Color analysis metrics

In my color analysis, I examine the client's hair and eyes in addition to their skin. However, the skin is by far the most important element. The effects of the color analysis on the face are more visible in some people than in others.

Every person is different, and the test drapes elicit visibly different reactions on the face depending on the client's characteristics. I interpret the effect of the drapes on the client using a set of internal mental benchmarks.

The effects of color analysis as metrics

I am now going to describe, in great detail, a color analysis I performed for a client. I aim to explain how the effects of different fabrics manifest on the skin and how this helps me arrive at a precise result within the 12-season system. I rely on the indicators found in color palettes as well as my own internal benchmarks.

Can you guess the client's result before I reveal it?

The customer sat on the chair in front of the mirror.

I began by covering the client’s clothes with a white cloth and placing a white cape over their hair. This allowed us to see the face clearly, free from any color reflections from the hair or clothing. I wanted to determine exactly what the client’s face could handle and what it required in terms of the properties of the temperature-based drapes, without considering overall harmony at that stage. I would take that overall harmony into account only later.

The client sat in front of the mirror under natural-light lamps (three lamps: one overhead and two positioned at the front sides), while I stood behind them, viewing their face in the mirror.

Undertone of the skin

The first step was to determine the skin's undertone—whether it was warm or cool. This is very rarely discernible just by looking at the surface. Furthermore, one must remember that, in addition to the undertone, we have a surface tone that can be misleading—not to mention a tan, freckles, redness, acne, or numerous other factors that shape our surface coloring. Initially, I focused on identifying the undertone.

Warm, cool and neutral

I started by comparing three fabrics with cool, neutral, and warm characteristics.

Both the client and I realized right away, upon seeing the first—the cool—fabric, that "This is a good one." The neutral fabric followed, and we found ourselves thinking, "This one is good, too."

A temperature scale inside my head (it can also be vertical)

At this point, I was convinced that the third fabric would be the worst option for my client. By "worst," I mean a fabric that negatively affects the complexion—for instance, by accentuating redness or orange tones, or by making the skin look pale or bluish.

I placed the warmest fabric in front of my client and immediately thought, "Yes." I could see that the client noticed the same thing I did. However, I voiced this observation as I conducted the color analysis:

"I can see that you noticed it too. Your face is taking on an orange glow, almost like a fake tan."

In that moment, it was perfectly clear to me that she had cool undertones. Her face reacted so strongly to the warm tone that a comparison with other colors wasn't even strictly necessary.

Nevertheless, I compared it with the other fabrics so that both the client and I could learn everything about her skin—its characteristics and its needs.

Customer was totally cool

I compared the warm-toned fabric with a neutral one. We could clearly see how the face seemed to shed a yellowish-orange cast when the neutral fabric was placed in front of it; a healthy color returned to the face.

At this stage, I wasn't focusing on the eyes or other specific features, but her face reacted so strongly to the warm tone that I pointed it out to her. The warmth completely washed out the facial definition, causing the jawline and shadows to disappear. When I compared it again with the neutral fabric, her features immediately regained a wonderfully defined, structured look.

When I compared the warm fabric with a cool one, the cool tone began to make her face look pale. This was because of the drastic drop in temperature between the two fabrics.

Surface tone of the skin

At this stage, I also had to take the skin's surface tone into account. It influences which color suits us best. Here, I was focusing specifically on the color itself rather than its properties (such as whether it is a cool or warm tone).

I also had to consider the brightness and softness of the cool-toned fabric. The cool test fabric in question was distinctly cool and also more intense in terms of brightness than the neutral fabric.

At this point, I decided that the neutral fabric was the best option, with the cool fabric coming in second. In terms of the skin's reaction, the neutral fabric was the better color choice, whereas the cool fabric was superior regarding temperature.

Although I usually focus only on changes in skin tone at this stage, in her case, her eyes lit up so noticeably with the cool fabric that I couldn't overlook it. Not everyone shows such a strong reaction.

Hair, eyes and values

I moved on to examine the client's other features. Her hair was visibly cool-toned. Her eyes were also distinctly cool.

Most often, hair shares the same temperature as the skin's undertone, though eyes can sometimes be cool on a warm skin type, and vice versa. I want to emphasize that there are always exceptions, and I would not draw conclusions about a color season without a fabric test.

When assessing the depth of the client's coloring, I noticed that she was clearly light—falling in the light range on the light-medium-dark scale.

What had I discovered

At this point, I knew the following facts for certain:

• Depth = light

• Skin = cool

• Hair = cool

• Eyes = cool

Gold vs. silver

I also tested the gold versus silver fabrics as large drapes. The face reacted exactly as I had anticipated.

There are many wonderful aspects of color analysis that I love, and this logical consistency is one of them. When I conduct an analysis and examine a client's features, there comes a point where I know precisely how each fabric will affect their appearance.

This is further supported by the fact that I really only need a subset of the 31 standard test fabrics to arrive at a reliable result. I don't need to try out countless different colored fabrics to pick the best one; knowing the properties of the colors I use is sufficient.

Gold is a warm tone; it gave the skin a yellowish cast—almost a dull or muddy look—mirroring the effect of the warm test fabric. The gold fabric also seemed to diminish facial definition due to its intense warmth.

And what about silver?

Wow! Wow! And wow again! The face took on a truly fresh glow. The eyes came alive thanks to the cool tones, and the lightness of that particular silver fabric worked beautifully!

We had direction

All this information gave me a strong indication of the direction to explore further. At this stage, it was clear that the client’s face reacted very strongly to different fabrics—or, more precisely, to their temperature.

I also wanted to know how the skin reacted to brightness and softness. I was interested in how the skin responded to lightness and darkness—specifically, how much color depth the skin could handle and how to create harmony using light and dark values, which can be observed with the naked eye or, more easily, in a black-and-white photograph.

Temperature fabrics darkness levels

Summer or winter?

I began by comparing summer fabrics with winter fabrics. I also systematically tested spring and autumn fabrics to gather more data on her coloring characteristics.

The comparisons consistently revealed the same result. Whenever the fabric was distinctly cool-toned, her face took on a fresh, radiant glow. When compared against warm colors (such as brown or peach), her face would flush red. Similarly, if the color was warm and yellow-orange—like copper, orange, or gold—her face seemed to absorb the color, resulting in redness.

If the fabric was bright—and brightness was the dominant characteristic of that color (typical of Winter or Spring palettes)—her face would flush. Her skin could not handle the intensity; the brightness seemed to clash with her complexion.

Based on this, I concluded that she belongs to a soft color season.

Determining the chroma

Softness-brightness scale

Among the Autumn fabrics, a color that was neutral in temperature, as light as possible, and very soft in intensity actually suited her quite well. Why? Because the softness worked. The overall look didn't quite come together, but this test helped determine the limits of what worked.

What happened when I compared a light Winter fabric—neutral and very cool—with a Summer fabric that was medium-dark, neutral in temperature, and very soft?

Of the two, the Winter fabric won, because her most dominant characteristics were coolness and lightness.

Did this make her a Winter? No, it didn't. This specific comparison simply showed that the particular Winter fabric was the better choice.

The Winter fabric with those specific qualities was the only one that worked; otherwise, the brightness typical of the Winter palette was always too intense, causing her skin to flush. The same thing happened with the brightest Spring colors.

The depth associated with Winter and Autumn fabrics (referring not so much to black-and-white lightness/darkness, but to the color's depth and intensity) cast a heavy, dark shadow over the client's face. In contrast, the light colors of the Summer and Spring palettes made her face look fresh.

The coolness of the Winter fabrics worked beautifully.

Based on all of this, I concluded that she was a Summer.

Color season summer

The three sub-categories of Summer are:

• Light Summer: a pure color season that is distinctly cool and light. Its softness level is around 25/100 on a scale where 0 is the softest and 100 is the brightest.

  
  

• Soft Summer: maximally soft. It leans toward Soft Autumn and shares some of the same colors, which are neutral in temperature. Its coolness is close to neutral—ranking 25/100 on this four-point scale—and its lightness/darkness is neutral.

  
  

• Cool Summer: its colors lean toward Cool Winter. It is maximally cool, while its brightness and darkness levels fall somewhere in the middle.

The color palettes I use for 12-season color analysis define the direction in which the colors of different seasons lean, if applicable. However, through conducting color analyses, I have learned that—in the case of Summer, for example—one Soft Summer client might lean closer to Light Summer, while another might lean more toward Cool Summer.

Based on this information, can you determine which sub-category applies to her?

The result

In her case, the result was so clear that it was immediately obvious she was a Light Summer. There was no need to specifically hunt for a sub-category by comparing Light Summer against Soft or Cool Summer; I had already mentally constructed a comparative chart based on the effects of the various fabrics. I knew she was purely cool and light—those characteristics won out in every comparison. Regarding softness, it was clear that while she didn't require *maximum* softness, she still needed a soft quality.

This is also one reason why I don't use the basic four-season color analysis system; the sub-category usually reveals itself naturally once I’ve processed all the information gathered from the client's features.

When I showed the client a few colors that suited her well, we could see how a light pink from her palette outperformed a neutral red, simply because of its coolness. While both colors actually looked good on her, we observed that the neutral red brought out a slight flush in her face and diminished her natural radiance. Her eyes also lost some of their sparkle when that maximum coolness was removed.

I want to emphasize that this analysis involved fine-tuning to the extreme; the result shouldn't be viewed in an overly rigid or restrictive way. In her case, I recommended using the full range of Light Summer colors, though she could borrow from the Soft Summer palette when seeking a look that is harmonious and gentle. The Cool Summer palette, meanwhile, could offer options for "party" outfits. I recommended avoiding shades that were too dark, bright, or very warm near the face.

Some of the most stunning colors for her included pinkish red, jade green, deep sky blue, light lemon, and mint. These colors were absolutely magnificent on her—they made her truly stand out. Her eyes sparkled, her skin glowed beautifully, and the overall harmony was perfect—simply enchanting.

Best color for her

Customer and temperature segments on a coarse numerical scale

If I were to plot the client's characteristics and the initial temperature-based fabric samples (along with their characteristics) on a scale of 0–100, the resulting formula would look like this:

Client values:

• Cool–warm scale: 0

  
  

• Light–dark scale: 0

  
  

• Soft–bright scale: 25

And the averages:

• Client = 0 + 0 + 25 = 25 / 3 = 8.3

  
  

• Cool fabric = 50 + 0 + 75 = 100 / 3 = 41.6

  
  

• Neutral = 75 + 50 + 50 = 175 / 3 = 58.33

  
  

• Warm = 50 + 100 + 25 = 175 / 3 = 58.33

My numerical assessment of the client's and the fabrics' characteristics.

I developed this chart myself to assist in interpreting my color analysis results. The figures are not exact; for the sake of clarity, I have chosen to use only the scale 0–25–50–75–100 for the time being.

I have recently had a steady stream of "Summer" clients, with a particularly high proportion belonging to the "Light Summer" sub-season. Not every Light Summer client yields the same result using my formula; since every person is unique, the figures vary even among individuals within the same sub-category.

The chart above also illustrates why the warmest fabric is clearly the worst choice, even though the numerical values ​​are relatively close to one another on average. The reason is that the greatest discrepancy existed between the temperature of that warm fabric and the client's Light Summer color profile.

Maximum temperature difference between the customer and the fabric

Went back to the start of the analysis

Towards the end, I changed the ranking of the initial fabrics. I had initially judged the neutral one to be better, but as the color analysis progressed and I obtained the final result, I switched to the cool-toned fabric as the best option. It can be difficult to draw definitive conclusions at the start; that is why my color analysis is so comprehensive, allowing me to consider the client's characteristics from many different angles.

The color of the cool-toned fabric posed a bit of a problem due to its brightness. In the chart, I assigned it a brightness value of 75, but in reality, it is even brighter. The same applied to the client's softness level, though in reverse (I assigned it a value of 25, but the client was actually softer).

The difference between them was so vast that the neutral fabric seemed better at first. However, by the end—once I was better able to interpret what I was seeing, account for the brightness, and adjust for the depth of the cool-toned fabric—it revealed itself to be the perfect color for a Light Summer palette.

Everyone is different

No two "Light Summer" colorings are exactly alike; everyone has slightly different, unique colors and shades, even within the same sub-category. The effects of color analysis show differently on each person's face, and specific measurements and chart readings vary from one individual to another.

Let me use myself and my husband (https://www.instagram.com/kevatmies/) as examples. We are both "Bright Springs." On a general chart, we both score a 75 for warmth; however, if I determine the readings more precisely, my skin undertone is closer to neutral (perhaps 70), whereas my husband’s is slightly warmer (around 80). This slight nuance explains why, when wearing the warmest colors (such as orange), my complexion begins to look a bit yellowish, while my husband glows with a magnificent warmth.

What else is included in my color analysis once the measurements are determined?

For this client, it took less than half an hour to achieve the result. Afterward, I moved on to identifying the best colors for her using fabric drapes, followed by guidance on using the color palette; I explained how she could leverage the palette—along with the information previously discussed—to select the exact colors and shades that suit her best for clothing, makeup, accessories, nail polish, and hair color.

I am an honest and reliable color consultant who explains both the positive and negative effects different colors have on the face. I also want my clients to see these effects for themselves.

My clients do not need to know anything about color analysis or understand my internal assessment criteria beforehand; I cover all the essential information during the two hours that my comprehensive color analysis takes.

Two slightly different bright springs

Thank you for reading my post about how I conduct a color analysis, how the effects appear on the face, and how the observations I make during the process translate into mental benchmarks that help determine the final result.

If you have any questions or comments on the topic, please leave them below!

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You can book your own color analysis appointment here and see for yourself how different colors and fabrics affect your complexion.