Seven questions, answered in daylight. You get your colour season, the colours that suit you, the lipstick and metal to look for, the hair shades that go with it, and what to leave on the rail.
Colour season quiz
Seven questionsAnswer what you can see in daylight. You get your season, the colours to wear, the lipstick and metal that suit it, and what to avoid.
- Undertone
- Neutral
- Depth
- Medium
- Clarity
- In between
Your colours
Your neutrals
Leave on the rail
- Every person has one dominant characteristic — the most obvious quality of their colouring — and a secondary one. The dominant names the family, the secondary the sub-season (The Concept Wardrobe, ColorisLab, Palette & You).
- The questions below, and the way their answers are added up, are ours. The seasons, their characteristics and their colours are the published system’s.
The 12-season system, its characteristics and its colours from The Concept Wardrobe, ColorisLab, Palette & You and Colorbook; the undertone tests from Healthline (medically reviewed) and Palette & You. Checked 2026-09-19. The swatches are our rendering of the colour names, not a colour-accurate palette.
Quick answer: your colour season is decided by three things — your undertone (warm or cool), your depth (light or deep) and your clarity (bright or soft). The one that stands out most names your family; the next one names your season, one of twelve. The quickest undertone check: green veins and gold jewellery point warm, blue veins and silver point cool.
How to use it
Answer the seven questions at a window in daylight, with no makeup and your hair back. Three are undertone tests — your wrist veins, gold against silver, and pure white against cream. Two are about depth, two about how much your features contrast and sparkle. The quiz gives you a season, the colours to wear, the lipstick shades and metals that go with it, hair shades that suit it, and what to leave on the rail. Every answer has its own link, and its own pin.
If your undertone comes out neutral, you get the two seasons that share your dominant characteristic rather than a coin toss — they are the pair the guides themselves call the commonly confused ones. Nothing beats holding the colours to your face in daylight. Take a colour from each palette, stand at a window and look at your skin, not the fabric.
The 12 colour seasons
The 12-season system takes the four classic seasons and splits each into three, by which characteristic dominates. The table is the system as The Concept Wardrobe, ColorisLab and Palette & You describe it; the colours are the ones those guides and Colorbook name for each season.
| Season | Dominant | Secondary | Colours it is known for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bright Spring (Clear Spring) | bright | warm | Clear coral, Bright turquoise, Golden yellow, Warm ivory |
| True Spring (Warm Spring) | warm | bright | Warm coral, Warm turquoise, Marigold, Warm green |
| Light Spring | light | warm | Soft peach, Light golden yellow, Warm ivory, Light coral |
| Light Summer | light | cool | Powder blue, Soft rose, Pale lavender, Dove grey |
| True Summer (Cool Summer) | cool | soft | Lavender, Soft rose, Blue-grey, Raspberry |
| Soft Summer | soft | cool | Dusty rose, Soft blue-grey, Muted sage, Smoky mauve |
| Soft Autumn | soft | warm | Soft olive, Dusty terracotta, Camel, Sage |
| True Autumn (Warm Autumn) | warm | deep or soft — the guides differ | Burnt orange, Mustard, Warm olive, Chocolate brown |
| Deep Autumn (Dark Autumn) | deep | warm | Forest green, Dark chocolate, Warm burgundy, Deep rust |
| Deep Winter (Dark Winter) | deep | cool | Midnight navy, Deep plum, Dark burgundy, Cool emerald |
| True Winter (Cool Winter) | cool | bright | Pure white, True black, Cool true red, Royal blue |
| Bright Winter (Clear Winter) | bright | cool | Cobalt blue, Pure white, Clear fuchsia, Cool emerald |
How to find your undertone
These three are the tests Healthline (medically reviewed) and Palette & You both give.
- The vein test. In daylight, look at the inside of your wrist. Green or olive veins suggest a warm undertone, blue or purple suggest cool, a mix suggests neutral. (Healthline, Palette & You)
- The jewellery test. Hold yellow gold and silver against your bare skin. If gold makes your skin look healthier you lean warm; if silver or platinum does, you lean cool; if both look fine, neutral. (Healthline, Palette & You)
- White against cream. Pure white tends to favour cool undertones; warm undertones usually look better in off-white or cream. (Healthline, Palette & You)
Not a test: whether you tan or burn. There is no “do you tan or burn” question: Palette & You calls that a myth — cool-toned people can tan deeply and warm-toned people can burn — and Healthline says an undertone does not change with the sun.
What the three dimensions mean
- Undertone. Warm or cool: the most foundational of the three, and what divides Springs and Autumns from Summers and Winters.
- Depth. Light or deep: how light or dark your hair, skin and eyes are together.
- Clarity. Bright or soft: whether your colouring is clear and sparkling or blended and muted.
Every person has one dominant characteristic — the most obvious quality of their colouring — and a secondary one. The dominant names the family, the secondary the sub-season (The Concept Wardrobe, ColorisLab, Palette & You). The questions below, and the way their answers are added up, are ours. The seasons, their characteristics and their colours are the published system’s.
Common mistakes
- Reading a tan as an undertone. Your surface colour changes with the sun; your undertone does not.
- Testing in artificial light. Warm bulbs make everyone look warm. Stand at a window.
- Forcing a single season. The guides say the borders are where most people sit. Two seasons to compare is a real answer, not a failure.
- Treating the swatches as paint chips. They are our rendering of the colour names the guides use — hold real fabric to your face before you buy.
What to do with your season
Start with the colours near your face: tops, scarves, lipstick and hair. NeedleStyle has how to wear colour without it feeling like too much, hair colours that flatter cool undertones, nail colours that go with everything and fall nail colours.
FAQ
What is seasonal color analysis?
A system that groups colouring into seasons by three dimensions — undertone, depth and clarity — and gives each season a palette. The modern version has 12 seasons: the four classic ones split into three each, by whichever characteristic dominates.
What season am I?
Whichever of the three dimensions stands out most in your colouring names your family, and the next one names your season. The quiz above asks seven questions to work that out, and tells you when your answers put you between two.
What is my undertone?
Warm, cool or neutral. Green veins, gold jewellery and cream suit warm undertones; blue or purple veins, silver and pure white suit cool ones. If they disagree with each other, you are probably neutral (Healthline, Palette & You).
How to find your undertone without makeup?
Wash your face, stand at a window and try the three tests above: veins, gold against silver, and white against cream. Artificial light changes the answer, so daylight matters more than anything else.
What colors look good on me?
The ones that match your own colouring on all three dimensions: warm or cool, light or deep, bright or soft. Your season’s palette is the shortlist. Hold two of them to your face in daylight — the one where your skin looks clearer and any redness calms is the right direction.
Does my colour season change?
No. Your undertone is set, so your season stays the same when you tan, dye your hair or age. What changes is which colours in your palette you reach for.
What lipstick suits my skin tone?
The quiz names the lipstick family for your season — coral and warm red for the Springs, rose and berry for the Summers, terracotta and brick for the Autumns, true red and fuchsia for the Winters — with the shades each source lists.