What is Seasonal Colour Analysis?

SCA is a system of 12 specific palettes organised by hue, value and chroma that suit particular combinations of eye, hair and skin colours.

I know you've seen them. Those people whose clothes just seem to make them "pop". They look stunning, yet effortless. From celebrities to news anchors to people on social media. It isn't an accident. They have a secret weapon. They know exactly which colours to wear and which to avoid.

Seasonal Colour Analysis, or SCA for short (also known as colour analysis, skin tone colour matching, personal colours and seasonal colours) is a system of 12 specific colour palettes that suit particular combinations of eye, hair and skin colours. Everyone fits into one (or, much more rarely, a couple) of these categories.

SCA takes the undertone of your skin, the contrast between your eyes and hair, and other variables into account, to work out which palette you fit into.

The palettes are made up of colours with different hue, value, and chroma characteristics, which are:

• Hue: Either cold (blue-based) or warm (yellow-based),

• Value: How light or dark a colour is (how much black or white is added), and

• Chroma: Whether the colour is pure or if it has grey added to it to mute it.

This results in 4 'Seasons', called (not surprisingly) Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn.

The four seasons are split into 3 sub-categories each. The names of the 12 palettes are:

• Deep Winter, Clear Winter, and Cool Winter,

• Deep Autumn, Soft Autumn, and Warm Autumn,

• Light Spring, Clear Spring, and Warm Spring,

• Light Summer, Soft Summer, and Cool Summer

If you are new to colours, that's probably a bit overwhelming! Here is a handy diagram to break it down:

This system has been around in some way or form since the mid-1960s. Bernat Klein was the first to bring out a 'Personal Colour System' in 1965. It became extremely popular in the 1980s with the book 'Color Me Beautiful' by Carole Jackson and has recently been making a comeback.

As you can imagine, it's not very easy to work out which group you belong to. Generally, you pay a professional colour consultant for a definitive prognosis of which palette you look best in. The biggest drawback is how expensive it is - upwards of a few hundred dollars in person! There are lots of online quizzes and tests you can do to find your best colours which are FREE - have a look at the next blog post for some of my favourites! However, online tests are not always reliable and depend on you getting the answers right. Some can be downright confusing. However, the benefits of knowing your season really are visible!

So, let's do a quick recap: what IS Seasonal Colour Analysis?

SCA is a system of 12 specific palettes organised by hue, value and chroma that suit particular combinations of eye, hair and skin colours. You use your palette to buy clothing and make-up that not only makes you look your best ('good' colours make you look healthy and vibrant, while 'bad' colours make you look red in the face, bring out your under-eye bags, and generally make you look tired and pallid), but also make it easier to co-ordinate your concept wardrobe coherently because the colours are visually harmonious and 'work together'. The effect is that you look very polished, pulled-together, and confident. What's not to like?!

At Your Season, I have curated catalogues specifically for the 12 SCA palettes. If you already know your colours, head on over to the catalogues:

Women's Catalogue

Men's Catalogue

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