Seasonal Colour Analysis Explained: The 12 Colour Seasons - Curate Your Style Personal Styling Service
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Seasonal colour analysis is a technique professional stylists utilise to determine which colours best enhance your natural features. By analysing the temperature, depth, and clarity of your skin tone, hair, and eyes, it is possible to identify the colours that create harmony with your natural colouring.
In the popular 12-season colour analysis system, each person falls into one of twelve colour seasons.
These seasons are grouped into four families (Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter) all of which have three sub seasons that differ in their temperature, depth and clarity.
For example, Bright Spring colours are vibrant and high contrast, while True Autumn palettes are warm, rich, and earthy. Dark Winter combines cool tones with deep, dramatic colours, whereas Light Spring colours are fresh and light.
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If you're unsure which of the 12 colour seasons suits you best, our professional colour analysis service will identify your exact palette and help you build a perfectly coordinated wardrobe.
The 12 colour seasons is a system used by professional stylists to determine which colours best enhance an individual’s natural colouring.
In this system, people are categorised into twelve seasonal palettes based on three key characteristics of their colouring:
The twelve seasons are organised into four seasonal families (Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter) with each family containing three sub-seasons that share similar colour qualities.
The 12 colour seasons are:
Spring
Summer
Autumn
Winter
Each colour season has a carefully balanced palette designed to harmonise with an individual's natural skin tone, hair colour and eye colour. Understanding the twelve colour seasons helps identify which colours will create the most flattering and harmonious appearance.
In seasonal colour analysis, colour seasons are primarily divided into warm and cool undertone groups.
Warm seasons include:
Cool seasons include:
Those with warm undertones typically suit golden or peach colours, while cool undertones are enhanced by blue-based, pastel or jewel tones.
The intensity of temperature can vary between sub-seasons within each family. For example, within the Summer family:
Understanding whether your colouring is warm or cool is often the first step in determining your seasonal colour palette.
The 4-season colour analysis system groups individuals into four broad categories: Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter.
The 12 season system expands this model by dividing each season into three sub-seasons. Think of each sub-season representing the beginning, the middle and the end of a season. This allows colour analysts to account for differences in chroma, value and temperature within each seasonal family.
For example, the Autumn family includes:
This refined system provides a more precise colour palette tailored to each individual.
Your colour season is determined by analysing the temperature, value and chroma of your natural colouring.
A professional colour analysis considers:
By evaluating these factors, a stylist can determine which of the twelve seasonal palettes creates the most harmonious effect.
If you are unsure which season you belong to, our stylists can help. Explore our Online Colour Analysis service and receive your personalised results in 72 hours or less.
Your colour season does change as it is based on your natural colouring and undertone. However, factors such as hair dye may influence how certain colours appear, which is why a professional colour analysis can be helpful in identifying the most flattering palette.
