Traditionally, when one is trying to figure out her 'season' (or her best palette of colors), she will look to see if she has warm or cool undertones. While this is an important aspect to a color analysis, it is only a part of the equation. And it is not necessarily the first thing you look for. In the advanced 12 season color analysis system, the first thing you look for is the MOST dominant characteristic of the person.
19th Century artist Albert Munsell talked about color having 3 characteristics: Hue, Value and Chroma.
1. Hue means simply what color an object is, like red, orange, or green. Every hue will be either warm or cool, or some combination of the two. Example: Yellow is warm; Blue is cool; Green is balanced.
2. Value just means the lightness or darkness of a color. Typically, light colors have tints of white added to it. Dark colors have some shade of black added to it.
3. Chroma means a color's clarity or saturation. A sunny Yellow would be considered fully saturated or clear. "Mustard" would be considered a muted Yellow. There is usually a heaviness or grayness added to a muted color. So Chroma refers to how clear a color is or how muted it is, or as it's referred to in the system, its 'Softness'.
It is these 6 characteristics that are most important in determining your season. Look for those traits FIRST. If you can determine your dominant characteristic, you are 75% there in determining your season. The secondary characteristic will finalize which season you are.
Each person will have 1 of 6 dominant "characteristics" in their coloring which is the primary determining factor in analyzing them. They are:
If you have deep coloring, then the second determining factor is whether you look better in warm colors or cool colors. If cool colors flatter you best, then you are determined to be a "Deep Winter." So while you favor cool colors over warm, the fact that you are DEEP is the most important aspect to your coloring. Your best colors will include the deepest darkest colors; you will want to avoid light colors. If your dominant characteristic is either "Warm" or "Cool", then decide whether you favor clear or muted colors next. Once you've figured out these two components, you've got your season figured out!