I’m one of those people that sees something online and immediately thinks “I can do that”. I’m wrong about half the time, but in the case of color analysis, I wasn’t. Professional color consultations can be expensive, but with a little patience and creativity, you can do your own at home. Here’s how.

Step 1: Understand the Basics of Color Analysis

Seasonal color analysis categorizes individuals into four primary seasons—Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter—based on their skin tone, hair color, and eye color. There are three dimensions to color:

1. Hue: cool vs. warm colors
2. Value: light vs. dark colors
3. Chroma: bright vs. muted colors

To find out more about this, you can read our Ultimate guide to color analysis.

Step 2: Gather Your Tools

For accurate results, gather these items:

• A mirror in a well-lit area with natural light (preferably near a window).
• A clean, makeup-free face.
• Neutral-colored clothing (white or beige) to avoid distractions.
• A set of draping fabrics, clothing, or scarves in various colors (e.g., warm vs. cool tones, light vs. dark shades).
• Your camera, so you can take photos of yourself in each color.

Make sure you set aside some time, this is a process and being able to take your time with it will help!  

Step 3: Assess Your Skin Undertone

Start by determining whether your skin has a warm, cool, or neutral undertones in your skin. We have a detailed breakdown of what this is in our article What are skin undertones and how to identify yours, but here are a few tests you can run:

Vein Test: Check the veins on your wrist:

• Greenish veins indicate warm undertones.
• Bluish or purplish veins point to cool undertones.
• A mix of both suggests neutral undertones.

Jewelry Test: Hold gold and silver jewelry against your skin:

• Gold flatters warm tones.
• Silver enhances cool tones.

White Test: Place a pure white and off-white fabric near your face:

• If pure white brightens your complexion, you’re likely cool-toned.
• If off-white is more flattering, you may have warm undertones.

Step 4: Test Colors with Draping

Now we get to the meat of the exercise. Let’s start color draping. Start by comparing cool vs. warm colors. Here are some easy colors to start with:

• Reds: Compare a warm rust with a cool raspberry, or a coral with a bright blue-red.
• Blues: Royal blue often suits cool tones, while teal can work for both, though warm tones may struggle with royal blue.
• Neutrals: Warm tones prefer cream and camel, while cool tones favor optical white, grey, and black.

Some questions to ask yourself:

• Does your skin look vibrant or washed out?
• Do your eyes pop, or do they look dull?

Next, let’s look at light vs. dark colors:  compare lighter shades (e.g., pastel pink) to darker ones (e.g., navy). As with the previous tests, determine which better complements your features.

And finally, look at muted vs. bright Colors: Test muted tones (e.g., dusty rose) against vivid ones (e.g., electric blue). Identify whether soft or striking colors suit you best.

Step 5: Match Your Findings to a Season

So you’ve done color draping and figured out which colors look the best on you. Now comes the fun part, matching your findings to a specific color season. We have a detailed breakdown of each season available, but here’s a summary of what you can look for:

• Spring: Warm undertones, light and bright colors like peach, mint green, and sunny yellow.
• Summer: Cool undertones, soft and muted pastels like lavender, powder blue, and dove gray.
• Autumn: Warm undertones, rich and earthy shades like rust, olive, and mustard.
• Winter: Cool undertones, bold and intense colors like jewel tones, black, and crisp white.

What if my results are inconclusive?

First of all, don’t feel bad. This is a challenging exercise and doing it alone might not be possible. Luckily there are some great resources online to help:

• Post some of your images on the Color analysis reddit page and ask for some help! This sub-reddit is full of people with a wealth of knowledge and sometimes all you need is an outsider’s opinion.
• Use the Dressika app. This app allows you to upload your image and runs a color analysis with the help of AI.
• Visit the Colorwise website and upload a photo of yourself. The website allows you to select your skin, eye and hair color to determine your palette. This image needs to be high resolution, taken in natural light and with no makeup for this to work though, but results seem to be fairly accurate if these criteria are met.

Step 6: Purchase your season’s color palette fan

Once you’ve found your color season, it’s time to make sure you always buy the right colors. Purchase the color palette swatch for your season and make sure you always have it with you when you go shopping!