If you've been following the series so far, you've had some time to play around with the color display widget and observe the different effects of color palettes for each of the seasons. Now is a good time to go look at that widget again, and then let's clarify a few more terms.
Part 3: Basics of Colors, Seasons, Warm vs Cool
Warm Colors versus Cool Colors
Warm colors are the colors on the color wheel of red, red-orange, orange, orange-yellow, yellow, and yellow-green.
Cool colors are the colors on the color wheel of green, green-blue, blue, blue-violet, violet, and violet-red.
Color Season versus Calendar Season
When we talk about a color season, we're talking about a selection of colors that work best with a particular eye, skin and hair color combination. This is not to be confused with the Fall Fashion Season 2007 colors toward which many fashion designers will gravitate... which depends entirely on who you talk to, since Paul Pelssers says that the season's colors will be rich jeweled shades mixing gypsy, country, Irish and Russian influences, and Premiere Vision states "...Shiny or ultra-matt, metallic, not completely plain or concentrated, colours grow languid with a serene and enveloping decency..." while Fashion Trendsetter swears by "...Bright hues mixed with pale tones, matching colors and opposites...".
But no matter who says what: Color seasons are not meant to be worn only during seasons of the year.
Some color season analyses will take more than physical appearance into account. One such test is found at What Season Woman Are You, which also considers personality traits.
In addition to eye color, some also look at the patterns found in the eye itself. To quote Color Me A Season:
Each season has a dominant feature which is shown in the eye. The SUMMER eye appears as crackly glass, WINTER - spokes on a wheel, SPRING - Yellow sunburst around a gray doughnut shape, AUTUMN - Aztec sun directly around the pupil with specks and dots sometimes.
At its most basic, the color seasons can be divided as:
Warm | Cool |
Autumn | Summer |
Spring | Winter |
Stay tuned... our next step will start to determine your personal color season.