What colors look good on me?

How to know what colors look good on you

Warmth, depth and brightness are already mixed into your skin, hair and eyes. When your clothes repeat that same mix, your face lights up. Colors that don't fit can throw dark shadows on your face or leave your skin looking dull and gray.

First you'll answer a question about your undertone. That's the steady gold or pink cast sitting just under the surface of your skin. Golden yellow and olive tend to make warm skin look healthy. Navy and berry tend to make cool skin glow.

Next comes a question about the depth of your natural hair, anywhere from blonde to black. Combined with your skin, this gives your contrast, which is the size of the gap between your lightest feature and your darkest one. Fair skin with dark hair is high contrast and can pull off deep burgundy. Lighter hair has a gentler blend and often goes well with soft sky blue or peach.

The last question asks if your eyes seem crisp and bright or muted and softly blended. Pure shades make clear eyes shine, while dusty tones give soft eyes a calm feel.

Clarity: bright colors or soft ones

Clarity means what separates a vivid, pure shade from a muted, dusty one that has some gray in it. Bright coral next to dusty rose shows it well, and so does emerald next to sage.

If your features are clear, you need crisp shades, since muddy tones can wash the color out of your cheeks. Soft features are the opposite. Colors that are too loud can swamp soft coloring, and people end up seeing the shirt before they see you.

Reading your result

Your 3 answers land you in one of the 4 season families: spring, summer, autumn or winter. The 12 swatches you get match your own warmth, depth and clarity. Keep them saved on your phone and you'll find it easy to pick out your shades while shopping.

Every family contains 3 seasons, so 12 seasons exist in total. Each season is named for its strongest trait, like light, warm, cool, bright, soft or deep. That's how 2 people can share a family and still need different colors:

• Cool Summer: blues, roses and plums, softened a touch and kept at a medium depth, with no warmth.
• Soft Summer: quiet, greyed shades like slate and sage, made for gentle coloring and low contrast.
• Bright Spring: clean, warm shades worn with strong contrast.
• Deep Autumn: deep, earthy tones suited to dark hair, dark eyes and warm skin.

Think of your 3 answers as a first step. The full season quiz pinpoints which of the 12 seasons is yours. It connects to a palette of 60 named colors sorted into 3 groups: neutrals, main colors and accents. Every palette also tells you which colors to skip.

Mistakes that change your result

Dyed hair is the most common slip. Answer for the shade that grows in at your roots, because that's your natural hair color.

Freckles and rosy cheeks can throw off the first step too. Redness sits on the surface of your skin and says nothing about your undertone. Check colors beside your face in daylight rather than relying on surface redness or a phone photo.

Mirror test with 2 tops

You can test your swatches yourself at home. Grab 2 tops from opposite ends of the color wheel, for example one warm olive and one cool royal blue.

1. Face a window in natural daylight, with bare skin and no makeup on, so nothing gets in the way of your true coloring.
2. Tie your hair away from your face. If it's dyed, cover it with a white towel to keep the dye from pulling your eye.
3. Put the olive top beneath your chin, then swap in the royal blue one.
4. Look at your face, not the fabric. A shade that works makes your skin look smoother, while a bad one brings out shadows or makes your lips look gray.

Which colors belong near your face?

Tops, scarves and lipstick sit closest to your face, so your 12 swatches matter most there. Pants and shoes are up to you, since they sit too far away to put shadows on your chin.

More daylight mirror checks can confirm your season. Draping is another option. That's a session in person where someone holds colored fabrics under your chin one at a time.