Learn How To Determine Your Color Season. 12 Season System

Hello beauties! When you choose the right hair color, wear the right clothing, makeup, and jewelry shades. It can make you shine, radiate your look, and give you a wow factor that people simply can't get enough of. But wearing the wrong colors can make you look tired, age you, or simply just make something about you look off. In today's video, I'm going to help you discover your color season and finally understand why certain colors work for you while others don't. We're going over the four seasons, the 12 sub-seasons, and the absolute best and worst colors for each one. By the end of this video, you will be seeing colors in a whole new way to rock your confidence like never before. Are you ready? Let's go! Before we can talk about what the best colors for hair, makeup, clothing, and jewelry are for you, we need to explain what the actual seasons are and how they differ. There are four main color seasons of spring, autumn, winter, and summer. And within those four seasons, there are three sub-season categories for each season. We have bright, warm, and light spring. Muted, warm, and dark autumn. These are our warm seasons. And then we have dark, cool, and bright winter. And muted, cool, and light summer. These are our cool seasons. So autumn and summer are made up of muted, softer colors. Winter and spring are made up of brighter, more vibrant colors. So you will fall into either a warm or cool season. And then within that season, you will fall into one of the three sub-seasons, all dependent on your dominant and secondary characteristics, which we are now going to assess. The very first step in color season is assessing what your dominant trait is. Everyone has one. And in color season, your dominant trait is one of these six choices. Warm, cool, bright, muted, light, and dark. Which one of these words describes your main features best? So the features you need to look at are your hair color, preferably what your natural hair color is, your skin tone, and your eyes. And this is best done on yourself when wearing no makeup. For example, if we use Katy Perry, here she does have makeup on, but I can't find one of her without makeup. So we're just going to use it as is. She has bright, light skin that radiates. She has bright blue eyes and bright eye whites. Her hair is dark. The word bright is used to describe two of her three features. Her dominant trait is bright. My skin is light with a warm peach tint. My eyes are a dark brown. And when looking up close, they have a warm golden hue. My hair is a warm auburn shade. This makes my dominant trait warm. So whichever of these six words are used to describe two out of your three features is your dominant trait. And for you ladies that have gray hair, you're still going to include your hair the same as if it were a darker or colored shade. So think about is your gray hair a dark salt and pepper? Is it a light, bright white gray? Or is it a soft muted gray? These same rules apply. So once your dominant trait is determined, you will then determine what your secondary trait is. And your secondary trait is going to be either warm, cool, bright, or muted depending on what your dominant trait is. So if your dominant trait is warm or cool, your secondary trait will either be bright or muted. And if your dominant trait is bright, muted, light, or dark, your secondary trait will either be a warm or cool. Determining your secondary trait is a bit more difficult as it's about how your skin reacts specifically to bright, muted, warm, or cool colors. And if you're not sure what to look for, it can be hard to do on yourself. So using Katy Perry, we have mentioned that her dominant trait is bright, which means I know that bright colors are going to suit her best. So this means she is either going to fall into the spring season or winter season, because remember, those seasons are made of brighter colors. To quickly show you a comparison, you can see here how the brighter colors on the left match her natural level of intensity within her features. The muted colors, they take away and sort of dull down that shine she naturally has. Her skin looks a little more yellow to me, and it's just not looking right. So my next step is to see how her skin reacts when up against warm and cool colors. Now, when I compare warm versus cool colors on her, you can see that, again, the cool colors, she instantly looks much better and true to her features. She naturally has a pink color to her skin, and everything, it just looks nice and cohesive. I can imagine her wearing these colors in various ways, and it is very obvious that they work for her. The warm colors cast too much of a golden, almost a tiny bit of green to her skin, and just kind of aren't doing anything for her. When I imagine what she would look like wearing a dress or a shirt in these colors, I really actually almost can't picture it because it just, it's simply not going to do anything for her. So because her dominant trait is bright and she looks better in cool colors, this makes her a bright winter. On myself, remember, my dominant trait is warm, which means I'm automatically going to be either in the spring or autumn seasons. So we need to see if my skin reacts better to bright or muted colors. Up against the bright option, you really notice the colors in the background before myself. Looking closely, my skin, it looks more pale, and I lose some of my warmth. The muted colors align much better with my natural features. It gives me almost a filter-like appearance to my skin, and I look like I have a healthy glow overall. And then also to quickly show you a comparison of how I look up against warm and cool colors, it is so obvious I am warm. I literally get a green hue on the cool colors, which it's so crazy to see, but it's really cool to see how colors can change things. So with my dominant trait being warm and knowing that muted colors suit me better, this makes me a warm autumn. So your dominant trait is determined by your features, and your secondary trait is determined by how your skin reacts to warm, cool, bright, or muted colors, and that is how you determine your color season. You are going to learn a lot in this video as I'm going to break down which colors work best for each season, but I do understand that sometimes when it comes to yourself, it's really hard to look at things objectively. So if you're feeling like I just want someone to figure this out for me, I am happy to share that I offer a virtual color analysis. So you submit your photos based on instructions I give to ensure they're taken in proper lighting, and then I individually place your photos on virtual color drapes just like I would do for an in-person client to determine your exact color season. I'm able to determine your dominant trait and your secondary characteristic, and then which sub-season, of course, suits you best. You'll get everything you need to know about which hair colors, makeup colors, and clothing colors to wear so you always have that wow factor. You'll also get a copy of your sub-season color palette that you can use when shopping to color match. So be sure to check out my website. I will link it in the description and pinned comment below if you would like to book an analysis with me, and you will also find that I have a discount code linked there as well. So now that you understand the seasons and understand how to assess your dominant and secondary trait, we are now going to go over the best colors for each season, starting with our warm seasons and then work our way into the cool seasons. I also have everything timestamped in the video, so if you need to skip around or re-watch a segment, everything is organized in the playhead so you can easily find what you want. The autumn family consists of soft autumn, warm autumn, and dark autumn. While they each have their own specific palettes, the common thread they all share is that their colors are warm, rich, and muted. Dark autumns are able to hold darker, deep colors. Soft autumns, their best colors are a touch more muted and lighter in appearance, and warm autumns sit right in the middle. So think of the colors you naturally see in October or November, toasted, earthy, and grounded. I'm going to use myself here as the visual example as we established earlier, my dominant trait is warm, and my secondary is muted, making me a warm autumn. When it comes to clothing, the absolute best colors for autumns are rich earth tones. Think olive greens, mustard yellows, tans, creams, oatmeal colors, warm chocolate brown, warm soft pinks even. When I wear these colors, my skin looks incredibly even. I have more color overall, and they help my eyes I feel to pop a bit more. When I choose to wear colors that are more bright and bold or cool, basically how I used to dress, my skin tone gets washed out. I look much more pale, and the colors definitely wear me over working with me. The way I used to feel like I could not live without a spray tan was literally due to my obsession wearing colors that just don't work for me. For hair color, autumns need to stay in the warm, rich families. Behind the chair, I always recommend shades like golden auburns, rich copper glosses, warm chocolate browns, and golden caramel highlights. Anything with a red, copper, or gold undertone is going to harmonize perfectly with your skin. You can go lighter, but you do best with having your base color hold a bit of depth and lowlights worked into your blonde or lighter pieces to maintain soft contrast. Too light of colors without contrast can make autumns look a little more muted than they often naturally are. You don't need to add to it. So if we use Lindsay Lohan, for example, she is a warm autumn naturally, and when she has her hair all blonde, it really just washes her out. She looks a little too one color and paired with the lighter, cool purple. It's just not working for her. When compared to when her hair is in line with her season, she looks youthful, fresh, and she glows overall. It's much more complimentary to her. For makeup, you want warm, soft, with some richness to them colors. Colors with words like peach, warm, sand, toast, caramel, and the names of them. From lipsticks, blushes, eyeshadows, and eyeliners, you want warm, earthy, warm shades that help enhance your autumn glow. Even brown and espresso brown mascara over black is going to suit you better, and this goes for false lashes too. I used to wear straight black thick eyelash extensions, and looking back at photos, I'm like, wow, it's not a good look. I now wear a mix of lighter and darker brown lashes, and it's much more fitting for my natural coloring. And for jewelry, autumns shine beautifully in classic gold, antique gold, and brass. The warmth of the metals melts perfectly into the warmth of the skin. Bright silvers, white golds, or bright costume jewelry is just going to clash with their coloring rather than enhance it. Now let's look really quick at colors to avoid. Autumns need to stay away from cool, icy, and extremely bright neon colors. This goes for both clothes and makeup. These colors are polar opposites of your natural features and are going to clash. If you are in the autumn season, the key thing to remember is that you shine in softer, muted shades that are warm. The spring family is made up of a light spring, warm spring, and bright spring. The commonalities here are that these colors are warm, but unlike autumn, they are bright, clear, and luminous. Think of a sunny day in early May, fresh, vibrant, full of life. Springs have a very delicate but radiant energy to their coloring. Bright springs hold the brightest and most vibrant shades of the spring season. Light springs offer more delicate colors but are still bright in comparison to autumns, and warm spring sits right in the middle of these shades. They're not too bright. They're not too light. A fantastic celebrity example of a spring is Blake Lively. She has this beautiful golden sunlit quality to her skin, warm sparkling eyes, and golden blonde hair. She is quite the polarizing option to refer to right now, but looks-wise, she is a classic example of a spring. For clothing, the best colors for springs are fresh, clear, and warm. Think peachy pinks, true bright aquas, warm sunny yellows, coral, bright orange, neon colors, something that matches your natural brightness. For hair color, springs look absolutely stunning in golden blondes, strawberry blondes, light golden browns, and honey tones. Rich, dark, and auburn browns as well. You want hair that reflects light, so ask your stylist for warm sun-kissed dimension. Darker colors, getting a clear glaze that provides shine to your hair, keeps your natural higher contrast glowing. You guys want to avoid any colors that are ashy as it's going to dull your appearance down. Using this example of Blake Lively, where her hair color is very true to the spring seasons, when I add cool or ashy tones to her hair, she loses the brightness she naturally has and looks a bit off. Her hair looks quite dull and her skin tone becomes more muted and just sort of flat. She loses that glowing complexion. The golden bright tones of the blonde pair perfectly with her naturally brighter skin looking cohesive. For makeup, springs need fresh and sheer finishes. Heavy, matte makeup ages a spring instantly. Your best blush and lip colors are going to be warm peaches, clear corals, and light warm pinks. These colors keep things looking hydrated and luminous. Bright springs, you can pull off more electric colors that really pop and complement your natural contrast. For jewelry, light shiny gold and rose gold are absolute perfection for you. They will reflect light while having the warmth you need. Colors to avoid. Anything extremely muted and cool. Any color that you would describe as dull, soft, or muddy. These colors drain the natural vibrancy that springs have and are going to sallow or cast a slightly green appearance to your skin. If you are a spring season, you need to remember that you do best in shades that are warm and brighter in appearance. Moving over to the cool side of the spectrum, let's talk about the winter seasons. The winter family includes dark winter, cool winter, and bright winter. The common thread for winters is that their colors are cool, deep, and highly contrasting. So think of a crisp, icy landscape, bold, striking, and sharply defined. Winters are one of the only seasons that can rock extremely high contrast and look completely effortless doing it. Dark winters hold the deepest and dark colors of the winter season. Bright winters are made up of loud, bold, and bright cool colors. And then cool winters fall right in the middle. A textbook example of a winter is Anne Hathaway. She has a very cool, pale porcelain skin, strikingly dark hair, and deep, defined eyes. Her contrast level is naturally very high, and she is a cool winter. For clothing, winters need jewel tones and icy, clear colors. We're talking about ruby reds, emerald greens, sapphire blues, striking magenta, and stark black, white, and shiny silvers. Comparing how Anne Hathaway looks here in a bright, cool, compared to the warm mustard color, she looks radiant and perfect to her natural coloring in the blue and with her hair darker. Where when up against the warm colors, she loses her natural vibrancy. Something just doesn't look and feel quite as right. The warm, soft color doesn't match her natural intensity. For hair color, winters need cool, saturated tones. This means deep ash browns, cool jet blacks, or cool violet-based burgundies. It is ideal for winters to avoid going too light overall, but if you are going to, you need an ash or an ash violet-based blonde. So if you are a winter getting your hair done, you want to avoid anything that you would describe as golden or warm. You need to focus on words like ash, cool, or neutral cool when describing your desired hair color. Seeing Katy Perry as a blonde, it's very clear that lighter shades on winters take away the natural brightness and contrast. They need to stay true to themselves. With warm tones, that becomes even more prevalent. Everything about her with blonde hair, it mutes her eyes, it softens her skin, and her wow factor that she has when in her color season is gone. For makeup, winters can handle bolder, crisper looks. A true blue-based red lip or a deep berry lipstick is stunning on a winter, especially dark winters. Blushes can range from deeper plums to bright pinks. Depending on your sub-season, you want cool colors. For jewelry, winters shine beautifully in silver, platinum, and white gold. The icy, reflective quality of the silver perfectly complements your cool undertones. The absolute worst colors for a winter to wear are warm, earthy, muted toasty, or pastel tones. These colors lack the crisp vibrancy needed for the winter color season. If you are a winter season, you need colors that match your high contrast and overall vibrancy in cool tones. The summer family consists of light summer, cool summer, and soft summer. While they each have their own specific palettes, the common thread they all share is that their colors are cool, light, and beautifully muted. Soft summers can handle a touch more depth as you sit closest to the autumn palette. Light summers are made up of the most delicate, lightest, cool tones, and cool summers sit right in the middle. Think of a misty morning, a watercolor painting, or faded denim. Soft, blended, and elegant. A gorgeous celebrity example of a summer is Alison Williams. She has cool-toned skin, cool-toned eyes, and an overall softness to her contrast. Nothing about her coloring is incredibly harsh or jarring. For clothing, the best colors for summers are soft, dusty, cool tones. Think of dusty rose, slate blue, soft lavender, seafoam green, and cool mauve. Soft whites and heather grays over stark blacks. Really bright and bold colors are going to wash you out and make you look a bit harsh. Where softer colors flow to make you look cohesive and maintain your natural softness. For hair color, summers need cool, blended, ashy tones. Behind the chair, I always recommend shades like soft ash blondes, mushroom browns, cool beige blondes, and dimensional cool-toned brunettes. You want to avoid anything that is harshly dark as a summer. You're better off going with a more dark chocolate brown over black. And of course, you want to avoid anything too warm or brassy. Warm tones, especially lighter warm tones, can make the skin appear a little ruddy or flushed and throw off your natural coolness. A cool-toned gloss is going to be your best friend as a summer to keep any warmth away. For makeup, summers look best with soft, blended finishes and no harsh colors. Your best blushes and lipsticks are going to be cool, dusty pinks, soft mauves, and light berries. These shades enhance your natural softness perfectly without looking like you painted them on. For jewelry, summers shine beautifully in brushed silver, white gold, and soft pearls. The slightly softer brush quality of the metals perfectly complements your muted undertones. Extremely shiny mirror-like metals or bright yellow golds are going to clash with your coloring rather than enhance it. Colors to avoid. Summers need to stay far away from anything extremely warm, harsh, or neon. Anything heavy, intensely bright, or overly warm will drown out your natural elegance and overpower your soft features. If you are in the summer season, the key thing to remember is that you shine in softer, blended, muted shades that are cool. So there you have it. The four main seasons, the dominant and secondary traits, and the exact colors that will make you look radiant versus the ones that are holding you back. Color season is not meant for you to feel trapped in what you can wear, but rather allow you to see how the right colors work for you rather than against you. Remember, if this still feels like a lot to process and you're still not sure, click the link in the description or pinned comment to book a virtual color analysis with me. I would absolutely love to help you discover your exact season, and don't forget to use that discount code. If you enjoyed this week's video, drop a heart emoji in the comments if you did. And if you want to hear more on colors and learn why you love or hate your current closet, you can check out this video next right here. Thanks for watching, and I'll see you on the next one. Bye.