Are you a deep winter type or a light summer type? No, we're not talking about your favourite season, but about the 12 seasonal types that will help you discover which colour tones look best on you. This will not only help you find the best garments, but also help you shop more sustainably, because less mis-selling. Saskia did a colour analysis with style and colour coach Loyce Savijn of the second-hand shop TOF Diemen and discovered which colour type she is.
Doing a colour analysis: fun and valuable
A colour analysis is not only super fun to do, but also incredibly valuable. By knowing which colour type, and therefore which colour palette looks best on you, you can make yourself shine. What's more, it helps to avoid mis-selling. That dress that looked great in the shop, but turns out not to look great at home? Chances are it's just not your colour or complexion. Or that one jumper you keep abandoning because you look a bit pale. Probably another case of ‘not your colour’. With a colour analysis you can learn which colours really suit you, which makes shopping and dressing a lot easier and more fun, and prevents a lot of mis-selling.
How do you find out which colour type you are?
I paid a visit to one of my favourite second-hand shops, TOF Diemen, to find out which colours, or rather, shades, really suit me. Of course, I have a pretty good nose for colours that suit me and I definitely spot colour patterns in my wardrobe, but I had never done a real analysis before. There are a total of twelve seasonal types and based on the colour of your major pigment carriers (your skin, your eyes, your hair and your veins), a colour coach like Loyce can pretty quickly tell with certainty which palette belongs to you. The analysis started broadly, but soon the options were narrowed down to three colour types. And then it was finetuning with different colour cloths near my face to discover which colours really make me shine.
Colour analysis: look at the pigment carriers
In a colour analysis, you look at three pigment carriers: your skin (and veins), eyes and hair. Together, these carriers determine whether your colour palette is warm, soft, cool or bright. This makes the difference between shades that make you look shine and colours that make you look tired or pale. But how exactly does that work?
- Your skin: does your skin have yellow or pink undertones? Yellow undertones usually indicate a warm type, while pink undertones often belong to a cool type. Your foundation colour and how fast you burn in the sun are also clues: cooler types tend to burn faster. You can also look at your veins on the inside of your wrist. Bluish veins usually indicate a cool type, while greener veins are more common in a warm type. A mix of blue and green also occurs.
- Your eyes: look at the colour of your iris. Green, grey or blue are often hallmarks of a cool type. Brown or amber eyes are more likely to indicate a warm type. Irises often have multiple shades, so looking carefully is important!
- Your hair colour: ash blonde, grey, white or ash brown hair tends to be cool, while red, golden blonde, caramel and deep brown are more common in warm types.
It is important to look at all these pigment carriers together. For example, you may have chestnut brown hair (warm), but light skin and blue eyes (cool). Despite the warm hair colour, you can then still be a cool type. Check out four mood boards of all 12 seasonal types below.
Loyce has created a mood board to give you an idea of colour analysis and colour types. If you have a lot of contrast in your face (e.g. light skin with dark hair and dark eyebrows), bright colours often look better. If you have a softer look and little contrast in your face, muted colours often look better. You can also have a mixed skin type. And that is what I love about this twelve seasons method: there is a nice colour range for every type!‘
What colour types do you all have?
There are 12 colour types, divided into the seasons spring, summer, autumn and winter. Each season has three subtypes, depending on your unique combination of pigment carriers. A colour coach, like Loyce, uses special fans and coloured scarves to discover which colours make your face shine. These are the colour types:
Spring types:
- Warm spring type
- Bright spring type
- Light spring type
Summer types:
- Cool summer type
- Gentle summer type
- Light summer type
Autumn types:
- Warm autumnal type
- Deep autumnal type
- Gentle autumnal type
Winter types:
- Cool winter type
- Bright winter type
- Deep winter type
Using the fans and scarves, you can quickly see which colours make you pale and which ones make you shine.
Also discover which colour type you are!
Want to know more about a colour analysis? Feel free to send the ladies at TOF Diemen a DM on Instagram. They offer both a quick scan and a comprehensive colour analysis including figure analysis and private shopping in their fantastic second-hand boutique.
Photo credits: thegreenlist.nl, TOF Diemen (moodboards).
