How to Determine Your Season

Winter, spring, summer, and autumn are more than seasons of weather. They are also seasons of color. And each of us is a season, based on our individual physical traits. The combination of our skin tone, hair color, and eye color determines which season we are, and this indicates which colors (clothing, makeup, and accessories) are best suited for us.

There are two easy steps to determine your season.

Step 1

​The first step in determining which season you are is to figure out if your coloring is warm or cool.

Warm color palettes bring to mind desert hues like brown sand, green cactus, or orange sunsets. In contrast, a cool color palette makes you think of the Arctic Circle, with its bluish-white glaciers, and the colors of the sky and the sea.

The easiest way to determine if your coloring is warm or cool is to compare the way two items (one warm, one cool) look when held next to your face. Gold and silver provide the most accurate analysis. You can use a swatch of fabric, dangly earrings, or anything large enough to give you a good visual.

Hold the gold up to your face on one side and the silver on the other. You should be able to tell if the gold (warm) or silver (cool) looks better on you. You will know because your best features will really stand out. Your eyes will shine, your skin will look more radiant, and your teeth will appear whiter. With the right color, fine lines and circles around your eyes will be minimized. With the wrong color, your skin will look an unhealthy shade of yellow or green, and your features won't stand out. You might have to alternate between the gold and silver a few times to best gauge whether you are warm or cool.

It's best to do this test in natural light with a freshly washed face against a solid, light neutral background like a white wall. Pull your hair back and keep your shoulders bare so you get a true sense of your natural coloring.

If you are not able to figure out whether you are warm or cool by using the method of testing described, you can confirm your coloring by looking more closely at your features.

If you have warm coloring, you will have these physical traits:

Skin Tone

Warm skin tones have yellow, orange, warm gold/golden brown, or warm brown undertones. Many warm skin tones also have peach/brown colored freckles. Warm skin tones include:

• Ivory
• Peach
• Golden beige
• Caramel
• Golden bronze
• Dark coppery beige
• Latte
• Maple

*Note that sallow skin is not warm. Sallow skin is an unhealthy looking yellow.

Hair Color

Warm hair colors have natural gold, red, or brown highlights. You can see the radiance of these hues when the sun is shining on your hair. Warm hair colors include:

• Red
• Blonde with gold highlights
• Golden gray
• Mousy brown with gold highlights
• Medium brown with red or gold highlights
• Coppery red-brown
• Chestnut brown
• Golden brown
• Dark brown with red or gold highlights

Eye Color

Warm colored eyes may have gold or brown flecks. They are earthy looking and resemble colorful shades of nature, such as green trees, brown/golden sand, or blue/green oceans. Warm eye colors include:

• Golden brown
• Red-brown
• Amber
• Olive green
• Blue-green
• Pale or clear green
• Aqua
• Turquoise
• Blue with brown flecks
• Warm hazel
• Dark brown

If you have cool coloring, you will have these physical traits:

Skin Tone

Cool skin tones have red/pink, yellow (not golden), green, or blue undertones. Cool skin tones include:

• Porcelain
• Beige
• Rosy beige/rosy or gray freckles
• Olive
• Almond
• Mocha
• Cocoa
• Mahogany
• Ebony
• Black

Hair Color

Cool hair colors have natural silver/gray, blue, white, or ashy brown highlights. Most of the time, the colors of cool hair are more "muted." Cool hair colors include:

• Violet blonde
• Platinum blonde
• Blue-gray
• Silver-gray
• White blonde/white
• Salt & pepper
• Ash-blonde
• Ash brown
• Medium brown (with no warm highlights)
• Off-black
• Jet black
• Blue-black

Eye Color

Cool colored eyes may have gray or white flecks. They often resemble subdued colors of natural elements like the sky, the sea, volcanic ash, or gray/white rocks. Cool eye colors include:

• Blue
• Soft gray-blue
• Soft gray-green
• Gray
• Dark blue
• Violet
• Cool hazel
• Turquoise
• Green
• Dark brown
• Black-brown

Step 2

Once you have determined whether you are warm or cool, the next step is to determine whether or not your coloring is light or deep.

If your hair is blonde, light brown, or light red, you are light. If your hair is brunette, dark red, or black, you are deep.

SO...

If you are cool and deep, you are a winter.

If you are warm and light, you are a spring.

If you are cool and light, you are a summer.

If you are warm and deep, you are an autumn.

Now that you know which season you are, you can learn which colors look best on you. Check out my Vocal articles on each specific season for a detailed analysis.

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