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Help with color type determination

    Assigning to a Main Characteristic

    Of the main characteristics Clear, Soft, Warm, Cool, Deep, and Light, Clear, Soft, and Deep are somewhat harder to recognize. Often, looking at a black and white photo of yourself helps. This applies even if you have dark skin. Dark skin does not automatically mean that your main characteristic is “Deep.” When determining whether it’s “Deep” or “Light,” always consider whether you have dark or light colors for your ethnicity.

    Please refrain from using a filter to create a black and white photo of yourself. A filter can distort your contrasts.

    Here are a few examples of “Clear” vs. “Soft” and “Deep” vs. “Light”:

    Example Clear Winter
    Clear Winter
    Example Soft Autumn
    Soft Autumn
    Example Clear Spring
    Clear Spring
    Example Soft Summer
    Soft Summer

    For Clear types, you’ll notice a clear difference between hair, skin, and eyes, with distinct dark and light areas. Even the difference between the whites of the eyes and the iris is clear. In Soft types, the contours blend harmoniously, leaving a soft overall impression.

    If you fall somewhere in between, your main characteristic is neither “Clear” nor “Soft.”

    Example Deep Autumn
    Deep Autumn
    Example Light Type
    Light Type

    In the two examples for “Deep” and “Light,” you can clearly see that it’s not the contrasts or softness that dominate, but rather the depth and brightness.


    If you generally find it difficult to assign yourself, here are a few prominent examples for each characteristic. Please don’t focus on whether you have the same colors for hair, eyes, and skin, but rather on whether you overall resemble a prominent example in terms of clarity, softness, coolness, warmth, lightness, or darkness.

    • Clear: Emma Stone, Emma Watson, Mila Kunis, Emelie de Ravin, Lupita Nyong’o, Megan Fox
    • Soft: Rihanna, Jessica Biel, Bianca Balti, Leona Lewis, Jennifer Ferrin, Gisele Bündchen
    • Cool: Catherine Zeta Jones, Krysten Ritter, Beck G, Kimberly Williams, Zoe Saldana, Matt Bomer
    • Warm: Alessandra Ambrosio, Julianne Moore, Eddie Redmayne, Judy Greer, Kylie Minogue
    • Deep: Sandra Bullock, Salma Hayek,Robert Downey Jr, Danielle Brooks, Adam Driver, Arjun Gupta, Ming-Na Wen, Keira Knightley
    • Light: Gwyneth Paltrow, Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Morrison, Kate Bosworth, Charlie Hunnam, Ellie Bamber

    Eye Colors

    To help you classify your eye color better, here are many examples for you. Please note that colors may appear slightly different depending on your screen settings. It’s best to view a photo of yourself on the same screen and compare. Your eye color is as unique as you are – you may not find your exact color on the list. In that case, please choose the color that’s closest to yours. If you have different colors in your iris, please check under “Hazel Eyes” below.

    Eye colors examples for seasonal color analysis

    Specialty “Hazel Eyes”

    Do your eyes appear different colors depending on the light or the color of your clothing? If your answer to the question about your eye color is “green-blue-gray” or “brown-green-blue,” you likely have “Hazel Eyes.” Unfortunately, there isn’t a German term for this. The translation would be “Hasel-Augen” – but it has nothing to do with hazelnut color.

    Hazel Eyes are always multicolored. They often have a golden or brown ring around the pupil. Moving outward, there may be one or two more rings with other colors, and the iris is then delineated by a darker limbal ring (ring around the outer edge of the iris). But beware: not all eyes with a limbal ring are automatically Hazel Eyes!

    The brown or golden ring around the pupil can be light or dark, and sometimes it’s only visible when the pupil is small.

    Hazel Eyes examples for seasonal color analysis

    Hair Colors

    Please note that hair colors may vary from screen to screen. If your hair is dyed a color other than your natural one, you may end up assigning yourself to a different color type than your natural one. If you feel that the color type doesn’t fit as a result, try to classify yourself based on your natural hair color. You can find suitable hair colors for dyeing in my blog post about hair colors.

    Hair colors examples for seasonal color analysis

    Skin Tones

    Representing skin tones on a screen is very difficult. The palette can only serve as a guide.

    Skin Tones examples for seasonal color analysis

    I wish you lots of fun determining your color type!

    You can find descriptions of the individual color types here. My online course, which helps you easily determine your color type yourself, can be found here.