Color analysis · The journal
Confused about your color season? Three signs you’ve found the right one.
One of the most common questions I get — in DMs, emails, and comments — goes something like this.
Megan, I’ve had multiple color analyses and the results don’t match. One said Autumn, another said Dark Winter. How do I know which is right?
Or even more puzzling:
I’ve had three virtual analyses and they all said something different — Cool Summer, Light Spring, Soft Autumn. Help.
If that sounds familiar, you’re not alone. I’ve been there myself. My first analysis placed me as an Autumn; my second, a virtual one, as a Soft Autumn — but I was eventually reassessed as a Light Spring. Honestly, I wasn’t convinced at first, so I started testing at home to see the difference for myself. When I finally saw it clearly, everything clicked — and that moment is what sent me down the path to becoming a color analyst.
So why does this keep happening? The growing popularity of color analysis — 4-season, 12-season, 16-season, virtual — has brought a wide range of approaches into the mix. Every analyst brings their own training, tools, drapes, and eye.
Let me be clear: color analysis is real. It’s both a science and an art — and it takes a trained eye and years of practice to master.
If you’re feeling stuck or overwhelmed by conflicting results, here are three signs to help you find clarity and trust your colors.
Do you get compliments in your colors?
When you’re in the right season, people notice — and they’re not just complimenting your outfit, they’re noticing you.
Bright Spring clientOne of my Bright Spring clients had four strangers stop her in a single day to say how radiant she looked. It wasn’t the sweater — it was the color.
Warm Spring clientAnother spent three years in Winter colors after being misdiagnosed, and compliments were practically nonexistent. Once we re-draped her as a Warm Spring, she got more compliments in one day than in those entire three years.
Do compliments pick up when you wear your colors?
Do you love yourself in photos?
Photos are like a mirror for color harmony. The wrong palette can make your skin look dull or washed out. The right one? Your skin looks radiant, your eyes pop, and your features come forward on their own — makeup almost becomes optional.
Before · wrong season
After · right season
One tip
Look at unfiltered photos — shoot them in Photo mode, not Portrait mode, in natural, diffused light. Take a ton of shots draped in a variety of colors from your own closet, then see if you can spot the difference for yourself.
Do you love how you look in your colors?
Do you match the patterns of your season?
This is one of the most reliable ways to confirm or narrow down your season. Your natural hair, eyes, and skin undertones all tell a story, and every season has its own patterns. (If you’ve colored your hair for years, dig up a photo from your 20s with your natural color as a reference point.)
Take Autumn as an example — three related seasons, three distinct patterns:
When you study real examples of a season, do you see yourself?