Which colour season are you? How seasonal colour analysis can help you find out whether you're a Spring, Summer, Autumn or Winter
The hashtag #coloranalysis has amassed 1.2 billion (yes, billion) views on TikTok alone, and with celebs from Robert Pattinson to Zoey Deschanel hiring professional style consultants to decipher their colour seasons – we can officially report that getting a seasonal colour analysis in 2025 is key to creating your personal style.
Ever since TikTok designed their own colour season filters, I've been fixated on finding out which season I fall under. Am I a 'True Autumn' or a 'Dark Winter'? Do I look best in muted earth tones or bold brights? After being categorised as a Soft Autumn by asking ChatGPT to analyse a selection of pictures of me, I revamped my wardrobe with muted greens, rusty oranges, and mellow mustards, but something still felt off.
Frustrated and determined to get it right, I visited colour analyst and style consultant Sandy Lancaster at House of Colour to see if seasonal colour analysis lived up to the hype.
What is Seasonal Colour Analysis?
Popularised by Carole Jackson's Colour Me Beautiful book in the '80s, seasonal colour analysis is a method that categorises individuals into four main seasons—Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter—based on two key factors: undertone (cool or warm) and depth and clarity.
Each season has three sub-seasons, refining your palette to focus on the shades that bring you to life. 'Contrast also plays a key role in determining your sub-season,' says Sandy Lancaster, Colour Analyst and Style Consultant at House of Colour. 'Some people shine in high-contrast, bold combinations, while others are better suited to blended, softer transitions.'
Undertone: Warm
Jewellery: Gold
Contrast: Low - Medium
Best colours: Coral, turquoise, buttercup, lime green, caramel, khaki
If you're always investing in new jewellery but it never seems to mesh with your wardrobe, you might be wearing the wrong finish. 'Springs and Autumns tend to suit gold jewellery better.' says Sandy Lancaster, so if you're a Spring, you'll want to opt for yellow-gold jewellery that mirrors your warm undertone and light and clear colouring. Springs also often present golden or peachy tones and look great in bright, playful colours.
Also called 'Warm Spring', people in this subseason are golden, bright and warm and suit vibrant warm tones like coral, scarlet and sunset pink.
Light Springs lean warm-neutral, medium bright and very light. They're best suited to soft and fresh colours like warm pastels like light apricot and butter yellow.
Think: warm-neutral, high contrast, very bright. These people look great in bold, striking colours like cobalt, true red, lemon yellow and lime green.
If you're thinking, 'Hang on a minute, these all sound so similar, could I fit into multiple seasons or sub seasons?', that's where the professionals come in.
'Some people may show traits of more than one season, especially if their features sit on the border between warm and cool or light and dark,' Sandy notes. 'However, a professional analysis narrows it down to one dominant season and the sub-season that brings the most harmony.'
One of the top tips for Springs? Stay away from black.
Undertone: Cool
Jewellery: Brushed or matte silver jewellery and soft pastels.
Contrast: Low - medium
Best colours: Rose, lavender, eggshell blue, sage green, taupe, soft plum, cool beige
Where Springs are soft, warm and bright, Summers are soft, cool, muted and often have rosy or blue-based undertones and light eyes.
'Lighting, preconceptions and online tools can be misleading,' Sandy warns. 'A trained consultant uses precision drapes and natural daylight to see how colour truly interacts with your skin. Most clients are surprised by the results-and delighted once they see the difference wearing their colours can make.'
True summers are very cool with lots of lightness and softness and tend to have medium contrast. They look best in colours balanced with a hint of grey, like bluebell, sea green and wisteria purple.
Light Summers are soft, light, delicate in colouring with a cool undertone and low contrast. They glow in soft light neutrals like light beige, cool grey and soft white.
This subseason is characterised by calm and harmonious, muted, cool and neutral tones. Soft Summers look great in muted neutrals, dusty blues and greens and soft rose and lilac.
Undertone: Warm
Jewellery: Gold
Contrast: Medium
Best colours: Gold, rust, olive green, plum, teal, chocolate brown
Finally, we have Autumn – the season I was desperate to be a part of but it was just not to be – who have warm undertones, rich and earthy colouring and golden or olive tones. Autumns tend to look incredible in burnt oranges, mossy greens, and brass or copper jewellery. I'm not jealous at all...
Okay, maybe I am. In fact, I was so keen to be an Autumn that I asked Sandy whether I could borrow colours from my neighbouring season...
'Your core season will always give the most consistent coordination. It's best to stick to your palette's undertone and clarity level for the most flattering effect,' says Sandy. 'If you do dip into a neighbour's tones occasionally, try wearing those pieces away from your face, like trousers, boots, shoes, etc.'
True Autumns are the heart of the season. The palette is entirely warm and yellow-toned with lots of earthy depth and softness. A True Autumn's best colours are gold, butterscotch, salmon, plum and rosemary.
Dark or 'Deep Autumns' have lots of depth in their colouring, lean warm and dark and can present contrast. Their best colours are earthy tones like mustard and olive and warm jewel tones like emerald green and maroon.
Easily confused with Soft Summers, Soft Autumns share light and muted traits but lean warm instead of cool. They look great in dusty earthy tones like rose and moss and soft neutrals like taupe and light camel.
Undertone: Cool
Jewellery: Silver
Contrast: Deep and high
Best colours: Icy brights, jewel tones, high-shine silvers, gunmetal
If you assumed people with warm overtones would fall into the warm seasons – Autumn and Spring – think again. 'Finding your colour season is all about undertone, not how light or dark your skin is,' says Lancaster. 'Both cool and warm undertones can exist across all skin depths. It's not about ethnicity or complexion shade-it's about how your skin reacts to and refracts colour.'
So, you can imagine my surprise then, when I was categorised as a True or 'Jewel' Winter.
Also called 'Jewel Winters' are high contrast, cool and bright and shine in stark black, white and regal jewel tones.
These people lean cool-neutral and share traits with True Winters but are more saturated in tone. They look best in deep, dark shades like midnight blue, charcoal grey and royal purple.
Again, this subseason's characteristic lean, cool-neutral with extremely crisp contrast. Bright winters often have extremely light or extremely dark hair and look amazing in clear, crisp colours like white, sapphire and ruby.
I'm a lover of warm neutrals and love to wear ivory for special occasions, so I won't be culling my wardrobe of my beloved autumn hues. I will, however, trial styling outfits in my new palette, especially using my best colours closer to my face, to see if they really do make my features pop more. Fuchsia is a no from me, but you might catch me rocking more navy and burgundy from now on.
Follow Shadé on Instagram.
Shadé (pronounced sh-ah-day) is the Senior Fashion & Lifestyle Ecommerce Writer at Cosmopolitan UK. From what to shop in the latest Revolve flash sale to how to style the hottest new trends, she shares shopping advice, reports on new collabs and reviews your fave fashion brands.
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