Have you ever noticed how some colors give you a vibrant, healthy glow (you may even receive more compliments while wearing them), while others seem to wash you out? This is because each of us has a unique set of chromatic characteristics that, when matched with a specific set of colors, can give us a healthy, harmonious appearance.

Color analysis is a method that identifies your unique characteristics and pairs them with colors that are capable of emphasizing your natural beauty. A color analysis session uses a systematic color-comparison draping process to narrow down an individual’s best colors. At the conclusion of the analysis, the client will be assigned to a season and allocated a selection of colors or a “palette” that was found to be most suitable for them.

The seed of color analysis was planted by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, a German writer and philosopher, who explored the psychological impact of color and defined warm colors as yellow-based and cool colors as blue-based. Albert Munsell's color system allowed for direct comparison and categorization based on value, hue, and chroma. Johannes Itten, a Bauhaus professor, developed the 12-color wheel and experimented with grouping colors into seasons. Robert C. Dorr expanded on this theory by categorizing individuals into warm and cool groups based on skin tones. Fashion designer Suzanne Caygill introduced personalized color palettes using a 4-season personality method. Bernice Kentner emphasized skin color in color analysis, and Carole Jackson simplified and popularized the concept in her book "Color Me Beautiful" in the 1980s, making it accessible to a wider audience for shopping for appropriate clothing, accessories, and makeup. “It is possible to color coordinate your home so it is pleasing to the eye….so it is with the human body. The body itself is the background for all color that will be placed upon it. It remains our task then to find what color scheme our bodies fall into. As with the walls of a room we must determine what color our skin is.” Bernice Kentner

The first step of a color analysis consultation is to identify whether your undertone is warm or cool. Simply put, your undertone is the base of your skin that can be yellow (warm) or blue (cool). Our undertone is made up by biological factors, through the mixing and blending of the colors and shades of the various layers in our skin and flesh. 

Individuals with a warm undertone will fall into the Autumn or Spring seasons and be flattered by warm, yellow-based colors. Those with a cool undertone will fall into the Summer or Winter seasons and be more suited to cool, blue-based colors.

The gold vs. silver test is a classic comparison for identifying the undertone, as silver is very cool and gold is very warm. Lay a piece of gold fabric across your chest, then lay a silver one on top. While looking at your face, quickly drag the silver fabric away to reveal the gold. Did you see a difference? Which one do you prefer? Does one seem to emphasise any imperfections in your face, while the other seems to alleviate them? If gold gives you a brighter, healthier appearance, you are likely part of a warm season, while if silver creates more harmony, you are likely cool. Gold and silver is just one example, but the same can be done with any similar warm and cool colors, including peach vs. pink and navy vs. brown.

It can be very hard to be objective about our own colors. If you want to be 100% sure, we recommend getting your analysis done by a professional. If you want to learn more and have your colors analysed, head to the Colouranalysis website or check their YouTube channel.

Your skin undertone should not be confused with the skin overtone, which refers to the external or superficial color of your skin. Your overtone can change with sun exposure, blood pressure, age etc. On the other hand, your undertone can be found underneath your skin and it rarely changes: it will always be warm or cool. Identifying your undertone is the first part of determining your season, but it is not always straightforward.

The only way to be 100% sure of your undertone is to compare warm and cool colors to see which ones create more harmony and give more vibrance to your features.

Is the vein test reliable?

It is a common misconception that one can simply determine their undertone from the veins in their wrist. The theory states that if the veins on your wrists appear to be more purple/blue, you have a cool undertone, and if they appear green you are warm. We find that this is very confusing, as we have encountered lots of warm individuals with blue veins and vice versa. The vein test is not reliable because the color of the veins depends on how deep they are inside the skin as well as which veins you are considering. Moreover, we want to emphasise our face, not our wrist!

A professional color analyst won’t ask you to show them your veins and they won’t be interested in analysing your vein color to determine your undertone.

Is tan useful to determine your undertone?

Another theory is that the way your skin reacts to the sun will tell you your undertone. However, it is far more complicated than this, and we find that people tan in their own unique way based on a variety of factors that do not depend on our undertone.

There are endless resources online stating that your undertone can be determined by your veins, your tan, your hair color etc. We find that they often confuse people and lead them to the wrong conclusions.

Our advice is that if you are passionate about color analysis and truly interested in discovering your palette, having your analysis done by trained professionals is irreplaceable.

This is Giulia and Alessandra from Colour Analysis Studio. We are based in Melbourne, Australia and work with clients from all over the world, in person and online. We would like to thank Camixa for giving us the opportunity to write about a topic that we are so passionate about, we hope you find it useful!

You can find more info about color analysis on our website, www.colouranalysis.au

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