You’ve probably heard someone say they’re a “winter” or a “spring” before, or perhaps on Tik Tok you’ve seen people with a filter around their face with a rainbow of colors for every season. Well, these are all examples of seasonal color analysis and it’s becoming very popular online.
The system is all about finding what colors make you look your best, and there is a method for figuring all that out. Michelle Oliver went to House of Colour in Royal Oak to speak with Annette Liyana, one of their Image Consultants, to see how it all works.
The process they use is called draping where the client sits in front on natural light with no makeup on, and specially colored clothes are draped over them to see what harmonizes with them best. While wearing no makeup for this may sound scary, this is actually crucial to getting a good read since makeup can distort your coloring and it is your “flaws” that will really help see which colors work for you and which don’t.
The first set of drapes they use is to determine if you are warm or cool-toned. You may have heard of the metal test (does gold or silver look better?), or the vein test (are your veins more blue-purple or blue-green?), but by drapping warm and cool colors in front of you it will be more accurate.
Common areas where you will really see the difference are under your eyes, at your jawline, and any redness or discoloration in your skin. Colors that harmonize will almost seem to make you glow as it evens out your skin tone and sharpens your jawline. Some drapes will make it more noticeable than others, but you will soon see a general trend.
Once you find out if you’re warm or cool, then you find out if you look better in more blended, muted colors, or more vibrant pure colors. This will land you in one of the four color seasons: Spring (warm and bright), Summer (cool and blended), Autumn (warm and blended), or Winter, (cool and bright).
The whole process is more complex than when seasonal color analysis grew popular in the 80s. Back then your eye color and hair color were large determining factors, this is much more about how color looks against your skin, so you frequently wear your hair back during the analysis. Color analysis actually dates back to painter Johannes Itten at the turn of the last century when he noticed the artists he worked with were flattered by certain colors they were painting, and divided those colors into the four main color seasons.
After you find your season, they will show you make-up that harmonizes with your coloring, and from there you will find the colors that really make you shine, aka your sub-season. Often times during this process, you will find colors that look fabulous on you that you would have never thought of before.
So, do you have to throw everything in your closet away and start over? No, according to Liyana. If you want to change things up, she recommends starting with what is closest to your face, like your hair color (your natural color is always safe), and makeup. From there work your way down, replacing some scarfs, jewelry, tops, and eventually switching up your bottoms and shoes.
The idea is that if you are dressed in your best colors, you will look your best, and put together.
House of Colour is located on the second floor of the Ella Rea Salon and Upstairs Collections at 30395 Woodward Avenue in Royal Oak.