Find Your Color Season: The Complete 12-Season Guide

Published April 25, 2026

The system stylists use to find the hair, makeup and clothing colours that make you glow — explained simply.

What is color analysis?

Color analysis is a system that sorts your natural colouring into a season — Spring, Summer, Autumn or Winter — and then into one of twelve sub-seasons. Each season has a palette of colours that harmonise with your skin, hair and eyes, making you look radiant, and colours that fight your colouring, making you look tired. It is the secret behind why some shades light you up and others wash you out.

The three qualities that decide your season

Your season comes down to three things. Undertone is warmth versus coolness in your skin. Value is how light or deep your overall colouring is. Chroma is how soft and muted, or clear and bright, your features are. Together these three qualities place you among the twelve seasons far more accurately than undertone alone.

Spring and Summer

Springs are warm and bright, with light, fresh, lively colouring that glows in warm, clear shades — peach, coral, golden blonde and warm greens. Summers are cool and soft, with muted, gentle colouring that suits dusty, cool tones — soft rose, lavender, ash and powder blue. Both are lighter seasons, but warmth divides them.

Autumn and Winter

Autumns are warm and rich, flattered by earthy, golden, spicy tones — copper, olive, terracotta, warm browns and deep golds. Winters are cool and clear, suited to bold, high-contrast colours — true red, emerald, icy blue, black and white, and jewel tones. These are the deeper, more saturated seasons.

Finding your hair colour by season

Your season is a roadmap for hair colour. Warm seasons glow in golden, honey, caramel and copper tones; cool seasons suit ash, platinum, espresso and cool browns. Lighter seasons wear softer, brighter shades, while deeper seasons carry rich, saturated colour beautifully. Choosing within your season is the easiest way to look instantly more expensive.

Makeup and wardrobe in your palette

The same palette guides makeup and clothing. Lipstick, blush and the colours you wear near your face have the biggest impact — in your palette they make your skin look clearer and brighter; outside it they can dull you. You do not have to overhaul your wardrobe overnight; just lean into your best colours near your face first.

Discover your season

The most reliable way to find your season is to compare colours against your own face and see which ones make you glow. Explore the twelve seasons in our color analysis section, then preview the hair shades for your season on your own selfie with GlowMaxing to see the difference for yourself.