# Color Analysis Quiz A color analysis quiz is a short set of questions about your undertone, hair, eyes and contrast that sorts you into a seasonal color type and shows which colors flatter you. **Key facts:** $0 - No sign-up - 8 questions - 4 seasons and 12 sub-types - Optional selfie stays on your device - Headshot outfit and backdrop picks Updated October 2026 Your answers stay in this page. The optional selfie is read in your browser and never uploaded. ## How to use it 1. **Answer eight questions:** Check the veins on your wrist and how silver and gold look on you in daylight, then pick your skin depth, natural hair color, eye color and contrast. Skip anything you are unsure about. 2. **Add a selfie if you like:** Optionally add a front-facing photo taken by a window. The quiz samples your skin, hair and eye color in your browser and suggests answers for four questions, which you can change. 3. **Read your season and palette:** See your season and 12-season type with the reasoning behind it, your best colors, the colors to keep away from your face, and the outfits and backdrops that suit you in a headshot. ## What is seasonal color analysis? Seasonal color analysis is a way of matching clothing colors to your natural coloring: the undertone of your skin, the depth of your hair and the color and clarity of your eyes. It groups people into four seasons, spring, summer, autumn and winter, each with a palette that repeats the qualities already present in their face. The idea is usually traced to the Bauhaus teacher Johannes Itten, who observed that his students favored colors that echoed their own complexion, and it reached a mass audience with Carole Jackson's 1980 book Color Me Beautiful. Every system rests on three dimensions borrowed from color theory. Hue is whether your coloring leans warm (golden, peachy) or cool (pink, bluish). Value is how light or deep your overall coloring is. Chroma is how clear and saturated it is compared with soft and muted. Your season is the combination: spring is warm, light and clear; summer is cool, light and soft; autumn is warm, deep and soft; winter is cool, deep and clear. ## The 4 seasons in color analysis Springs have warm, fresh coloring, often golden or strawberry blonde hair, light warm skin and bright eyes. Their best colors are clear and warm: coral, peach, golden yellow, warm turquoise and camel. Black usually looks heavy on them. Summers are cool and soft, often with ash blonde or ash brown hair, pink-toned skin and blue, grey or soft green eyes. Powder blue, rose, lavender, slate and soft navy suit them, while orange and mustard pull their skin sallow. Autumns are warm and rich: auburn, copper or warm brown hair, golden or olive skin, hazel or warm brown eyes. Rust, olive, mustard, teal, camel and chocolate brown look natural on them. Icy pastels and fuchsia look disconnected. Winters are cool and high in contrast: dark hair with light skin, or deep skin with bright eye whites and striking eyes. Pure white, black, navy, true red, emerald and sapphire suit them. Muted earth tones can make them look tired. ## The 12 seasons: how the sub-types work Most people are not a textbook example of one season, so the 12-season system splits each season into three by its strongest characteristic. Spring becomes Light Spring, Warm Spring and Bright Spring. Summer becomes Light Summer, Cool Summer and Soft Summer. Autumn becomes Soft Autumn, Warm Autumn and Deep Autumn. Winter becomes Deep Winter, Cool Winter and Bright Winter. The sub-types explain why two people in the same season wear different colors well. A Light Summer and a Light Spring share lightness and both look best in gentle, airy shades; they differ only in temperature. A Soft Summer and a Soft Autumn share a muted quality, and a Deep Autumn and a Deep Winter share depth. That is why the quiz above names your closest neighbor: if a few colors in your palette feel off, the neighboring palette is the next one to try. Some analysts go further with 16 seasons, but 12 is the most widely used. ## How to tell if your undertone is warm or cool Undertone is the color under the surface of your skin, and it stays the same whether you are pale in winter or tanned in summer. Warm undertones read golden, peachy or olive; cool undertones read pink, rosy or bluish; neutral undertones sit in between. The common home tests each give a weak signal on their own, which is why the quiz combines several. The vein test asks whether the veins on your inner wrist look blue or purple (cool) or green (warm), but veins look somewhat blue through almost everyone's skin. The jewelry test asks whether silver or gold makes your skin look clearer. The white test compares pure white with cream under your chin. Sun reaction helps too: skin that burns and rarely tans often leans cool, and skin that tans golden often leans warm. ## How to do a color analysis at home Use daylight from a window, not overhead bulbs, which add yellow or blue casts. Remove makeup, pull your hair back or cover dyed hair with a white towel, and wear a plain white or grey top. Then hold fabrics or clothes under your chin one at a time in front of a mirror, a method analysts call draping. A color that suits you evens out redness and shadows and makes your eyes look brighter; a color that does not makes you look tired, flushed or grey. A selfie can help but cannot replace your eyes. Phone cameras adjust white balance and exposure automatically, beauty modes smooth and warm skin, and every screen shows color slightly differently. That is why this quiz uses a selfie only to suggest answers for skin depth, hair, eyes and contrast, never for undertone, and why every suggestion can be changed. - [Take a well-lit photo with the phone headshot guide](https://www.smartheadshots.ai/guides/how-to-take-a-headshot-with-your-phone) ## What colors look good on me? Start with neutrals, because they make up most of a working wardrobe. Springs look best in ivory, camel and warm navy; summers in soft white, cool grey and soft navy; autumns in cream, olive, camel and chocolate brown; winters in pure white, black, charcoal and navy. Then add two or three accent colors from your palette for tops, ties and scarves, the pieces closest to your face. Colors outside your palette are not forbidden. They simply work better further from the face: in trousers, skirts, shoes and bags. If you love a color that is not in your season, look for a version of it with your temperature and depth, such as a warm coral instead of a cool pink for a spring. ## Colors for headshots and video calls A headshot shows mostly your face and the top of your outfit, so the color right under your chin does most of the work. Pick a solid color from your palette for the top layer and a mid tone rather than an extreme: a camera exaggerates contrast, so pure black and bright white lose detail; save them for winters, who carry that contrast naturally. Keep patterns and logos out of the frame. The backdrop should separate you from the background without competing: warm, light neutrals for springs, soft grey or pale blue for summers, warm wood and parchment tones for autumns, slate and charcoal for winters. Video calls follow the same rules with a twist. Webcams adjust exposure to the brightest area, so a white shirt can make your face look dark, and fine stripes or small checks can shimmer on screen. A mid tone from your palette, solid, with a plain wall behind you, gives the camera an easy job. The result above shows outfits and backdrops from the Smart Headshots AI packs that match your season, with example photos. For outfit cuts, necklines and what each industry expects, read the full wear guide. - [What to wear for a headshot](https://www.smartheadshots.ai/guides/what-to-wear-headshot) - [Compare headshot backgrounds by color](https://www.smartheadshots.ai/tools/headshot-backgrounds) ## How accurate is a free color analysis? Treat any quiz, including this one, as a starting point. It turns your answers into three scores and maps them to a season with fixed rules, so it can only be as accurate as the answers and the rules. It is most reliable for people with clear-cut coloring and least reliable near the borders between seasons, which is why the result flags close calls and suggests a second palette to test. A professional analyst drapes dozens of fabrics against your face in controlled light and can catch nuances no questionnaire can. The selfie step is a hint for the same reason. It samples small patches of your cheeks, forehead, hair and irises with a face landmark model running in your browser, but room light and camera processing shift those colors. Nothing you enter or upload leaves your device, and closing the page clears it. - [Check your photo for lighting and sharpness](https://www.smartheadshots.ai/tools/headshot-photo-checker) ## FAQ ### How do I find out my color season? Work out three things in daylight: whether your undertone is warm or cool, how light or deep your coloring is, and how much contrast there is between your hair, skin and eyes. The quiz above asks eight questions that cover all three and returns your season and 12-season type with the reasoning. Confirm it by holding colors from the palette under your chin in front of a mirror. ### What colors look best on me? The colors that share your natural temperature, depth and clarity. Warm, light coloring suits clear warm shades like coral and camel; cool, soft coloring suits rose, slate and soft navy; warm, deep coloring suits rust, olive and teal; cool, high-contrast coloring suits black, white and jewel tones. Take the quiz to see a palette of named swatches for your type. ### Is a free color analysis accurate? It is a useful starting point, not a guarantee. A quiz is most reliable for clear-cut coloring and least reliable near the borders between seasons, so this one flags close calls and suggests a second palette to try. An in-person analysis with fabric drapes in controlled light is more precise. ### What are the 12 seasons in color analysis? Light Spring, Warm Spring, Bright Spring, Light Summer, Cool Summer, Soft Summer, Soft Autumn, Warm Autumn, Deep Autumn, Deep Winter, Cool Winter and Bright Winter. Each splits one of the four seasons by its strongest characteristic: lightness, temperature, softness, depth or clarity. ### Can you do a color analysis from a selfie? Partly. A photo can show how light your skin is, your hair color and the contrast between them, but camera white balance, exposure and room light shift colors, and undertone is the hardest thing to read from a photo. This quiz uses a selfie only to suggest answers you can change, and the photo never leaves your device. ### What is the best color to wear for a headshot? A solid mid-tone color from your own palette, worn as the layer closest to your face. Navy, charcoal and soft grey suit most people because they keep attention on the face, while very bright colors and busy patterns compete with it. Pick the outfit color after the backdrop so the two separate rather than blend. - [What to wear for a headshot](https://www.smartheadshots.ai/guides/what-to-wear-headshot) ### What is the difference between warm and cool undertones? Warm undertones have a golden, peachy or olive cast, and cool undertones have a pink, rosy or bluish cast. Your undertone does not change with a tan. Warm undertones usually look best in gold and earthy or golden colors, cool undertones in silver and blue-based colors. ## More free tools - [LinkedIn Photo Checker](https://www.smartheadshots.ai/tools/headshot-photo-checker): A LinkedIn photo checker is a tool that scores a profile picture out of 100 for light, sharpness, framing, eye line and background, rating the photo rather than the person in it. - [Circle Crop Tool](https://www.smartheadshots.ai/tools/profile-photo-cropper): A circle crop tool cuts a photo into a round profile picture and saves it as a PNG with transparent corners, or as a square sized for each platform. - [Background Changer](https://www.smartheadshots.ai/tools/headshot-background-changer): A headshot background changer is a tool that separates the person in a portrait from the background behind them and replaces that background with plain white, grey, a brand color or a blurred version of the original. - [Cost Calculator](https://www.smartheadshots.ai/tools/headshot-cost-calculator): A headshot cost calculator estimates what professional headshots cost from a studio photographer, an on-site corporate photographer or an AI headshot service, using published prices for your city, team size, looks and retouching. - [Headshot Prompt Generator](https://www.smartheadshots.ai/tools/ai-headshot-prompt-generator): An AI headshot prompt generator builds a ready-to-paste prompt that asks ChatGPT, Gemini or another image tool to turn your own photo into a professional headshot while keeping your face unchanged. - [Profile Picture Tester](https://www.smartheadshots.ai/tools/profile-picture-tester): A profile picture tester, or pfp tester, previews your photo as the round or rounded square avatar that LinkedIn, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Gmail, Zoom and X show, from the large profile view down to the small icons beside comments and chat messages. - [Background Picker](https://www.smartheadshots.ai/tools/headshot-backgrounds): A headshot background picker shows which professional backgrounds suit each industry and a LinkedIn photo, with examples, color codes and the attire that pairs with each one. - [Face Shape Detector](https://www.smartheadshots.ai/tools/face-shape-detector): A face shape detector is a tool that measures the length of a face and the width of its forehead, cheekbones and jaw in a photo to estimate whether it is oval, round, square, oblong, heart, diamond or triangle shaped. - [LinkedIn Profile Checker](https://www.smartheadshots.ai/tools/linkedin-profile-checker): A LinkedIn profile checker is a tool that scores your headline, About section and profile photo against clear rules, such as LinkedIn's character limits, an opening line that lands before "see more" and a way to contact you. ## Related headshot packs - [Professional Headshots](https://www.smartheadshots.ai/professional-headshots): A professional headshot is a head and shoulders portrait, evenly lit against a plain or softly blurred background, used to represent you on company websites, staff directories, email signatures, conference programs and press coverage. - [LinkedIn Headshots](https://www.smartheadshots.ai/linkedin-headshots): A LinkedIn headshot is a head and shoulders portrait, framed for the circle crop LinkedIn applies, that represents you on your profile, in recruiter search results and beside every message and comment you post. - [Dating Profiles](https://www.smartheadshots.ai/dating-profile-photos): A dating profile picture is a clear, recent photo of your face in good light, with your eyes visible and nobody else in the frame, that leads your profile on apps such as Hinge, Bumble and Tinder. ## Links - [Create your headshots](https://www.smartheadshots.ai/start) - [All free tools](https://www.smartheadshots.ai/tools) - [Home](https://www.smartheadshots.ai/)