Here's What You Need To Know About Your Color Analysis

Everyone has a favorite color, but don't pick your wardrobe just based on what you think you like. Pick your wardrobe based on what will make you look your best. And knowing what will make you look your best means understanding your colors and being able to choose the colors that look best on you. This can be done with a color analysis.

Here are the basics of color analysis. Based on your natural skin tone, certain colors will make your eyes pop and your skin look bright and healthy while other colors will do the opposite. You want to make sure that you are choosing colors based on your skin's undertones. The most widely used color analysis is seasonal color analysis and it's broken down within season on hue, value, and saturation of color (via The Concept Wardrobe).

Broadly speaking, if you have grayish, pink, red, or blue undertones and blue veins at your wrist, you're in the cool category and a winter or summer (via The Concept Wardrobe). If you have golden, yellow, earthy, or peachy undertones with clear green veins, you're in the warm category and an autumn or spring. It could also be something you've noticed over time — like you know you like awesome in a deep blue but awful in a bright orange. Trust that instinct.

A professional color analysis session takes out the guesswork

But if you want to really get an idea of the absolute best colors for you, you'd go to a pro. In a professional color analysis by image consultant Leslie Chatzinoff, she starts by placing clients in front of a mirror with a gray backdrop, wearing a gray shower cap and with a makeup-free face to ensure a neutral background, which makes it easier to determine which colors bring out their best features. Then, she drapes fabric of the different seasons below their face to see how it affects their look. Narrowing down to the season is then followed by determining the ideal hues (via Today).

That's where it becomes more nuanced and it can be a lot easier for a professional to take the time and energy to find just the right colors for you; a color analysis session with a pro will likely take about two hours (via PureWow). But once you know what colors are right for you, you'll be able to build a wardrobe that will help you look and feel your best.