People ask me this before they have even sat down. Sometimes they have already decided. A quiz has suggested a season, or a friend has had a go, and they want to know whether the guess is right. I am glad they asked. The four seasons are a genuinely useful way to talk about colouring. They are just not something a photograph can settle.
This is the same explanation I give at the start of a consultation in Ilkley, written down. It will get you close. Draping is what finishes the job.
What a colour season actually is
A colour season is not a personality type, and it is not the season you were born in. It is shorthand for your natural colouring: skin, eyes and hair, before dye, tan and foundation.
Everyone's colouring sits on three scales. Warm or cool: does the skin lean golden or rosy? Light or deep: how much contrast is there between hair, skin and eyes? Clear or soft: do the features look vivid and defined, or gently blended?
Those three settings produce four seasons. Spring is warm and clear. Summer is cool and soft. Autumn is warm and muted. Winter is cool and bright. Each season then splits three ways, which is why you will hear people talk about twelve sub-seasons. The longer version of this sits on the guide to all four seasons.
Colours that share your warmth, depth and clarity make skin look clearer and eyes brighter. Colours from the opposite corner are not banned. They just work harder against your face than they need to. Most people who miss are in the right season and the wrong sub-season, which is why fabric against the face beats a memorised list.
Spring
Spring colouring is warm, clear and bright. Hair is often golden or strawberry blonde through to light warm brown, frequently with natural highlights. Eyes tend to be clear blue, green or warm hazel, and skin has a peachy or golden cast that freckles rather than reddens. The impression is light and fresh rather than heavy.
Coral, golden yellow, fresh green and warm turquoise light a Spring up. Ivory is kinder than brilliant white, and warm navy is kinder than black, which tends to drain and harden. Gold and rose gold suit better than cool silver. Light, True and Bright Spring are different depths of the same idea: a clear poppy red that suits Bright Spring will overwhelm Light Spring. The detail is on the Spring palette page.
Summer
Summer is cool, soft and muted. Nothing shouts, and that is the point. Hair is often ash blonde, mousy or soft brown, with little warmth in it. Eyes are soft blue, grey-blue, grey-green or a gentle hazel. Skin leans pink or neutral rather than golden. Contrast between hair, skin and eyes is usually low, which is why strong colours take over.
Dusty pink, soft blue, lavender and sage are the heart of it, with silver, white gold or pewter rather than bright yellow gold. Orange, mustard, camel and neon fight a Summer face, and black is often less kind than soft charcoal or navy. Light, True and Soft Summer are on the Summer palette page. Soft Summer and Soft Autumn are the pair people mix up, because both are muted. Temperature separates them.
Autumn
Autumn is warm, rich and earthy. Hair runs to auburn, copper, golden brown or a warm dark brown. Eyes are hazel, amber, warm green or warm brown, often with golden flecks. Skin has a golden or bronze cast and usually tans. Autumn is the season most often mistaken for Winter when the hair is dark.
Rust, olive, burnt orange and warm brown make Autumn colouring look expensive rather than muddy. Cream, camel, chocolate and olive are the neutrals, and gold, copper or bronze suit better than bright silver. Pure white, cool fuchsia and grey tend to flatten the skin. Black near the face is rarely the best dark: chocolate or forest green is warmer. Soft, True and Deep Autumn do not shop the same rail, which is set out on the Autumn palette page.
Winter
Winter is cool, clear and dramatic. Hair is dark brown, black, or a strikingly cool ash. Eyes are deep brown, clear blue or cool green, and the whites of the eyes contrast sharply with the iris. Skin can be porcelain, olive or deep, always with a cool cast. High contrast is the clue, not skin depth on its own.
True red, emerald, royal blue and hot pink are Winter's territory, and Winter is the season that genuinely wears black well. Beige, camel, mustard, rust and olive dull it. Silver, platinum and white gold are the metals. Gold suits Bright Winter best of the three. Deep, Cool and Bright Winter are on the Winter palette page. A Bright Winter and a Bright Spring can look alike in a photo, because both are clear. One is cool and one is warm.
Three questions that narrow it down
You can get a useful first guess at home, in daylight, with no makeup.
Hold gold and silver next to your face. If gold makes your skin glow and silver looks grey, you are warm: Spring or Autumn. If silver lifts you and gold looks brassy, you are cool: Summer or Winter.
Then look at the overall impression. Light hair and eyes point towards Spring or Summer. Dark hair and strong eyes point towards Autumn or Winter.
Then check the contrast. Sharp contrast between hair, skin and eyes points to Spring or Winter. A soft, blended look points to Summer or Autumn. The free two-minute quiz walks the same idea. It is an indication, not a verdict.
Why this only gets you close
Hair dye, grey, a tan, photo filters and the wall behind you all mislead. Most people sit between two seasons until fabric is held against the face. Dark hair can be Deep Autumn or Winter, and those two want different neutrals. Blue eyes can belong to any season.
Your underlying colouring does not change. Hair colour, grey and a tan do change how shades look, which is why some clients return after going grey. The season is still read from skin and eyes in daylight, not from the colour of the roots. A phone is a good place to keep a palette and a poor place to decide one. I have written separately about why draping beats a palette app.
What happens when you know
In a two-hour colour analysis at the studio in Ilkley, I drape real fabric against your face in natural daylight. You watch the mirror. The wrong colours drain you and the right ones light you up, and you do not have to take my word for it. You leave with your season, makeup and jewellery guidance, and a personal digital colour guide on your phone for every changing room after that.
Colour analysis is £150 for two hours. Colour + Body Shape is £225 and three hours. Consultations run Tuesday to Saturday at the Ilkley studio, where the daylight is. When you want to know rather than guess, book your consultation.