal Test
2. In natural sunlight, put both silver and gold against your skin (preferably thicker necklaces or bracelets). Which one harmonizes best with your skin undertone?
A) Silver
B) Gold
Vein Test
3. more
1. Grab a piece of white paper or white cloth and hold it next to your bare face in the mirror. Don’t forget to cover your hair with a white towel. How does your skin look like against true white? (If your skin has a warm undertone, it will appear yellowish, golden or peachy, and if you have a cool undertone, it will appear bluish, purple or rose pink.)
A) My skin appears bluish, purple, or rose pink (cool pink) next to the white paper or cloth.
B) My skin appears yellowish, golden, or peachy next to the white paper or cloth.
Metal Test
2. In natural sunlight, put both silver and gold against your skin (preferably thicker necklaces or bracelets). Which one harmonizes best with your skin undertone?
A) Silver
B) Gold
Vein Test
3. more
Turn your hand over in natural sunlight and look at the veins on your inner wrist. Are they blue/purple or green?
A) Mostly blue or purple
B) Mostly green
Magenta and Orange Test
4. In natural sunlight, hold next to your bare face (with no make-up) a cloth/fabric that is magenta and take a picture of yourself. In the same light, hold next to your face a bright orange cloth/fabric and take a picture. If you have shirts of these colours, it’s even better if you actually put them on. How do you look?
A) I look better next to the magenta cloth/fabric.
B) I look better next to the orange cloth/fabric.
Sun Test
5. Do you tan easily?
A) No, I usually burn first.
B) Yes, I tan easily.
Results:
All or mostly A(s): you have a cool skin undertone.
All or mostly B(s): you have a warm skin undertone.
If you couldn’t answer some of the above questions, you may have a neutral skin undertone. Skip this part for now and focus on part 2 and 3.
A) Mostly blue or purple
B) Mostly green
Magenta and Orange Test
4. In natural sunlight, hold next to your bare face (with no make-up) a cloth/fabric that is magenta and take a picture of yourself. In the same light, hold next to your face a bright orange cloth/fabric and take a picture. If you have shirts of these colours, it’s even better if you actually put them on. How do you look?
A) I look better next to the magenta cloth/fabric.
B) I look better next to the orange cloth/fabric.
Sun Test
5. Do you tan easily?
A) No, I usually burn first.
B) Yes, I tan easily.
Results:
All or mostly A(s): you have a cool skin undertone.
All or mostly B(s): you have a warm skin undertone.
If you couldn’t answer some of the above questions, you may have a neutral skin undertone. Skip this part for now and focus on part 2 and 3.
The value (or depth) shows how light or dark a colour is by adding more white (lighter) or more black (deeper or darker) to it. A colour that has been lightened by adding white is known as tint, and a colour that has been darkened by adding black is called a shade.
The value of your overall colouring is light if you have light hair, skin and eyes and there is low contrast between your features in your desaturated photo. The value of your overall colouring is dark if you have dark hair, eyes (the whites of your eyes create a high contrast), and skin or dark hair and eyes, but a lighter skin and there is high contrast between the features. As a rule of thumb, your dominant features determine your depth. You might have very light or medium light features (for example skin), more
The value of your overall colouring is light if you have light hair, skin and eyes and there is low contrast between your features in your desaturated photo. The value of your overall colouring is dark if you have dark hair, eyes (the whites of your eyes create a high contrast), and skin or dark hair and eyes, but a lighter skin and there is high contrast between the features. As a rule of thumb, your dominant features determine your depth. You might have very light or medium light features (for example skin), more
but your dominant features (usually eyes and/or hair) are dark/deep.
1. Are you light or deep or in between? To determine the value of your overall colouring (how light or dark your overall colouring is), convert a photo of your own into greyscale and see where your overall colouring falls on the value scale from 1 to 4 (see the top numbers on the greyscale image on your right). Remember your number (1, 2, 3 or 4).
A) 1 - dark
B) 2 - medium-dark
C) 3 - medium-light
D) 4 - light
Now let’s see what is your value contrast - the level of difference in value between two or more colours. The closer together colours are, the lower is the level of contrast between them, and the farther apart colours are, the higher is the level of contrast. For example, neighbouring hues of two medium greys have low contrast because their values are very similar, while black and white are highly contrasted because their values are very different.
2. What contrast is there between your skin, hair, and eyes? This question is not part of the quiz, but if you have doubts after taking the quiz, you can check the contrast for different seasons. To determine your contrast level, use the same desaturated photo and the bottom numbers of the greyscale photo on your right on the web page and assign values to the 3 elements of your face: hair, skin, and eyes. Assign each element a value from 0 to 11. Now, take your highest number and take away the lowest number (for example 11-1=10). What number do you get?
A) 0 - 2 (low value contrast)
B) 3 - 5 (medium-low value contrast)
C) 6 - 8 (medium-high value contrast)
D) 9 - 11 (high value contrast)
Remember your value contrast. It will help you find out how light and dark the colour values of your clothes should be. If you got a high value contrast, you can wear highly contrasted colours with very different values without problems, but if you got a low value contrast, you should opt for colours with similar values. For example, Dark Winter has a high value contrast, while Light Spring has a low value contrast. At the same time, keep in mind that your clothes should not be more than X (number you got) values apart.
1. Are you light or deep or in between? To determine the value of your overall colouring (how light or dark your overall colouring is), convert a photo of your own into greyscale and see where your overall colouring falls on the value scale from 1 to 4 (see the top numbers on the greyscale image on your right). Remember your number (1, 2, 3 or 4).
A) 1 - dark
B) 2 - medium-dark
C) 3 - medium-light
D) 4 - light
Now let’s see what is your value contrast - the level of difference in value between two or more colours. The closer together colours are, the lower is the level of contrast between them, and the farther apart colours are, the higher is the level of contrast. For example, neighbouring hues of two medium greys have low contrast because their values are very similar, while black and white are highly contrasted because their values are very different.
2. What contrast is there between your skin, hair, and eyes? This question is not part of the quiz, but if you have doubts after taking the quiz, you can check the contrast for different seasons. To determine your contrast level, use the same desaturated photo and the bottom numbers of the greyscale photo on your right on the web page and assign values to the 3 elements of your face: hair, skin, and eyes. Assign each element a value from 0 to 11. Now, take your highest number and take away the lowest number (for example 11-1=10). What number do you get?
A) 0 - 2 (low value contrast)
B) 3 - 5 (medium-low value contrast)
C) 6 - 8 (medium-high value contrast)
D) 9 - 11 (high value contrast)
Remember your value contrast. It will help you find out how light and dark the colour values of your clothes should be. If you got a high value contrast, you can wear highly contrasted colours with very different values without problems, but if you got a low value contrast, you should opt for colours with similar values. For example, Dark Winter has a high value contrast, while Light Spring has a low value contrast. At the same time, keep in mind that your clothes should not be more than X (number you got) values apart.
The chroma of a colour refers to the intensity or purity of a colour, its clarity, brightness or saturation. Colours with high percentage of grey are known as “low-chroma” or soft, and appear more muted and inclined towards grey, while colours with low percentage of grey or no grey, are considered “high chroma” or bright and appear more vivid.
1. Are you soft/muted or bright/clear? To determine your chroma, look at your colour photo and the image on your right on the web page and assign numbers from 1 to 4. Observe whether your face, hair and eyes are more vibrant and full of colour or more muted. On the image on your right, you can see the scale of orange and blue colours from soft/muted to bright/clear. more
1. Are you soft/muted or bright/clear? To determine your chroma, look at your colour photo and the image on your right on the web page and assign numbers from 1 to 4. Observe whether your face, hair and eyes are more vibrant and full of colour or more muted. On the image on your right, you can see the scale of orange and blue colours from soft/muted to bright/clear. more
For example, if you are a redhead with really orange hair and bright blue eyes, you can assign the number 4. If you have brown hair and eyes, based on this picture, imagine the same colour scale from bright to soft. Another way to see if you are soft or bright is by noticing how do you look in highly saturated (bright) colours and greyed-out ones. If you are bright, you will not be able to wear grey on its own without becoming washed out, and if you are soft, you will not be able to wear bright colours without disappearing behind them. What number do you get?
Tip: You will be bright/clear (3 or 4), if you are warm and light (3 or 4), or cool and dark (1 or 2). And you will be soft/muted (1 or 2), if you are warm and dark (1 or 2), or cool and light (3 or 4).
A) 1 - soft
B) 2 - medium-soft
C) 3 - medium-bright
D) 4 - bright
Remember the number you got (1, 2, 3 or 4).
Tip: You will be bright/clear (3 or 4), if you are warm and light (3 or 4), or cool and dark (1 or 2). And you will be soft/muted (1 or 2), if you are warm and dark (1 or 2), or cool and light (3 or 4).
A) 1 - soft
B) 2 - medium-soft
C) 3 - medium-bright
D) 4 - bright
Remember the number you got (1, 2, 3 or 4).
Now you can see the results depending on your answers and numbers you got for each question (Undertone/Value/Chroma). If you couldn’t answer some of the questions related to your undertone and skipped Part 1, check the number for your Value and Chroma, and see what is your season type.
Winter
- Dark/Deep Winter (Cool, Dark 1, Bright 3)
- Cool/True Winter (Cool, Dark 2, Bright 3)
- Bright/Clear Winter (Cool, more
Winter
- Dark/Deep Winter (Cool, Dark 1, Bright 3)
- Cool/True Winter (Cool, Dark 2, Bright 3)
- Bright/Clear Winter (Cool, more
Dark 2, Bright 4)
Spring
- Bright Spring (Warm, Light 3, Bright 4)
- Warm/True Spring (Warm, Light 3, Bright 3)
- Light Spring (Warm, Light 4, Bright 3)
Summer
- Light Summer (Cool, Light 4, Soft 2)
- Cool/True Summer (Cool, Light 3, Soft 2)
- Soft Summer (Cool, Light 3, Soft 1)
Autumn
- Soft Autumn (Warm, Dark 2, Soft 1)
- Warm Autumn (Warm, Dark 2, Soft 2)
- Dark Autumn (Warm, Dark 1, Soft 2)
After finding out what is your season type, you can check what are the best colours for your season. You can even buy a seasonal colour palette fan (for example, Warm Spring Colour Palette Fan) and take it with you when you go shopping.
Exceptions. You might be an exception to the rules, if for example you have 2 warm, light and bright features (for example really orange hair and bright blue eyes), and 1 cool feature (for example cool pink skin undertone). In this case your results might be: Cool, Light, Bright. You will still fit into the warm category because with 2 warm features and 1 cool feature, you will be warm leaning. Respectively, if you have 2 cool features and 1 warm feature, you will be cool leaning. If you are light and bright or dark and soft, you will fit into the warm category, and if you are dark and bright or light and soft, you will fit into the cool category. Anyway, if you have doubts between two seasons, you can always try the draping test and see what colour palette is more flattering for you.
Spring
- Bright Spring (Warm, Light 3, Bright 4)
- Warm/True Spring (Warm, Light 3, Bright 3)
- Light Spring (Warm, Light 4, Bright 3)
Summer
- Light Summer (Cool, Light 4, Soft 2)
- Cool/True Summer (Cool, Light 3, Soft 2)
- Soft Summer (Cool, Light 3, Soft 1)
Autumn
- Soft Autumn (Warm, Dark 2, Soft 1)
- Warm Autumn (Warm, Dark 2, Soft 2)
- Dark Autumn (Warm, Dark 1, Soft 2)
After finding out what is your season type, you can check what are the best colours for your season. You can even buy a seasonal colour palette fan (for example, Warm Spring Colour Palette Fan) and take it with you when you go shopping.
Exceptions. You might be an exception to the rules, if for example you have 2 warm, light and bright features (for example really orange hair and bright blue eyes), and 1 cool feature (for example cool pink skin undertone). In this case your results might be: Cool, Light, Bright. You will still fit into the warm category because with 2 warm features and 1 cool feature, you will be warm leaning. Respectively, if you have 2 cool features and 1 warm feature, you will be cool leaning. If you are light and bright or dark and soft, you will fit into the warm category, and if you are dark and bright or light and soft, you will fit into the cool category. Anyway, if you have doubts between two seasons, you can always try the draping test and see what colour palette is more flattering for you.